READ, REVISE AND PRACTICE

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Conventional part of the subjects is to be done first. (revise at least 10 times)

Practice MCQs in GS Manual for the part studied on that particular day (mark in pencil.)
Aptitude daily for a minimum of 4 hours.
Current affairs:- High Priority Areas :Environment & Biodiversity
Science tech
Polity
Economy.
Yearbook stuff (Government schemes/ org. etc)
Low priority current affairs:- International relations, Misc.GK (Sports, awards, persons in news,
books, authors etc): Lists already given for 2012 and 13
6. For current affairs, high priority areas dig into the internet, check all basic details (what, why,
how, when and where.)
7. Pros and cons of a Government Schemes/ Policy, reasons and suggestions- analysis.
8. Write answers daily and speed will automatically increase.
9. Upgrade your current affairs notes and revise often.
10. Use internet (right websites to get basic information)
11. Yojna and Kurukshetra (mains and essay)
12. Current affairs from Hindu Diary 2001-2011
13. Proper study of current affairs from Jan 2012-July 2014.
14.Polity:a) read the chapter on President, Vice President and immediately move to the chapter on
governor. Then read on Emergency provisions.
b) Read chapter on PM and cabinet, then move to CM and state council of Ministers.
c) Chapter on Parliamentary system and then directly to parliament, but after budget topic is
done pause this chapter and move to on CAG. Then come back and resume the chapter on
parliament.
d) Once parliament is finished, move to State legislative assembly.
e) Same way Supreme Court and then High court, tribunals.
f) Attorney Gen =>Advocate General
g) UPSC =>State PSC
h) Finance Commission =>Planning Commission=>Nat.Development council
i) Now Centre State and Interstate relations.
j) Election Commission=> chapter on election, Anti-defection
k) All the National Commissions on Women, SC, ST,OBC, CVC, Lokpal and so on.
l) Citizenship, Fundamental rights, DPSP, duties.
m) Amendment of Constitution=> preamble
n) Jammu Kashmir => Scheduled and Tribal Areas.
o) UT, Panchayati Raj, municipalities
Geography:- Geography classified into three parts:1. Physical geography, World geography, Indian Geography
How to Approach Geography for CSAT-Prelims? First of all complete
1. NCERT class 7 to 10 social science
2. NCERT class 11, 12: Geography (except that practical book on mapping and survey methods)

3. NOS Studymaterial on Geography (if the time and eyes permit you!)
1. branches of geography= important
2. origin of Earth= important
3. understand the concepts related to longitudes, latitudes, meridians, inclination of Earths axis
and its effect, standard time, cycles of the moon, atmosphere, Aurora -magnetism, insulation
and heat budget, templated,
4. mecanism of winds, monsoon
5. understand the difference between dew, frost, fog, smog, mist and haze.
6. types of climate, water table = important, also from environment and biodiversity Angle
7. Understand the mechanism of cold and warm currents = because they are also related with
climate change
8. From lakes, only important and famous ones : Caspian Sea, Lake Superior, Superior, Victoria,
Baikal, Aral Sea, Wulur, Vostock
9. Same for rivers
10. Marine resources= important for environment topic also
11. Classification of rocks: prepare a small note on features and example of each type
12. Theories of Plate tectonics, continental drift etc - just get overview
13. Volcanos, Earthquakes important but no need to get in minute stuff. Just supplement NCERT
14. Weathering, Erosion, landforms = important from environment topic angle.
15. ignore table on major water falls, except famous ones : Angel, Victoria, Niagara,
16. Soil is important but from agriculture point of view only.
World geography
1. Go through entire human geography but ignore trivial details like Lapps= people of Eurasian
trunda. (But famous tribes are important e.g.Bushman=Kalahari Desert.)
2. Migration, resource classification, farming system, types of cultivation, agricultural typology=
extremely important
3. Chief agro products (tea, wheat etc) : the land/climate conditions required = important.
4. Forest products= important from environment and biodiversity angle.
5. Mineral producers= only the major ones (coal, iron ore, gold, nuclear, oil etc). Otherwies
Mercury producers = Spain and Italy= ignore.
6. industrial products= just get an overview
7. important boundary lines= as the name suggests, it is important
8. important cities= not that important for UPSC , but may help you in GK based questions in
SSC/Bank.
9. old name and new name for various countries and cities= indirectly important for the
interviews.
Indian geography
In last two years, very few questions are coming from world geography. but at the same time, it is not a
good idea to completely ignore world geography especially when you have time. because a something
really straightforward asked Tropical Savannah climate, then you should not miss the opportunity.

In the 90s, they would give you some map based questions. ( location of rivers, mountains,
nations etc). but they have not asked map-based questions in last two years.
but it does not hurt much preparing the Atlas because it indirectly helps you understand the
international-relations and diplomacy topics in better manner.

More emphasis should be given on the Indian geography because it is common for both prelims
and mains.
While Indian geography is important for prelims, the nature of question has changed.

earlier it used to be mapped based or location-based Indian geography but nowadays it is mostly
related with agriculture, environment angles.
1. first start with NCERTs and them move to TMH GS Manual.
2. keep an Atlas Ready while reading everyline, otherwise things will not go long-term memory.
3. for the lakes, rivers, waterfalls, irrigation projects, wildlife parks and sanctuaries etc. only
prepare the famous ones and those related with odd animals such as Wild Ass. and prepare
the trivial ones only if they are from your home state (for profile based interview questions and
for State PSC)
4. Indias industrial towns/tourist places: famous ones + those from your home state and
surrounding neighbour states. No need to go in trivial. These things are for indirectly
understanding the issues of socio-economic Development and for profile based interview
questions. Otherwise direct MCQs are very unlikely.
5. seasons, soil types, wildlife= important.
6. ignore places connected by national highways. 90s era is over.
7. sex ratio, literacy rate :top 3, bottom 3, and your home state.
8. Tribal groups = important from culture angle.
9. India maps on political, physical, wildlife and biosphere, seaports, soil-vegetation, = important
for indirect MCQs.
Static
Current Based
basic theoretical and static stuff such as biomes, bios, Issues involving various protocols or world
in-situ, ex-situ modes of wildlife conservation, keystone conventions. IPCC reports, Kyoto etc.Supreme
species, umbrella species, project tiger, elephant,
court orders on xyz issue: Clearing of Yamuna,
biosphere reserves and things like that.
Ban on Mining, Tiger tourism etc.
Booklist/Preparation sources for Environment and Biodiversity
Static (theory)
Current based
1. NCERT Social
5. Website of Ministry of Environment and Forest
science (7-10):
6. Yojana, Kurukshetra magazine issues involving those particular
because Geography,
themes
Forest etc given in it.
7. The Hindu: Energy and Environment segment
2. NCERT Geography
http://www.thehindu.com/sci-tech/energy-and-environment/
Class 11, 12
8. Climate Change section of IndianExpress:
3. NOS Study material
http://www.indianexpress.com/section/climate-change/912/
on Biodiversity. Free
9. Economic Times section on Environment
download link
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/planetsos/2647163.cms
@bottom
10. http://mrunal.org/enb
4. India Yearbook,
11. Magazine (just to make sure we did not miss anything!)
chapter on
12. Google: incase follow up action is necessary for a particular
Environment
topic.

Prelims questions: mostly theory based= multiple revision must. (+ a few on current affairs)

^Mains questions: mostly current based. You must maintain notes.

The source list may look intimidating but it is not!
Because environment news doesnt happen everyday (unlike Economy), so every week there
will be no more than 2-3 news items.

So always start with NCERTs.

And please dont read NCERTS lightly or just for namesake formality because UPSC will usually
give you four statements and all of them would sound equally plausible. You should be
thoroughly clear on principles/concepts.
Once you have finished reading these textbooks, it is time for selective study of GS manual.

How to efficiently use GS Manual for Science segment?

Physics Chapter on Science
1. difference between scaler and vector quantity=important
2. Newtons laws and their practical application=important
3. the working principles behind artificial satellites, geostationary satellites etc. =important, but no
need to mugup equations.
4. The concept of densities important but you dont need to mugup absolute density value of
various substances. Same goes for surface tension, viscosity etc.
5. Concepts and principles behind heat, electronic thermometer, refrigeration, radiation, solar
cooker, thermos flask, carengine radiator, air-conditioners, pressure cookers, DTH TV,
nightvision goggles, radar, oven, CAT Scan etc.
6. Optics: convex and concave glasses: differences applications, refractions,
7. Principle behind rainbow, LCD, camera microscope, LASER, compact disc etc. but no need to
get bored with those complex diagrams.
8. Sound: echo, resonsnace, doplar effect, sonic boom, dolby etc. : again you need to have idea
on basics. No need for going into minute details.
9. Same for Magnetism and electricity, Nuclear physics.
10. In short, you should be aware of the concepts and principles but You dont need to mugup
equations of Velocity, acceleration, pendulum, sound etc.
Biology
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Branches of biology important

difference between prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells is important
Parts of typical cell, and their functions= important
Basics of cell division mitosis and meiosis =important but no need to do Ph.D from GS Manual.
Classification of living organism= you should have overall idea but no need to go in minute
details like the difference between Deuteromycetes and Basiondiomycetes.
Tissue system : same as above
Nutrition and digestion system important but no need to go in details like 8 hours of work = 972
calories.
respiration and photosynthesis: no need for Ph.D or chemical reaction
Heart, kidney: just functions, no need to go diagram
ignore diagram of conduction of nerve impulse
Basic functions of Endocrine glands and diseases asscociated with them = important. But
Cacitonin raises blood calcium level =not important.
skeletal system: simply ignore. THM has given Ph.D on this.

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reproduction : concepts important. diagrams are not important.

artificial methods of vegatative reproduction =extremely important.
Plant hormor diagram= ignore
sex determination in humans, birds and bees= important
Table and Diagram on ABO blood group, Rh factor = very important.
List of genetic disease = important but no need to mugup all, only big dieases like Sickle cell,
Thalassemia.
Basics of Gene Expression, m-RNA, t-RNA important else other topics stem cell, cancer,
genetic engineering, cloning etc will be hard to understand.
Tables for Disease, types, mode of transmission and symptoms= important (including for
mains). But no need to mugup Latin names of those bactaria etc.
Table on Vitamin function and disease = important
monoclonal antibodies=important for mains also.
Basics of antigen-antibody=important because vaccination works on that principle

^This is the basic biology. Now in the TMH GS Manual, theyve given environment related stuff=
important. Well discuss what to do with that, in separate topic environment and Biodiversity: for the
moment skip it move on to the topic of drug abuse and alcoholism. No need to mugup tables but you
should have idea the origin of various narcotic drugs .
e.g. LSD from fungi,

Marijuana from hemp,

Morphine, heroine = opium derivaties.
Cocaine from coca leaves.

+Basic idea on alcoholism e.g.

Hooch / Zehrili Sharaab is basically methanol and it causes blindness.

Alcohol is not stimulant but depressant.
Alcohol causes cirrhosis of liver

Animal Husbandry

Now comes the topic of Animal husbandary. Very brief overview,

no need to mugup Latin names,
Ignore animal disease table.
Artificial insemination important

Agriculture

Youd already have covered this topic through NCERTs, so use GS manual only to fill up any
missing details such as ideal soil type, harvesting season, states
because usually 4TF MCQs are prepared from that.
No need to mugup every hybrid variety or latin name
Type of plants = important
Masticatory, medicinal plants and bio insecticides: only use/function.

Chemistry

From TMH GS manual.

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Symbols of elements= ignore.

Chemical equations =ignore. because youve already ignored the symbols hahaha
Use of chemical compound = important but their chemical formula is not important
Ignore Thomsons atomic model
Ignore Rutherfords Atomic model
Ignore theories of chemical bonding
Ignore periodic table
Ignore molality, mole fraction and their equations
Concept of solubility =important
Oxidation reduction mechanism and examples = important
Carbon, its compounds and allotropes, carbon cycle=important
Ignore Acid-base, hydrocarbon. Whatever you prepared in NCERT is sufficient. THM is going
into Ph.D mode
Table on natural occurrence of selected metals=important for big elements only. E.g.Dolomite
=Magnesium and Magnetite= iron.
Location of mineral wealth= important. You should idea on overall which mineral is found in
which state.
Basics of metal extraction, petroleum, steel, rusting, cement, glass =important
Colloids= only basic definition and table of types of colloidal system, emulsion and gels
=important
Ignore Micelles topic.
Biotech Nanotech and their applications =important both for prelims and mains
Polysaccharides = use and sources =important. But chem formula=ignore, same for proteins
and glycosides
Ignore the equations govering gases, liquids and solutions.
Understand the three laws of thermodynamics
Ignore themodynamic potentials.
The readymade Question answers given on important concents and topics= important to
understand principle.

Once youre done (physics, chemistry and biology) from GS Manual.

Restart the whole process one more time (once again read NCERTs and once again read GS Manual)
and then solve the Mock MCQs given at the end of each chapter.
This finishes the theory portion of Science. Now coming to the current affairs portion =Sci-Tech.
Science-Tech for prelims and Mains
Sources
1. The Hindu (particularly Thursday edition)
2. Mrunal.org/snt Ive uploaded some ready revision notes from The Hindus article. That should
give you the hints on how to approach a science related news articles from exam point of view,
what to skip and what to note down.
3. Magazine (any one CST or PD): just to make sure we did not miss anything from Hindu /
current affairs.

4. Internet, incase you need to do follow up question for a particular topic e.g. Human Genome
project because such things can also come under 10 marks in Mains. But dont do Ph.D on it.
Like I said in previous Act- Application of Nanotechnology. This is meant for 12-15 marks,
theyre not going to ask a 30 marks or 200 marks essay on it. So keep the size of notes
accordingly.
5. And dont too much sci-tech. If you start digging google, there is so much Science-tech going
on around the world throughout the year. But Beyond a level, this has diminishing rate of
returns.
For the Science-Tech, Frequent revision is essential. Otherwise, itd remain in your notes but you wont
be able to recall it in the exam hall.
Public health and first aid

This topic is gaining quite some importance since last two mains (2011 and 2012)
it is a mixture of Yearbook+Sci-Tech
For prelims, this topic is not directly mentioned in the CSAT (Preliminary) syllabus yet 4TF MCQ
questions based on diseases can come under the General Science.
For Mains, the syllabus explicitly mentions Public Health.

Preparation sources/booklist for Public Health

1. Basics of nutrition, disease, vaccination = NCERTs, GS Manual
2. Government schemes and projects related to public health= India Yearbook Chapter on health
and family welfare + and Government websites for new updates
3. Newspaper
4. Press release of pib.nic.in
5. Mrunal.org/snt
First Aid

Since last two years they have been asking role-playing question on First Aid treatment in the
mains examination.
Now that Doesnt necessarily mean that they will definitely ask a question on first aid, in the
next exam but you should be prepared. Go through the following PDF file (taken from IGNOU):
Click ME.

Good governance, law and order

These are given in General Studies Mains syllabus
1. Law enforcement, internal security and related issues such as the preservation of communal
harmony.
2. Issues relating to good governance and accountability to the citizens including the maintenance
of human rights, and of pro-bity in public life
Best source:
1. 2nd ARC reports. http://arc.gov.in/
2. Yojana issues related to the themes

3. Besides itll also help you in essay and interview.

4. + any current affairs (Lokpal, Citizen carter, Whistleblower, SC judgements etc) but youd be
preparing that already under [Polity]
You can also dig egyankosh.ac.in for good governance and law and order, but if Public Administration
is not your optional then then itll give you diminishing rate of returns.
I think ^this should be sufficient for General Studies.
Yes there are some small time topics left. For example prelims syllabus has
1. Public Policy,
2. Rights issue,
3. Panchayati Raj
But given the way UPSC conducted last two prelims, whatever you prepare under yearbook, polity
(static + current), will help you in these questions. There is no need to prepare them separately using a
book/coaching material. At most go for Governance in India by M.Laxmikanth, if youve time- otherwise
no need. You can also use the Sociology and Political Science textbooks of NCERT (Class 11,12).
Preparation Timetable
Finish core syllabus of Economy, Polity and International relations. (to digest
newspapers better)Prepare topics that are present in mains but absent in prelims viz

Nov-December

1. Statistics
2. First Aid
3. Good governance, Accountability and Law n order (2nd ARC)
Go through the Yojana, Kurukshetra from Jan 2012 (incase you missed them)

Jan/Feb
onwardsMarch

Finish Bipin Chandra right here if you can.

1. Yearbook
2. History + Culture
3. Geography
4. Environment + Biodiversity
5. Science and Science TechEconomy (current affairs)
+ lots of revision+ MCQ practice+ daily newspaper

April-May

June-JulyAugust

+Aptitude paper.
1. Readymade garbage will start flooding the streets (from Delhi). Ignore it.
2. Have faith in your books and notes revise them as much as you can.
3. Reduce/stop digging internet for more current affairs!
4. Read newspaper till last day but If editorials are taking too much time, just cut
and file them but finish them once the prelims are over.

Assuming that from 20th May to 1st June youd be in vacation/relief mood.
Dont raise your blood pressure with cutoffs debate on orkut, better watch some

Aug/Sept/Oct

movies or just go rob a bank.

Once your mind is clear, fresh and relaxed (and pockets are full-if you robbed a
bank), Make a list of national and international events/topics that are important
from mains point of view.
Review your notes, upgrade them in the light of above events via internet/
frontline whatever necessary.

Prelims result is announced.A) If you fail= Dont become Devdas. Review your
mistakes and fix them in next attempt. But daily newspaper reading = essential till you
retire from this field. Use your energy as per this article Click ME.B) If youve passed,
thank the almighty God and proceed ahead.After UPSCs #epic BackbreakingTM Moves
shown in Mains-2012, there are hardly any Standard Reference books left to revise for
mains, but still do it!Otherwise Daily reading of newspaper- notes making. (+follow up
action, google digging for whatever new events are taking place)

Yojana, Kurukshetra/ any Committee reports etc- notes making.

Most important: Take care of health. Dont eat street-food.

Nov

Give mains.
Vacation,Again dont raise blood pressure in cut-offs debates, either watch some
Dec
movies or rob a few more banks. (but do read newspapers daily and make notes out of
it.)
Fill up form for next prelims.
Continue the maintenance doze for next prelims.
Prepare for interview (profile based questions (location, graduation..), national
Jan-Feb-March
and international events, including background, historic details, pros, cons etc.)
More explained later
Result of Mains + interviews starts.

March-April

1. If you pass, thank the almighty God once again. (and return the money you had
robbed from those banks)
2. If you fail, dont become Devdas just prepare for next prelims.
3. If you fail and it was your last attempt still dont become Devdas, dont regret
anything, dont feel guilty about anything, dont let anyone else make you feel
guilty about anything. Execute backup plans and move on in your life and
career- money, power and status will come, with time.

History (GS/CSAT)
For prelims (CSAT General Studies Paper I), History is subdivided into three segments
Ancient Harappa, Vedic Age, Buddha, Mahavir, Gupta,Maurya Kingdoms etc.
MedievalDelhi Sultanate, Vijaynagar, Mughals etc.
Modern British Raj. 1857 Mutiny onwards. Freedom struggle.
In the 90s, questions used to be based on

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Timelines: wars, kings,

Locations: of Harappa Sites where xyz type of pottery was found, or Asokas pillars
Match the following
Maps: theyd give you a blank map, you had to locate xyz state or kingdom.

In last three years, questions are mostly based on religion, culture, art and features/cause/reason type.
Although UPSC hasnot asked map based question lately but if youve time, it doesnt hurt preparing
the maps (because UPSC is the baddest thug in this part of South East Asia.) youll find the
Ancient/Medieval maps in NCERTs and in GS Manual.
Essential Booklist for History (GS/CSAT)
1. NCERT class 7 to 10 Social Science
2. NCERT class 11, 12 on History
NOS Studymaterial on Indian Culture and Heritage.
3. NOS Studymaterial on Indian Culture and Heritage.
^all of these free, download links @bottom of this article
4. Selective Study of History portion in Tata Macgrawill General Studies Manual (to fill up vacuum
of whatever details are missing in the NCERTs). But again skip very tiny details such as Middle
Palaeolithic tools were found at Nevasa, Maharashtra by HD Sankalia. Because it wont go in
long term memory. Your time and energy can be better utilized in other topics.
Once this is done, solve all the Mock MCQs given in the General Studies Manual.
In The NCERT Class 9 and 10, youll also find information on World History (WW1, WW2, French
Revolution, Russian Revolution etc) While theyre not specifically mentioned in the syllabus, you should
read it because indirectly important for Essay and interview.
History (Mains/GS)
In the 90s, the General Studies paper used to have following structure, in History section
1. 3-5 descriptive question (60 marks)
2. Freedom fighter 2 markers (10 marks)
3. Culture related 2 markers (10 marks)
Ofcourse there would be fluctuation each year, but this was the usual makeup.

Success formula in 90s era= basically mugup Spectrums three books + Bipin Chandra.
That doesnt hold true anymore, as we saw in GS Mains-2012 Analysis (click ME if you didnt)
Nowadays weightage given to History in GS mains paper = declined and emphasis has been
shifted to Culture.

So how to proceed in this new era?

1. Indias Struggle for Independence by Bipin Chandra

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5.

Selective Study of IGNOU BA/MA History (only related to freedom Struggle) Click ME
Selective Study of IGNOU Tourism Course (for culture) CLICK ME
NOS material on Indian culture CLICK ME
Spectrum Book on Indian Culture

Optional reference
Because of the backbreakingTM move of UPSC, following books have lost their former glory. So Im
putting them under Secondary. If youve time, read else dont bother. There are many other areas
where you can utilize your energy.
1. Spectrum Book on Brief History of Modern India
2. Spectrum Book on Freedom Fighters
However, for State PSC exams, whore still in the 90s mood, these books would come handy. In that
case, mug them up :)
Rule #1: Maintain a Diary of Mistakes
Consider this equation
x-33=(17/2)
=>2x -33 =17
=>2x=17+33
=>2x=50 hence x=25.
Wrong! The Correct answer is 41.5.
What was the mistake? We multiplied 2 with x, but forgot to multiply 2 with 33.
This is a frequent calculation mistake made by many candidates, But in
CSAT/CAT/IBPS, theyll also give 25 as one of the four answers, so people happily
tick 25, come out of the exam hall and boast about how excellently they
performed (mera paper toh bahot acchaa gayaa!).
Then waste 3 months in doing nothing but cut-off and result date speculation. Come
August, enter your roll number in UPSC website and it says
Sorry! your name doesnt figure in the list of successful candidates!
Dream is shattered, become Devdas for a few months, then again gather up courage to
re-appear in the next prelims.
And this Cycle continues because you did not take follow the first rule of aptitude
preparation, called Maintaining The Diary of Mistakes
Whatever mistakes you make or tricks that you discover, while solving the sums at
home, do note them down in your diary. Keep a track of your progress. Go through this
diary before going in the exam hall.
You dont need to write a lengthy formal note, just a crude line in your own mothertongue, e.g. for above mistake:
bracket mein multiplication jaroori
(necessary to multiply in bracket)
In the same way, also check explanations given in the book and see if your method was
faster and more convenient. Also note down such discoveries.
Here are few points from my Diary of Mistakes
In Data interpretation, do see its unit: lakhs and crores before ticking answer.
To type 1 to 300 on keyboard: 100-300 got 201 numbers and to type every number,
need 3x keystrokes.

5/4 speed = 4/5 time. So 1-4/5= 1/5 of original minutes are saved.
20% discount on stock, getting 15% on face value, yield always remains the same.
15/80=18.75, irrespective of investment.
Join midpts of rectangle= rhombus
^these may not make any sense to you, because this is my personal diary out of
my field-adventures. Youve to set out on your own adventurous journey and
maintain a diary like this.
Rule #2: Get your hands DIRTY
To actually write a diary, youve to walk on a lengthy field trip. If you just read the
solved-sums in the book, it is not going to help you.
Reading the sums will only help you memorize the formula and the procedure
involved in solving the sum. It will by no means, save you from making silly mistakes in
the actual exam.
You cannot know what type of silly mistakes youll make in the exam, unless you make
them at home.
So, When you make mistake at home, dont feel sad or guilty about it, take it in a
positive sense:
Now Im less likely to make that mistake in the exam! So by making the mistake,
Ive increased y winning chances.
Aptitude cannot be learned by reading the books, youve to get your hands dirty by
calculating the sums on your own.
Rule #3: Know when to give up the fight
Youre doing a sum on permutations, you do calculations, but your answer doesnt
match any of the 4 given options.
You recheck the multiplications, still no help. Then you start from scratch again, trying a
different approach and logic to the same question.
In this process 7-10 minutes are wasted and you dont even realize it.
People get stuck in a sum, they dont leave it, they keep fighting and calculating again
and again with different angles.
Always keep a wrist watch ready, because they dont allow mobile phones in the exam
hall, and youve to keep track of time!
If youre not getting the answer, Just leave it for the end, keep moving forward.
The arrangement questions are very notorious for this e.g. A is father of B and an
engineer, B is mother of C who is a teacher and..
Such questions may eat up 10-12-15 minutes if youre not very careful, because
everytime you dont get the answer, youve to read the entire paragraph one more time.
And there is greed involved, since youre unable to solve previous 20 mathematical
sums in the exam, youre under stress. You think you can solve this sum, so out of the
greed, you dont give up and in the process you end up wasting precious time.
All this happens because you did not follow the two principles: you didnot maintain a
diary and you didnot get your hands dirty.
Practice is essential.
The Mock-test SERIES for CSAT
March-April is Diwali-season for Delhis coaching classes.
It is their final chance to rob the aspirants, before preliminary exam.
People live in some myth that : One must join a Mock Test Series during this time.

They join the regular or postal test-series after paying Rs.1500 to 7000 depending on the
reputation of the class.
Some request their Delhi-friends to get fax the photocopies.
Some of them so nave they think theyll actually get questions from this in the UPSC
exam.
So if Xyz sirs test-series asked about the number of countries sharing border with
Burkina Faso, these people will actually mug up the answer, thinking that itll come in
UPSC.
You should keep in mind that UPSC also keeps a track of such test-series and makes
sure that no question comes out of this. Beside the level and style of UPSC question is
just unique in its own way. It is beyond the aukaat of anybody to actually replicate the
toughness and variety of questions of real-CSAT exam.
Besides UPSC has taken only one CSAT, so we dont have enough authentic questions
to build and speculate mock aptitude-questions. What these test-series peolpe are
doing? Just lifting and rephrasing the aptitude questions from earlier Bank PO,
CDS/NDA exams, set up a mock-test and rob 2000-5000 rupees.
Ofcourse such simulated mock tests have their benefits, they gear you up for the exam,
they give you practice, you can know about your weak areas.
Anyways in any case, what is the right time to appear for mock test? Only after youve
completed the topic or the syllabus. Otherwise you wont be able to solve many
questions and itll only add to frustration. And there are enough mock-questions given at
the end of your aptitude books: Arun Sharma, RS Agarwal, Pearson or any book youre
using- Youve truckload of questions in them for practicing @home.
So get your hands dirty, maintain a diary and get crack the CSAT exam.