Best strategies to prepare for 2019 UPSC exams

There are a few areas which need immediate attention in case you want to clear UPSC 2019. Points have been enlisted as follows-
1) Don't be in a hurry to choose the subjects which you covered in your graduation examination. Instead think of the options which could help you in scoring grand marks such as Geography, Philosophy, Sanskrit, Pure Mathematics etc. With a little preparation, you can secure impressive scorings. You must have the fundamental clarity of the subjects.
2) Develop your communication skill so as to represent the facts with clarity before the Board of interview.
3) Your answer should be precise and impressive. Be courteous in your response.
4) You can learn many valuable tips if you join some imminent institute. They will help you in understanding the basics of the subjects.
5) In order to clear the preliminary, you may join TIME, Rao's IAS study circle etc.
6) Make a habit of going through the Times of India, Hindus etc for updating your current affairs.
7) Be prepared to face the panel of experts in the final oral interview where your potential including your patience and intelligence is to be assessed by the Board with a series of exhaustive questions to taste your caliber. You need to exploit this moment to prove your real worth.

UPSC has three steps.

The first step is preliminaries. It will have two papers.

Paper 1 deals with general studies. It will have 100 questions. Paper 2 is for aptitude test. It will contain 80 questions. One should get 67 marks in this Paper 2 for getting qualified.
For one post approximately 12 people will be selected in this examination for appearing for next stage. Once you are qualified for the next changes the marks obtained in preliminaries will not be taken into account for next stage.
The second stage is Mains.
This is also a written test for the selection of candidates for the various Services and posts in this cadre. Around 2.6 times the total vacancies will be qualified to appear in the personality test. The marks obtained in this written are also considered for final selection.
3. Interview and personality test.

If you are in college and your optional subject in UPSC is same as that of graduation subject, download the UPSC syllabus from the official notification and also download previous year question papers from the various sites and master the subjects.
keep in mind that a pass in degree is also must. So study the subject and pass the degree. Then give sufficient time for UPSC.
You should study the core subjects perfectly and understand the subject fully. The basics should be strong.
Then you should inculcate the habit of reading various English newspapers and good language books so that your vocabulary will increase.
You should start reading NCERT books from class 6 to 10. All the books except mathematics should be studied. Science background persons need not study science. Old NCERT books on ancient India, medieval India and modern India (11th std and 12th std), Macroeconomics (12th std) and Geography
You can read the following
Indian Polity – M Laxmikant
Certificate Physical and Human Geography – Goh Cheng Leong
A Brief History of Modern India by Rajiv Ahir (cover to cover) plus Old NCERT modern India (1757 to 1947) or Plassey to Partition by Shekhar Bandyopadhyay
NCERT biology std 12 ecology part can be studied. Good knowledge of maps and geography is necessary.
50% of the time available should be devoted to optional
Similarly, all four general studies paper should be given more or less proportional time
It is very important of answering old prelims and final test papers
Start writing mains answers and solving prelims questions.

Generally preparing for UPSC exam is a long time strategy and the basic work for laying out the foundation starts from the time when a student is in class XII itself. The reason is very obvious as the general knowledge as well as academic knowledge required for this exam are very wide in their coverage.

Selective study with the help of guidebooks and question banks may not be a good strategy as a broad base knowledge and awareness is required for attempting for these competitions. Moreover a large number of meritorious students try for this and competition is a cut throat one.

Anyway, I assume that you already have a good academic background and now you want to revise your learnings in this 6 months time available to you.

Some of the tips which I can suggest is find out some time to read the newspaper and link the material to the earlier references. For example if a writer gets a nobel prize for literature then one must know what is a nobel prize and what is it's modality and in which subjects it is awarded annually and who are the Indian nationals who have got it.

So linking the information to a broader base will bring the real acquisition of information and that is what is required in this coveted exam.

Another example I want to quote is a simple question like - how many legs does a spider have? - can be there and if one knows that spider does not belong to hexipeda group but it belongs to octopeda group then it is easier to give the correct answer as 8. Students often confuse these simple questions.

There are plenty of guidebooks and books available in the market but there is no short cut way to get success in this exam. It requires an elaborate preparation and if you have already done a lot of studies earlier then you have to practice solving more questions and repeating the subject syllabus of those subjects which you choose as an optional papers.

Hard work, persistence and dedicated efforts are of course the pre-requisite for this endeavour.

The question can't be discussed in such a short space. Members have already given some suitable advice. I am also going to mention some relevant points:-

1. Before filling up the form, proper planning is necessary for choosing the Optional paper both for the Preliminary and Mains. The optional paper must be chosen considering the candidates own likes and dislikes, not following advice/guidance of any other candidate(s) or teachers of coaching centres.

2. The syllabus of the optional papers must be carefully noted and followed. For common optional papers (the subjects which are taught in schools), NCERT books on the subject from Class-VI to Class-XII are necessary to cover the entire syllabus. For other subjects, standard books must be followed. Only after covering the syllabus, special notes from the coaching centres should be studied.

3. Special mention is for General Studies paper. A candidate has to study a lot and study regularly for feeling confident in this paper. The questions can cover anything and everything. A candidate must study newspapers carefully and note down important issues in the diary. It consumes times. Reading of periodicals like Yojna, Foreign Policy News, CSR, GK Today, Manorama Year Book is a must. The candidates must have thorough knowledge about different schemes and projects of the Government of India. For this purpose, India Reference Annual published every year by the Publications Division of Ministry of I&B is suggested.

4. For the purpose of the English essay, in-depth knowledge of debatable issues is necessary. The candidates must be able to draw conclusions after discussion. For this regular practice is necessary. Analytical topics must be chosen and regular daily practice is advised.

Clearing UPSC exam is not an easy task. One has to study rigorously with proper strategy and planning. Few tips to prepare for UPSC exam:

1. Buy recommended books. It is said NCERT books are the most reliable books for the preparation of the exams. Emphasis should be more on history and geography.
2. Enrol for IAS mock test series. These tests are trusted by many of the students. It's better not to think of the marks you score in these exams just attempt them so that you may come to know the pattern of the exams. If you are fortunate then there are chances that few questions may come directly in the exams.
3. Read newspaper and magazines. One should not leave the habit of the reading newspaper at any cost as it helps in increasing general knowledge and knowledge about the current affairs. Give importance to the editorial and articles.
4. Make habit of writing. As most of us don't have a habit of writing after college. Try to participate in contests like essay writing.
5. Discuss current matters with your friends. Participate in debate competition. We learn more by discussing things with others. Healthy discussions with friends will definitely help you to gain knowledge.
6. Learn from the experience of the people who have cleared the exams. Read their interviews and take something from what they did to clear the exam.

Hope so this may help.

Since you are decided for the UPSC exam for this year, you must have got your subjects and the syllabus ready.
To go ahead with your study without taxing yourself too much, I would suggest the following methodologies.
1. Get to browse through the syllabus every day.
2. Get both online and offline study materials, which would always include previous years question papers.
3. Make a point to read as many newspapers as possible, to stay updated with the current affairs.
4. Keep your alarm clock ready and finish a full paper everyday within the time limit.
5. Correct your own answers, note them down and remember the corrections well.
6. First concentrate on completing the syllabus.
7. Next start getting into the details layer by layer.
8. Get online question papers and solve them online too, and see the results.
9. Keep Google by your side, to clear any confusion you have.
10. Repeat this till the dates of your exam comes.