What should be my next step after 12th? I want to be an IAS officer.

BEGINNING TO PREPARE FOR CIVIL SERVICES

Before venturing into Civil Services, the students must get themselves acquainted about Civil Services.

These acquaintances will include

1. What should you do after 12th to prepare for the IAS exam?
2. Get to know about Civil Services, the nature of Civil Services, the challenges, the prospects from any IAS, IPS, IRS
3. Pick up those subjects that you want to study in Civil Services. These include, Geography, History, Polity, Public Administration, Economics. These subjects are of immense importance to the UPSC syllabus.
4. These subjects will then help you to choose your optional as well.
5. Don’t lose touch with basic maths that you learned in school. This is needed for the CSAT paper in the IAS Prelims.

Now understand your preparation strategy

The students are in the best possible position to prepare for Civil Services examination if they are in their 1st year of graduation.

Advantages that a student has being in 1st year of graduation.

1. His/her mind is uncluttered unlike people who have done their graduation and are undergoing some coaching.
2. t’s a fresh canvas on which any picture can be made, anything can be done a clean blackboard on which anything can be written.
3. It is much more easy to mould a student during this period. The flaws in the students can be easily identified and plugged.
4. The students even if they make some initial mistakes can easily get it corrected as they have so much time.
5. It’s easy to shape the personality and do a lot of trial and error to understand oneself.

Most of the students actually forget whatever they have learnt during schools after graduation and have to go back to schools and ultimately end up studying at school level only.

In any case even students who are doing their coaching, will take take 3 years of time to prepare well and have to go to the basics. This will again compound their difficulty.

How to proceed in three years

In the three years, during graduation, there are certain things that a candidate has to do.

The purpose during the entire three-year period has to build a base which can help the students to better their University examination, form a base on which they can build any type of future. At the same time, they have to be seen by their mentor that they do not develop any attitudinal flaws. Thus they

· Must, must and must choose a mentor.

· Look for sequencing the topics in such a manner that would minimize efforts in learning a particular topic; content and subject.

Phase wise Strategy

A phase wise implementation must begin by identifying the problem of the candidates and filling the gaps that have been left in their school education.

Phase “1” Foundation Stage. This will will comprise of

During this period, the students must train themselves into building social capital, social bonding, reading newspapers, magazines, observe people in editorial and teaching capabilities, etc. and master all school books that they ever studied.

All these ingredients are important for the candidates to ease their effort that will be required to gain knowledge in almost every subject a person should know. The essential ingredients have to-

· Counsel the parents to bring the best in their child.

· Filling the gaps in the education and personality of the candidates.

· Improve their language and observation.

· Develop in them a balance of perception.

· Subject them to Neurolistic-Linguistic Programming (NLP).

Thus the most important phase will constitute

1. Complete revision of School books and the practice of their questions and answers.

2. Communication & Body Language Improvement.

3. Language Improvement.

4. Understanding oneself, their parents and teachers.

5. Understanding their surroundings.

6. Learning to make bonds, and social capital.

7. Start Reading Newspapers.

8. Practice basic math and aptitude

Sources And Reading Material 1st Phase

The Prelims and Mains require different approaches of preparation and studies some of the most essential books for Prelims include

Geography

• Geography Through Maps - K.Siddhartha & S.Mukherji

• Basic Physical Geography- K.Siddhartha & S.Mukherji

• Geography for Preliminary Examination- K.Siddhartha & S.Mukherji

History

• Basic- NCERT history. This includes

• 10th standard,

• 12th standard NCERT history on India and World

Science

• NCERT Biology

• Science, Technology and Society- K. Siddhartha

Polity

• Indian Polity NBT

• How our Government works-NBT

Current Affairs

• Times of India

• Hindu

• Any competition magazine

• regular columns with their threads

Ecology

• Ecology & Environment - K.Siddhartha

• Ecology & Environment for Preliminary Examination Vol-I

Practice Question Bank

• For offline books Ensemble Series

• Ensemble question bank

Phase “2” Knowledge Stage

The candidates come to learn the basics of the entire syllabus of UPSC chapterwise. This phase must comprise of

• Mastery of World Geography, Science and Technology, Geography, Indian and International Economy, International Relations, Indian Polity, Governance, History, Heritage, Culture and Society

• Weekly exchange of news and community education.

• Learning through various means-Films, Books, Interactions, Parents, Teachers, TV.

• Basics of Internet and Social Media to utilize online wealth.

• Background of events and World problems.

• Socialization studies, principles and applications.

• Learning to know the means and mechanism of teaching and learning.

• Continue practicing basic maths and aptitude

Online Classes

These classes will help you get 7-8 dimesnsion of a topic with its chapter, its video adaptaion, its summary, its entire range of Q&A, MCQ, every topics current affairs update. There is only one such site in India now and also in the world https://ensemble.net.in/

Before Advanced level preparation

The advanced level preparation begins thereafter, but the students must acquire certain habits and adaptations.

These include

1. Join one of these portals-Insight, IAS baba, Civils Daily

2. Be serious in your studies. Do not study like a college students..

3. Keep exploring book shops, libraraies, magazines in order to get interested in preparation, and also to know your interest.

4. Must study newspaper daily and keep abreast of the latest happenings in the country and the world.

5. Work on certain skills like communication skills. NEVER indulge in any gossip.

6. Learn how to make notes and start jotting from any source that you read.

Once you have passed the second phase ask this question again on QUORA

Phase “3” Interrelationship stage.

Having gone through the two stages, all the students will be prepared to take to study certain degree of correlation ship between the topics. Elevate the level by adding extra information and analysis. Develop an analytical ability as well and keep expressing it.

Phase “4” After graduation

Now you have one year of time to appear for PT. Start organizing yourself, Start moving step by step picking up each topic and completing it, writing at least one answer from the topic, remembering it and revising it thoroughly as you have to appear in that years exam. This should take at least six month from July to December.

Phase “5” PT Intensive phase with practice.

Having gained enough amount of knowledge, the candidate must take a deep plunge into PT preparation that should comprise of practice and practice and practice and perfecting Newspaper studies.

Phase “6” Mains only phase with Intensive writing practice.

After PT, go for preparation of Mains and focus has to be on appearing in tests and developing analytical abilities. It has to be Revision, analysis and Tests. This is what should become the norm till the mains Examination.