What should I not read for the UPSC exam? - pravinnath/upscpreparationguide GitHub Wiki

Before getting into what not to read for UPSC preparation, let us first try to understand what you should read for UPSC. Once you are clear about that, your answer is automatically answered. You need not read anything apart from them, especially for the purpose of UPSC Civil Services Examination.

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Few important facts first-

Highest marks ever scored in CSE- 63.3% in CSE 2007 by Dr Karthik Adapa. The cutoff marks for Prelims vary between 105–120 i.e. 52.5% to 60%. Deduction from the above facts

You don’t need to know everything in the question paper for cracking CSE. A study from some standard sources coupled with good revision and mock tests can do wonders.

Smart Strategy with maximum benefit in minimum possible efforts is NCERT +1. Let me shed some light on it.

For every subject, first, you need to read the NCERT very carefully and make elaborate notes from it. Most of the candidates ignore NCERTs thinking that these are very basic and the candidates are too smart to read NCERT. But, believe me reading

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NCERT will matter most to your preparation. It provide you with the best cost-benefit analysis. Questions come directly or indirectly from NCERT.

After you are done with the NCERTs, you need one standard reference book to complement your knowledge.

A few standard books:

Indian Polity by M Laxmikanth Indian Economy by Ramesh Singh Geography – Certificate Physical and Human Geography by Goh Cheng Leong Art and Culture by Nitin Singhania Modern History- Spectrum Publications Medieval History by Sathish Chandra

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Ancient History by R.S. Sharma For Current Affairs:

The Hindu or Indian Express (read only one) Selective articles from PIB Yojana Magazine Now, if you read from these sources only, make good notes and revise them again and again and keep updating them, you will definitely clear the exam. 80% of the questions are asked from these sources only, either directly or indirectly. Rest 20%, only God/UPSC knows.

So, you should not blindly follow any other sources apart from the above-mentioned sources for UPSC purpose. I am not saying that it will not help, it may or may not help. But, if you put in the same amount of effort in the above-mentioned sources, the reward will be much more.