Can I prepare for the UPSC exam without Coaching?

Dear Friends,

Got some time from this super-hectic training schedule to actually log into Facebook through desktop and then came through so many message requests. Sorry for not being able to reply on time but it is actually not possible to individually reply every message.

One common question is : " Can I clear the exam without coaching?"

Answer: I did. (So have most of my friends here in academy).

My story:

 In 2013 when I was preparing for MBA entrances, I was thorough with the CSAT part, then in Feb, 2013 I finally decided to give UPSC prelims a try. I had only 3 months left for the prelims. I was guided by my Uncle and I remember those days, when even sleeping and eating seemed like wasting time. I cleared my prelims in that attempt. Scored 264 (approx).

Then we had just 5 months left for mains and I was all new in this UPSC game. It was decided to sent me to some coaching. I went to Delhi, stayed in a clumsy room in ORN paying highly inflated rent for almost a month and totally wasted 1.5/5 months, those precious days in search of a good coaching. My morale was so down, I came back to my home appeared for mains and joined private job. 

After one year I again gathered the determination. I again went to Delhi, this time in search of isolation and quality study material. And then in 2015 exam I cleared IFS prelims, mains and interview and appeared for CSE interview all with self-study.

So, Is Coaching important?

Before answering this, we first need to know why this question comes to our mind at the first place?

- Because we are calculating if it is really worth to pay the huge chunk of money to coaching classes  (most of us take money from parents, and its a fact no one wants to take money from parents after graduation is over, or some of us have saved the money from our hard-earned first job, we want to put it in judicious use).

- Because we are apprehensive that for coaching one needs to go to Delhi ORN or Mukherjeenagar or other cities, live in a sub-standard condition while paying a huge rent.

- If one spends 6-7 hrs in 2-3 classes. 3-4 hrs in travelling, when will the aspirant get the time for self study?

Here Cost:Benefit analysis is important.

Benefits of Coaching:

- You may get capsule notes and that may save time.
- You may get good company of smart/ serious aspirants.
- Revision classes and tests keep you in flow.
-helps to fight with fits of depression.

Costs of Coaching:

- Huge chunk of money to be paid for fees.
-You may get notes, but many a times notes of a particular coaching is not good for all the related subjects and many times they are just too much.
- You will meet people doing all sorts of discussion in class about current events etc that you have nit even heard of, and you may feel out of the league and can get demoralised.
- Timing- you have to plan your study according to that. At-least in my case sometimes I really wanted to study economy instead of polity while I had polity in my self-made schedule. So here I had the flexibility.
- You really end up spending lots of hour in coaching with a little time left for self-study.

So, for me Cost:Benefit ratio was high, and I decided to go on my own.

What to do, if not joining any coaching?

1. Prepare weekly timetable ( a practical time-table, not 18 hrs of study a day), Customise it according to your need, weakness and strength. Keep one day in a week free as the arrears day, try to finish the leftover syllabus of the week on that particular day.

2. You can make your own question paper set, it is easy for optional subjects, do it by analysing old question papers.

3. Prepare your own notes. They are the best. And remember, when you make notes, you write. This exam is all about writing.

4. What if you are not able to understand a particular topic, read it again and again and again, nothing in UPSC syllabus is rocket-science. Make proper use of youtube, google, animations etc. If you are putting extra effort to understand a difficult topic, after you understand the topic, you own it forever.

5. From where to get motivation- Talk to your family and friends, you can use many online platforms like insightsofIndia, Forumias etc.

6. Try to memorise the syllabus and keep on seeing and analysising previous year questions again and again. you will soon start filetring out what to study and what to not. THIS IS MOST IMPORTANT FOR THE EXAM TO FILTER, what to study what to not?

For further specific questions. Please drop the message in comments section.

All the best for your examination.