General Studies Preparation: Your observation, analyzing and interpretation skills are at test

Preliminary Examination is important as it gets you ticket to next step Main Examination.

And at both stages, General Studies is one paper that determines your chances of success.

As you begin preparation, looking beyond immediate objectives, the right step is to look at Mains cum Prelims preparation.

Be it Preliminary or Main Examination, General Studies cannot be ignored at any stage.

No doubt after the notification is out, your eyes should be glued to Preliminary Examination; but looking beyond immediate objectives, the right step is to look at Mains cum Prelims preparation.

General Studies has a vast and vague syllabus and requires your intelligence, awareness based on observation and a constant eye of the current affairs and contemporary developments taking place around us.

Besides current affairs it touches and tests your knowledge related to few traditional subjects that you had read at 10+2 level such as History, Geography, Polity, Social issues etc.

While conceptual clarity is need for foundation, you have to update your knowledge to uplift your preparation and develop skills to apply and correlate the information with evolving issues and contemporary developments. 

It’s about your commitment.

It is not only about putting together the information for Preliminary Examination only; it is about placing things with correct perspective as Prelims is only the first step you have to understand the importance of Main Examination where significance of General Studies can never be neglected.

What should the preparation strategy look like?

So, it is always prudent to commence your preparation by adopting an 'Integrated Approach'.

Many a successful candidates and even experts back ‘Mains cum Prelims’ strategy.

No two people’s thinking is same and each one of us has capability of doing something different.

One thing is for sure that for an effective preparation while you need to have a strategy of your own; still, General Studies requires attention the most.

It is tactical also as with integrated approach, syllabus of Preliminary Examination Paper I gets almost covered with Main Examination oriented study-plan.

Besides, you need to care for presentation techniques and answer-writing practice would be of great help while attempting Main Examination.

As you must have heard this examination requires smart planning, setting priorities and the most important factor - time management.

Your level of preparedness, capabilities, resources available at your disposal and above all, the environment you are living in; these are few factors which influence the strategy for better preparation.

So, rework your strategy and delve deep in to an effective preparation.