5 Questions You Need To Ask Before You Start Preparing For UPSC

Preparing For UPSC

The preparation for the civil service exam isn’t easy. After all, it’s a doorway to promising careers in the Indian administrative service and other reputed positions. So, every year, there are lakhs of people who attempt to ace the UPSC exam. But, the competition is huge as only a few hundreds of seats are available. Students must give themselves enough time to prepare thoroughly to maximize the chance of success. The exam takes place in three different stages. The preliminary stage contains objective-type MCQ. After clearing the first tier, students have to pass the mains exam that includes essay-type questions.

Lastly, there will be a personal interview round where the student’s overall characteristics and knowledge will be examined. So, pretty clearly, it’s not an easy process. But, with the right strategy and expertise in place, one can easily crack the exam within the first attempt. Unfortunately, there are a lot of doubts students have when preparing for UPSC for the first time. And they tend to waste a lot of time clearing those doubts. So, let’s take a look at the usual doubts or questions that students face when it comes to preparing for UPSC-

How Should You Prepare For UPSC?

Self-study will not suffice UPSC preparation. The sooner students realize this fact, the better it is for them. Otherwise, they will waste a lot of time. Ideally, the coaching center always prepares the students based on their years of knowledge, experience, and online study materials. The reputed centres preparing students for several years can best understand the UPSC pattern, strategy, and other essential factors. It doesn’t even require breaking one’s bank to enroll in these coaching centres, while the learning one receives is invaluable. But, students must know about UPSC coaching fees in Indore or other places before they enrol. 

When Should You Start Preparing?

This question often bothers the UPSC aspirants. Most of the students start preparing after filling out the applications. So, they tend to get minimal time to cover up the syllabus. But, ideally, students must prepare right after completing their graduation degree to pass the exam within the first attempt. Otherwise, it becomes difficult to cover the vast syllabus of the UPSC exam and revise them a couple of times. When students start preparing for the exam after filling out the application, they barely get a few months for preparation. In this case, the first two months are wasted in understanding the syllabus as it’s too vast. So, aspirants who desperately want to crack this exam should start the preparation through e-learning and enrol in coaching centres as early as possible. 

Which Subject Should You Keep As Optional?

For the UPSC mains exam, students need to choose two optional papers out of 27 choices. It’s essential to select these optional papers carefully because each of these papers will worth 250 marks. Also, the difficulty level of these optional papers is relatively high. Typically, it’s set to honours level. So, students should prepare efficiently enough to get qualifying marks in these two papers. It’s best to choose a subject in which the student has prior knowledge. Also, it should be suitable for scoring as well. Typically, the coaching centres always walk the students through the previous year’s papers to understand the pattern and difficulty level. It helps them to choose the ideal subject as per their proficiency. 

When Should You Join A Coaching?

One of the usual doubts that aspirants face when starting UPSC preparation is the best time to join coaching. A lot of students also feel that self-study will suffice. Hence, they delay enrolling in these coaching centres. But, ideally, it’s best to join a coaching centre as early as possible. It’s because these centres’ experts will help students figure out the right strategy to crack the exam. Coaching is valuable not only for the preliminary exam but also for the mains exam. So, students must use these coaching centres to supplement their efforts. First, however, one must take enough time in researching the ideal coaching centre that matches one’s unique study style. 

Which Stage Of UPSC Does Require More Preparation?

Well, it’s a familiar doubt that students face while preparing for UPSC. But, if anyone is attempting it for the first time, it’s best to prepare for all the stages with equal concentration, dedication, and energy. It’s because each of these stages has its unique difficulty level. So, students must not neglect any of these three stages while preparing for UPSC. 

Securing a job through UPSC is not going to be easy, as lakhs of students vying for the position. So, aspirants must make themselves qualified enough to crack the exam and secure a job in one of the highest departments of the government.