Prelims Strategy

Prelims is the first stage of UPSC examination and undoubtedly the most competitive one. This is "the" stage of elimination therefore, it is to be taken with utmost seriousness.

It has two parts: CSAT which is Paper 2 and GS which is Paper 1.

Let's talk about Paper 2 first. CSAT is an aptitude test and not a mathematics test. Therefore you don't have to be scared about this exam if you are not from a science-maths background. All what you have to do is solve last year question papers. Similar types of questions are asked every year. Just try to solve every type of question which has been asked and practice them daily. For more practice you can buy some CSAT tests of coaching institutes but keep the UPSC papers as your standard. Even those who had maths in 12th or are from engineering background, please practice one or two tests before the real exam

Now let's talk about GS paper. The first thing that you should do is look at last year question papers and identify the areas which are asked most frequently.This will help you read newspapers and other current affairs magazines in a very objective manner and also help you prioritize your static material.

On the basis of our analysis, the prelims paper can be divided into following sections. Our booklist and hand notes have been provided after each heading:

• History

• Indian National Movement: Bipin Chandra (India's struggle for independence and History of Modern India)
• Medieval: Satish Chandra Old ncert and new NCERT Class XII
• Ancient: R S Sharma Old ncert and new NCERT Class XII

• Polity: Laxmikant , Constitution 
• Geography: 11th , 12th NCERTs
• Economics: 12th NCERT Macroeconomics, Economy survey and Budget highlights
• Environment: self notes, focus on Tiger reserves, Ramsar sites, Biosphere reserves, Critically Endangered Species, Important conventions
• International Relations: International groups and organizations, UN organizations, locations of important physical geographical features like oceans, seas and political entities
• Art and culture: CCRT material self notes, fine arts NCERT
• Other current affairs
• Schemes
• Policies
• Defence equipments and Joint Exercies
• Science and Tech (space programmes)
• Govt machinery (Ministries, departments, different govt bodies)
• Indices
• Reports
• Vision monthly current affairs, pt 365 to see if every important topic has been covered

Here are my notes for prelims:

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1o3Vc4l0z4PMihYYuEyKBwV9idMQ8j7Q-?usp=sharing 

Don't get scared by the sheer size of the files. Me and my husband used to make short notes out of these for final revision.. These files were also helpful during mains preparation.

I have also given sample of how we made notes from ncert and bipin chandra. Later we shifted to shorter handwritten notes which I don't have with me as of now.

Some important questions:

• How Prelims preparation should be done?
• I used to prepare simultaneously for prelims and mains because they overlap to a large extent. However, the last two months right before prelims were dedicated exclusively to prelims preparation.
• Test series?
• Solving last year question papers is more important than test series in my opinion. Test series cannot mimic the actual exam and therefore you should not be affected by the marks you are getting in these tests. Don't be happy if you score well, don't be sad if you score less. Use test series just to make your attempt strategy,for time management and to identify important topics for that particular year. 
• How many should one attempt?
• This paper has 100 questions and there is a negative marking for each wrong answer. Usually people recommend that one should attempt more than 90 to get through the list but I could never cross 80 questions and my highest attempt was 78 and that too in CSE 2019. My accuracy has been good. Therefore its a very subjective thing. Find your own comfortable range.
• Also, when you look at the paper and if you find it difficult then tell yourself that its difficult for everyone. Don't panic in the hall. Every serious candidate is like you. Just trust your preparation, attempt the easier first and later try answering the tough ones.
• Strategy for last few days before prelims
• 40 days before prelims, focus mostly on revision. Stop giving tests 15 days before exam because either they'll make you content if you are scoring more or give you stress of you are scoring less. Focus on revising the most important parts like polity, Indian modern history, schemes, maps etc which fetch you more marks.
• Dealing with stress before prelims
• Every candidate feels that they don't know anything before the prelims. This has happened with me and so many of my friends. This is quite natural given the elephantine syllabus. But you have to trust yourself. Prelims paper has options and therefore it becomes easy to recall things. Also, believe me life is beautiful and it does not end with CSE. Don't stress yourself thinking about results. Focus only on things which are in your hand which is your preparation.

Let me know if you have any further doubts with respect to prelims in the comment section below. I'll try my bets to address them

All the best everyone !