1.  Don’t sit for this exam. Far too many people apply forthis exam without knowing many of the details. Far too many people sitfor this exam without knowing if they are capable of overcoming thehuge pressure which the exam brings. As a result far too many peopleapply again and again, hope again and again, and are shattered againand again. Know that this exam is very difficult, that it calls for alevel of commitment which might be a luxury to some. I will say what Iwas told at an SSB Interview- just because one has been rejected by theSSB doesn’t mean that one is less intelligent, that one is hopeless- itsimply means that one is better suited to be someone else. I have knowna few, and am sure there are lot many others who chase this exam whenit is like a chimera to them- they should rather sit for other exams.If you find you are not good enough, you can do two things: studyharder so that you are good enough, or bring down your expectations andapply for lower jobs, like the Staff Selection Commission Exams, CPFand CPO, the State Civil Services, the Bank PO exams, etc. It is afolly to think that perseverance, motivation and hard work can makeanyone an IAS; however, if you have the basic raw material, thenmotivation and hard work can work wonders. Here is the dilemma – it isbetter not to bite more than one can chew, but all the same, withoutbiting one cannot know how much you can chew. You are the best judge ofyour competence – know thyself. Try, try again and again, but when youstill have realistic hope. Don’t blind yourself. Switch to smarter butlesser things (maybe) when you still have age in youradvantage.

2. Prelims is just preliminary. It doesn’t matter how wellyou do in that so long as you can clear it. Therefore, beyond a certainlevel which is just good enough to clear the Prelims, it is useless tostudy for it. The written Mains is the main thing – it carries 2000marks. The Interview is not that important – it carries just 300 marks.Therefore, it is your Mains marks which, more than anything, decideyour rank. Therefore, again, it is better to emphasize on this writtenMains stage more than anything else. Simple.

3.  In the Prelims stage, the Optional paper carries 300 marks,for 120 questions (2.5 marks for each question), whereas the GS papercarries 150 marks for 150 questions (1 mark for each question). Furtherthe GS syllabi is very huge, and frequently questions from outside thesyllabi come. Inference: Optional paper is much, much more importantthat your GS paper. In fact, it is possible to clear prelims by justanswering the Optional paper and not even touching the GS paper; theother way round is not possible. Now this is surely something whichgoes against what you have been taught by everybody.

4.  While you go to sit for any multiple choice question test,carry a good pencil. What is a good pencil? A soft and dark pencil butnot too soft. Forget the good old Nataraj and Camlin. Buy yourself anot too soft drawing pencil with a nib of medium thickness. Why am Iemphasizing on a silly pencil – well, a good pencil can save you easily5 – 10 minutes in your Prelims papers, and they mean much. Carry a goodsharpener along with you. Carry your own water – you don’t have to gooutside to fetch water this way, and this can save another minute ortwo. Don’t drink lots of water – you might have to relieve yourself inthe middle of your exam, and that is going to take another 2-3 minutes.Silly.

5.  While preparing for your Mains, don’t wait for yourPrelims result to come out first. The Prelims result is declared in thefirst week of August, and the Mains start from the third week ofOctober. The time in between is absolutely insufficient for even anEinstein.

6.  Technically it is possible to get better marks in GS than in your Optional papers in Mains. Why? The GS papers contain many small answer questions in which you canscore high. The Optional papers contain mainly long answer questions inwhich you cannot score as high. On the other hand, GS syllabi is huge,whereas Optional syllabi are manageable. Thus, you have to distributeyour time and efforts to get the best advantage.

7.  Statistics in the GS paper II. Since it is cent percentscoring (you can get full marks if you write correctly), many peopleprefer to do it first. Problem is it takes longer to solve this partthan questions of equivalent marks from other areas. Thus, to solve theforty marks of Statistics, many people spend 40 minutes or more, andlose time.

8.  How fast should you write? Fast, very fast. If youcannot write fast, you can do two things: one, go home; two, practicewriting faster at home. You will be hard put for time in your GS paperseven if you manage to complete the Optionals and Essay in time.Especially GS paper II. Each Mains paper consists of 300 marks (exceptfor the Essay paper, 200 marks) and is of 3 hours. This means that ineach hour (60 minutes) you have to solve questions worth 100 marks, oreach mark every 36 seconds. If you are cannot solve 100 marks eachhour, know that you are going slow and should hurry up. As mentionedearlier, Statistics usually takes more than its due of 24 minutes (for40 marks), and examinees lose time for other things of equal value.

9.  Many people argue that language, grammaticalcorrectness and other aspects of verbal construction are irrelevant tomarks. I don’t buy that argument. Of course I cannot dispute thatbetween content and presentation the former is more important, but itmust be agreed, I suppose, that a well written answer in terms of bothcontent and presentation would score higher than one with mere content.Besides, there are times, say in subjects like literature, philosophy,sociology, psychology, even political science, where complex languageconstructions, and complex thoughts have to be expressed. Shallowlinguistic skills can attract penalty. Good vocabulary can writesuccinctly. Even in GS, a well written answer in terms of language isbetter. Thus language counts; if you have linguistic skills, don’tdisregard it in your hurry.

10.  The Essay paper. Many are scared of it. To write agood essay you need two things: a proper grip on the topic on which youwish to write, and enough linguistic power to express them in anattractive form. If you are good in language, this is the platformwhere you can display it. In a way, the essay paper is easy. You getthree hours to write one. In no other paper can you afford to be sorelaxed, in which you can afford to think as much and write as slowly.You are given many topics and you are required to write on just one. Ofcourse, you cannot predict the topics and hence study specifically forthis paper. One good way to prepare for it is not to prepare for it atall- whatever you read in your other studies would come of use here.Even then, try to read a little more on one particular topic- say,science and technology, politics and parties, democracy, culture andreligion, etc. And hope that a topic comes for your chosen area.
11. The language papers  are easy for those who have somebasic language skills. The comprehension part in the Indian languagepaper, as well as the translation parts might be a little stiff forthose who have lost touch with the language. But given that it is justa qualifying paper, and marks don’t count above the cutoff, relieves usa lot. Only one advise: don’t neglect this paper if you are bad inlanguage; don’t sweat over it if you are good in the language.

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