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I have given once and thankfully cleared. So, this is what i make of it.
Prepare for prelims with mains in mind. You have to prioritize your studies so that you don't loose out the one's with a high priority. Priority should be like e.g. Core g.s(pre and mains)>Only pre oriented( like ancient/medival history)>Facts. Go from high to low, instead of going from subject to subject.
Magazines, i bought chronicle each month, but didn't read any. So i can't really comment on it. Read yojana and kurushetra selectively for optioanls and mains g.s. Not much use for pre.
Newspaper. This is the single biggest mistake i made this year, didn't make notes. Prepare notes of newspapers. Cover both ie and hindu. Use your discretion while making notes.
India year book. Waste of time. Do not study, that time can be invested in optionals or other things. The important topics in IYB are covered in other sources.
Prepare social sector schemes from any source. But do them comprehensively. Don't emphasize on facts too much.
History, i just read bipin chandra, and the main points, like GOI Acts etc. from vision ias summary which my friend gave. Saved a lot of time. Vajiram notes for history is a waste.
Geography- Vajiram notes and the chang long book.
Sci-tech: Newspaper. Its more than enough. Core concepts usually asked are of school level. If you are a science student, then just read newspaper.
Economy: Vajiram notes, Eco survey, newspaper Even though not a lot of questions are being asked in mains, and in prelim the questions are more of concepts, i would suggest skimming through the eco survey because it has a lot of good points which can be used in mains.
Environment etc.: Mostly newspaper and internet. I used the vajiram booklet of the core and searched the net for some issues.
CSAT. My csat was good as i had read for cat in college and that helped me. Only joined a test series which i would say is a must. It will help you to form a strategy for the exam. By strategy, i mean e.g. there are different ways to do comprehensions, so test them and see which one best suits you. If you want to read, i would say get career launcher books for english comprehension and try them, they are good. Quant, don't study too much. Just clear you concepts and basics. No need to memorize the tricks which coaching gives you. Will not help, waste of time. Instead, understand the concept. DI/LR.: I think DI will be of basic level, and does not need any preparation. Just solve a few questions to get a feel. It is mostly basic math, only requires a keen eye to avoid silly mistakes. LR, i think it should be emphasized. This, and DI, is the only thing which UPSC can tinker without giving an advantage to any stream( humanities, science etc.). So, if UPSC wants to pull out another surprise, it will most probably be this section.
And most importantly, find your strongest section. In P1, scoring 100+ is difficult( esp. in 1st attempt), but in P2, you can easily score 150+. So, work accordingly. But, paradoxically, spending too much time on p2 is not a good idea as it will not help in mains.
I think I can't agree more the @gambittt on the undue importance coaching institutes give to India Year books. Its pointless for two reasons:-
1) Nothing comes from it
2) Even if something does, you have studied so much from it that you wont remember those 12 marks worth 120 word questions out of the like 5000 words you have read from it.
@rajeev2315... I wld ask yoy to visit my blog for that all stuff u need. I guess that wld very helpful and further if you have any doubts then and there let me knoq.
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Comments
Prepare for prelims with mains in mind. You have to prioritize your studies so that you don't loose out the one's with a high priority. Priority should be like e.g. Core g.s(pre and mains)>Only pre oriented( like ancient/medival history)>Facts. Go from high to low, instead of going from subject to subject.
Magazines, i bought chronicle each month, but didn't read any. So i can't really comment on it. Read yojana and kurushetra selectively for optioanls and mains g.s. Not much use for pre.
Newspaper. This is the single biggest mistake i made this year, didn't make notes. Prepare notes of newspapers. Cover both ie and hindu. Use your discretion while making notes.
India year book. Waste of time. Do not study, that time can be invested in optionals or other things. The important topics in IYB are covered in other sources.
Prepare social sector schemes from any source. But do them comprehensively. Don't emphasize on facts too much.
History, i just read bipin chandra, and the main points, like GOI Acts etc. from vision ias summary which my friend gave. Saved a lot of time. Vajiram notes for history is a waste.
Geography- Vajiram notes and the chang long book.
Sci-tech: Newspaper. Its more than enough. Core concepts usually asked are of school level. If you are a science student, then just read newspaper.
Economy: Vajiram notes, Eco survey, newspaper
Even though not a lot of questions are being asked in mains, and in prelim the questions are more of concepts, i would suggest skimming through the eco survey because it has a lot of good points which can be used in mains.
Environment etc.: Mostly newspaper and internet. I used the vajiram booklet of the core and searched the net for some issues.
CSAT. My csat was good as i had read for cat in college and that helped me. Only joined a test series which i would say is a must. It will help you to form a strategy for the exam. By strategy, i mean e.g. there are different ways to do comprehensions, so test them and see which one best suits you.
If you want to read, i would say get career launcher books for english comprehension and try them, they are good.
Quant, don't study too much. Just clear you concepts and basics. No need to memorize the tricks which coaching gives you. Will not help, waste of time. Instead, understand the concept.
DI/LR.: I think DI will be of basic level, and does not need any preparation. Just solve a few questions to get a feel. It is mostly basic math, only requires a keen eye to avoid silly mistakes.
LR, i think it should be emphasized. This, and DI, is the only thing which UPSC can tinker without giving an advantage to any stream( humanities, science etc.). So, if UPSC wants to pull out another surprise, it will most probably be this section.
And most importantly, find your strongest section. In P1, scoring 100+ is difficult( esp. in 1st attempt), but in P2, you can easily score 150+. So, work accordingly. But, paradoxically, spending too much time on p2 is not a good idea as it will not help in mains.
1) Nothing comes from it
2) Even if something does, you have studied so much from it that you wont remember those 12 marks worth 120 word questions out of the like 5000 words you have read from it.
I wld ask yoy to visit my blog for that all stuff u need. I guess that wld very helpful and further if you have any doubts then and there let me knoq.