Crack UPSC in First Attempt
Individual’s ambitions and goals define their today, and today’s determination and skill define their tomorrow. Aspiring to crack one of India’s most fierce and cutthroat competitive exams – UPSC – and reach into the ranks of IS, IAS is a long ambition, let alone the determination and perseverance required for it.
So, is it possible to crack UPSC in first attempt? The answer is YES. Is one year enough for UPSC exam preparation? The Answer depends on the individual. According to the experts and educationists across the nation and the world, one year is indeed enough to prepare and crack the UPSC exam no matter how difficult the UPSC exam is, only if prepared strategically and religiously.
The UPSC exam, otherwise known as civil services exam, is a government exam conducted annually across the nation by the UPSC, Union Public Service Commission. Being an IAS officer is itself a privilege and esteem. The Aspirants who clear all the stages of examination qualify to become an officer in IAS, IPS, IFS, and other public service divisions.
Now the story is indeed intriguing, one that is a rollercoaster, and the ending is glorious, but it revolves around the same big question. Do you have the determination to be an IAS officer? Have you deciphered the strategy to crack the UPSC exam in the first attempt?
If not, then you are at the right article.
Here, we’ll not only discuss some of the most efficacious strategies to apply for your UPSC preparations but will also provide the Commonly Made Errors by most of the aspirants.
Stay glued to the article and crack the UPSC exam in the first attempt!
Before getting into the month wise preparation strategy for UPSC, the first and foremost thing to start with is UPSC Planner.
An aspirant must be aware of all the information, important dates, details, syllabus, marking scheme, exam pattern, and so forth.
The UPSC exam involves a long list of subjects, and their wide and deep understanding requires the complete syllabus knowledge. For IAS, there are nine subjects that you require to imbibe thoroughly.
1. Environment
2. Economics
3. Politics
4. History
5. Geography
6. International Relations
7. Internal Security
8. Ethics
9. S and T
Now, probably you must be thinking that rigorously consuming the books could make it all happen, but it won’t. You need this strategy anyhow to crack the UPSC in the first attempt.
Remember it wouldn’t take just the hard work and determination to crack UPSC, but a strategic planned schedule will also be required. The aspirants need to curate a timetable covering all the syllabus on hourly basis, leaving some room for revisions. Although an aspirant can have six attempts to clear the UPSC exam, we’ll focus on the first one only.
Now, let’s get started with preparation strategy for the one year you need to crack the UPSC exam, and will discuss in detail what strategy to apply to which month.
First Month – UPSC Strategy
For the first month, aspirants need to make reading the news a habit of their daily routine. General Knowledge is highly important, and one can get it done only with the help of newspapers and keeping track of current affairs.
Aspirants should invest their first month in understanding the paper, the stages of the exam and the pattern of the exam. Also, aspirants can take the glimpse of the exam paper through previous year papers and get themselves acquainted with experienced persons in the same domain.
Second to Fourth Month – UPSC Strategy
The aspirants should start going through general studies papers and other NCERT books. You don’t need to focus on one subject here but focus on all and equally. You must break the monotony here. You need to develop the long sitting and studying habit. All the efforts should be on developing interest and a comfortable studying environment. Here you can start with other subjects as well the current affairs and GS will continue till the end. A separate file should be for them whenever you feel tired, watch the video on UPSC.
Fifth to Ninth Month – UPSC Preparations
Now is the time to focus on the prelims exam, i.e., Paper-1. Start revising the entire syllabus religiously. Get help with mock tests and sample papers and solve them at least once a day. Give yourself a rough number, say 150-200, and reach this number in solving sample papers in these 5 months. Also refer to previous year question papers in this period and condition your brain for any surprises in the exam. And finally, the optional subjects should be the strongest area of the aspirants and therefore should go only for the strongest ones.
Tenth to Twelfth Month – UPSC Preparation
the most crucial and deciding of all the months, these 3 months should be spent practicing revising and most importantly, relaxing. YES, if you over-exhaust yourself both physically and mentally, all the preparations you have done so far will go in vain. That being said, you still need to invest at least 12 hours to study, anyhow.
The first of these three months should be given entirely to the syllabus. Complete it all, leave no stone unturned.
The other two months should be for revision and revision alone. Also, keep the general knowledge and current affairs handy and focus on your writing skills.
Post Mains UPSC Exam
Now, an aspirant is left with almost two months after giving the UPSC Exam, which should be spent honing communication skills and updating oneself with current affairs. One should also work on physical & mental fitness and reasoning power. Try mock interviews as well, they would help a lot. The personality test or the interview is all about dedication, behaviour, and conduct, so you need to work on these too.
Wrapping it Up!
The above-mentioned tips are curated by the educationists around the globe so follow them to crack UPSC in first attempt. No matter how difficult the UPSC exam is, you just need a strategic plan and its skilful execution to stand out as a winner.
