As a UPSC aspirant one should know that cracking the UPSC exam is not a cup of tea for everyone. There has to be a proper strategy along with dedication and hard work to achieve success in the UPSC exam. To prepare for the UPSC exams it is important to mug up the content of all the NCERT books along with the side books recommended for the exams. But that is not all enough. Certain extra materials need to be followed to gain success in the IAS exam. These materials are the previous year’s question papers. The advantage of visiting the previous year’s UPSC Question Paper is that the aspirants will come to know that certain questions are repeated in a loop by UPSC.
Although current affairs are dynamic, the GS portion remains the same and has a probability of getting the questions repeated. Solving the previous year’s UPSC question paper gives you a map that helps you to find out the trend of the number of questions being asked from the static and dynamic portion of the exam.
Importance of Optional Subject and How to Choose the Optional Subject for UPSC Exam
Optional subjects are the subjects to be chosen in the Mains exam. Out of all the papers, it is the only section, where the aspirants are given the choice of subject, therefore, they should choose the subjest wisely from the list of UPSC Optional Subjects and according to the scoring pattern. Going for the right optional subject is the key to success in the UPSC exam.
Opting for the correct subject for mains makes a huge difference in terms of marking as compared to the GS papers. For example, the marks weightage for the GS is between 400-550 out of 1000, that nearly 50% of the total. Whereas, in optional, if the subject is chosen wisely, the marks range between 300-390 out of 500 which is nearly 70% of the total. Therefore, an optional paper offers the chance to gain more marks for merit.
In order to choose the correct optional subject, certain criteria should be kept in mind, like-
- Scoring: The candidate should keep the scorability of the subject as a priority. It should not be considered completely that all the subjects are equally scored. So, the choice of the subject should be based on the difficulty level.
- Ability of the Candidate: The candidate should give time to themselves and decide, what they are good at. If they pursue excellent writing skills, then they can go for choosing detailing subjects like PA, Indian Polity, or Sociology. On the other hand, if the candidate has a strong technical hand and is good with numbers and charts and maps, then Geography or Physics would be the right choice.
- Availability of Resources: before choosing the optional subject, the candidates should also make sure to have ample study material for the subject. As to write the best quality answers, the candidate should never run out of words.
UPSC Previous Year’s Question Papers: an Ultimate Source of Solving UPSC Question
It is commonly said that practice makes man perfect but it should be noted that no level of preparation will give you the results that the IAS exam question paper will. It is quite challenging to apply what is learned on paper is a big challenge. This challenge can be overcome by solving the previous year’s question papers of at least 7-10 years.
This will give you an idea of the pattern of questions being asked in the papers. Practicing the question papers helps the aspirant in maintaining the speed of solving the question paper in the given time frame.
When you are done with your question paper, then you can analyze your performance. It should be noted that, when it is said that the questions are repeated in the exam, it doesn’t mean that the exact questions will be copied. But they can be asked in a molded form. So, you should read the questions carefully and analyze them before answering. You can also find these previous year’s question papers on the BYJUS exam prep website.
