Test series for UPSC CSE Prelims: Subject wise or full length ?
● I wrote around 40 - 45 prelims mock tests of different institutes available freely on the internet. Multiple mocks help reduce the bias generated by practising single institute mock papers.
● Subject wise mocks are good to assess your core subject strength. 1-2 subject wise mocks per subject is sufficient for revising one subject properly.
● But most of the elimination techniques, logical guesswork and overall feel for prelims could only be developed by solving full length mocks.
● Try to write the full length mocks simulating the exam-like environment, even if you are in your room. Sit continuously for 2 hours at a stretch, if possible in the morning hours, I even wrote many full length mocks wearing masks.
~ 10 Subject wise mocks of Vision IAS
~15 Full length mocks FLTs from Vision IAS
8 Forum IAS Stimulator tests
3 4 full length mocks from InsightsIAS
● Last but not at all the least, please go through the last 10 years PYQ of UPSC (from 2013) for making yourself familiar with the language of upsc. For static subjects like polity, history, art and culture practising UPSC papers of the last 20-22 years will also be helpful.
Evaluation of mock tests/ the learnings
● Do not put unnecessarily high importance on mock test scores. NO MOCK TEST CAN EVER REPLICATE EXACTLY UPSC PAPER! Neither can it simulate the unique emotion mixing anxiety, stress and tension you are going to face on exam day.
● However, to maximise our learnings we can evaluate our mock papers, especially the errors we made minutely.
● For core/conceptual mistakes , it is best to go back to your original sources and read from this part of the book. This will reduce the hard work of going through 60-70 pages long dense test solutions for every answer.
● Adding points for some concepts/events just beside the books help in reducing efforts. eg. If the test solution mentions Brahma Dutt as the 3rd person who opted for individual Satyagraha, write it down beside the 1942 events in the spectrum itself.
● For factual errors, make very short notes on a copy. Remember not to note down very random facts from art n culture or sci tech that are of no use. I have a diary of errors from mock tests that I used to revise before exam days.
● Solving FLTs help finding patterns of error or the strong/weak areas of our preparation pay special attention to these.
~ UPSC CSE Topper.