UPSC CSE Exam 2021 Notification Out; Prelims On 27 June: Here’s How To Plan Next 100 Days To Ensure A Good Rank

According to a notification issued by the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) today, the Civil Services Examination (CSE) prelims will be held on 27 June and the admit cards are likely to released in May.

The number of positions advertised by the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) this year has gone down from 796 last year to 712. In 2019, the UPSC had advertised for 896 posts while it was 782 positions in 2018, despite a shortage of civil servants in the country, reports Indian Express.

In 2019, Minister of State for Personnel, Jitendra Singh, had said that 5,205 IAS positions were filled as against the total authorised strength of 6,699. Reportedly, big states like Maharashtra have sanctioned 415 positions, nearly 100 posts are still lying vacant.

How Should Aspirants Approach The Next Hundred Days

The UPSC notification is out and the cycle of the 2021 CSE exam has begun. The notification spurs many aspirants to intensify their preparations while others lose hope of clearing the exam in the particular attempt.

Around 100 days are remaining before the prelims exam, hence, students shouldn’t give up. With proper planning, 100 days can serve as a solid foundation to crack both prelims and mains.

First, the aspirants should avoid common mistakes. One of them is starting to study exclusively for prelims, avoiding any mains practice. Aspirants should remember that the preliminary exam is just of qualifying nature, and the final tally only includes the marks of mains and the interview.

Therefore, as aspirants intensify their preparation, mains practice should not be left behind.

The second mistake aspirants make is to gear up their preparation, that is, the time spent on studies, but without giving heed to consistency and focus. Often candidates study hard for one week, then feel a burnout, and lose focus. Instead, an attempt should be made to find out a sweet spot of time and effort devoted to the exam - a pace which the candidates can consistently maintain.

Another mistake common among aspirants is to start skipping tests etc. for more studying time. This is not a good habit. Tests and preparation go hand in hand.

For optimal utilisation of the remaining 100 days, candidates can try to make a calendar on how to manage prelims and mains, as well as different subjects.

This time-table should include some basic things that candidates should do daily, without gap. for example, current affairs and newspaper. These help both in prelims and mains.

Next, the candidate can devote certain portion of the day for mains, depending on one’s situation in the prelims preparation, five, four, three or even two hours.

Next, the candidate should devote certain number of days to finish revising the optional in these mains hours. It is very important that an aspirant at least once revises his/her optional before the prelims.

Next, the candidate can keep up with general answer writing practice in the same subject as they are studying for the prelims.

If doing this for the first time, a candidate should maintain an open mind and flexibility to expunge practices that are not helping, and incorporate those that do. Everyone is different and so is what works for them. The only common things are hard-work and sincerity.

Candidates can begin by making a general account of their day, on what activity they spend their time on, and try to prioritise studies. One should be careful enough to remove activities that are helpful as a “waste of time”. It varies from person to person. For some people, two hours in the evening with friends is important to refresh their mind and give a semblance of comfort. Others might want to cut this down to one hour, and instead devote one hour to yoga in the morning.

The bottom line is, one needs to make the preparation process as smooth and comfortable as possible. Will power is a precious and limited resource. Not everyone can be expected to push their way through the year-long preparation with a process that is highly uncomfortable and “unnatural” for them.

While the preparation in itself is stressful, the aspirants should try to come up with a timetable that gives some space to hobbies or activities that create joy.