2-3 Years in hand: A proven game-changer for undergraduate UPSC aspirants

There isn’t a more opportune time to invest your rapt attention in UPSC preparation if you have a couple of years in hand. Preparing for the UPSC exam is not a whimsical fancy. Many toppers even started their UPSC preparation in their penultimate year in school. Because winners start early.

It will be a game-changer if any undergraduate, with only 2 to 3 years in hand, inculcates the brainchild formulas of toppers’ mentors to crack UPSC.

When time is short and the way is long, every step must be more on-target.

So, why tax your brain! Let’s know those formulas right away.

Syllabus & PYQs

When the destination is IAS or IPS, the UPSC syllabus and previous year’s question papers go hand in hand. So, don’t wander off, you may lose track. 

• Bring the syllabus to your fingertip. Because you have to complete the syllabus and not the books.
• Hook at least 5 years of previous years’ MCQs (Prelims + Mains + Optional)

According to mentor heads, there are 2 types of syllabus patterns

• Raw static syllabus
• and Dynamic syllabus

In incipient stage, finish the static syllabus at least once. Because static parts boost aspirants’ confidence, besides, it’s the very foundation of grip on current affairs. To finish the static parts, an aspirant may need around 6 months and not more than that.

Now, start investing time in the dynamic syllabus.

• Take PYQs, revise chapters accordingly
• Learn Current affairs and tangle with static questions.

It’s worth remembering that balancing study is the key to excellence for either the MCQs or writing for mains.

Another key point to be noted here is ‘Evaluation of preparation’. It’s also an indirect and inseparable part of your UPSC syllabus.

Civilsdaily’s centralized mentorship is recommended here. 

Time Management

Minimum 2 years and maximum 3 years will run short unless and until you become sincere about time management. 

Have you heard the traditional proverb “An apple a day keeps the doctor away”? 

Similarly, remember ‘A chapter a day unblocks UPSC doorway’.

Learn from mentors and act on how to divide time for newspaper reading, answer writing, practice MCQs, etc. every day.

Running free webinars, and mentorship programs in community-managed platforms of Civilsdaily will help you immensely to learn how to utilize maximum time.

Resources

The less the resource, the more your efficiency. Buying multiple books is an obsolete and abandoned path to UPSC preparation.

Don’t forget you have fresh and solid 2-3 years in hand.

• Get 2 to 3 sets of essential books for every static subject.
• To keep pace with CA, Civilsdaily’s Samachar manthan program is beyond praise. 
• IAS foundation course is even better to choose.
• Mock Tests series for prelims as well as for mains
• From the very beginning, get mentors’ advice for optional papers.

Get acquainted with the booklist over here on CivilsDaily youtube channel

Self Study vs Mentors’ Guide

If there is a guide on the unknown path, even the crooked path becomes simpler. When you have 2-3 years in your hand and want to make a gigantic syllabus familiar firsthand, taking a risk may be proven as a fool’s errand.  Let’s understand the difference.

Self-study, though isn’t an empty vessel always, is very time and energy-consuming. Following self-study, almost 75% of aspirants looking for a needle in a haystack.	Mentors’ guide means saving time and energy and not getting baffled.
Most of the time, the daily target dies.	2. Daily target lives because of guidance.
Self-study lacks self-assessment.	3. Assessment of leaders

So, how would you like to react to mentors’ guidance now? Let’s know.

Final Lines:

Nothing is more important than the limit of time. From circling the OMR sheet to answer writing and optional interviews, all these won’t be tediously threatening if done under proper guidance especially when there is a bound on time. 

It’s the aspirants’ choice whether they embrace the very 1st attempt or love to get into a labyrinth of futile attempts.