Preparing for the UPSC Exam is a difficult endeavor in which every year more than 10 lakh people apply and only a select few are able to make it to the final list. Every mistake can cost an aspirant a complete year.
You must have read that, some aspirants are able to clear the UPSC Exam in the first Attempt and some are not able to clear even after repeated attempts in UPSC. What makes the former different from the latter are these 5 common mistakes that you should avoid to crack the UPSC Exam.
Not Having a Plan:
“Failing a plan is planning to fail”. Lack of planning before starting preparation of exam is a Common Error, during UPSC preparation. One can find himself/herself studying unrelated material if they do not have a well-laid plan. Such a plan should cover the booklist, time one will dedicate to each subject, and how many days are to be given to each topic, depending upon the weightage of such subject. Further, the emphasis should be on allowing some time for revision, avoiding procrastination, and following a plan with discipline.
Too Much Material:
UPSC aspirants are often allured to buy too much study material, which can eventually lead to an overload of knowledge and confusion. To overcome this, a simple Mantra is to be followed, “Minimum Resources and Maximum Revision…”. UPSC Exam preparation is all about clarity of concepts & the more one revises, the more clearer the subject becomes.Ignoring Current Affairs:
Recent year’s trends of previous year UPSC question papers, have shown that Current Affairs play a very important role in both UPSC Prelims as well as UPSC Mains Exam. Current Affairs have become a very important part of UPSC preparation. Direct Questions are asked in the UPSC Prelims Exam from Current Affairs and even in Mains, most of the Questions asked are either asked directly from Current Affairs be it a Government Scheme/Policy or even if a Question is from a Static part, it is asked because somewhere the topic asked was part of Current Events.Ignoring Optional Subject:
In UPSC Mains, almost all aspirants writing mains get an average score in GS I to GS IV papers, whether a candidate will get a call for a UPSC interview depends greatly on what subject has been chosen by him/her as optional subject. It is the optional paper that is going to make or break you. So, select the optional subject in which one has a keen interest but one other thing should also be kept in mind study material for optional subjects should also be available. And if one wants to crack UPSC mains. The importance of preparing optional before the preliminary exam cannot be emphasised enough. Aspirants should also keep their notes ready for optional papers as the time between prelims and mains examinations is much less.Ignoring Mock Test for UPSC:
Mock Tests and previous year’s papers are vital tools for an aspirant to gauge how they will perform in the actual UPSC Examination. However, many candidates miss this essential part of preparation, resulting in poor performance in the actual exam. Mock tests should be integrated into the study plan as early as possible. Regular performance evaluation and identification of areas for development can assist candidates in working more efficiently and effectively.Previous Year Questions:
Previous year’s papers can be utilised to determine the weightage of themes, the number of questions asked and the format of questions.While the UPSC Exam is a tough nut to crack avoiding these mistakes will boost your chances of success considerably.
