Not more than six months are left for the UPSC CSE Prelims 2023. Those who have attempted previously, and those who are appearing for the first time, must be worried about what to read and how to strategise for success in the exam. At such a juncture, it helps to get guidance from those who have cleared not just this stage of CSE, but the second and the third stages, as well, to enter the prestigious civil services.
In a video shared with Indian Masterminds, IAS officer Yogesh Mishra, Admin Officer, Ordnance Factory, Shahjahanpur, Ministry of Defence, gave some useful tips for clearing the Prelims. He is the eldest of four siblings who all have cleared UPSC CSE and are serving as IAS and IPS officers.
BE MINDFUL
Mr. Mishra says that while clearing Prelims will boost your confidence, failing it multiple times can ruin your chance of success, and one should be mindful about that. “If you have failed once, you come with a mental baggage, which you need to fight. You can’t control the questions, the pattern, or anything. The only thing you can control is yourself. You need to remind yourself that it may be the same exam, but you’re different now.”
Explaining how to change yourself and come with a fresh mindset, he calls for some easy interventions. “Identify the ways and strategies that were not useful before. Also, identify the study materials which took too much of your time, but were useless. If your basics are not clear, then work on that, too.”
TARGET 75 QUESTIONS
According to Mr. Mishra, the questions asked in the Prelims can be divided into three parts. “There are 100 questions in which 25 will be easy or straight ones. Like, you will be given options and asked which of these are not part of Parliament. Another 50 will be moderate, related to topics you have read in polity, geography, environment. But, they won’t be straight. And, no matter how much you have read, there will be approximately 25 questions, which will be alien to you. So, you should focus on the rest 75, because they are doable.”
He further says that since multiple choice questions are asked in Prelims, one needs to identify correct answers from among the incorrect options. “And to achieve that, you need good command on knowledge you have gathered in the preparation days and a good pair of eyes.”
He concludes by saying that it is his own analysis and everyone might not agree with what he says. However, if candidates focus on 75 questions and try to solve as many as they can, they might be able to score decent marks to cross the cut-off. He says, “In an ideal situation, if you answer all the 75 questions correctly, you will get a score of 150. Even if you consider the margin of errors, then also, there is a chance of getting at least 115-120.”
