UPSC Preparation: Strategy for Geography optional provided by Isha Duhan AIR 59 (CSE 2013)

Geography optional has remained a favourite choice among UPSC aspirants for quite sometime. The average number of candidates who would be choosing Geography optional in the coming years based on the statistics of previous years is estimated to about 3000 or more. Some of the reasons which influence an IAS aspirant to chose Geography optional could be the following:

• Geography optional is logical and rational in nature and hence would demand a scientific approach which would benefit aspirants with a science background (or any aspirant with profound interest in science)
• Study material for Geography optional is easily available in the form of books and notes from coaching institutes.
• The syllabus of Geography optional overlaps with sections of General Studies Paper I and obliquely with General Studies Paper III which will help in covering a lot of themes for Mains Examination.
•  Geography optional provides great ambit for using diagrams during answer writing. (Diagrams are essential in answer writing as they reflect the extent to which an aspirant has understood his/her concepts thoroughly and convey more in an effective manner in limited time.)
• Geography optional can also come in handy while answering certain questions during the Personality test. 

 

In the video titled “UPSC Examinations: Strategy for Geography Optional by Isha Duhan IAS Preparation by Unacademy below, Ms. Isha Duhan, AIR 59 (CSE 2013) shares her tips on tackling Geography optional in UPSC preparation. Geography has been her favourite subject since school days and she believes that one can score well in the subject provided he/she has INTEREST and therefore, it is highly imperative to make a wise decision while choosing an optional. The video throws light on the sources to study from for Paper I and Paper II of Geography optional, the challenges one would face during Geography optional preparation and the necessary coping strategies and guidance on answering writing. 

 

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UPSC Preparation: Introduction to Art and Culture

The artforms and culture of a nation state reflect the aspects of its creative pursuit over the years. The cultural identity of India has contributed a lot to its global image as a soft power owing to the origin of various Indian cultural activities and artforms about 4500 ago. The beauty about Indian Art and Culture lies in the amalgamation of  the distinct cultural identies of all the 29 states.

 

The topic of Art and Culture has secured a lot of importance both in Prelims and Mains Examination of UPSC and it is necessary to familiarise oneself with the contents in order to delve deeper and develop interest. The extensive portion of Art and Culture of India has been presented in a very simple format in the video titled “An Introduction to Art and Culture” below by  Dr. Roman Saini which gives a brief overview of various themes concerning the Art and Culture of India which includes Literature, Architecture, Painting, Dance forms, Classical Music etc.

Indian Literature could be classified into Religious literature and Non – Religious literature. Indian Architecture by itself constitutes six different styles of architecture owing to a number of cultural interactions with other sections of the world throughout history. Indian paintings have always had a story to narrate and there a number of them based on different eras and regions in India. There are eight Indian dance forms recognised by Sangeet Natak Akademi and each dance style is sophisticated in its own way. Indian Music consists of two major classical forms of music: Hindustani Music which originated in Northern India and Carnatic Music which finds its origins in Southern India. Do watch the awesome video below for further details.

The topics which will be covered in the upcoming videos will include a detailed explanation of the following concerning Indian Art and Culture: Architecture, Monuments, Festivals, Dance, Music, Sculpture, Crafts and Philosophy.  

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UPSC Preparation: Physics optional tips by Divyanshu Jha (AIR 9)

Name: Divyanshu Jha 
Rank:  AIR 9
Optional: Physics

The Original Choice

·       Physics has always been my first love, I enjoyed a great comfort level with the subject at the undergraduate level, taking its courses as electives during my time in college. Compared to my other optional, public administration, I was much more comfortable with Physics, its problems and derivations. While I had worked hard in Public Administration, I was always unsure of my depth of clarity and understanding, whereas in Physics, I was more sure footed. And despite the soul killing and colorless manner of  UPSC preparations (Physics as an area of research and inquiry is entirely different from Physics as an UPSC optional), it still helped that I had a subject I loved and helped maintain tempo and motivation during darker times.

·       As far as whether it was more scoring, or whether the subject syllabus was big, I always believed that whether UPSC awards a particular subject in a particular year or not is a matter of fate that is not in our hands and we shouldn’t be trying to second guess it all the time. Rather our choice should be dictated by the passion for that subject, and the comfort level because in the long terms those are the factors that help you keep going during times of adversity. Whether the subject does “good” or not shouldn’t be much of a concern, especially now when traditional subjects  like Geography and Public Administration are not doing so well.

·    The syllabus is certainly quite a bit but I was helped by the fact that I enjoyed studying from multiple sources as well as enjoyed studying the course content. And to be frank, a syllabus is only as big as we make them. If you intend to restrict yourself to coaching notes only, no syllabus is truly vast. Its only when you start referring to good, authentic academic sources that the study material seems intimidating.

The Preparation

·     Phase I – Focus on studying all the original source material, practising its derivations for the first time,  and making your own notes after referring to multiple books for the same topic. By the end of this phase, preferably by July/Aug, all your notes should be impeccably done and there shouldn’t be a need to go back to the source books except in special cases.

·      Phase II – The time for first revision and practising of problems. For one month, the first complete revision including writing full derivations for practice, going for weekly tests and revising all topics one by one should be done. One and a half months, focus should be on clarity in writing, meticulous descriptions as you would write in the exam hall, but not as much attention on time as yet. This phase is for accuracy and innovation in answer writing, not speed.

·    Phase III – Short second revision, where focus should be on writing within the space permitted and the time allowed. Use rough notebooks to the fullest extent, practising and revising long derivations as well as writing through problems from past years CSE and IFoS papers within 3 hour timelines.

·   Phase IV – Final revision, try making a short , concise 20-30 page summary of your entire syllabus that you will revise on the day before the examination. In this phase, also note down intermediate positions of long derivations that can serve as checkpoints, should you get stuck in the middle in some question in the exam.

The Exam

·     Answer writing skills are very important, and is now more crucial than ever given that there is limited space to write answers

·    Choose your questions carefully. Be sure about the 3 optional questions you can attempt from the 6 (besides the 2 compulsory questions). Though you cannot shuffle the questions around now, attempt them in an order that you are comfortable in. This will boost up your confidence.

·   Be very neat in your work. Don’t cross out or write illegibly. Presentation is paramount and a neat handwriting earns you the evaluator’s good wishes automatically.

·    Draw a diagram. Any diagram even if its not essential. It puts your paper in a different league and differentiates you from the rest. I used two pens(blue and black) to bring out the contrast in the diagrams and they looked very distinctive on the answer sheet.

·     Innovation – This is very tricky and a lot of work needs to go in for this to work out. For example, if a particular equations is derived , it would add value to the answer if you added a small insight on what the equation physically signifies. This is especially important in QM, Heat and Thermodynamics and Optics where equations often hide the physical significance of the phenomenon.

The Blogs

·     I followed a few blogs for guidance in physics by previous year’s toppers and I am grateful to them.

o   http://abhijeetagrawal.blogspot.in/

o   http://piedhornbill.blogspot.com/

o   http://kashishmittal.wordpress.com/

The Books

·         QM

o   Introduction to Quantum Mechanics by David J. Griffiths

o   Satyaprakash/ Ghatak and Longanathan

·         Atomic and Molecular Physics

o   Eisberg and resnick

o   Rajkumar

o   Banwell

·         Nuclear and particle physics

o   S B Patel/ D C Tayal

o   Pandya and yadav

o   Resnick and Eisberg

·         Solid state physics

o   Puri and babbar

o   Resnick and Eisberg

o   S O Pillai

·         Mechanics

o   Mechanics by D.S. Mathur

o   An Introduction to Mechanics by Kleppner and  Kolenkow

o   Classical Mechanics by Goldstein

o   Relativity Resnick, Satyaprakash

·         Waves and Optics

o   Ghatak

o   Hecht

·         Electrodynamics

o   D. J. Griffiths

o   Satyaprakash

·         Thermodynamics

o   Zemansky and Dittman

o   Sears and Salinger

o   Satyaprakash

·         Past years question papers of CSE and IFoS

Role of Coaching

·        I took the test series by Vajpayee Sir here in New Delhi. While there are enough resources in the market to prepare for physics optionals on one’s own, a test series is invaluable in understanding how to write answers in very little time. I personally feel that the weekly topic wise test series format helps one to structure their preparation accordingly and incentivizes a quicker, more detailed preparation by the students. Whether one should join the classroom course as well is a personal choice. I gave  up on the classroom course midway because I preferred to complete my preparations on my own first.

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UPSC Preparation: Management Optional tips by Nagendra Singh (AIR 120)

Name:     Nagendra Singh
Rank:      AIR 120 (CSE 2013)
Optional: Management 

 

1) Why did you choose this optional? Is it because scoring is easy, syllabus is less or you like to study it? 

A.This optional is logical and is a natural choice for management background students. Even though it has a vast syllabus (probably the biggest in my opinion), the questions asked in the paper are of easy to medium quality. Very few people take this due to long syllabus which reduces competition even though most of the competitors are from IIMs and similar pedigree institutes. If your basics of major subjects in Management like HR, Finance, Marketing, Operations are sound then you must definitely take this optional. 

2) What are the major study sources for this optional?

A. Your MBA books and class ppts are very essential and will form the base for your preparation. Secondly, IGNOU material by the Department of Management Studies is very important for you to handle UPSC level questions, these IGNOU booklets cover the syllabus well and can act as your personal notes for concepts/ theory in Management. Finally, don’t be shy in using the internet, it is your best friend in preparing for this optional.  You need to visit Regional centers or Delhi office of IGNOU for study material.

3) Role of coaching especially if taken by you 

 

A. Coaching institutes don’t promote this optional because it is not economically viable for them and as they don’t exactly have the intelligence level to teach this, we barely have sufficient quality faculty at IIMs let alone coaching. Don’t go for coaching even for GS, get material from shops in Old Rajinder Nagar for preparation. Most of them have no clue about how to teach with the new pattern and are making a fool out of poor students. 

 

4) What were the problems faced by you in your preparation for CSE?

A. I have prepared from my home, it is pure self-study with great help from the mighty Internet! Unlike you friends, nobody was there to guide me on where to get the material or IGNOU notes, it took me a while to find these resources. Also, first reading takes a lot of time and you will never ever be able to cover the entire syllabus properly. I relied on the faith that UPSC will not change its pattern of questions tremendously which they didn’t!  This paper is all about time management and choosing your preparation topics wisely, recommend everybody to go through last five years’ question papers (YOU MUST DO IT!)

5) How to frame the answers in this Paper? 

 

A. I strongly believe this optional is meant for smart workers. Both Papers need different strategies. Paper 1 is all theory where your prime focus should be on covering HR and Organization Behavior thoroughly along with either one of Marketing or Finance.  Try writing in points where ever possible and avoid using heavy language or Management jargons that are not in the syllabus. Stick to what is being asked and write only relevant things. Don’t worry about filling up spaces in answer sheet. If your answer is half a sheet, move on, your answer is complete, don’t worry about it because UPSC often asks simple and straightforward questions in this paper.

Paper 2 is pure application, here you need to cover Business Statistics, Operations Management and Strategic Management well. In case studies and numericals, use simple examples and the most basic models for analyzing the case. Practice time management on previous year papers as this paper is all about managing time! Identify the simple questions first in this paper and then go for the slightly tougher ones. Don’t be scared of the length of this paper, with ample practice you’ll happily complete it!

Also, whatever happens do not leave any question in both the Papers. Always try to have maximum attempt. Have faith in your MBA education, it will save you at many places and try covering the entire syllabus at least once through a simple reading so that you have a general idea about every topic.

Students can contact me on :

My Facebook profile - https://www.facebook.com/nagendra.iims or Email ID – nagendra.iims@gmail.com

Link for the blog - http://thesupermanreturns.wordpress.com/2014/07/09/upsc-management-optional/

Nice to see your effort to provide free guidance to budding aspirants, the coaching institutes have truly ruined many lives!

Cheers!

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Stress buster for UPSC CSE prelims 2015.

Are you worried sick with the changing pattern and not sure  how to approach it. I can easily relate to you as just 2 year ago I was also in the similar spot, when entire mains paper was revamped. Anyway, I hope that this write up helps you in streamlining your preparation and eliminating your stress.

Notification for UPSC prelims on 23rd August, 2015, mains and personality test is out. 2 important facts:

1. Notwithstanding anything contained in this rule, any candidate who appeared in the Civil Services Examination, 2011 but is otherwise ineligible for Civil Services Examination, 2015 due to attainment of upper age limit on the crucial date for examination prescribed under this rule, shall be permitted an additional attempt in the Civil Services Examination, 2015. 

In simple terms, if you gave the exam in 2011, you will be given an extra attempt this year, (i) if in 2011, you gave exam at age 28 (General) or 31 (OBC) or 33 (SC/ST) and are now ineligible because of age, or (ii) if you have exhausted your attempts (General/OBC).

2. The Commission will draw a list of candidates to be qualified for Civil Service (Main) Examination based on the criterion of minimum qualifying marks of 33% in General Studies Paper- II of Civil Services (Preliminary) Examination and total qualifying marks of General Studies Paper-I of Civil Services (Preliminary) Examination as may be determined by the Commission. 

It is written thrice in the notification that CSAT-2 is qualifying only with 33% or marks required to be eligible.

Now when it comes to strategy, we have to consider 2 scenarios.

1. CSAT-2 difficulty level remains the same. In this case, almost anyone can secure 33% marks. Many of my batchmates had a score of 90%+ and even those who are extremely poor in maths, logic, analysis and reading comprehension, can easily get 50%+ marks. So, your entire focus needs to be on GS (CSAT-1) and only an utterly idiotic personality will spend even a single waking hour preparing for CSAT-2. 

2. CSAT-2 is made extremely difficult (reaching at CAT level or beyond). Though this case is unlikely, but there is 5-10% probability of UPSC shifting to this trend. In this case, many of you will not be able to get even 33% marks and you will not be considered for the mains, though you might be getting 100% marks in CSAT-1. 

So, in next three months, please read CSAT-2 for 3 days each in June, July and August (9/90 days, 10% of preparation time) so that you are not caught off-guard just in case UPSC throws in the surprise punch. 

For rest 90% of your preparation time, you need to focus solely on GS prelims only (excluding answer writing practice, essay, world history, disaster management, international relations and ethics) especially on Environment and Ecology, Science and Technology, Art and Culture (you will get more than 50% questions in prelims from this section). For other details like book list, strategy, what to read, what to avoid and finally, how to prepare for prelims 2015 in its entirety, watch Demolish CSE 2015 video.

Post written by Roman Saini, follow on Twitter @RomanSaini