UPSC Prelims 2015: Don’t miss out these last minute

No matter how long and how hard you prepare for an exam, the preparation in the last few days are considered very critical to be successful in any exam. When you are appearing for IAS Prelims, the last few days becomes even more crucial. Locked yourself up if required but give your best shot, it’s like speeding up in the last few yards before reaching the race line. You have to pull yourself together and speed up, to become a winner. If you are getting ready for the Prelims race, here are few last minute tips for Civil Services Prelims exam: How to plan for IAS Prelims when you have less than a month? Planning your study is even more important when you have less than a month before the IAS exam date i.e. 23^rd August, 2015. The IAS Syllabus is huge and you cannot afford to revisit the entire syllabus just before the exam. Go through important topics from examination point of view in both CSAT Paper I - General Studies and Paper II - Aptitude test. IAS Prelims Paper I -- General Studies -- Important topics

1. Keep a note on all important events that took place in social, economic, development, polity, governance, employment, regulations front for at least a year before the exam. Cover all happenings in India and around the globe.
2. Pay close attention to environment policies, ecology and environment based topics. In recent times, environmental issues have been hitting headlines and attracting attention from global leaders and people around the world. A good number of questions are asked from environment related topics in CSAT.
3. Read Ancient India, Freedom Movement of India, First & Second World Wars, all key Historical Movements in World History.
4.  Revisit all major topics in Geography, Constitution of India, Art & Culture, Sports, Literature and Social Development.

IAS Prelims Paper II -- Aptitude The CSAT Paper II is qualifying in nature and a minimum of 33% has to be secured to be eligible to appear for IAS Main exam. Having said that, it is nonetheless less important. The paper tests a candidate’s decision making ability, clarity of thoughts, analytical bend of mind and problem solving skills, it’s more subjective rather than objective. Here are few things you should remember while preparing for the IAS Prelims Aptitude test.

1. Solving comprehension questions every day is critical. Equally important is analyzing your answers. By this time, we consider you have enhance your comprehension skills by solving sample papers and reading a lot of stuffs. Comprehension ability cannot be build or improved in a matter of days, these few days you can just quickly analyze your answers and avoid committing those mistakes in the exam.
2. For the Quantitative Aptitude, Data Interpretation and Basic Numeracy, your basics should be 100% clear. Solve questions and analyze them to rectify your weakness. But don’t waste too much time in dealing with questions on a particular topic.
3. Decision making and problem solving skills cannot be excelled or learnt in a matter of days. You can read articles or materials on decision making and problem solving skills.
4. Logical Reasoning and Analytical Ability does requires a lot of practice. By now you must have learnt the short cuts to solve reasoning and analytical questions. As the exam is approaching, you can solve more of mock or sample papers within a set time. Also analyzing your answers is important to correct before the exam.

Additional tips Revise When exam is just round the corner, you cannot afford to lose time on learning totally new concepts. Revisit what you have read till now and try to gain total clarity of concepts and major themes of critical topics. Solve question papers This preparation tip is a must without saying. Set timer and take up previous years’ question papers. You already understood the pattern, now you should try to speed up without choosing the wrong answers. Speed up Speed is very important to crack the IAS exam. You need to be consciously aware of your speed and try to increase it. Always solve a mock paper within a set time, this needs to be done on a regular basis to enable you to answer more questions in less time. Avoid distractions Avoiding distractions would go a long way in helping you to score better. Pause your social media activities for sometimes until the exam is over. Try not to waste too much time in sharing notes and doing group studies. Plan, study and focus on your exam rather than on anything else. Be confident No amount of preparation would be enough if you don’t have confidence in your abilities to crack the exam. Be confident and feed your mind with positive and encouraging thoughts. Relax As the CSAT exam approaches, it is quite understandable to lose appetite and get all anxious. But you will need to calm down your mind and anxiety. Try out meditation for few minutes after 2-3 hours of study. There is no point of rushing up and studying day-and-night before the exam. At all cost maintain balance and relax, the exam results will be more or less on your overall preparation. Sleep Make it a habit of sleeping at least 7-8 hours a day. Without proper rest you cannot function well and stay mentally alert. Your body and mind needs a good amount of sleep to keep loading information and solve questions. Keep up your spirit and enthusiasm for the upcoming IAS Prelims exam. Make the most of the remaining days to crack the exam. Whatever maybe the case, don’t lose your hope and continue putting your efforts.                                           All the very best!