My Strategy

(Note ;Although I have made many generalizations ,one should understand that variations and exceptions are possible and many times there is no direct co relation between marks and performance-- there is NO DIRECT cause -effect relationship in such an exam if a candidate fails to make a mark despite his/her best efforts.

Since I believe in the Will of God, I understand that certain things; in fact nothing is in our hands except the ability and capacity to give our best efforts; please note that even such a thing might not be possible due to severe environmental constraints.)



Since this was my first (and thankfully my last) attempt so my humble suggestions may prove useful esp for the beginners ...


My optionals were
1) Public Administration --reasons ?

The direct and practical significance of the subject in the field of administration.
The compact and manageable syllabus …. and... after reading a few chapters , I actually started liking this subject.



2) Psychology – Practical utility for life other than UPSC,

A scientific approach.... an apparent similarity with Medical science ,
and last but not the least ,availability of a good teacher.


My decisions regarding choice of optionals were not made over night ; in fact at one point of time I was contemplating history and sociology as one optional , but this was long before I started serious preparation for the exam.

My suggestion regarding choice of optionals -



1- An aspirant you should keep your traits in mind before deciding.

If you have good writing skills and the ability to express well whatever you want to, then the obvious choice is any Humanities subject(Sociology,Psychology,Public Administration,Philosophy,History etc )--- please read some standard (read NCERT ) books of the optionals that you are contemplating .


2- Your interest in the subject( so that you can sustain prolonged reading hours over months ) should be of paramount importance.



If you have the ability and interest and put in sufficient effort , you can qualify with any permissible combination of subjects.

3- One should also keep in mind the reason for the popularity of certain subject(s) and should not neglect it merely on the basis that so many candidate's are opting for it , so why should I ?

Nor should one opt for a subject just because many others are opting for it.



Please note that coaching is not an absolute must . Take it only if you cannot prepare the subject on your own .But it is better to get intelligent guidance from seniors( not necessarily those who have qualified )



I did not go for coaching of any sorts for the prelims / not even notes of any institute . My preparation relied exclusively on the Newspapers – The Hindu and one years issues of Civil services chronicle magazine.( Please note that there are other equally good or maybe even better alternatives in the market.)


For topics other than GS. I took the help of a G.S manual ..even though I was not able to complete it before the prelims.

During the course of preparation there are bound to be periods of ups and downs BUT at no point of time should you let negative thoughts over take you.... Keep telling yourself that you are going to make it in this attempt itself.