Qualifying Prelims, the very first stage of the Civil Services Exam is far from being an easy task. Besides, the very fact that most of the IAS aspirants fail to qualify the qualifying Exam brings the need to prepare well for the Prelims in the foreground.
Why Should You Need A Strategy To Qualify The Qualifying Prelims Exam?
Well, given the fact that Prelims is a qualifying Exam, the majority of the IAS aspirants simply do not bother to prepare well for the same. They allow themselves to be influenced by a wrong notion that it would not be too hard to simply clear the Prelims.
Besides, why study too hard! That is to say, when the score is not going to be added in the final aggregate of the marks? And this is what proves to be their undoing!
What an IAS aspirant needs to understand is that if he does not qualify the Prelims, there is absolutely no scope for him to go ahead with the Mains. The Union Public Service Commission will simply not allow you to appear for the Stage II (the Mains) unless you clear the Stage I (the Prelims).
What Do The Past CSE Prelims Results Reveal?
Well, it would be a good idea to spare 5 minutes in order to throw a glance at the statistics for the Prelims results in the past. You are not likely to find the number of the successful candidates to be a very heartening one! Now compare the same with the huge figure for the candidates that had actually appeared for the Prelims. You may repeat the exercise studying the data for a few years.
What does that indicate! The noticeably visible difference in between the huge numbers applying for the Prelims and those who actually clear it drive the point back home that an IAS aspirant should never make the mistake of treating the Prelims lightly.
And that explains why do you need a strategy to qualify the Qualifying Exam?
What Does It Take To Crack The Prelims Within One Go!
As already stated above, not all the candidates are able to crack the Prelims. And the number of the successful candidates does drive a few points back home including that:
- The Prelims needs to be prepared well for as UPSC employs the Stage I to select the candidates that are to be allowed to go ahead with Stage II
- The competition is what that can be termed as hardest of the hard for out of the lakhs of the candidates applying for the Civil Services Exam, only a few clear the Stage I.
Certainly, the successful candidates do have a few qualities that put them a class apart from the rest of the competition. They clear the Prelims because of their time management skills, unwavering focus, and adherence to the daily routine.
How To Strategize Your Preparation To Clear The Prelims?
Strategizing well to clear the Prelims is simply indispensable. Here are a few of the factors that should be considered well if you are keen on qualifying the Prelims successfully.
1. Time Management Skills
UPSC prescribes the syllabus for the Civil Services Exam in great detail. And that requires you to manage your time in a manner so that you can complete reading all that is covered by the syllabus before the impending Civil Services Exam.
And the point to be noted is that when you prepare for an Exam, you need time not only to study well what the syllabus prescribes, but also for a number of inter-related activities.
You would need sufficient time for:
- Studying for the entire syllabus
- Getting the queries solved
- Solving the Test Series
- Attempting the Mock Tests
- Attending the Mock Interviews And
- Making revisions, etc.
Needless to say, there is a lot that is to be accomplished if you aim at preparing well for the Civil Services Exam. As a result, it would be in the best of your interests to chart out a time table and adhere to the same.
2. What Should You Study?
The Papers that you have to prepare for in order to clear the Civil Services Exam require you to read various subjects. Besides, the perspectives involved also differ depending on which stage of the CSE you are preparing for.
For example, it would require a different perspective and orientation to prepare for the General Studies for the Prelims than what is required to prepare for the four GS Papers for the Mains. Similarly, your preparation for the Current Affairs also requires different perspectives when it comes to prepare for the same for all the three stages of the CSE including the Prelims, Mains and the Interview.
3. Get Yourself Enrolled At A Competent IAS Coaching Institution
It does help a lot if you get yourself enrolled at an IAS coaching institution. Even if, you are keen on self-study, it does help considerably when you are being guided well at a competent IAS coaching academy.
It is the IAS coaching academy that takes a lot of pressure off your mind by taking care of:
- The study material
- Test Series
- Mock Tests
- Query solving sessions
- Mentorship
- Mock interview sessions, etc.
Besides, you would be taught by the expert and experienced faculty getting all the guidance that you need in order to prepare for the Civil Services Exam.
4. Revise Frequently To Strive Towards Perfection
Revising and revising frequently is a practice that would always help make all the competition lags behind. And the Prelims, Civil Services Exam forms no exception.
5. Keep Anxiety At Bay
Nobody can prepare for any Exam in a successful manner unless and until his mind is thoroughly relaxed. It is best to keep the anxiety at bay and simply focus on the preparation for the Exam.
Finally, do not leave any of your queries unsolved. Whenever there are any doubts, seek guidance from the faculty concerned. And it goes a long way to stay fit and fine so that you may prepare well and qualify the Prelims without feeling unnerved in any manner.
