UPSC Aspirants: UPSC candidates face several challenges: test anxiety, fear of unemployment, fear of failure, lack of information, lack of guidance, and adequate resources to prepare for the test. But one of the biggest challenges students face is the choice they have to make: move to Delhi and study there or do self-paced work at home. This is a big decision and is often made without proper research. Today there are several options for UPSC coaching at home or online. However, students fear new paths and tend to stick to tried and tested paths even if they don’t feel comfortable or fruitful.
To pass the UPSC exam, it takes a lot of time and effort to understand the gigantic curriculum. Months are spent touching the tip of the iceberg in the curriculum for each subject. In most cases, people are unmotivated by the factors that go into preparation. Multiple attempts and reviews can be a daunting task that can leave an applicant disinterested and choose a different career path. Losing so many crucial years of life for UPSC exam preparation brings many future challenges in a candidate’s life. The fight is not only found during the preparation for UPSC, but also afterwards, if the candidate does not achieve fruitful results.
Understanding the problems of an aspiring candidate to become a civil servant and serve in the highest administrative services in the country is vitally important. Let’s see what common challenges arise during UPSC preparation and what a candidate can do about them:
1. Getting started
It is not easy for one person to understand the patterns and scoring scheme of the various jobs involved in the UPSC exam. It can be divided between different themes and themes. It is not child’s play to prepare so many exam subjects at the same time. The question of where and how to start occupies most aspirants for a long time before finding a plausible answer.
2. Number of papers to process
The UPSC test pattern is divided into two phases, preliminary and network. These phases have different qualifying and court exams in different subjects. Good preparation for all subjects and mastering all exams in a limited period of time is only possible with a lot of commitment and hard work.
3. Mammoth Syllabus
With the recommendations of so many UPC coaching institutions / platforms online and offline, one can feel overwhelmed by the curriculum. The candidate must thoroughly prepare the entire UPSC exam syllabus in order to get a job. You can prepare well when you have all of this in front of you at the touch of a button.
4. Lack of availability of mock tests of smaller units
There are almost no mock tests on subjects and topics. An applicant simply covers the curriculum without analysing her strengths and weaknesses that she has on the subject. Smaller practice units help assess the candidate’s knowledge; however, these are hardly available.
5. Time Requirement
For most candidates, passing the exam on the first try is a tedious task. This is not one of those tests that can be passed with half attempts or with distractions. While pursuing a full-time career or studying at university, applicants tend to become impatient to cope with the extensive UPSC exam curriculum and take the exam. However, this test is the opposite and seeks patience and perseverance. We encourage you to prepare well, review, practice using our subject / topic test tests, and then move on to the full tests. This not only saves time by not reviewing long texts on topics that you have not prepared during your test, but also gives you the confidence to learn and practice more and more topics.
6. Financial support
With the trend towards coaching centers and their massive publicity, a candidate is obliged to use coaching for IAS preparation. UPSC exam training is quirky and only available in certain cities. Sometimes applicants have to leave their home and receive great financial help to receive the training over a period of time. Training for the UPSC exam generally lasts 6 to 12 months. We recommend using the NCERT books and the Gold Standard books available for preparation. To practice, check out various affordable pricing plans to suit your needs.
7. Self-learning or coaching?
Candidates may be undecided whether to begin training or preparing themselves for UPSC. While some opt for coaching, others turn to self-learning. However, it is up to the candidate to find an effective way to study to be successful and work towards a bright future. Each person has a different way of learning to get an optimized learning graph. To do this, you need to find out what works best for you. Look back at your education and see how and when you did better. Try to follow the same.
8. Error handling
Multiple attempts at UPSC can demotivate a person to try again and again. Also, the exam is only taken once a year, so UPSC applicants will have to wait another year to try their luck. In addition, candidates cannot analyze their weaknesses that they are supposed to work on and such a large gap between attempts can lead them to forget about the topics at hand.
Keep reading positive books, articles, and blogs and try to stay positive. Read some of the stories from candidates who could be any of us who have overcome our hard work and perseverance.
9. Establish Schedule and Study plan
Program As mentioned above, UPSC’s curriculum seems to have no end. Creating a schedule to cover 230+ topics on different topics can be downright difficult. It is not enough to just cover the topics, as several revisions will be needed to memorize and understand the concepts. Your schedule doesn’t just need study or preparation time, it also needs time for practice tests. Without practice, you can never be sure if what you have learned is complete or not. So test yourself regularly. Include this in your schedule. This will help you set clear goals, test them on time, and be successful. Prepare a simple schedule and update it according to your performance and needs.
10. What if never happens?
The candidate must have a failover plan, a plan B to fall back on if they fail the UPSC exam after multiple attempts. This can be a business or a job, depending on the specialization and field of study. A backup plan does not show fear of failure, but rather the wisdom of being prepared for all the consequences. Therefore, it is advisable to have a backup plan.
11. Social pressures
At a young age, everyone from family to friends wants to see someone grow up and succeed in life. You have to deal with preparation, career, and the social pressures of marriage and adjustment. This can make a person feel anxious, impatient, and distracted. The candidate needs to empower the people around him to stay positive.
This can make a person feel anxious, impatient, and distracted. The candidate needs to empower the people around him to stay positive. Keep talking to your parents or teachers, whoever you trust can give you good, positive and fruitful advice without prejudice.
12. Mental stress
Sitting for hours on end is an almost impossible task for many students. Even after the breaks in between, learning remains stressful all day.
The size of the curriculum is also a major concern because a lot is studied in such a short time. All of this adds up, weighs on the mind, and leads to high levels of psychological stress. “Dealing with this mental stress is a problem” is a fairly common complaint from students.
13. Low confidence
Due to high levels of stress, lack of guidance, and financial problems, a large number of students show little self-confidence. This is demonstrated by the fact that there is a large proportion of applicants who pass the written exams but are rejected after the interviews.
14. Current Issues and Static Curriculum
Students seem very confused when choosing between Current Issues and Static Curriculum. Sure, both are very heavy and neither is “better” in the sense of the test; concentrating on one generally leads to neglect of the other. The optimal solution for this is to spend an hour or two a day on current affairs and the rest on static topics.
15. A Huge Syllabus
IAS Prelims GS Paper 1, consisting of Geography, History, Politics, Economics, Social Affairs, International Relations, etc. Geography: physical, social, economic, geography of India and the world, politics and governance of India, constitution, political system, Panchayati Raj, public order, legal issues, etc., economic and social development: sustainable development, poverty, Inclusion, Demographics, Social Sector Initiatives, etc., general questions on environmental ecology, biodiversity and climate change, requiring no specialized specialization, general science, with a focus on India and today.
16. Stop comparing yourself.
It is a natural phenomenon in public service exam preparation to give in to exam pressures and compare yourself to other candidates. Sure, it’s important to study enough hours, but it’s also important to keep a strong mindset and work at your own pace. By the time your prep journey begins, we’ll assume you already know it will be difficult.
