TIPSREGARDINGUPSCCSEPREPARATION

YOGESHKUMBHEJKARAIR8CSE2015

IamYogeshKumbhejkar.IamanElectricalEngineerfromIITBombay.IsecuredAIR8inCivilServices
Exam2015withMathematicsoptional.Thisarticleisahumbleattempttosharemyexperienceof
UPSCpreparation.Pleasenotethatthereisnofixedwayofapproachingthisexam.Different
candidatesadoptdifferentstrategiesdependingontheirownstrengthsandweaknesses.Soitisupto
theUPSCaspirantstochoosewhichofthefollowingtipstoadopt.

PRELIMINARYEXAM
Sources:

History OldNCERT11th &12th Std.

SpectrumPublication:ABriefHistoryofModernIndia
IntroductiontoIndianArt:11th NCERT
IndianPolity LaxmikanthTMH
Geography NCERT10th ,11th
,12th
std.
Economics SriramEconomicsBasicsnotes+Mrunal.orgwebsite
Science TMHGSManual
Environment Lastchaptersof12th NCERTBiologybook,ShankarIASBook
CurrentAffairs DailynotespreparedfromIndianExpress+Hindu
CSAT TMHCSATmanual

Apartfromabovementionedbooks,TMHGSManualishelpfulforsuchtopicswhereyoucantfind
goodreferencebook.Italsohaslotsofobjectivequestionsforpractice.

Itisnecessarytocoverthesyllabusthoroughlyfromsuchreferencebooksandrevisethemregularly.
AUPSCaspirantspreparationshouldalwaysberevisionfriendly.Ifyouarereadingareferencebook,
eitherunderlineimportantpointsinthebookonlyormakeshortnotes.Sothatthenexttimeyouare
abletocoverthesametopicsinmuchlessertime.

Aspirantsshouldalsosolvelotsofpracticepapers.ThebestsourceispreviousyearsUPSCpapers.
ApartfromCSEprelims,objectivepapersofCAPF,CDSexamsconductedbyUPSCcanalsogivegood
ideaaboutthekindofquestionsaskedbyUPSC.Theaimshouldbetodeveloptheabilitytoattempt
optimumnumberofquestionskeepinginmindthenegativemarkingsystem.Inprelims,Iusedto
attempttheeasierquestionsfirstandthengoforquestionswhereIhadtoguessorspendsomemore
time.Inmanyquestions,evenifyoudontknowtheexactanswer,youcanguessitbyeliminating
someoptions.Todevelopthisjudgment,theaspirantshouldpracticeregularly.

CURRENTAFFAIRSNOTES
IusedtofollowbothTheIndianExpressandTheHinduregularly.TheDelhieditionofTheIndian
Expressnowcoverswiderangeoftopicsingreatdetailanditisveryusefulforthispreparation.This
editionisavailableonlineatepaper.indianexpress.com.EspeciallytheExplainedpageandeditorials
shouldbereligiouslyfollowedbyaspirants.

Readymadecurrentaffairsnotesarenoweasilyavailableandtheyarewidelyused.Butmy
experiencehasbeenthatifyouinvest34hoursdailyinproperlyreadingabove2newspapersand
makingnotesyourself,youwillhaveamuchbetterunderstandingofcurrentaffairs.Itwillbeamajor
pluspointineverystageofthisexamination.IdidnthavetofollowanymagazinesincludingYojna,
kurukshetraasthispracticewasenoughtocoverallmajortopicsoveraperiodoftime.

Currentaffairsnotesalsoshouldbemadeinasystematicordersothatitwouldberevisionfriendly.I
hadmade5notebooksfordifferentareassuchasEconomy,Polity,InternationalRelations,
EnvironmentScience&Miscellaneous.Withineachnotebook,thereweredifferentsectionsmade
asperthesyllabus.Soifthereisanyimportantnews,editorialetc.innewspaper,Iwouldwriteavery
briefsummaryintherelevantsections.Overaperiodofoneyear,Ihadnotesonallimportanttopics
inachronologicalorder.Sincethesenotesweremadeaccordingtomyownunderstanding,itwas
mucheasiertorevise.

Intheinitialdays.thenoteswillbequitelengthysinceeverythinginthenewspapersseems
important.Butgraduallyyouwilldevelopthejudgementaboutwhatisactuallyimportanttonote
downandthenthetimeneededformakingthesenoteswillreduce.

Thosewhoareinterestedinstartingsimilarnotebookscanchecktheindexofdifferentsectionsat
https://goo.gl/qFx5rp

Ihaveuploadedsamplecurrentaffairsnotesatthislink
https://goo.gl/lfeisb

MAINEXAM
Sources:

GENERALSTUDIES1

IndianCulture OldNCERT11thAncientIndia+MedievalIndia,11thNCERTIntrotoArts
textbook
ModernIndiaHistory OldNCERT11thModernIndia,SpectrumFreedomStruggle
PostIndependence BipinChandra
History
WorldHistory BVRao,Youtubechannel'CrashCourse'Videos
SociologyRelatedsyllabus Internet,newspapers,12thHumangeographytextbookhelpsin
population,migration,urbanizationetc.questions
Geography 10th,11th,12thNCERTtextbooks,
GCLeongeforconceptsnotcoveredinNCERT
GENERALSTUDIES2

LaxmikanthIndianPolityTMH,
Currentaffairsnotesrepeatedrevisionasmentionedabove
BigpictureRajyaSabhaTVdiscussionsavailableonyoutube
FMGoldRadiospotlightnewsanalysis
InternationalRelations:CurrentAffairsnotessufficient
GENERALSTUDIES3

EconomicSurvey,
Currentaffairsnotesrepeatedrevisionasmentionedabove
BigpictureRajyaSabhaTVdiscussionsavailableonyoutube
FMGoldRadiospotlightnewsanalysis
Mrunal.orgNotes
SriramClassesEconomynotes
GENERALSTUDIES4

Lexiconbookbychroniclerepeatedrevision
Rememberingbasicdefinitions
SolvingcasestudiesthroughpreviousUPSCpapers,vision/synergyetc.testseries


Thestaticpartofmainspreparationshouldbedonefromlimitedstandardreferencebooks.Revision
isaveryimportantpartofmainspreparationanditisoftengivenmuchlessattention.Itismuchmore
beneficialtoreadasinglegoodreferencebookandreviseit4timesratherreading4differentbooks
onthatparticularsubject.

ANSWERWRITING

Practicinganswerwritinginlimitedtimeisveryimportantforsecuringgoodmarksinmains.
Irrespectiveofwhateverhardworkyouhaveputintothispreparation,itisonlyyourperformancein
those3hoursthatisgoingtodetermineyourresult.Hence,aspirantsshouldfocusonfollowingthings
inthisregard:

1. Improvingwritingspeedsothatyouareabletocompleteallquestionscomfortablywith
decentanswers.Thisispossiblewithregularpracticeandcanmakeconsiderable
improvementinyourfinalmarks.Iexperiencedthisdifferencemyselfbetweenmyfirstand
secondattempt.Considerthecasewhenthepaperhas20questions.Youcanscorebetter
marksbywritingdecentanswersforall20questionsratherthantryingtowritehighquality
answersforonly14~15questions.HenceIwouldadviseaspirantstotrycompletingallmains
papers.
2. Anyformalanswerwouldhavecertainkeywordsthatshouldbeunderlined.Itmakesjobof
theexaminereasierandthushelpsinfetchingmoremarks.
3. Theanswerwouldhavebetterstructureifithassomeintroduction&conclusionevenifitisa
briefoneline.Throughtheanswerwritingpractice,theaspirantshouldmakeitahabit.That
wayhe/shewouldntforgetitintheactualexam.

IhadjoinedSynergytestseriesinDelhi.Therearemanytestserieswhichareavailableonlinealso.It
islessimportantwhichparticulartestseriesyoujoin.Butitismoreimportanttoconsciouslytryto
improveyouranswerwritingskillsbystickingtothetestseriesschedule.Whenyougetlowmarksin
anytest,ratherthangettingdiscouragedpleasetrytointrospectandworkonthoseweakareas.

IhaveuploadedsampleGSanswersheetsatthislink
https://goo.gl/xvh28v

ESSAYPREPARATION
Ifyouseeessaymarksoftheselectedcandidates,youwouldrealizethatthereiswidevariation.Some
candidatesscore140+markswhereassomescorearound100.Thisdifferenceisnaturallytranslated
intotheirranksalso.Thecandidatescoring140+neednothavewrittensomethingextraordinaryin
his/heressay.Itrequiressomepracticebeforehandandkeepinginmindfewbasicaspectsofessay
writingsuchasfollows:

1. Inessaypaper,choosethetopiconwhichyouknowsufficientnumberofdifferentpoints.Itis
notadvisabletoexperimentwithsomeabstracttopicifyouarenotcomfortablewithit.
2. Inthefirst10~15minutes,notedownallthepointsyoucanthinkofonthelastpage.Ifyou
arenotabletorecallenoughpoints,thereisatrick.Trytoconnecttheessaytopicwith
differentoptionalsubjects.
Forexample,ifyouarewritinganessayonIndiastourismsector.Thenyoucangetsomeof
thepointsasfollows
a. tourism+geography=Tourismpotentialduetogeographicdiversity
b. Tourism+economics=Tourismasaneconomicactivity
c. Tourism+history=Importanceofhistoricalplacesfortourism
d. Tourism+Medicalscience=Medicaltourism
e. Tourism+Internationalrelations=Easeofgettingtouristvisaetc.
3. Onceyouhaveenoughnumberofpoints,thentheyshouldbeputinapropersequenceso
thatthereisanaturalflowtotheessay.
4. Finallyintheremainingtime,yourjobisjusttoexpandallthesepointsinlucidmanner.

Itisnotnecessarytouseflowerylanguageinessay.Languagecanbesimplebutyoushouldbeableto
conveyyourideaproperly.Ifyoucoverwiderangeoftopicsinyouressay,thatwillfetchmoremarks.
Ifyouarediscussingsomeproblems,thenalsowriteaboutpossiblesolutions.Alwaystrytobe
optimisticintheessay.

Ihaveuploadedsomeessaysatthislink
https://goo.gl/sBJ6wL

OPTIONALSUBJECTPREPARATION

CHOOSINGTHEOPTIONAL

Myoptionalsubjectwasmathematics.Aspirantshouldconsiderfollowingthingswhiledecidingon
theoptionalsubject:

1. Itisdesirableifyouhavesomegenuineinterestinthesubject.Youwillbestudyingthat
subjectindepthandifyouhavesomeoriginalinclinationitwillcertainlyhelp.Ifyouare
comfortablewithyourgraduationsubject,thengoforthatoptionalasyouwillsave
considerabletimethatway.
2. GothroughthesyllabusandpreviousyearsUPSCpapersofthatoptional.Itcangiveyou
someideaaboutthesubject.
3. Talktocandidateswhoarealreadypreparingwiththatsubject.Theycantellyouaboutthe
trendintheperformanceofthatoptionalinpastfewyears.
4. Checktheblogsofselectedcandidateswhohadthatoptional.Findoutaboutavailabilityof
goodreferencebooks/material.

Theoptionalscorecanmakeorbreakyourresultandhenceitshouldbechosenaftercarefulanalysis.

WHYMATHEMATICS

ItisveryimportantforaUPSCaspiranttohavegenuineinterestinmathematicsifhe/shewantsto
choosethisoptional.MathsusedtobemyfavouritesubjectinschoolandinIITBalsoIhadpursued
additionalcoursesinmathematicsoutofinterest.Sincethesyllabusislarge&requiresconsiderable
practice,itisnecessarytohaveagenuineinterest.

Apartfrommyinherentinclination,thisoptionalofferscertainadvantageswhichmadeitanobvious
choice.Inthisoptional,themarksyougetarealmostproportionaltoyourefforts.Withproperhard
work,acandidatecancomfortablyattemptallthequestionsinexamandexpecttoscorearound50%
marksevenafterheavyscalingwhichcanofferthenecessaryedgeinthisintensecompetition.Such
candidategenerallywouldnotfindanyquestionsurprisinginmains.Thiskindofcertaintyisnot
presentinhumanitiesoptionals.

THESYLLABUS

Theprescribedsyllabusformathsisquitelargewhichmakesitnecessarytosticktolimitedsources.I
reliedonnotesprovidedatIMSforcoveringthesyllabus.Sincethesenoteswereverycomprehensive,
Ididn'thavetospendtimescanningreferencebooksforrelevantmaterial.InitiallyIwouldunderline
importanttheorems,formulae,resultsmentionedinthenotes.ThenIusedtocompilethemina
notebookandthiswasusefulforrevision.SoeventuallyIhadanotebookwithjustthecruxofthe
matter.Iwouldadviseallcandidateswithmathsoptionaltopreparesuchasummaryforalltopics.

Duetolargesyllabus,thereisanaturaltendencytoskipafewchapters.Butforthesakeof
compulsoryquestions,itisnecessarytoknowatleastbasicsofeachchapter.Thephysicsrelated
chaptersofstatics,dynamics,mechanicsaregenerallyleftuntouchedwhilepreparingmathsoptional.
Regardingthesechapters,mypreparationwassuchthatIwouldbeabletosolvethecompulsory10
markquestions.Theyarequitemanageableonceyouknowthebasictheoryandthereisnopointin
unnecessarilylosingmarks.Therealanalysis/calculus&modernalgebrachaptersaretimeconsuming
butcandidatescan'taffordtoskipthem.

Ihaveuploadedmymathematicsnotesatthislink
https://goo.gl/ugRyAF

PRACTICE

Justknowingtheoryisnotenough.Itneedstobeaccompaniedbyconsistentproblemsolving
practice.Itisbesttosolvequestionsthathavealreadybeenaskedinmains.Ifsomeproblemseems
verynonintuitive,itwouldhelpifthetricktosolvesuchproblemiswritteninyournotebook.

TESTSERIES

Testseriesisveryimportantforthisoptional.IhadjoinedIMStestserieswhichhelpedmein
identifyingmyweakareas.InbothCSEandIFoSmains,thereweremanyquestionssimilartothose
coveredinIMStestseries.

Withenoughpractice,acandidatecanachievetheabilitytocompletethemathspaperin3hours.Itis
importanttoassessyourperformanceaftereachtest.Necessarystepsshouldbetakentorectify
commonmistakesthatyouarecommittinginthetestseries.Youshouldbealertnottorepeatthe
samemistakesagain&again.Asyourperformanceimproveswitheverytest,theactualmainspaper
willseemjustlikeanyothertest&youwillbeabletocomfortablycompleteit.

Presentationofyouranswermattersalot.Youraimshouldbetomakeexaminer'slifeaseasyas
possiblesothathe/shewillawardyoumaximummarks.Onlythefinalanswerdoesn'tmatter.Writing
properstepsisalsoimportanttoshowthelogicalflowwithwhichyouarrivedatthesolution.
Specificallymentionwhichevertheoremorpropertyyouareusinginaparticularstep.Wherever
possible,drawneatdiagramswithproperlabelling.Suchsmallthingswillcollectivelyfetchyouthe
extramarksthatyouareexpectingfromthisoptional.

Thehabitofwritingsuchdetailedanswerswillnotdevelopovernightandhenceyouhaveto
consciouslyworkthroughthetestseriesinthisdirection.

Ihaveuploadedasamplemathsanswersheetatthislink
https://goo.gl/Fe2Kgh

DURINGMAINEXAM

ThemainsexamscheduledoesnotprovidemuchgapbetweenGeneralStudies&Mathspapers.You
willgenerallyhave1dayinbetween.Yournotebookcontainingimportantformulae&theoremswill
beveryusefulatsuchtimes.Youwillbeabletogothroughthissummaryofeachchapteranditwill
providemuchneededconfidencebeforetheactualpaper.

Duringthemainexam,Iwouldadvisecompletingthecompulsoryquestions1&5first.Thenyoucan
choose3outofremaining6questions.Easierquestionslikethosefromtopicslikelinear
programming,numericalanalysis,linearalgebraetc.shouldbethepriority.Evenifyoudon'tknowthe
completeanswertoanyquestion,writeasmanystepsasyoucansincepartialmarksalsomatter.

Onceyoufinishpaper1,don'tstartimmediatelyanalyzingyourperformance.Irrespectiveofwhether
youareveryhappyordeeplyunsatisfiedaboutpaper1,trytoforgetaboutitandstaycalmforpaper
2.

MATHSRELATEDQUESTIONSININTERVIEW

Intheinterview,youcanexpectsomequestionsrelatedtomathematicsoptional.Generallyyou
won'tbeaskedtosolveaproblembecausethatabilityhasbeentestedinmains.Theywouldliketo
seewhetheryouhaveagenuinecuriosityregardingmathematicsoutsidewhatismentionedin
syllabus.Inmyinterviews,IwasaskedaboutRamanujan'swork.TherewerequestionsonVedic
Mathematics,NationalMathematicsDay,importantIndianMathematicalInstitutions,Fieldmedalist
ManjulaBhargavaetc.Hencewhilepreparingforinterview,trytobeawareaboutthese
nontheoreticalaspectsofmathsaswell.

SHIFTINGTODELHI
Ispenttwo&ahalfyearsinDelhiforUPSCpreparationandmanyaspirantsaskmewhetheritisreally
necessarytomovetoDelhi.MyopinionisthatitdependsentirelyonthecandidatewhetherDelhiis
theidealplaceforhimorher.Youshouldbeabletoadjusttoanewcity,newfood,newweather
whichisnotalwayseasy.PlaceslikeOldRajinderNagarputconsiderablefinancialburdenonthe
candidateifyoulookattherentetc.Youalsoneedtohavesomeselfdisciplinesothatyouusethe
freetimemainlyforyourpreparationandnotinotherunproductiveactivities.

Now,ifacandidateisabletomanageaboveaspectsthenDelhidoesprovideaconducive
environmentforasincereaspirant.Youcanfocusonyourpreparationawayfromotherdistractions.If
youfindagroupofsincerefriends/roommateslikeIwasluckyenoughtohave,thenitcanbereally
helpful.Suchgroupisusefulespeciallywhenyoudontrealisethatyouneedtomakeacourse
correctioninyourstrategy.

Ifacandidatecantshiftduetoanyreasonssuchasfinancialconstraints,pleasenotethatthereisno
disadvantageinitduetotheinternetnowadays.Alltheimportantbookscanbeordered,Hindu&
IndianExpresscanbesubscribedonline,testseriescanbeavailedthroughpostandyoucantryto
formagroupofsincereaspirantsinyourplaceitselffordiscussions.Nocoachingcanguarantee
successinthisexamsincemostofitdependsonyourselfstudy.Coachingclassjusthelpsin
maintainingsomemomentuminpreparationandhencecoachingshouldnotbethesolereasonfor
shifting.

Adecisioncanbemadetakingalltheabovepointsintoconsideration.

MAINTAININGPOSITIVEATTITUDE
AUPSCcandidategoesthroughmanyupsanddownsduringthepreparation.Therewillbeafewdays
whereyoudontfeellikestudyingandthatisfine.Butwhatisimportantisthathowquicklyyoucan
getoutofthatphaseandgetyourpreparationbackontrack.Dontdisconnectfromrestoftheworld
justbecauseyouarepreparingforUPSC.Stayintouchwithfamily,relatives,friendsasitisvery
helpfulinmaintainingacheerfulattitude.Butatthesametime,valueyourtimeanduseitjudiciously.
Ilikedwatchinglotofmovies/TVseriesandlisteningtomusicbeforestartingUPSCpreparation.
Duringthepreparation,Imayhavereducedthetimespentontheseactivitiesbutnevercompletely
stoppedthem.Iusedtojogdailyinanearbypark.Regularexercisehelpsindealingwiththestressof
thepreparation.

Lastbutnottheleast,alwayskeepremindingyourselfofwhyyouwanttojointhecivilservice.Aslong
asyouhavethathonestburningdesireinsideyou,youwillbeabletoovercomesuchtemporary
obstacles.

Allthebest!


DOWNLOADS
Linkofoverallfolder
https://goo.gl/ycCIbT

SampleGSanswersheets
https://goo.gl/xvh28v

Sampleessays
https://goo.gl/sBJ6wL

Notesonallmathematicstopics
https://goo.gl/ugRyAF

Samplemathsanswersheet
https://goo.gl/Fe2Kgh

CurrentAffairsNotesIndex
https://goo.gl/qFx5rp

SampleCurrentAffairsNotes
https://goo.gl/lfeisb