Civil

Services
CSP 101

Preparation

By S. Nagarajan, 96A3
For the benefit of BITSians who are new to the CS Exam preparation, I'd
like to give an introduction. Friends who have been already preparing or
people who are in service, please add to the contents wherever required.
I'm trying to be as comprehensive as possible.
1 General Plan of the Exam*
Civil Service Exam is conducted by the Union Public Service Commission
once
a year for recruiting to the All India Services IAS & IPS, and the Central
Group 'A' Services including Indian Foreign Service, Indian Audit &
Accounts
Service, Indian Revenue Service etc. In any of these services, the
recruitment is at the highest level possible in the bureaucracy. For
example, the entry level postings would be in IAS - SubCollector / Sub Divisional Magistrate
in IPS - Asst Supdt of Police
in Indian Revenue Service ( Income Tax / Customs & Central Excise) Assistant Commissioner, etc.
In most of the Ministries / Departments except the Scientific Departments
like ISRO / DRDO, the highest operational & policy posts are occupied by
members of the All India Services / Central Services.
The exam is in 3 stages *Preliminary Exam *- usually May 3rd Sunday; 2 papers of Objective type
of
2
hours duration each. Morning is the Optional Subject paper, which has 120
questions each of 2.5 marks. Afternoon is the General Studies Paper, with
150 questions of 1 mark each. There is negative marking of (-1/3rd ) of a
mark for each wrong answer.

About 2.5 lakh candidates take this stage of the exam.

Generally about 65/120 in the optional paper & 65/150 in the GS paper is
enough to clear the prelim.
*Main Exam *- held 5 months from prelims. 9 papers of 3 hours each. No
of
candidates admitted to write prelims is 12 -13 times the number of final
vacancies. This year the number of vacancies is about 900, so over 10000
people would clear prelims & be admitted to write mains.
The papers are
1.
English
2.
Indian

language

of

your

Choice

3.
Essay

200

marks

4.
General

Studies

300

marks

5.
General

Studies

2:

300

marks

6.
First

Optional

Subject

Paper

300

marks

First

Optional

Subject

Paper

300

marks

300

marks

7.

8.
Second

Optional

Subject

Paper

9.
Second Optional Subject - Paper 2 : 300 marks
Usually, the First Optional Subject is the one that you'd have taken for the
Prelim, though there is no compulsion to do so. For example, my own
subject

for prelims was Electrical Engineering (in 2004) while the Mains Subjects
were Geography & Sociology.
Papers 1 & 2 above - you should get 50% in each of the papers for the
UPSC
to evaluate your other papers 3 -9; however the score in 1 & 2 above is
not
counted for the final merit.
The papers 3 -9 above carry a total of 2000 marks. Usually, 2 -2.5 times
the
final number of candidates are called to the interview; so, for 900
vacancies some 2000 candidates will be called to the interview that is of
300 marks.
The final merit list is for 2300 marks.
Usually, getting about 1000 / 2000 will get an interview call, and 1225 /
2300 will be allotted some service. About 1300 / 2300 will qualify for IAS.
The marks I am mentioning here are very rough, and take them as the
lower
end. For comfortably getting into IAS, 1150 / 2000 plus 195 in the
interview, giving a total of 1350 should be your target for Mains.
*For more details, see www.upsc.gov.in ; on the left panel there is a button
'examinations'. Through that you can reach 'Notifications Archival
CSPE
2009'. Details of syllabus etc are there.*
*2 Pre - Preparation*
As BITSians, we have all done very well in the board exams. For BITSians
of
BITSAT vintage: you guys are even smarter than the oldies of
'normalisation'
days. I am telling this because the Civil Services Exam is just one more
Exam. And you all should take it just as that.
Dont get intimidated seeing the competitive numbers in lakhs of
candidates;
BITSAT / Boards were even greater odds.

Dont get worried about writing essay type answers - with good
preparation,
any of us can write any optional paper.
*2.1 When to start preparation*
As early as you can. The usual trend is that we complete the degree and
then
start preparation in June, for the Prelim Exam of next May. Like , the Class
of 2009 would jut be starting preparation for 2010 prelims.
*2.2 @Campus/ PS*
If anyone junior has decided to write the exam, start preparation right
away. Choose your PS station in Delhi / Chennai / Hyderabad or anywhere
else, but it should not be too taxing or expect real work from you.
*2.3 Quitting your job*
Quit. Unless you have compelling financial reasons, there is no need to
ride
2 horses. There are enough number of people who cleared the exam
*while
working, without quitting their jobs - *but why take chances?
In general, my answer to all these & similar questions is this - do things
that are relevant & useful to put you in the career of your choice; do not
do anything else -be it M.Tech / Job / great thesis at BITS / great project
at PS -II !!
*2.4 Selection of Optionals*
Broadly, Science vs Humanities.
Science
Maths
/
Electrical/Mechanical/Civil

Physics/

Chemistry/Botany/

Zoology/

Humanities - History/ Geography/ Public Administration/ Psychology/

Philosophy/ Sociology/Anthropology/ Political Science/ Economics/
Literature
(anything else?) ( I am casually calling all these humanities : as you
prepare you will be told they are social sciences etc)
*2.4.1 Sciences- *See the syllabus first. See the old question papers of
Prelims and Mains of the subjects that you have shortlisted. Sit with the

syllabus & your course syllabus at BITS; with the old question papers &
your
tests/ compre question papers. If you are confident that the entire portion
has been covered in BITS, or only a minor portion has been left out, that
you can study yourself - consider that optional. DONT start without seeing
the question papers. The focus in UPSC may be vastly different from our
D-Courses.
* *For example, in electrical engineering, UPSC puts lot of questions from
Power / Machines. Also there are descriptive answers in some places.
Check
up.
In general, don't take up a science optional because you feel sentimental
or
proud of your discipline. Take it up if you are absolutely confident.
Preferably have / find out someone who has passed with that optional to
guide you in the preparation.
*2.4.2 Humanities- *For the most part, any of us can prepare any
Humanities
Optional reasonably well.
Traditionally, we have been asked to look into the syllabus , old question
papers etc before choosing an optional. In an unknown optional, looking
into
the syllabus / old question papers would make little sense! Ultimately it is
somewhat a blind jump. Before you take the jump, consider 1.

&

Discuss with seniors who are preparing for the exam / who have
cleared the exam. After all if one of us can study Optional X
pass,
any
of
us
can.
2.
Discuss the availability of study material - text books, guides and
notes
from
coaching
classes.
3.

well

Discuss whether the optional is 'scoring' these days or not. In

theory, all optionals are scoring and a good student can do
whatever
be

the wind, but why struggle with a difficult optional? Some

optionals
give
good results for 3- 5 years in a row - then probably UPSC
gets
tired
of
seeing too many engineers / doctors taking that subject!
For example, Geography & Psychology were giving absurdly good
results in 2000 - 2005, now more effort is needed in these
subjects
and
the
scores
are
also
down.
4.
Discuss whether coaching is needed or not - with good material &
guidance, coaching may not be required.
I know that I have not answered the question 'Which subject to choose?'
properly, but as I told you, it is somewhat a blind jump.
* Can the BITSians who have cleared the 2008 exam / 2007 exam give a
brief
write up on what optional they chose, why they chose that optional, what
problems they faced in terms of coaching, material & preparation?*
*Preparation: Timetable*
I will repeat what Anirudh has mentioned in his last mail June to October 2009 - preparing for 2nd Optional (that you would nt take
for Prelims)
October 2009 to March 2010 - preparing for Prelims GS & Optional
May 2010 - Prelims
June 2010 to November 2010 - Mains preparation
*Coaching*
The short point about coaching is - not all people who take coaching clear
the exam.
The advantages of coaching are - the syllabus is covered methodically
within
a fixed timetable. Coming fresh from engineering, some support may be
needed

in terms of coaching to understand Humanities, to improve your thinking

&
writing skills in these subjects. How to make maximum use of coaching is
upto you. Like Padma Matta said in an earlier mail, Value addition is not by
default; you'll have to work it out.
Remember, most of the coaching centres will not be of ANY USE AT ALL;
however the better names are really good.
For example, Vajiram & Ravi is very good for GS.
Dont take too many coaching classes; if you do 3 classes parallel-ly, there
will be hardly any time left for studying & revision. As mentioned earlier,
take the June to October 2009 Mains classes that *candidates writing the
2009 Mains will be taking. *
Disadvantages - * Cost * Most classes, especially prelims classes will be
filled with non-serious candidates. Don't waste your time here.
*3 Preparation*
* **With or without coaching, a serious candidate preparing for 2010
prelims, should be able to attempt 2009 Mains at least one Optional &
Essay
confidently.*
Start preparation right away as if you had a mains for 800 marks in
October
2009 itself.
I will repeat a piece I wrote sometime back on preparing for Mains - This
was written for the candidates appearing for Mains in the same year, i.e.
how to start studying in May all 3 subjects for October Mains. So, you can
reduce the intensity a bit and prepare for 800 - 1000 marks instead of all
2000 marks.
/* ***
0. Browse through the entire subject in 3 - 4 days from a standard
introductory text or guide. Dont expect to understand much at this stage,
but you will get familiar with the terms & style of the subject. If there is
a kind senior, (s)he can tell the entire story of the subject which will be
useful as a revision to them also.

1.
General Points: Have a good diary or notebook to monitor your
preparation. This will have your time-lines, booklists, schedules etc.
Begin
with the end in mind. Start with the question papers of the previous
years.
Buy the latest edition that has the 2006 papers also. Read all the
previous
years question papers 1 - 2 times. Especially, read 3 - 4 times the
question
papers of 2000 - 2006.
1.
On A4 paper, take sufficient copies of the syllabus of all the subjects.
For optionals, on A4 paper, you can cover Paper 1 on one side, and
Paper
2
on the other side. Read the syllabii 3 -4 times and know the subheadings
by
heart. You would also be roughly able to remember the topics in each
subheading. [e.g. In Geography 1, there are 10 subheadings, like
Geomorphology, Climatology, and Oceanography. Under each
subheading
there
are topics to be covered.]
1.
Optionals: After reading the question papers, make a table analysing the
question papers of last 7 - 10 years. You should be able to have on
single
spread-sheet in your diary, a table showing the distribution of questions
from the different subheadings in the last 7 years in any one paper.
Some
subjects ask short notes directly from the syllabus. [e.g SQ on "Applied
Geomorphology" in Geography; or on "Anomie" in Sociology. These are
topics
in the syllabus.] Read the question paper and tick those SQ's that are
directly from the syllabus. Highlight these topics on the syllabus. You
may
see a pattern in the syllabus, telling you which area to concentrate more
on.

You should be able to do Steps 1 - 3 in less than 3 - 4 days' time.

1.
Start studying! You can study all three subjects, ( GS, Optionals 1 & 2 )
parallel-ly. You can put 3 -4 hours for each subject. For those who are
writing next years exam, concentrate on one subject, may be some GS
and
Essay.
2.
Scheduling: From June-mid, you have about 15 weeks for the
examination.
You should aim to complete the syllabus in 10 weeks. In you diary make
a
timetable indicatig the 15 weeks, and how you are going to cover the 3
subjects in each week. [e.g. Week 1 - Modern India / Geomorphology /
Thinkers - Durrkeim-Marx; Week 2 - Modern India-Geography /
Geomorphology-Climatology / Marx-Weber. Obviously, you will allot more
time
than a week for the larger areas, and lesser time for the smaller areas.
Schedule the more important areas early in your prepapration. You will
know
the important areas from your analysis of the QP's. These large and
important areas should be ready completely by August 1st , when your
Prelims results will be out. Immediately after that you should do the
smaller ares in which there are questions regularly - e.g GS statistics,
Political Geography etc. This will be over by 15th 20th August. From
then, till September 10th -15th you can cover the rest of the syllabus.
1.
Along with this schedule, you will need to prepare areas like Geography
maps, GS 2 markers etc parallel-ly. This can be done everyday early
morning
or after lunch when difficult subjects are, well, difficult.
1.
At the beginning of each week of preparation (Sunday), have a look at
the
QP's and syllabus once. Go topic by topic in the syllabus. For each topic
in
the syllabus, allot one page in a notebook. Under each topic, jot down

the
points, in an orderly fashion. You may need to include - definitions,
concepts, case studies, maps etc. Sometimes, the topic may be dealt
comprehensively in some coaching class notes or a text book or a guide.
In
such case you need not re-write all these points in your notebook - just
give a *pointer to where this material is available. By Thursday, you will
be able to complete the subheading. Try answering previous years QP's
on
Thursday / Friday. Jot down in points form the answer to the question. In
most Social Sciences papers, you can prepare a "Thought Framework"
for
the
answer. Ask Mr. Upendra's students how to do this <<version 2>>. In
Geography, Sciences etc. you should be mentioning what diagrams /
tables
/
maps are required in this question. If you see the points-answers after a
few days you will recognize how to improve the structure of the answer.
[
In
geography, it is useful to think about the structure of the answer in
terms
of each page of the answer - the "layout" of the answers with the
diagrams
and paragraphs. ] You can check up the answers, if they are factual
ones,
with
textbooks
etc.
2.
This answer-planning practice is more relevant for anaytical answers.
For
fact-oriented answers, you need to only think about the points - no need
to
waste
time
writing
them
down
pointwise.
3.
Writing practice: Write 2 - 4 one hour tests, covering a long-question,
and two SQ's. This should be done within 1 hour / covers 100 marks /
1000
words. Remember the purpose of the writing practice - (a) Know your
writing
style - whether you cover all aspects of the answer in a balanced
manner,
in
the given time. (b) Whether you can complete the 1000 words + in 1
hour,

without your hand paining! (c) Time management in terms of words per
page
/
pages per minute / etc. Roughly - 1000 words an hour / 100 marks an
hour
/
100 words a page. If your handwriting is 100 words a page,
measurement
will
be
easy.
4.
Get the answers corrected by somebody - anybody who has written
mains.
*** */
*Essay*
I'm including here some guidelines written by Sundar 98A1 regarding
essay.
It needs to be elaborated, I guess.
*Target:*
Its realistic to target something around 120. Whatever one gets above this
is a bonus.
*What is expected:*
If one goes through the essay question paper properly, esp. the
instructions, it's easy to realise that
- Content relevance
- Logical presentation
- Concise format
- Effective language
are the key requirements.
Do not use any hi-fi language. Just plain, school student English would be
good enough. The essay needs to be interesting.
*How to choose a topic:*

Don't have any mindsets. At that point of time, inside the exam hall, we
have to choose that topic which we really feel like writing. That one we
would enjoy thinking and writing about. No other criterion to choose a
topic.
One way of making a quick decision is to firstly eliminate those topics
that we are averse to. Of what remains take the one closest to your
hearts.
Also ensure that you choose a topic that you understand well - that you
know the meaning of all the words in the topic.
*How to go about it:*
Read the topic chosen 4-5 time thoroughly. Underline the key words.
Read
again. Get the actual meaning of what's asked for very clearly. If you
have
doubts about the meaning of even a single word in the topic, just leave
the
topic. Choose something else. Or one has to be contended with the
scores
around
60.
Go to the last page of your answer sheets and just do a random
brainstorming of the topic chosen. Random points - issues / events /
definitions / narrations / quotes / news items etc. Whatever comes to the
mind.
After doing this for about 30-40 mins, Cluster the similar points
together.
Then sequence the clusters simply in a logical manner. Have around 1112

clusters.
An idea/para should just naturally flow out of the preceding one. The
essay
needs
to
be
smooth.
Now start writing the essay. It can be done in about 2 hours' time.
It's just the expansion of each of the clusters. Make it around one page
each. We'll end up with about 13 pages. That's it!
But while expanding, and after ever page of writing go back to the essay
topic again. Just to ensure you are writing on what's asked for. Else it's
quite easy for one to drift away from the topic, landing-up around 60
marks.
*Introduction/ Conclusion:*
Crucial. The inrtro needs to be appealing. The reader should feel like
reading more and more! It can be done in a few ways:
- Use of quotes
- An interesting narration
- Some event invokes attention
After that initial para, the introduction needs to set the framework for
the whole essay. It needs to be of one page, about 100 words. It needs
to
say what's in store - areas explored in the essay / issues addressed. It's
like
an
abstract
of
a
report
or
a
cinema
trailer.
Conclusion is the climax where one presents his/her own view point. It
needs to be futuristic/positive and original. Quotes can be used here too,
just to make one's point get across.

*Don'ts:*
Don't write the essay too technically. This usually happens when one
chooses a topic related to his/her option. Be careful. The essay needs to
be
a very general one, a XII-class school student reading the essay should
understand
it,
like
it.
Do

not

use

many

quotations.

2-3

max

will

do.

Do

not

underline.

Don't stretch the essay till the last minute. Finish it off 5-10 mins
ahead of time and just have a reading. Nor finish it too early.
Don't make the essay too lengthy. 1300 - 1600 words is ideal.
Don't

scribble.

Write

legibly.

Don't make any grammar mistakes. Make short sentences and use
common
words.
*Preparation:*
Just take about an hour to think on some famous topics like :
Women empowerment, Culture/Religion, Globalisation, Democracy,
Vision
for
India, Environment, Science / Space etc.
Look at the old essay topics. Keep a watch on the newspapers etc with
this
perspective also. Just jot down some interesting issues / quotes on some

of
these topics.
*Practice:*
Just write 2 essays max before the exam. Time it well. Exam conditions
*4 Misc:*
*Delhi Stay Issues (suitably modify for Chennai / Hyderabad e.w.)*
Contact someone who is already staying there.
Take care of Location : walking distance of classes etc
Food : Tie up with a good caterer who is REGULAR. Have a pantry for
making
tea & a stock of snacks, but don't get into buying provisions & arranging a
cook etc.
Building : Delhi gets very hot & very cold. If possible, don't opt for a top
floor room.
Room mate(s) : This is the most important variable. Be with someone who
is
serious about the exam; you will get to know through seniors whether to
join
someone as roomie or not. I n general, don't room with people preparing
for
other exams / working / searching for job etc. If you are uncomfortable in
terms of sleeping hours / gangs of friends of your roomie / any other
difficult habits, as soon as possible find another room. Time is short,
don't waste with bad acquaintances who may not be serious enough.
There are rooms with good 'traditions' of group study, mock tests etc. Join
up!