UPSC: Civil Services Exam Preparation Tips

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How To Prepare?

• Choose subjects which have availability of books, reading material and guidance
• Begin preparing for the main exams along with the prelims.
• For the General Studies paper, it is important to be updated in all fields. For History, Economy, Polity, etc, it is advisable to read Class 11 and 12 books published by the NCERT.
• As for Optional subjects, do not choose completely new subjects for which you have to work very hard. Go for the subjects you have already studied in school/college.
• NCERT, IGNOU booklets and National Book Trust (NBT) publications are quite helpful. For the Preliminary paper, study the following books:

History: NCERT books of class XI and XII, Freedom Struggle (published by National Book Trust)
Geography: Class XII books of Geography (NCERT), a good atlas.
Indian Polity: Introduction to the Indian Constitution.
Indian Economy: NCERT and other books on Evolution of the Indian Economy.
General Science: NCERT books on science, a science magazine or newspaper supplements on science.
Current Events: A national newspaper, newsmagazines.
General Mental Ability: Do the Quantitative Aptitude published in various Civil Services examination magazines, past test papers.

History: India's Struggle for Independence, IGNOU publications on Modern India.
Indian Culture: Art and culture portions of history books, India Yearbook (culture chapter), Encyclopedia on Indian Culture, Gazetteer of India, books on culture published by Publications Division and National Book Trust.
Current Affairs: A national newspaper, various Civil Services examination magazines, current affairs programs on Television, Magazines, Internet. Statistics: Class XI NCERT book on Statistics.
Indian Polity: Introduction to the Constitution, Parliament.
Indian Geography: NCERT books on Indian Geography.
Indian Economy: NCERT and other books on Indian Economy, financial newspapers, Science: science magazines, supplements in newspapers.

• Reading newspapers, watching TV news, surfing relevant websites and participating in quiz contests will definitely help in your prelims general studies paper.
• For the interview, you need more than just pedantry. Your mental alertness, critical power, logical and reasoning ability, etc will count. Since the interview is an assessment of not only your intellectual qualities but also social traits and interest in current affairs - be prepared.
• For IPS, you should be medically fit.