Last minutes tips from Pranav (Rank 166)

Hello... This is Pranav (Rank 166)
I cleared CSE in my fifth and last attempt.
I always cleared prelims and with a comfortable margin.

Sharing with you a few words of advice for the last week of your prelims prep.

1. Prelims is a mind game and not a test of knowledge.

2. How you carry yourself in last week and during the two hours is very important.

3. Adequate confidence is the key. So no more mock tests. A good score will make you overconfident and a bad one will kill all of your confidence.

4. Reduce the pace of your study. Relax a bit. A fresh mind is very essential.

5. Don't touch any new material.

6. If at all you want to, just read the solutions of full mock tests.

7. Revise every section and both static and dynamic from the sources you have already read.

8. The idea is to keep every sub part of your brain activated , so that you recollect stuff in the exam.

9. If you feel you are not recollecting anything, believe me it's normal. I always had the same feeling.

10. Don't try to become calm. It's impossible. But feed it to your mind that being a bit nervous at this moment is essential to clear prelims.

11. Now is the time to plan what exactly you are gonna read in the last day and stick to it.

12. Believe in your intuition. Most of the times we get the answer correct in first reading, but overthink and make it wrong.

13. Making silly mistakes is unforgivable. Make codes, how you are going to mark on paper. For exam a cross means the statement is right or wrong.

14. Read question properly, have they asked which are correct or incorrect?

15. Don't wait for last 30 minutes to fill the bubbles.

16. If you cannot sleep on the last night, train your mind to lie on the bed with closed eyes. It's okay and it helps.

17. Read the last five years questions. That will make your intuition aligned to the way UPSC thinks.

Wish you all the best. Be like Arjun. Just concentrate on your target which is attempting maximum correct answers. Don't think of or dream of becoming IAS or fulfilling your parents dream, that is just a corollary.

The main stuff is the exam. Love it and it will love you back.