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Civil Service Exam Preparation in Just 2 Months – Best to Read Before You Start

CivilServices.com Team
Civil Service Exam Preparation, 2 Months

Civil Service Exam Preparation, 2 Months

This article discusses if the Civil Service Exam Preparation can be done in 2 months.

Civil Services Exam (CSE), conducted by the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC), is believed to be the most stringent exam in the country. Every individual who is interested in IAS Exam knows that preparing for Civil Services is the most challenging task and requires a lot of dedication, strategies and hard work to stay on track.

When the aspirants feel that it’s time, many enthusiasts ask for any possible way to crack the preliminary exam in two months. Cracking the UPSC IAS preliminary exam in two months is very hard and somewhat impossible for average students. However, one can make it if they are ready to make the commitment such as -devoting all the time for the preparations.

Many UPSC candidates might be wondering – whether or not it is possible to crack the UPSC exam in just 60 days. The answer is –YES if one devotes his/her time faithfully. Many talented people have done it before, and you can do it too! You just need to follow a well-strategized plan and work hard because nothing is impossible!

Note-  To Read more, click – Crack Civil Services IAS Exam.

Follow this well-strategized plan accordingly, to get the desired results:

1. Know the pattern for the UPSC IAS civil service exam

Before all, you must be aware of the UPSC IAS exam pattern. There are three stages for the IAS exam:

You have to crack the prelims exam to appear for the UPSC IAS Mains Exam. The Prelims consists of two papers – General Studies Paper I and General Studies Paper-II (which is more commonly known as the CSAT).

There are three types of MCQs in the UPSC IAS Prelims, they are as follows:

Note- Read in details about the UPSC CSE Exam.

2. Know the UPSC IAS Prelims Syllabus

  1. UPSC IAS Syllabus for General Studies Paper I
  2. Current events of national and international importance.
  3. History of India and Indian National Movement.
  4. Indian and the World’s Geography – Physical, Social, Economic Geography, etc.
  5. Indian Polity and Governance
  6. Economic and Social Development
  7. General issues on the Environmental Ecology, the Biodiversity and Climate Change

UPSC IAS Syllabus for CSAT:

Note : For UPSC Prelims GS Paper I syllabus, click on the UPSC CSE Syllabus

3. Go through the previous year question papers as part of your civil service exam preparation.

It is essential for one to go through the last year’s UPSC CSE question papers so that even with the time constraint, you will get a fair amount of understanding about the nature of questions asked by the UPSC. Also, USPC CSE doesn’t repeat questions, and this will help you prioritize your studies and to create a study plan accordingly.

Note- Get the previous year’s IAS question papers here

 4. Identify Your Strengths

Endeavouring the toughest exam in the country is a big deal. It requires the aspirants to understand their strengths and weaknesses to make the most out of these two months and to continue preparing with a positive attitude. Everyone will have a talent, like some can memorize facts in less time, etc.

Try to identify them with a personal SWOT Analysis. This will give you an in-depth understanding about where you are standing today and the steps you will need to reach towards your target goal.

Note- SWOT Analysis is an analysis of Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats.

5. Familiarize yourself with everything

Having a strong base with the facts and theoretical concepts alone will not help you when it comes to Civil Services. Candidates have to change their entire approach depending on the situation and question. To do this, they should know every aspect of the exam, including the format, nature and syllabus (regarding their desired post).

Due to time constraint, never ignore the basics because it will cost you a lot in the exam- to know the facts in the long term, you need to have a strong understanding of basic concepts. We suggest you familiarize yourself with the Civil Services exam pattern, approach towards CSAT and general awareness questions.

6. Plan your studies

Once you have decided to prepare for the Civil Services prelims exam in two months, the first thing to do is to organize/plan your studies accordingly. It’s always a great idea to start the preparation with the most comfortable exam or something you are familiar with like- paper-II Civil Services Aptitude Test (CSAT) because you are already familiar with some of the basics. It will hardly take three to four days to cover the theoretical concepts, which will also boost your confidence to start with. 

The syllabus for IAS Civil Services is like an ocean, and they’re always a better book or a well-detailed course, and just like that, there is no end to the preparations. Therefore, aspirants should work on perfection rather than merely covering the topics for the sake of preparing them. Give at least three days to each subject in the general awareness paper.

Note- For detailed UPSC Syllabus, click on – UPSC CSE Syllabus

7. Focus extensively on Prelims

We need to understand that clearing the IAS prelims will not make you an IAS Officer. You need to prepare for the mains exam, which will be followed by an interview.

Note- Understanding the main examination concepts parallels with the prelims is okay but do not waste so much time at this stage due to the time constraints. 

Many aspirants complain that they are not able to answer the questions because of vagueness. We suggest you concentrate only on the preliminary exam.

8. Give Importance to General Studies Paper-I

You all are aware that the general awareness paper is only considered for shortlisting the aspirants for the next stage of the selection process, i.e., the mains exam.

So the primary focus at the moment should be on general studies only. The CSAT paper is also a qualifying paper and four to five days of preparation is more than enough besides regular practice.

Note- Avoid reading books, as they will take more time- so instead focus on the notes and mock tests.

9. Development Plan for tackling GS Paper-I

Aspirants are required to start their preparation for the current affairs section. Afterwards, they can focus on history or politics depending upon their interest.

Put geography and economics in the middle of the preparation days because they require a lot of preparation, to begin with. So while practising the CSAT questions, always try to cover all the basic concepts to save time. Always give importance to science and the technology and the events in environmental studies. However, never compromise and take mock tests.

Note- No one method/strategy fits the requirements of all the aspirants; it will vary from depending on one’s strengths and weaknesses. So, take ideas and create your plan as per your needs and as per the subject that requires more of your attention.

Hereby mentioned are a few tips to make sure you have everything covered in your 2-month preparation strategy.

• Revise: The candidates now have, enough time to revise the subjects they were not fully satisfied with. If at all you have missed reviewing any topic, you can with that particular subject now to start preparing for it. The candidates must revise the subjects such as-  History and Geography, etc.

• Current Affairs: The candidates must have known by now that the exams have been postponed for more time and they should go through the current affairs in these months.

• Subjects to focus: The candidates should also focus on essential topics such as Polity, related to current affairs, Geography, Economics. The candidates must primarily focus on Environment studies as it has been a crucial part from the past few years.

Note: Candidates shouldn’t ignore subjects like ancient history. Because the best approach is to revise the current affairs. Such as, students this year must study all about the epidemics and plague related activities from history. 

• CSAT Preparation: Now that you have more time- use this time to go through the subjects that are tough for you like – passages and logical reasoning fundamentals. Candidates should not compromise or avoid preparation for the CSAT exam.

• Time Management: Candidates needs to manage their time more efficiently than ever before, and they should not waste their time on books or reading element other than current affairs. They must go through their NCERTs again as they have enough time. 

• Plan it every week: One week per subject NCERT should be a candidate’s target. Divide and incest your time accordingly between morning and evening to solve theory and questions.

Note- One plan could be to focus on at least two test areas daily. On Day -1, One can study History & Polity. On Day-2, one can concentrate on Indian Economy & Geography and so on. The idea is to go through all the test areas every week. With this strategy, one will be in touch with all the fields every week.

• Solve Question papers: The aspirants must not stop solving question papers of previous years or the available ones online and only concentrate on theory.

Summary/Overview

Civil Services, conducted by the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC), is believed to be the most stringent examination in the country. Every individual knows that preparing for Civil Services is a challenging task and requires a lot of strategies and hard work.

When the aspirants feel that it’s high time, many enthusiasts ask for any possible way to crack the preliminary exam in two months. Cracking the UPSC initial exam in two months is hard. However, one can make it when they can devote all the time for the preparations.

Areas covered in this article

Note- For more updated notification on UPSC 2021, visit: this link.

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