upsc-exams/upsc-exam-india-civil-services-ias-time-management-faq.

UPSC- Civil Services Exam- Time Management

I am working and not finding enough time to prepare. Tell me the proper time management and right strategy.

The time management is a real problem for most of the aspirants. When you are working, on working days you have to study atleast 3-4 hours per day. You have to stick to it on holidays, you have to study atleast 10-12 hours. In these preparatory period you have to forego some entertainment. you have to follow some time table and lead a disciplined life. Each and every minute is to be used properly. should not waste even a single minute. Always carry a book on notes with you Wherever you go. If you are a travelling person, read it in a bus. If you have to wait for some one in the office, use that time also. Even office break hours should be utilized effectively.

What strategy should I follow? Should I focus more on my optionals to get good rank?

Please don't fall in this trap especially during your mains. During the prelims it pays to divide more time to your optional due to the following reasons. The high weightage of the optionals (300 marks) compared to the GS, which is of 150 marks. The exhaustive nature of the GS syllabus as compared to the well-defined syllabus of the optional. During mains one should devote equal time to both the optionals as well as GS.

It is evident that success in IAS it needs hard work. I am keen to know what kind of marathon is needed to sit for long hours.

You are right. It is really a marathon race for the aspirant. The reality of the Civil Services Exam is not known to many of us. It is also mystery for most of the Indians. If you read the section "SECRET OF SUCCESS" in the civilservicesanalyst.com, which will give the reality also.

The UPSC receives about 3 lakh applications for the Preliminary and only 50% of them appear in the exam. Among this lot 25% of them will be really serious about the exam. !0% of them are really hard working serious contenders. Total number of posts are around 400 only. Among this 80 seats( It varies from year to year) are IAS. Now, you can realize the competition.

Out of 1.5 lakh Prelims aspirants, around 4000 are selected for the mains. Out of this lot only 800 are selected for the Interview. From this only 400 are recommended for the Services. Then the services are allocated based on the rank and their preference given during the Main Exam.

This above facts must have given a fair idea about the selection procedure invoved in the Civil Services. So Civil Services Exam is a running race with different hurdles. One has to cross all these to get in to IAS One has to put hard work and extra hard work. From the date of notification, it is 18 months process to get the final out put. This is applicable only for those who clears the exam in one attempt. If the success postponed in one year means, another one year hard work. One has to maintain the tempo of hard work and patience till the SUCCESS is achieved.

I want to know that what is the optimal time required for preparing for CSE?

There is no optimal time for the preparation of the Civil Service Exams (CSE). Every individual has his /her talent, limitations and other barriers. There are students who have the capacity to read a subject within a short period. The same subject needs more time for other students. The time frame is also a subjective one. As the study/reading has different connotations, there is qualitative and quantitative study involved in the Civil Services preparations.

If you go through the previous years' questions and answers, it will give an idea about your standing in the subject. If you follow the strategy given by us on many websites, which will also give a measurable scale about your capability and where you stand. So the time frame for the preparations varies from individual to individual. Thus, you are the best judge to decide on the time frame for your study.

There are instances of students preparing for hours together for two to three years and still failing in the exam. But there are others who used to study for 6 to 8 hours a day for just one year and are successful. This is because of their own talent, basic knowledge, intelligent study, proper strategy, reading appropriate books and other factors. However, the factor which comes above everything is hard work in the right direction.

I am MCA from NIT, my age is-24 and now working in WIPRO tech. Generally I have to work for 12 hrs a day. But I am very much serious to join civil services. I can give utmost 3 hrs for preparation every day. Please give your feedback whether this much time is sufficient? Kindly suggest how much time, in your opinion is required to crack IAS?

Success in CSE depends on so many factors. If your basic education is really good, three hours per day is also good. At the same time, you have to capitalize on your holidays, or whatever little free time you have at your disposal. Once you have decided to crack civil services, you have to forego so many other forms of entertainment, which normally attract you at this stage. If you use your working days 3 hours and holidays fully, it is enough in the first instance. But you have to take at least one month leave before prelims and three months leave before mains. Get hold of proper and standard books for all the subjects and put in hard work. It will yield definite results.

There are about 90% aspirants, who prepare 24 hours of the day. The Civil Services competition is a running race, not a university exam. Keep this in mind and work for it. One cannot give an exact answer to how many hours of preparation is needed for this exam. It varies from individual to individual and optional to optional and scores of other factors. Luck of course, too, has its own role to play.

What Should be the time allocation for prelims of both G.S and optional?

One should calculate the total time availability at his/her disposal. Working persons should do the calculation for both the working days and holidays.

One should not study for too many hours continuously at one go. This will reduce the memory power also. The human brain also get tired after some mental work. When a person start preparing/studying a subject, the memory shoots up from the base to the maximum in few minutes. This memory plateau remains in the top form for an hour.( It varies from person to person). Then it starts to recede. If there is a break after the MENTAL FATIGUE the mind gets ready to accept new items. So, intelligent students would mix the subjects to break the monotony. Every individual has some SUPER MEMORY time in a day and this time should be used for the most important subjects, which needs to be discovered by the person only. One should devote more time ( double than GS)to the optional as it contributes 2/3 of the total marks. One more thing, one can not improve the GS drastically in short period of time.

How to read newspapers and Magazine to take maximum advantage in the least time?

Most of the aspirants are confused about the newspaper reading and other magazines. It is really an art. It has to be practiced. Very important is what to read and what not to read. Other important item is, what is really a news, and what not. Civil Services aspirants are not journalists to get the real news.

To solve this problem go through the article "HOW TO READ A NEWSPAPER" and "HOW TO GLANCE THROUGH A NEWSPAPER" in the www.threeauthors.com .

Regarding the memory point of view you can take small notes, but the same thing should not take more than 30-40 minutes in a day. To recollect the same before the exams, you can follow some competitive magazine, which are exclusively meant for the Civil Services Exams. There are books on current affairs also published ( Normally released just before the exam) by various publishing houses in India targeting the Civil Services Prelims and Mains.

I would like to know how to go about reading newspapers for general studies? Please suggest me what to read and what are the sections I should concentrate on?
1.One Should concentrate on the main page, editorial and Open page.
2.One should be careful in selecting and reading News items.
3.During the preparation one should not waste too much time on Newspapers.
4.National Newspaper has its own way of putting stories. An experienced reader can differentiate between the news worthy and non news worthy stories.

I want to know whether the age limit will be reduced. If so then what happens to the old students

The age reduction is being debated at different levels. It may happen or may not happen. But there will be sufficient time frame so that all the stake holder's interests are taken care of. Whenever, Government comes with such a decision, normally there will be notification. There will be a deadline with sufficient time frame/gap. So, no need to worry about it. But the number of chances may go down for those who are in the late twenties. But every one will have a chance if they are in the old age group.

Arrange the following services chronologically according to their powers, facilities and prestige of IAS, IPS, IRS.IRTS, IRPS, IAAS, ICCES. IFS(Forest), IFS( Foreign), IRAS, ICAS etc.

The question is really subjective to many consideration. There are many factors involved. The choice and the priority also vary from individual to individual. It is like mathematical formula, where many factors involved such as Minus, Plus etc. These factors also vary from person to person. For example, one factor may be Plus point for him and the same may be negative for another person. It is the intertwining of different services under one umbrella called Government. Mostly, it is led by IAS. Railways another empire of their own, there no IAS at all. The Foreign Affairs run by IFS only. Other services integrated with one another. Normally people give their preference in this order IAS, IFS, IPS, IRS, IRTS, IAAS, IRPS after that it varies from year to year.

I hear from someone that there is no prescribed syllabus for IAS EXAMS. Is the syllabus only for reference? Does the question go beyond the syllabus in this exam.

• The syllabus is prescribed by UPSC. For any exam, there will be some syllabus ie we have to draw some line.

• Civil services exam is not an University exam, there only pass or fail is important. Civil services exam is a competitive exam, ie it is a running race. Who will come first, will be selected.

• In UPSC, questions are not asked directly like University exams, it is more than that. UPSC tests not only candidate's grasping power but also getting inference, correlating subjects, analytical capacity and more.

• Whoever told must have seen the question, which is not direct. The questions are very much from the prescribed syllabus and they are indirect. So syllabus is the same.

How many marks are needed in total (inclusive interview) to crack IAS exam. I know, it differ from subject to subject but I want a general idea. Which is the best optional combination for sure success?

• It is above 60% marks. Normally, if one scores about 1400 / 2300 he / she definitely gets IAS even tops the list.

• There is not best optional combination for ever. The trend also changes every year. To get a great success, one has to perform well in all subjects.

• Normal combinations in recent years are

• Geography + Psychology, medical science + Psychology, Public Administration + Geography, Agriculture +Geography, medical science + Anthropology. The list goes on.

• To understand the reality, please read the Column "SECRET OF SUCCESS" in the site www.threeauthors.com .

I would like to know that if I clear the prelims, but am not able to clear the mains, do I have give the prelims again in my second attempt, or is it only the main?

You have to write Prelims again in the next attempt. Even if one fails in the start - i.e from the prelims, one has to sit for Prelims in the next attempt. So every attempt is a fresh one in this exam.

Is it necessary to submit degree certificates while applying for preliminary itself?

There is no need to submit the degree certificate at the prelims stage. You have to just fill the application in the preliminary stage. You have to submit the photocopies of the eligibility and other supporting certificates at the Mains stage. You have to show your original certificates only at the stage of the personality test. UPSC will verify the original documents and return them before the interview. You need not carry any certificates to the interview board.

Are there any penalty marks in CSE. How is it imposed and for what mistakes? Please explain.

Yes. There are .33 negative marks per one mark in CSE at preliminary stage of the examination, if the question is wrong.

How is it that SC/ST candidates have achieved ranking with general candidates? I thought all were given last few ranks in the list.

Reservation starts from the Prelims and it is carried forward till the Interview. The 15% and 7.5% reservation for SCs/STs is available at all the stages. If someone clears the Prelims with /reservation, he/she will be considered as a reserved candidate even they top the list in the final result. If a person from the 'reserved' category clears the exam in the General category in the Prelims and he/she carry forward till the Interview with the same status, then he/she will be considered from the General Category. The same person can avail of reservation in cadre allotment etc also.

What is the age limit for a Muslim candidate?

Age relaxation is based on Community and not by the Religion. Please go through the Model notification and Scheme of the Examination for more details.

This is my first attempt. I have been reading interviews of few toppers, I see that most of them take 2-4 attempts to achieve their target. Do they prepare for so many years in a row, or do they find a job after the first attempt and then try their luck with gained knowledge from earlier preparations.

There are toppers who clear their exams in the first attempt itself. About 10% candidates qualify the exams in the first attempt itself. If we talk the total qualification about 28% of successful candidates clear the exam in their 3rd attempt . As far as, preparation during the job is concern, there are aspirants do work in a firm / govt. and prepare for the exams simultaneously.