Dear All
I have received hundreds of yours e-mails daily and try to answer all of them in person. But one question which was continuously asked to me and for which I have not yet replied was, how to prepare for the changed prelims pattern. Now, I am answering this one also. I am sorry to take so much time but I was not aware of the change that UPSC was bringing in. Since my phase 1 of training at Mussoorie, which was very hectic, is over so I got time to analyse the new syllabus, the sample papers and above all, this year question papers of both GS and Aptitude. So firstly about aptitude exam:
This year exam was pretty easy. Doing 80 questions in 2 hours was quite an easy task. Of course, I was reading the paper with no pressure, sitting in my room, but those who appeared must had to deal with the exam pressure that is there on the D-Day.The book I will recommend is R.S. Aggarwal verbal reasoning and also R.S.Aggarwal quantitative analysis, both. Now here is strategy
- Only golden rule is practice, practice and practice from the book. Do read the book from cover to cover. Do not leave any topic untouched based on this year's paper as its quite possible that the other areas may be covered in exam next time.
- In the exam, for the students who are comfortable with Maths, do firstly the quant questions and then go for comprehension and other questions. Do the questions of ethical analysis type at the end and never leave them as there is no negative marking for them. For other questions, refrain from tukka.
- For those who are not so good on Maths, do firstly the comprehension type questions as by reading one para, you will be able to do 4-5 questions. Then go for math questions. Also, do not make any question a prestige issue. If you are unable to solve it, leave it and proceed further.
- Regarding comprehension type questions, my suggestion is to develop a reading habit and that too reading fast. Read the para at least twice before answering and a gist of the para should be in your mind while you start answering the question.
- Another important point is while studying and practicing from Aggarwal's book, write in your hand on separate paper some short cut formulas which may emerge from verbal or quant questions and then try to use these short cuts on as many questions as possible so that in exam, you should know on what type of questions it will be applicable and use it to find the solution quickly. This will save your time in the exam.
- If you finish R.S.Aggarwal well before the exam, try some another good book. There are many books available on net. Aggarwal's book is also available on net. The idea here is to practice from as many resources as possible.
Regarding GS paper:
I have observed that the number of questions have come down from 150 to 100 while the marks have increased from 150 to 200. The difficulty level is almost the same. Another change is that because of aptitude paper, all the math part of GS is gone and on its place the other areas which were neglected earlier for most of the times (e.g. economy, wild life, environment) have come forward. Current affairs portion has also increased significantly. So here is the bit of do's and donot's:
- Firstly, because of negative marking, do not go for tukka's unless you are able to eliminate at least 2 choices.
- Read the question carefully. Try to solve the paper at least two times because now time is not a constraint as earlier it used be (doing 100 in 120 minutes as compared to 150 in 120 min). So firstly bubble those answers for which you are 100% sure. Then go for the unsure part and elimination of choices method is to be used.
- Give emphasis on other areas which you feel, as I specified are new.
- For geography,map study is very important as geography questions are more or less map based only.
- Current affairs will remain the most important thing. For that I have already specified the newspaper reading and magazines to be followed.
That's it from my side about prelims. For any queries, keep mailing me. I will try to answer as many as I can during my district training. By the way, friends, I have got Haryana cadre and doing district training at Rohtak.
My best wishes are always with you, friends.
Do prepare with a new zeal, energy and enthusiasm. As the country need honest officers because there are very few who listen to the voice of the poor and downtrodden. Keep preparing and studying. Remember, as I used to say, the sufferings of the freedom fighters like Bhagat Singh, Jatin Das, Azad, Ram prasad Bismil, Ashfaqullah, Sukhdev, Sarabha,Pingley (and many more....) who gave us the freedom, were many more than our suffering of preparing for this exam. Prepare with an ambition.
May Waheguru G make U an IAS officer.
Prabhjot
