Graduation course that will help you prepare for the IAS exam
A graduation course degree holds great value. A good graduation course might also help you prepare for the IAS exam. In this article we will see exactly how a graduation course can help you prepare for the IAS exam and how choosing a graduation course can alter your whole IAS preparation. Since people now understand the value of a government job more and more aspirants from all around the country are preparing for the IAS exam and are applying to appear for it, the rising competition does not help the situation and even though the preparation for the IAS begins at the college level there are many instances where students began their IAS exam preparation in their high school and have planned out their entire approach to crack the IAS exam with great results.
What is the IAS exam pattern and why is it important to understand it?
Understanding the IAS syllabus is one of the crucial steps begin beginning your IAS exam preparation, to achieve greatness in the competitive exam you must first assess all the possibilities that you might go through from pulling all-nighters to a serene approach the IAS exam pushes a candidate to his limits and the small decisions that you make throughout your entire IAS journey are what will help you crack the exam.
- To begin with the IAS syllabus you must first understand the exam pattern of the IAS exam, the exam is divided into 3 phases prelims, mains, interview, for a candidate to crack the IAS exam he must crack all phases of the exam with great results, the prelims exam is the qualifying exam and is the phase 1 of the IAS exam, this exam consists of 2 qualifying papers and candidates will be given 2 hours to complete each paper,
- The 2nd phase of the IAS exam is the mains exam, this is the second written test that you will have to clear, the mains exam consists of 9 total exams out of which 2 are qualifying, a perfect score is what you will need to clear the IAS exam and a perfect score is what you shall strive for,
- The 3rd phase of the IAS exam is the interview. The interview is the most difficult phase of the IAS exam to clear, the interview will have you doubting all your skills and knowledge, candidates who have cleared both the 1st and the 2nd phase of the exam and then summoned to Delhi where the official office premise of the UPSC is situated there a team of competent officers asks you questions related to current affairs, your basic knowledge, and question on some hypothetical situations where your quick thinking skills and your quick decision-making skills are tested. These questions that you answer then help the officers to judge your skills and give you marks according to how satisfactory your answers were to them. Understanding the IAS exam pattern is equally important as understanding the IAS syllabus, both will help you plan your perfect approach for the exam and will help you to conquer it with great scores.
What are the best courses that will help you prepare for the IAS exam?
Humanities
Humanities is considered the vault of all civil service exams, the UPSC reports how that every year majority of candidates who appeared for the UPSC exam have humanity subject as the subject has a lot of potential for a high success rate as compared to other subjects, however setting aside the great potential that the exam has the reports also state that year on year students with humanities subject have scored lower than the computation, on average the students with humanities stream have scored a lot less than the competition yet students with humanities backgrounds and in a much large capacity than the rest, a considerable portion of the competition who appear for the IAS exam have humanities as their subject.
Engineering
The last past decade is proof that a lot of top IAS who passed in the IAS exam has an engineering background, candidates who had engineering stream dominated the competition and churned out the best results in the past decade, the mass’s mood has definitely changed and the previous year results of multiple coaching institutes is a proof of it. However, candidates with an engineering stream do not have a high success rate as compared to those who have technical subjects and yet the numbers keep racking up and engineering seems to be the stream of choice for many.
Science
The number of candidates with science stream is quite low, however, a respectable number of students with science background choose to take up civil service examinations and have successfully cracked it, there are several cases where students from the science stream cracked the IAS exam with top results, although the number is not remarkable but the fact remains that preference for people with science background is growing and there’s a place for scientific thinkers and technocrats in the administrative setup. Although the rise is slow and steady there are candidates with science backgrounds who are taking up civil service exams and are cracking it with great scores.
Medical Science
Medical Science is another stream that has remained insignificant in the past decade in terms of IAS preparation. This is because after producing a professional degree it is difficult for people to get along with bureaucracy. However, similar to the physical science field trend, the number of candidates with medical science degrees is increasing gradually.
CA/CS/B.Com.BBA/MBA
These are degrees that are professionally inclined, which is why the number of candidates with these degrees is negligible in number, although in the few years we have witnessed a surge in the number of candidates with these degrees, the number is rising although very gradually. With the introduction of CSAT that includes aspects like mathematics, reasoning interpretation of data, etc. candidates from these fields find themselves a good match for the IAS exam. In a nutshell, the number of candidates with these degrees is expected to grow and have a great overall success rate.
What is the IAS syllabus and why should you understand it?
The IAS will take a heavy toll on your mind, which is why having a proper understanding of the IAS exam is crucial, with a proper understanding of the IAS exam syllabus you can prepare a robust strategy for the exam and will be able to plan an approach that suits you and enhances your performance, with the vast syllabus candidates often get demotivated and start doubting their own performance, however with this article you will be able to properly plan a strategy that will help you ace the IAS exam with great results, aim to achieve the best in the competitive and read through the entire syllabus carefully.
Prelims: The prelims as stated above is the qualifying round of the IAS exam and requires great practice and preparation from all candidates, to conquer the prelims exam you must have a good hold over these topics-
GS Paper
Current events of national and international importance
History of India and Indian National Movement
Indian and World Geography-Physical, Social, Economic
Indian Polity and Governance
Economic and Social Development
General issues on environmental ecology, biodiversity, and climate change
General Science
CSAT
Comprehension
Interpersonal skills and communication skills
Logical reasoning and analytical ability
Decision making and problem-solving
General mental ability
Basic numeracy
These are all the topics that you should prepare to ace the prelims exam.
Mains: The second stage of the UPSC exam is the mains exam, the mains exam consists of a total of 9 papers and all papers are mandatory to appear for, it is only after clearing the Mains exam that a candidate is eligible for the last round of the UPSC exam which is interview more on than below, let us first understand the mains exam syllabus-
Paper 1 – Essay
Paper 2 – General Studies-I (Indian Heritage & Culture, geography of the world and society)
Paper 3 – General Studies-II (Governance, Constitution, Polity, Social Justice, and International Relations)
Paper 4 – General Studies-III (Technology, Economic Development, Biodiversity, Security and Disaster Management)
Paper 5 – General Studies-IV (Ethics, Integrity, and Aptitude)
Paper 6 – Optional Subject Paper I
Paper 7 – Optional Subject Paper II
Interview: The last and the most difficult phase of the IAS exam, the interview will test your thinking skills your answering skills and will test your abilities to the max, to prepare for the interview you must choose a coaching institute that conducts mock interviews these are extremely helpful as they mimic the environment of the official UPSC interview and gets the candidates a similar experience, to prepare for the interview, start by reading newspaper regularly, this will help you to improve your current affairs knowledge as the officers in the interview phase usually ask candidates question based on the current affairs of the country, prepare for the interview by reading several magazines and dedicated current affairs all of these together will help you prepare for the interview.
