Prelims hurdle
People who overcame, and those stuck in it. Let’s talk it out before we kill it in 2023 :)
Please do ! I will be more than willing to share all the gyan I have.
To be honest, one of the reasons why Forum became ( BIG ) what is it today is because when I started my preparation, I benefitted from the guidance of one Aravindhan and his roommate who got IPS and IAS in the first attempt. That was their first choice as well.
The basics they shared with me helped me clear Prelims without failure and with tremendous comfort. It helped that the first version of forumias had a dedicated group of people and all that I ( and others shared ) that led to a lot of people clearing Prelims. Once people clear Prelims, they taste blood, ( and actually get serious about the exam - even the non serious ones ). And thats how we would get Ranks 1,2,3,5,6,8,10 from this very wonderful community.
Th every idea behind this community is that people benefit from the wisdom of experienced people and information - if not education - is democratised. There should be no poverty of exposure or awareness as to how to clear this examination.
I am no knight. Do not call me Sir
And what if CSAT has become the major hurdle
@Neyawn sir please through some insights
I think one major issue people ignore in prelims is management of pressure. People think that they won't be able to clear prelims even two months before the exam. There is also issue of time of peaking in preparation. Some people peak very early in terms of motivation and preparation in case of prelims and end up being frustrated of what to do now issue 1-2 months before exam. This is similar to people trying to get early edge in the marathon and end up losing energy before the last lap. For many people, they lose in the battle of nerves to lose the war of civil service exam at any stage.
The pressure usually comes because most people start preparation late. I am flooded with people who want to know how to crack Prelims "after" Prelims is over and how to crack Mains whenever the Prelims season comes.
One should know their limitations - for example if you cant study under pressure, you plan ahead and do not let things accumulate. If you know you fall sick you provision that time in your prelims preparation.
Also the basics. Most people think they can read something 1-2 times and can attempt a paper. That is so not true. You need to read things 5-7 times if you want to get questions right.
It is humanities, not science, so things mean different things than what they at first appear. You will get clarity with multiple revisions. Also quite likley that meanings of the sentences will change and you will develop conceptual clarity with time and revisions.
I am no knight. Do not call me Sir
Failed Prelims 2 times in a row. These were some of the mistakes I did.
Static and CA time management. In both the attempt if I had put more efforts in Static part I would have crossed the threshold. Why I say this is because I'm loosing out on questions that could have been attempted correctly if I had my basics right. 22' Pre I messed up in Polity even when questions were pretty straightforward.
Couldn't handle the pressure. Broke down towards the last quarter of the exam. This was solely because I knew I could have done way better if I had gone through my books just one more time rather than spending time on CA. I'm not blaming CA for everything here. But it was a mistake on my end.
In order to follow the schedule would often end up leaving the last parts of that particular subject for later date. This turned out to be a blunder as well. That later date never came to full use due to immense pressure that I took upon myself before the exam.
As has been pointed out by@Neyawn Sir- not having strong basics and 2-2.5ish month of preparation might not yield results.
I wasn't scoring well in the mocks. My score plateaued in the 75-85 range with an occasional 110 and an occasional 55. But I knew that if I have to give myself a chance at clearing Prelims I will have to attempt 80+ questions. Not every time that I attempt 80+ questions will I get 100+. But every time I get 100+, it is because I attempted 80+ questions. So one should attempt a good number of questions, despite the 1/3rd negative marking scheme. Because if you won't someone else will (As simple as that).
PYQs help too. I had seen the Catalonia option in one of the questions this year in the Mrunal PYQ compilation. This is just one such example.
It is very essential to stay calm during the exam. That helps more than anything else. I could answer only 5 questions while attempting questions 21-50 in the paper during the 1st iteration. That could've broken me any other day. But I held myself together and attempted the other half of the paper. That is what got me through. Just don't give up till it is actually over (during the paper). I kept telling myself that if Hanuma Vihari with a torn hamstring and R Ashwin with a twisted back can play out 259 deliveries against Australia to save a Test match, I too can clear Prelims despite all the challenges. I sought inspiration from the thing that I connect to the most and it worked!
Believe!
Look at economy questions this year. Those are what basics is.The thing people keep repeating about 'getting the basics right', can someone elaborate on that? I do feel my basics are not so strong, but am confused about what to do exactly for it? Please help someone@Neyawn
If needed, yes. For me, especially for economy, had to read Class 12 NCERT to understand those basic concepts. Use Internet extensively. Make notes and above all, revise. The more you revise the same concept, the more you will improve.@AureliusM Got your point, but what exactly must be done in order to improve them for different subjects? read NCERTs?
The thing people keep repeating about 'getting the basics right', can someone elaborate on that? I do feel my basics are not so strong, but am confused about what to do exactly for it? Please help someone@Neyawn
Hey, I have cleared prelims once in the 2 attempts that I have given, so please take it with a pinch of salt. That's what I did and this is what it is for me when someone says get your basics right-
1. In polity, for me basics are concepts which have been given in Political theory NCERT Class 11th. There are concepts of equality, democracy etc etc. We should have a clear idea of what these terms means and we can expect at least 1-2 questions from there. Similarly, for me whatever has been given in Lakshmikant constitutes basics. You should not get a question wrong from the constitution. And identify the important areas and focus on that.
2. In economics, Basics are the concepts like GDP, imports and exports, employment, sectors of economy their contribution and all the macroeconomics. For me completing Economic survey, budget, NCERT of macroeconomics as well as one another source meant basics.
3. In history, you should pick up one book for Ancient, medieval and modern , be it Tamil Nadu or the Old Ncerts or Spectrum and should know all that is important from there.
4. For Environment, basics constitute - Environmental concepts, various organisations and treaties, species , mapping regarding important national parks, WLS etc , Pollution and pollutants etc, more you can know from having an analysis of the PYQs, and often repeated concepts forms the basics here.
5. Geography - One should be aware of the important phenomenon's in Climatology, Oceanography etc with important mapping of seas, rivers, mountains etc.
P.S - Baaki PYQs ache se kare, bahut help krega to understand the important areas where one should focus upon.
Ratintherace,
No need to drag it endlessly
1. If you are strong in GS, you are IN, 50%!
Start practicing CSAT now, literally Now! And be consistent till prelims. (Whispering- Please don't take csat for granted, please. The truth is that CSAT is deciding fates and not the GS. We are in denial mode to be honest. The trend not gonna change and I will elaborate why csat will evolve tougher, if time permits)
2. If you are strong in CSAT and not the case with GS then, my friend 😊, you need to work your ass off, that is an ocean and you - again, if time permits 😊) cu
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