3 Common Mistakes an Aspirant Must Avoid
UPSC | MPSC | Government Exams
There are numerous coaching institutes out there in the market who guide and provide study materials to assist an aspirant clear any government exam and to others, even to achieve illustrious goal of UPSC CSE, or 'IAS’ exam as some people call it. But for some others, coaching is too costly and, thus, not always within financial reach. Ah, Exasperating!
But wait, it’s a digital world we live in today. There are so many online platforms available which provide piles of free resource materials and guidance, like YouTube, Telegram, websites of these coaching institutes, etc. There remains no obligation to go to big cities anymore. But with so many options now available, there is confusion that remains a sole demerit which, by the way, is a common difficulty faced by many. After all, how to know where to stop or how much to read out of these resources? Moreover, every institute and website has its own strategy and notes, as if the confusion wasn’t enough already. Although these websites may be brilliant at guiding an aspirant’s path, rarely they highlight what she/he mustn’t do. Yes right, the mistakes. Very few, if any, talk about them. Most of the mistakes, though, are necessary for growth and realisation, some are crucially important to avoid.
Here is the list of 3 mistakes an aspirant usually do and must avoid, which may become catastrophic if not realised at earliest.
1. Multiple Base Materials.
If you keep on exploring new material, even if they all are good, how are you going to revise them in last week before exam? Have you seen the gigantic syllabus? Moreover, making apt short notes out of them will become a mammoth task in itself. Well it’s not advised here to not refer multiple sources. But, there must be one or, at max, two base sources. Others you may overlook, just in case if something extra but important you would have missed in the base material. Refrain making notes out of them.
More than how many resources you read for the first time how many times you revise limited resources, matters. Remember, it’s not possible to drink all of sea, no matter how thirsty you are. No topper scores above 60%, in total by the end of exam, anyway.
2. Avoiding Authentic Material.
But what’s ‘Authentic Material’? Most of the topics you tackle will be parallel to government’s schemes and policies in last one or two years. Although respective Ministry’s site has information available on particular scheme/event, it is generally lengthy. Since most of the data can be ignored from exam point of view, aspirant has to develop an eye for targeting important data. This is a challenging task but forms the backbone of your preparation. Apart from Ministries’ website and newspapers data, various other official and/or 'authentic' sources are available for free. Press Information Bureau (PIB) is one such very important online platform for daily updates. Also, there are other dependable resources like Yojana and Kurukshetra monthly magazines. Coaching classes have made easy ready-made notes available in the form of monthly magazines, daily updates, etc. That’s a nice concisely compiled material with targeted matter. So, what’s wrong in depending on that, after all institutes are credible enough? Truly they are credible, but UPSC or SPSCs are always steps ahead. Depending on official resource, though a little time consuming, is advisable. Ignoring them is a great risk. When we are served everything on our table, we may miss what’s not served, right?
3. Procrastinating Mains Writing Practise.
You are supposed to start writing practise for Mains at the earliest. Your target is not just to qualify Prelims but to clear exam as a whole. Understand that it may become too difficult to master if you start writing practise after Prelims. Generally, there’s a gap of just three months. If you are confident, polish the skills because Mains will fetch you the marks required to qualify for the post you are aiming.
If you are not confident enough about your writing skills, how do you think writing practise of a whole syllabus, including Essay and Optional, is possible in those three months time succeeding Prelims? Prelims syllabus just forms a part of, at most, 3 out of 7 Mains Papers only; qualifying language papers are not even mentioned here. Don’t be in illusion that you’ll do it comfortably after Prelims, start it now.
That seems a huge task, isn’t it? It may be troublesome business to start your preparation directly without any clear strategy. A right strategy is a precondition when you prepare exams like UPSC, SPSC, Rbi grade B, etc.
Not to worry. Given below is a link to basic strategy you’ll need to start your preparation.
https://link.medium.com/C87A1RxuPkb
👆CLICK on the link.
Feel free to improvise it based on your own areas of expertise. Good luck, conqueror.