Preparing for UPSC CSE Mains for the 1st Time? These Crucial Tips Will Make Prep Easier

With the UPSC Prelims behind them, aspirants are heaving a sigh of relief. As they eagerly await the results, many are wisely using this time to prepare for the upcoming Mains, bringing them a step closer to their aim of becoming a civil servant.

IAS officers and teachers too advise aspirants to start preparation without delay, as waiting for results could leave them with very little time.

But how to start preparing? This question would be on every first-timer’s mind. Rani Nandedkar has shared some valuable tips for aspirants on X (formerly Twitter).

Firstly, she says that everyone who has attempted Prelims should start preparation for Mains from mid June so that you get ample time until the exam in September.

Here are the tips she shared:

1. Don’t fret over writing the ‘perfect answer’

As she struggled with answer writing initially, her friend advised her to add data and reports and focus on bringing originality to the answer rather than a ‘copy-pasted’ one.

2. Find a peer group

To help review her answers, she joined a Mains answer writing peer group to share and learn. She shared that they would write two answers daily and review each other’s work.

3. Practice, practice, practice

She also looked at answers of toppers to help in better comprehension. “Anything without practice seems tough,” she says. 

4. Focus on the optional

Try and complete your optional subject by November, she says. For this, you should dedicate at least six hours every day to the optional with remaining time for general studies. She would start her day with the optional from 8 AM to 12 PM and from 1 to 3 PM.

5. Practice answer writing daily

Rani would focus on answer writing for half an hour daily. Sundays were dedicated for essay writing.

6. Make notes from newspapers

She suggests jotting down facts, reports and data from newspapers on a daily basis. Keep a separate notebook for the same.

7. Enhance your answers

She stresses the importance of understanding the question and answering accordingly. “Draw maps and make flow charts,” she writes.  

Here’s the entire thread:

✅ 𝙐𝙋𝙎𝘾 𝙈𝘼𝙄𝙉𝙎 𝙖𝙣𝙨𝙬𝙚𝙧 𝙬𝙧𝙞𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜 can be overwhelming at the start‼️‼️

Yes, even I had to face this issue when I first wrote my answer. Trust me it was a horror because I took around 40 mins to write 1 answer📚✍️

But how did I overcome this?

Read this 🧵-

— Rani (@maharani3012) June 25, 2024

Edited by Khushi Arora