30-Days Strategy to Revise UPSC Prelims
UPSC Prelims are dated for June 5th, 2022, and the aspirants can give a good month for revisions leaving some buffer days in their hands. The pressure now is more than the entire preparation that must have lasted for months or even years for some. This last lap is the one that decides the win, and all the students are pumped up to cover the entire syllabus over and over again in the last 30 days. That is the right goal to set for the last-minute UPSC Prelims preparation. But what is the correct way to pursue it so that the students can efficiently use this handful of time before the exam? A reliable, systematic 30-day strategy!
Here’s a 30-day UPSC Prelims strategy that the aspirants can use as a guideline for their revisions.
1. Prioritize high-value subjects or topics
Every student must aim at revising the syllabus end-to-end. But where to begin? Students can start with high-value subjects or topics. For this, they need to study the paper pattern carefully. After that, they must find out the weightage of each subject, topic, or micro-topic. This UPSC Prelims preparation strategy will also allow the students to go through the previous years’ question papers and trace the exam trends.
Another way to go about this is to use online sources to find an exclusive, updated list of important subjects or topics. By aiming to revise these topics first, the aspirants will be able to cover a major chunk of the entire syllabus. Revising high-value topics can help the students score better with optimum effort.
2. Aim at comfortably scoring the cut-off
UPSC Prelims I have a new cut-off each year. Hence, the students must keep an eye on the released IAS cut-off. They should aim to comfortably score slightly above the cut-off, i.e., aim for the passing marks with their preparation strategy. This gives the candidates a chance to analyze which subjects lie within their strengths and weaknesses.
This is one of the top UPSC Prelims tips as it gives the candidates the chance to speculate on the number of questions they need to attempt correctly or attempt at all to qualify for the UPSC Prelims. Since there is a ⅓ negative marking, the candidates have to be careful and attempt the right number of questions to score above the cut-off marks.
In the case of UPSC Prelims GS-II, the candidates have a cut-off score of 33%. Candidates must at the very least aim for passing marks and work hard to achieve their personal best.
3. Give 2-3 days to each subject
On average, you should aim to finish the revision of each subject of UPSC Prelims in 2-3 days. Subjects with similar topics can be merged, or you can cover two different subjects simultaneously in one day. The candidates can prepare a timetable before beginning their 30-day UPSC Prelims preparation to segregate the amount of time they may require to revise each subject.
4. Go through the notes
We cannot stress enough the importance of preparing personalized notes throughout the UPSC Prelims preparation. The candidates must be mindful of highlighting important topics, historical movements, significant names, dates, facts, etc. in their UPSC books. The 30-strategy preparation will become coherent by multifold if the candidates have these notes handy. They are a real time-saver and help with concise revisions without beating around the bush.
5. Practice mock tests every day
UPSC aspirants must take mock tests every day as it is an active revision strategy. They should take at least one mock test each day for 30 days. As the exam date gets closer, they can solve 2 or even 4 mock tests regularly. To make the most of these tests, the candidates must start by solving the test in parts and rectifying their answers. If they see they are doing well, it will boost their confidence.
But if they are struggling to attempt the answers correctly, they can gradually indulge in doubt-solving and simultaneously proceed with the mock test. After a few days or a week, when the students are familiar with the exam mode, they can attempt the whole mock test at once and score their performance by self-evaluation.
6. Avoid referring to other USPC books
During the last few days before the UPSC Prelims exams, it is common for candidates to have the urge to learn from new study materials. But it is best to avoid that. Instead, they must invest in reliable study materials right from the beginning and continue to refer to them till their exams end. Studying various books during last-minute preparation will only make it more difficult for candidates to complete revisions on time.
The syllabus is vast, but with the right books, the concepts can be cleared meticulously, which makes this 30-day revision strategy much easier. It is ideal to refer to books that are easy to comprehend. Pearson’s UPSC Prelims books check all the boxes. These books have conveniently broken down each concept with the help of practical examples and are written in a feasible language. The books are updated and come with previous years' question papers that candidates can solve. These books can be a befitting choice for UPSC aspirants from day 1.