Gyan Continued....

Civils Exam Strategy Part II

A few areas remained untouched in my earlier post, which I am covering here.

I. Which Subject to choose?

This is the most common query I receive & off course there are no easy answers. The average marks for all candidates who did not qualify in Mains 2009 is given below.

Optionals	Total Students	Average
LIT. OF DOGRI LANG	2	298
LIT.OF PUNJABI LANG	18	292
ANIMAL HUSBANDRY & VET.SC.	57	279
LIT.OF GUJ. LANG.	42	278
LIT.OF BENG. LANG.	2	274
LIT. OF MAITHILI LANG	25	270
LIT.OF MALAYALAM LANG	65	269
LIT.OF URDU LANG	30	264
MANAGEMENT	16	260
LIT.OF ASSAME.LANG.	5	260
LIT.OF TAMIL LANG	134	260
AGRICULTURE	138	257
LIT.OF ORIYA LANG.	11	255
LAW	266	254
LIT.OF MANIPURI LANG.	31	251
MEDICAL SC.	77	249
LIT.OF TELUGU LANG	102	242
HISTORY	2777	242
LIT.OF MARATHI LANG.	35	238
SOCIOLOGY	1302	233
PUBLIC ADMIN.	3067	232
BOTANY	230	230
LIT.OF HINDI LANG.	647	226
CIVIL ENG.	36	225
LIT.OF SANSKRIT LANG.	69	225
GEOGRAPHY	3190	221
COMM.& ACCOUNTANCY	256	220
POL. SC. & INT.REL.	1079	218
CHEMISTRY	97	217
LIT.OF KANNAD. LANG.	64	217
ANTHROPOLOGY	290	217
ECONOMICS	249	214
PHILOSOPHY	1476	213
LIT.OF ENGL.LANG.	33	210
PSYCHOLOGY	895	210
LIT.OF PALI LANG.	263	208
GEOLOGY	19	203
STATISTICS	11	199
ZOOLOGY	400	192
PHYSICS	146	188
MECHANICAL ENG.	91	182
ELECTRICAL ENG.	73	159
MATHEMATICS	234	155

I’ve seen similar trend in the last 3-4 years. So I’ll not give ambiguous answers. If you are good in any regional literature like (Punjabi, Kannada, Urdu etc) you should take it up. Literature of regional language comes first in my recommendation list. Second is subjects like Public Administration & Sociology. Pub Ad + Sociology combination is the best bet if you ask me (I know I am highly generalizing but If were to appear again in Civils exam for the first time then I would take up this combination though I am a Delhi University Gold medalist in Geography honours). Pub Ad has been consistently producing better average than geography for the last 2-3 years despite the sample size being almost same (In final result of 2008, the gap of average was more than 30 marks…..It made me think whether there is a scaling process in place at all or not?). Third comes semi scientific subjects like geography & psychology. If you want to really fight against odds then take up physics, Maths, electrical engineering etc. But science subjects like agriculture, Veterinary science, Medical science typically produce good results & can be taken up. Hence my take on optionals is in following order (descending order of priority)

1. Literature of regional language (Its your best bet if you can take up one)
2. Subjects like Public Administration & Socio (Medical Science, Vet, Agriculture, Law also come in this bracket)
3. Semi Scientific subjects like Geography & Psychology
4. Physics, Maths, Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering (the worse of the lot).

Again I would like to emphasize that this is a personal opinion. If you are exceptional then you can do wonders with any optional. Also many engineering students raise this query “Whether they can manage humanities subjects”. The answer is offcourse “Yes”. I have seen many engineers taking up humanities subjects & making it to IAS (Many of them had taken up physics or maths as one of their optionals in first attempt, only to be dropped later). A friend of mine named Amit Khatri (AIR-269 this year) had Chemistry as optional in his first attempt & scored badly; he changed it to Pub Ad & has cleared it this year.

Also If I’ve not covered the ranking order (or preference order) of any subject please refer the average list mentioned above & take your call.

II. How to secure material?

Many outstation students face the problem of securing study material as they cannot take coaching due to personal reasons. I referred the following Xerox notes

• Vajiram’s Class Notes for General Studies (All Subjects).
• Mukul Pathak’s Notes for Psychology
• Direction’s (Neetu Singh) material & Alok Ranjan’s Material for Geography.

The Xerox of all of them is available at following locations in Delhi

1. Xerox Shop opposite Aggarwal Sweets in Old Rajinder Nagar, Delhi.
2. Kumar Book Shop at Patel Chest, North Delhi. (Near Khalsa College).
3. Jawahar Book Depot, Ber Sarai, South Delhi.
4. Will also be available at various Xerox shops in Mukherjee Nagar, Delhi.

III. Issue of Studying while working

Many queries are related to this issue. Let me tell you that it is possible but difficult. I was working with Kotak Life Insurance & resigned after getting selected into Indian Revenue Service in 2008 attempt. Took the exam again with full time & energy & got into IAS in 2009. I got two months leave during 2008 attempt mains.

Now If you can afford leaving job, I would recommend that you do. Job definitely is a drag on your preparation. Leave it if you have other means to support yourself & can take up the risk. If you are working in Government entities like BSNL, CDOT etc where liberal leave is granted for long durations (I’ve heard 8 months leave in a year!!!) then you can continue your job & manage.

Still if can’t leave job coz of any reason then try studying 4-5 hours daily after job & make sure you get atleast 2 months leave during mains from your employer. Also one would need another 1-2 weeks leave during prelims. Take your call.

IV. The raging issue of CSAT?

CSAT is giving tough time to all. First it is something new & second there is no clarity on the subject. If I would be taking exam for the first time in 2011 then I would do the following.

1. Study for General Studies Paper till December (Till now many candidates used to clear Prelims exam because of strong optionals but now it will no longer be the same. General Studies will become very important). Next year there would be cut throat competition in General Studies, so focus on it till December 2010 & complete the syllabus. By then the notification for Prelims 2011 will come out & clarity would emerge.

2. Regarding CSAT, my limited understanding is that the reasoning & quantitative questions being asked presently in the General Studies paper will be moved to this paper (& the number of questions would be increased too). Apart from that moral or ethical reasoning questions would be added (they are currently asked in Delhi University Law Faculty entrance exam). But largely clarity will come in notification (or Earlier if coaching institute get some insider information before the notification).

Overall the take is to focus on General Studies & master it before the notification is out.

Rest I am preparing tips on Psychology & Geography which I shall update in the coming week. Drop your comments & queries & I'll try to get back which posts like this again. Also drop our email id if you have not done earlier as I'll be sending out emails on two markers & some sample notes, I am not able to post download links here. Good Luck.