Aspirants of UPSC CSE are always in the lookout for tips, guidance and hacks to crack the exam, and are glad to follow social media mentors who take to their accounts and channels to show the way to success.
One such mentor is Abhijeet Yadav, an IITian who cleared the prestigious UPSC CS exam twice, and is highly active on Twitter to guide the UPSC aspirants. According to him, UPSC CSE results are impacted by 3 things, 1- The syllabus, 2- You, the aspirant, 3- Your learning systems. Then, he says that we pay attention to the first two but ignore the third. Let’s take a closer look at what exactly he means.
THE SYLLABUS
In his first tweet, Abhijeet talks about the first thing that impacts the UPSC CSE result, and that is ‘the Syllabus’. He stresses on thoroughly reading the syllabus, in fact, it should be learned seriously by every serious aspirant.
He tweeted, “The syllabus. This one’s pretty self evident. You need to be thorough with the syllabus and previous year’s questions (PYQs). If you understand the syllabus:-
• You anticipate questions better.
• You focus on better resources.
• Your prep becomes hyper-efficient.
No shortcuts there.”
PREVIOUS YEAR’S QUESTIONS
In his next tweet, he focuses on previous year’s question papers. He said, “Why are PYQs important? Syllabus is vast & you need to understand which way the wind is blowing. The easiest way to do this is to look at what has been asked before. In this, recent papers should be given more weightage than papers from 5+ years ago.”
YOU, THE ASPIRANTS
The, he moves on to the secondary things that impacts UPSC CSE result and that is you, ‘the aspirant’. He talks about the skill ms that should be inside a serious aspirant.
He said, “Core skills you need:-
• Discipline
• Motivation
• Consistency
Bonus points for intelligence but that’s not the primary determinant for success in this exam.”
EXAM CYCLE
Then, Abhijeet sheds light on the exam cycle of UPSC, which should be always in mind of every aspirant.
He said, “The UPSC Exam Cycle
• Notification in Feb.
• Final result in April/May next year.
You will spend 99% of your time working. And 1% actually writing the exam. If you can optimise your daily processes, you will leave the competition behind. No matter where you started.”
YOUR LEARNING SYSTEM
In his next tweet, he talks about the third thing that impacts the result of UPSC CSE Exam and that is your learning system. Abhijeet focuses on all important aspect of the learning system.
He said, “The components:
• Focus
• Memory
• Physical health
• Mental health
If you spend 30-45 minutes/day, everyday to improve these you will improve the efficiency of your efforts manifold over the course UPSC Exam Cycle.”
SYSTEM IMPROVEMENT
In his last tweet, Abhijeet concludes his thread with some advise about system improvement, the
overhauling of mental and physical health of aspirant.
He said, “System Improvement-
• Meditate – everyday for at least 10 minutes.
• Physical exercise – everyday for at least 30 minutes.
Be meditating, you’ll be improving your focus. By exercising, you’ll be improving health and memory.
Do both. Everyday. Supercharge your preparation.”
(Abhijeet Yadav gave five years of his life to the UPSC CSE journey. He made 6 attempts, which covered 4 Mains, 2 interviews, 2 selections, and got AIR 653 in CSE 2017 and R-List in CSE 2018. He is now an UPSC mentor and the founder of UPSCprep.com. An alumnus of IIT Delhi, he also has his YouTube channel with over 141,000 subscribers, where he helps aspirants to prepare better for UPSC exams)