Dr Nandhinidevi
AIR 54 CSE 2016
Optional – Medical Science
With the vast syllabus I found it really hard to get an idea about the exam process when started And all the articles I read about preparation were on extremes of the bar , Too simple or totally unachievable.
I would like to give an overview on my preparation (This may not be the perfect guide , But I have tried my best to sum it up ) Hope this will be helpful in someways atleast 🙂
My Prelims Booklist ( I got 134 in prelims GS1 )
HISTORY- 6-8 NCERT 11 12 ancient, medieval and modern India
India’s Struggle for Independence by Bipan Chandra
Class notes
And I made separate notes on INC meetings – president- decision
And timeline of events.
ART AND CULTURE – class notes, NCERT
(Focus on architecture , Dance , music , paintings and literature )
GEOGRAPHY – 9-12 NCERT
GohChengLeong certificate physical geography
Class notes
International organisations related to current events
ECONOMICS – institute material , notes
Economic survey
And Ramesh Singh Indian economy
POLITY– Laxmikant
Class notes
ENVIRONMENT – Shankar Institute material
Class notes
SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
Current affairs – focus on Space technology and defence
CURRENT AFFAIRS
The Hindu and Insights daily Quiz
Any monthly magazine ( I followed institute magazine )
Yojana kurukshetra ( to know about new schemes , programs and their specification)
CSAT
Workout Previous 2 year question papers
MAINS preparation ( focus on Essay , Ethics and Optional )
I literally started my Mains preparation after prelims (except for most parts of History and geography, since it was covered during prelims prep)
GS 1
History –same books as prelims
(give more importance to Modern India and culture )
Made notes on important events , leaders and their impact on Indian Independence
World History- 9,10 Ncert , class notes and Book by ArjunDev
Post independence – Bipan chandra India since independence
GEOGRAPHY – the same as prelims
SOCIOLOGY – class 12 NCERT 2 books
GS2
Governance , constitution , polity – Laxmikant , institute materials and notes
Social justice – current events
Acts and Bills
International relation – class notes and current events
GS3
Economic Development – Economic survey and Ramesh Singh
Science and technology – current events
Agriculture – institute material
Internal security and disaster management – book by Ashok Kumar IPS
Environment – current events
GS4
Lexicon and class notes
And Insights secure questions
For ESSAY
I looked into previous year question papers and toppers answer sheet to have an idea.
Wrote 4 essays before mains.
(Analyse the trend of events )
Mains test series I attended in shankar- Mainstorming .
And subscribed to Insights Mains Test Series ( I didn’t write answers , I framed an outline of answer and checked whether I could address all aspects in given time )
OPTIONAL -Medical Science
(Stick to the syllabus)
Books – UG books are sufficient
Mark the syllabus
And also the important Topics given by Roman Saini and revise them.
I made notes for 2nd paper(easier to revise and frame answers since 2nd paper will be regarding cases)
Didn’t write any test series for optional
INTERVIEW
Preparation was mostly on DAF- Hobbies and medical field
Common mistakes that I noticed
- Prelims is not just about mugging up facts- understand the concepts
- People fear to attempt more questions because of negative marks ( try to attend atleast 70-75 questions starting with class test series – so that you will learn how to crack the answer )
- Don’t subscribe to too many test series – its time consuming ( stick to one test series genuinely and you can use other test series inputs with respect to current affairs)
- Analyse previous year question papers ( for prelims and Mains )
Hope this was useful 🙂
All the best!