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how to start studying for upsc without coaching?


prernadhalla21 30th Aug, 2021
Answers (3)
Aditi amrendra Student Expert 30th Aug, 2021

Hello,

Firstly download the syllabus and go through it thoroughly and by going through it i mean to say that you will have to remember it by heart because remembering syllabus is the most important thing.

Then start with reading newspaper. Don't take pressure to complete reading newspaper in any fixed time, just start with ease and get comfortable.

Buy all the NCERTs of class 6-12 and make a schedule and start reading them. Complete all the NCERTs in 3 months and then jump to standard books mentioned below.

Polity- Laxmikant

Environment - Shankar ias

Modern History - Spectrum

Art and Culture - Nitin Singhania

Ancient and medieval history  - Class 11th Tamil Nadu textbook

Georgraphy- GC Leong and class 11,12th ncert.

Once you will complete these books in 4 month with multiple revisions. Then choose your optional subject and start reading it and side by side start preparing for Mains topics for GS 1-4. After that 2 months before prelims,start giving tests and do revision of the tests.

I hope this helps.

ginnisachdeva02_9364270 Student Expert 30th Aug, 2021

Hi Aspirant!

First I would suggest you to check some previous year papers, these will help you know where you stand and how much work you need to do. Then make yourself familiar with the syllabus. Start with the topics which you find interesting and are important as well for the exam. Make your foundation strong. Next, start reading newspaper daily , make it a habit. Do not forget to make notes, it will help you during revision.

I would suggest you to make monthly and weekly targets and check properly if you have completed everything on time. For more tips, you can check out the link below:

UPSC IAS 2021 Study Plan - How to start, Self Study, Study Material (careers360.com)

Once, you are done with the complete syllabus, start revising and side by side write some previous year question papers again. Check you weak spots and try to improve them. For more information, visit here:

How to Prepare for UPSC IAS Without Coaching? - Preparation Tips & Guidelines (careers360.com)

Thankyou!

ADITYA KUMAR Student Expert 30th Aug, 2021

Hi

There are many who prepare for upsc and clear it without coaching as well, you can do the same, you just need to be dedicated and honest towards your preparation

Follow the below tips to prepare well for your UPSC  examination :-

-----------) To start your preparation  first of all understand the examination pattern and go well through  syllabus :-

>>>> Examination pattern :- UPSC examination has 3 stages listed below :-

  • prelims exam :- it is objective paper and is of qualifying nature , there are 2 papers in prelims

  • Mains exam. :- it is descriptive /written examination . There are a total of 9 papers in Mains examination

  • Interview :- After qualifying mains, you have to go through interview round, and it is more of test of your personality rather than knowledge.

To know exam pattern in detail visit :- https://competition.careers360.com/articles/upsc


>>>> syllabus :- In prelims, your paper 1 general studies  1 in which  you have History, Indian Polity, Geography, Environment, Current Affairs, Science and technology, etc. Your paper 2 in prelims is general studies II or CSAT in which you have reasoning, Maths, English, Hindi, etc. Similarly, you can check the complete syllabus of both prelims and mains at

https://competition.careers360.com/articles/upsc-ias-syllabus

---------) Top books which you can follow for UPSC examination preparation are listed below subject wise:-

HISTORY

*NCERT XI (Ancient & Medieval)

*NCERT XII (Modern Indian History)

*Facets of Indian Culture Spectrum

*From Plassey to Partition - A History of Modern India

Indian Art & Culture

*Indian Art & Culture - Nitin Singhania

Polity

*NCERT IX-XII

*Indian Polity M Laxmikanth

Geography

*NCERT VI X (Old Syllabus)

*NCERT XI, XII (New Syllabus)

*Certificate Physical Geography G C Leong

World Atlas

Economics

NCERT XI

*The Indian Economy Sanjiv Verma

*Indian Economy by Ramesh Singh

*Economic Development & Policies in India Jain & Ohri

Environment

*Class XII Biology (last 5 chapters)

*Environment by Shankar IAS Academy

International Relations

*NCERT XII (Contemporary World Politics)

*Current Affairs ( read newspaper )

To get the complete list of books go through

https://competition.careers360.com/articles/books-for-upsc-ias

----------) Discipline is the key to crack UPSC, so you need to make a routine/ time table and follow it .


----------)Read newspaper like the Hindu or Indian Express  and magazines like Yojana, Kurukshetra, Economic and Political Weekly  to keep yourself updated with the current events and issues.

----------) take short breaks in between your studies, studying continuously can be brain tiring and it becomes difficult to focus and study with concentration, so take breaks to relax and refresh your brain otherwise you won't be able to retain whatever you read.

-----------)Choose your optional subject wisely , choose the subject you have interest in.

----------)Make short notes for each subject, these will be your life saviour and will help you in your revisions a lot as syllabus is wide

----------)Set daily goals like I have to cover these many topics today, weekly goals like I have to  cover these chapters this week and practice their questions too, by the end of this week and similarly set monthly goals to cover the syllabus and meet them without any fail.

----------)Revise :- there's no point of preparing for the exam if you couldn't recall anything in the UPSC Examination so you should stress on revision as well.

----------) Your mains examination is in written, so you need to work your speed and also work on improving how to present the knowledge you have on paper, so answer writing practicing should be your priority

----------)Solve previous year question papers and mock test papers ;- You should solve these , it will give you idea of types of questions asked and their difficulty level and will help you a lot.

----------)Also work on your communication skills and personality development as it plays an important role in your interview round.

For more tips go through

https://competition.careers360.com/articles/how-prepare-for-upsc-ias


Thankyou

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