UPSC 2024 prelims is over and if your mark is more than 80 (General Students), you must prepare for Mains. However, if you are an aspirant for UPSC 2025, then couple of things I would like to share with you in order to better your chances.

We live in the age of ” social media” and by design social media is a hyper-active medium driven by click-baits and dramatization. But Education is not drama; knowledge is not about learning couple of tricks and UPSC exam is certainly not about selective reading or short cut videos or “ready-made materials”.

UPSC 2024 Prelims exam makes it abundantly clear that UPSC is anti-trend!!!

So, don’t get sucked into the “Paranoia” and “FOMO” trap (There is higher chance that you will, even if you know it because it is hard to resist)

UPSC has managed to retain its core and beat the “predictions” every time and kept the exam “pure”. Someone sitting in some remote corner of India having limited access to internet and Someone preparing from Delhi; there appears to be not much difference: – UPSC has levelled the field.

Education supposed to be learning, understanding and thinking, but as we move towards the age of AI and “Spoon-feeding”, maybe someday we might end up as a species without “thought”.  AI is already doing the thinking part for us, and UPSC aspirants are no different.

In an age dominated by hyper-active social media, click-bait conundrum and dominance of AI, how an aspirant supposed to keep their preparation focused?

How an aspirant supposed to resist the temptation, where every other avenue is seeking your “attention” in this hyper-frenzy “attention-economy“?

That is the real question, but you can make your preparation focused and better your chances if you do the following: –

1. Develop a Strong Foundational Knowledge (That means you should have 100% clarity with your basics, and You should be able to answer if the question is asked from your basic books)
2. Subjects that bring you certainty and better your chances are: – Polity, Geography & Mapping, Economy. So, MASTER them.
3. Subjects that always have high degree of uncertainty are: – Environment, Science and Tech, History & Culture, Current Affairs. So, MANAGE them, i.e. try to get the basics of these subjects right and then manage the “Chaos” part.
4. UPSC has been focusing on Africa (I have already said this before the Prelims and multiple times thereafter) for couple of years now and we have been seeing question on Africa (Environment, Economy and other aspects) repeatedly. So, focus on NEWS related to Africa and in my opinion, we might see UPSC shifting its focus from Africa to South America as well. So, get these two continents right- their Physical geography, Environment geography and Economic geography etc. (e.g: Lithium Triangle)

Last, but not the least, remember: “FOMO is fake” and Social-Media is “Hyper-Frenzy”, so try to manage them as best as you can. Focus on the real part of the preparation, which is done by mastering the basic books and then moving on to current affairs.

Go back to NCERTs, Go back to Basic Books!!!

UPSC Prelims 2024 Analysis & Cut-OFF.