The Prelims - General Studies

 

Hey, here’s a reflection on my journey through Prelims since 2018. Over the years, I've had my fair share of ups and downs, but each attempt has taught me valuable lessons about preparation, perseverance, and balance.

At the broader level, Prelims syllabus is 5 core subjects which are History, Geography, Economy, Polity and Environment (HGEPE). In addition, we are supposed to read current affairs and have a look at Previous year questions. Solving PYQs is crucial to understand what kind of questions are asked, where are they asked from and how to answer them.

In my first attempt i.e., in 2018, I didn’t prepare enough. Though I knew what to read, where to read, I was not very serious in preparation. I prepared Economy, Polity and to some extent environment. I kind of managed Current affairs going through Vision monthly and yearly compilations. However, I haven’t focused enough on Geography, History and PYQs. This costed me dearly. All this resulted in poor confidence in attempting tests and like every first timer, I was too scared when I was about to write Prelims exam. This lack of thorough preparation led to poor confidence during the exam, and despite scoring well in CSAT, I fell short in GS. Learning from first attempt, I went all guns blazing at Geography, History and to some extent PYQs. I spent around 5 months exclusively on Prelims. I read every standard book, read monthly compilations, and did some PYQs. I wrote test series and was always just above the cut off scores. In the Preliminary examination of 2019, I managed to get exact cut off score (up to second decimal). However, my journey didn't end there, as I faced new challenges in the Mains examination.

I took a break in 2020 and my next attempt was in 2021. This time primary focus was on PYQs, and covering basics i.e., HGEPE. Since questions on current affairs became very random in 2019,2020, I chose Factly part of EPIC magazine of Forum IAS. Hardly 40 pages for a month made it easy to read and revise multiple times. Now that I got some experience in the exam, I started focusing on how to arrive at answers for unknown questions. This is what I call balanced risk, is important to get some comfortable score in Preliminary examination. Utilizing cumulative knowledge and common sense, I improved my ability to answer unknown questions. This level of answering could be arrived in earlier attempts as well, if you guys work on solving more PYQs.

I slowly improved my accuracy which also reduced the number of questions I attempt in the exam. Since 2021 paper was little on tougher side, I attempted only 77, however I scored higher than general cut off. This is because I made fewer mistakes compared to previous years. I cleared Prelims comfortably and went up to Interview, only to write this exam again.

The results of 2021 came in May 2022, just five days before the Prelims of 2022. After my interview, I half-heartedly started studying for Prelims. Again, same routine: covering basics, reading a small current affairs magazine, and solving PYQs. This time, it became difficult to read the standard books, so I relied on reverse engineering. I started by solving test series first and then went through standard books to revise areas where I had made mistakes. In the five days before Prelims, I tried to revise some areas where I generally make mistakes.

 The 2022 Prelims was again on the difficult side, as UPSC introduced a new model of asking questions which they mainstreamed in the Prelims of 2023. During the exam, I was too stressed as I didn’t want to flunk in Prelims after attending the UPSC interview in the 2021 exam. I focused on answering questions that I was very confident about and took calculated guesses. This time, I attempted even fewer questions, somewhere around 70 to 75 questions, but I cleared Prelims again.

However, I had to write the Prelims again in 2023, but this time it was different. I missed the final list of 2022 by just two marks. With a score of only 143 in the interview, I fell short of making it to the final list. I was deeply disheartened, especially since this happened just four days before the 2023 Prelims examination. I found myself lacking both the time and the motivation to prepare for the next Prelims.

Despite the emotional turmoil, I mustered the courage to appear for the 2023 Prelims. Drawing upon the years of preparation for Prelims, Mains, and interview, I managed to navigate through the Prelims successfully. To my surprise and delight, I achieved my best score yet, clearing both the civils and forest services cutoffs for the first time. This accomplishment culminated in securing the 444th rank.

What I read?

1. History – I relied on Spectrum for Modern India. While I didn’t delve deeply into Ancient and Medieval history, I referred to my class notes for confidence.
2. Art and Culture – I studied from Nitin Singhania's book and kept up with current affairs in this domain.
3. Geography – I used NCERTs and GC Leong for Geography. Additionally, Samajho learning YouTube videos were incredibly helpful in simplifying physical geography concepts for me.
4. Economy – For core concepts, I referred to Sankarganesan's book. For other areas, I relied on current affairs magazines, tests, and websites like Investopedia.
5. Polity – Laxmikanth's book was my go-to resource for Polity.
6. Environment – Shankar’s Environment book served as my primary resource along with staying updated with current affairs.
7. Current Affairs – I regularly followed Factly and Pointly sections of ForumIAS EPIC Magazine.
8. Test Series – Vision sectional and full tests. Forum Simulator tests.

What I did?

1. Read the basics HGEPE. Around 35-40 (sometimes 30 odd) easy to medium questions come from these areas. One should not make mistakes in these foundational areas.
2. Read any current affairs magazine, which is not very big. Try to revise multiple times. If possible, you can discuss current affairs with friends, like not more than 2 to 3 hours for monthly compilation.
3. Solve previous year questions, try to understand what’s the trick in the question. I’m not talking about elimination techniques. We can identify what UPSC is expecting us to know in a question. The knowledge of the same could be used. And yes, some questions would repeat, though not directly. Sometimes, the options from a PYQ can become a question in subsequent years. Therefore, try to solve at least last 7 years of PYQs and refer only to official UPSC key.
4. Next, if you are writing test series, try to do this. Don’t worry, if you are scoring less in test series. “The more you sweat in training, the less you bleed in battle.” Once you finish the test, try to dissect as much as you can. For example, I used to break the paper to attempted and not attempted. In not attempted category, I break it completely unknown and partially known or lacking conceptual clarity. In attempted category, I break it to correct and incorrect. In incorrect, I break it static and current affairs, blunders etc. in correct how many require more attention and how many correct by fluke. By breaking so deep, we can identify our areas of strength and weakness and therefore we can focus accordingly.
5. Always revise the mocks already given, and if required you can make a list of new things which you learnt from the test for easy revision. I used to do this.

What I learnt?

1. Never skip basics, revise multiple times, and always rely on PYQs.
2. The number of questions one should attend is a personal choice. In my initial attempts I attempted more as my accuracy was low (55-60 correct out 85 questions). In my last attempt I attempted only 67 questions with more than 57 questions becoming correct. So, experiment and find what suits you!
3. Do NOT go with premeditated mind thinking I would solve these many questions, or I would prioritise questions from these areas. Instead, be dynamic and flexible in attempting the questions based on difficulty level of paper. 

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