some tips for prelims

Hello everyone. I hope all of are doing well.

A lot of you requested some tips for prelims as I had scored good marks in CSE 2022 prelims (141.4), so I thought I'll share some of the things that worked for me in the prelims and you might benefit as well as there are only about 100 days to go.

1. Complete and revise the basic syllabus and books

Despite the rising uncertainty and difficulty level of questions in the prelims papers of recent years, there are at least 20-30 easy questions that can be handled if you have done the basic books of polity, history, environment, art and culture, science and technology and economy.

It is very important to get all of these questions correct as these ensure that you have 50-60 marks in your hand before you attempt the moderately difficult and difficult questions.

2. PYQ analysis

I cannot overstate the importance of PYQ analysis. Past year questions are repeated very often, and even if the exact question is not repeated, UPSC often repeats the basic theme of PYQs. Additionally, by analysing PYQs you can get an idea into what kind of correct/incorrect statements UPSC designs in questions and this helps to develop a basic instinct for intelligent guessing.

3. Practice Tests

It is very important to do as many practice tests as possible. This has 3 benefits. First, you can be confident about your time management. Secondly, practice tests are a great way to revise as they all have detailed solutions which can help you revise and retain effectively. Thirdly, you can build your own strategy of attempting the paper by recognising your strengths and weaknesses. For example I would only attempt the easiest questions in my first iteration and then subsequently tackle the harder ones in subsequent iterations. I would suggest that everyone should do at least 30 practice tests before the final day.

I would also suggest to all the first attempters to buy OMR sheets online and to practice at least 3-4 papers with OMR sheets to make sure you don't make any bubbling or filling mistakes on the final day.

4. Current affairs

Current affairs questions have become increasingly difficult and arbitrary in the past years. Yet it is very important to keep abreast with the important news from the past 2 years. In my opinion, the bestvway to do this is to read the newspapers regularly. Otherwise you can also refer to the monthly and yearly compilations made by coaching centres and read and revise them multiple times. I understand that often these compilations are very bulky and information heavy. To tackle this I would suggest that you focus on topics such as environment, polity, economy and science and technology, from where the number of current affairs questions are relatively more than other topics.

5. Planning your studies and revision

Try to make a 100 day plan for the prelims examination which includes revision of all books at least 2-3 times. Revision is the key to remembering the finer points in prelims and thus the more you can revise the better.

6. Intelligent guessing

Try to make guesses when you attempt the UPSC PYQs and practice tests as that subconsciously builds the ability to guess effectively. Additionally in depth analysis of PYQs will be helpful as you will realise that UPSC has certain patterns of framing questions. For example, generic statements that cannot be practically disproven are always correct. Also UPSC often changes data, names of people and places etc to make incorrect statements. Being cognizant of all this will make your decision making during guessing a lot better.

7. Low hanging fruits

Please prioritize your time effectively and do not give too much time to topics such as ancient and medieval history, where the cost-benefit ratio is very high. Focus on polity, environment, economy and science and technology, as on average, over 50-60 questions are from these topics.

All the best to all of you and I sincerely hope that each and every one of you finds success