How to start IAS preparation: The Beginner’s Guide
1. Carefully read the Syllabus
One of the main reasons why students go far and wide while studying for the UPSC is that they ignore the curriculum. You don’t require a lot of expertise or a lot of understanding. UPSC requires employees who are generalists rather than specialists. You’ll be able to focus your preparation on the things that matter if you stick to the syllabus and understand exactly what they expect.
Furthermore, each subject has dynamic components, some more than others, so knowing the syllabus will aid you in selecting the appropriate news and putting a stop to your current affairs preparation. Current events can be overwhelming on their own, but when you combine them with the syllabus and last year’s questions, you won’t have any trouble deciding what news to read.
2. Get into the habit of being the planner.
Planning should be one of your strong suits as an IAS official. Put that ability to the test right away by devising a plan to follow for the next year. For this work, do not rely on coaching institutes; remember, you are the greatest judge of yourself. Plan your study so that you can maximise your output. Once you grasp the exam’s syllabus and format, this should be simple. You can get ideas from other toppers, but make adjustments to fit your individuality.
3. Reduce the number of sources
There are numerous publications available for UPSC newcomers, as well as a wealth of study material for this coveted test. As a result, locating the most trustworthy, original, and complete source becomes a difficult endeavour. The recommendation here is to skim through the books mentioned by others and then pick the ones that appeal to you the most. Do not purchase books online until you have physically read them and determined that they will be useful in your preparation. There is no substitute for NCERTs, no matter whatever supplemental books you use. Always begin with them and work your way up from there.
4. Keep your notes until last.
Do not start taking notes as soon as you begin a new subject. Apart from the NCERT, consult at least 1–2 other sources, underline key aspects as you read, and then consolidate them into notes. Many people make the error of taking historical notes solely from the old NCERT and reference books like R.S Sharma, Bipin Chandra, and others, only to learn later that the Tamil Nadu NCERTs and other books also contain a wealth of significant material. As a result, he or she will have to rewrite all of their notes. Make the most of your time by taking detailed notes, as this is what you will be referring to throughout the final months of your preparation. You won’t have time to read all of the books at this point, so make a list of everything that’s relevant in your notes.
5. Make it a habit to revise.
When you start learning, you’ll notice that even the most basic topics have a wealth of information. You tend to forget the old as you read more. As a result, before acquiring fresh information on a topic, make it a point to review the previous day’s notes. It will take you less time to revise every day than it will to finish an entire topic and then read it again.
6. A solid foundation is essential.
There will be many occasions during your preparation when you would wish that you had paid more attention in school! For those who did, the preparation gets easier because they only need to add to it rather than start from scratch. There are numerous issues that one may encounter, and for which one only must learn the advanced portions. But don’t give up if your ideas aren’t obvious
How can Believers help in your journey?
BELIEVERS IAS Academy is one of the premier institutes in training the aspirants for UPSC CSE and has a well-structured strategy for the students. As mentioned earlier every individual will have his/her own strengths, so every student needs individual care and attention to make their preparation easier. Here at Believers, the main objective is to train the students on a micro level and deliver results. It is for this reason that the batch strength is restricted to 25 students per batch. Apart from this, every student will be assigned to a mentor, the mentorship programme will be held regularly and the student’s progress will be analysed thoroughly. It is through a mentorship programme that the student will get to know where he/she stands.
The classroom programme begins with covering NCERTs just in order to strengthen the basic knowledge of the students. So, after becoming well versed with the basics for two months then the foundational course begins with an integrated approach towards prelims and mains coupled with regular prelims cum mains test series.
This process continues for the next 6–7 months, once the student completes this foundation course he/she will be put into another crash course before prelims along with an All India Mock Test Series. This will help the student in a great way in knowing about the exam before facing the UPSC CSE prelims.
Once the students get through prelims, he/she will not be left alone in the journey. He/she will continue the journey with Believers in the form of a crash course for mains along with a test series which will be analysed by the experts on a microscopic level, thereby moulding the answers of every individual student. This journey of three months is crucial for any aspirant because answer writing skill is of utmost necessary for the student, any student who has completed the foundation course in Believers will not find it difficult because he/she would have practised at least a thousand answers in their test series and daily answer writing practice at Believers.
Now, comes the most important phase of the aspirant which is the Personality Test. Believers IAS Academy has designed a unique methodology for helping the students to get trained for the Personality Test. This consists of 9 mock interviews in total in which four interviews will be the normal kind where the student will be questioned by the panel members. Whereas the five interviews is a one-of-a-kind methodology, where every information of the student will be gathered along with the optional subject which he/she has chosen and a relevant set of officers who have cleared the exam and serving as officers will be invited as panel members and the student gets the opportunity to question them and get all their doubts cleared.
This holistic approach toward UPSC CSE will make sure that the candidate will be completely equipped to face the exam and get through with flying colours.
