How to crack Civil Service exams?

Current affairs holds the key

ALOYSIUS XAVIER LOPEZ

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K_Murali KumarGET YOUR BASICS RIGHT: The candidates who score more than 300 in the General Studies papers are those with excellent understanding of the subjects at the secondary and higher secondary school level. Photo: K Murali Kumar

Comprehensive study of topics plus being up-to-date with events of the day are crucial to cracking the Civil Services Main exam, say experts.

The Civil Services (Main) Examination 2011 is just a few weeks away. Over the years, there has been a rise in preparation awareness among civil service aspirants, but this coveted exam continues to throw a surprise element calling for newer strategies.

The question papers in recent years have clearly shown that the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) seems to be determined to select those aspirants who are able to cover most of the topics in the syllabus with focus on current affairs.

The number of questions in the General Studies question papers has been doubled from 30 to 60, says P.S. Ravindran, director, Vajiram and Ravi Institute for IAS Examination, New Delhi. “As UPSC covers a large number of areas, General Studies preparation should be comprehensive,” he says. He stressed the need to score more than 320 marks in both the optional subjects as scoring in the General Studies has become more challenging.

A sizeable number of candidates in the previous mains examination were not able to score more than 270 out of 600 in the General Studies papers.

Many questions pertaining to current affairs of the month of October 2010 were unexpected and candidates found it tough to handle them in the previous mains.

Aspirants who were able to read at least two broadsheet newspapers such as The Hindu regularly were able to answer those questions. “Reading of two newspapers and Frontline is necessary. Questions based on less prominent news is also being asked,” says Mr. Ravindran.

Instead of reading several study materials, candidates are advised to select two source materials and concentrate on that with four rounds of quick revision.

A thorough preparation of topics covered in statistics and Indian Economy is crucial for a high score. The questions would cover Indian economy and issues relating to planning, mobilisation of resources, growth, development and employment.

Issues arising from the social and economic exclusion of large sections from the benefits of development, economic and trade issues such as foreign trade, foreign investment, economic and diplomacy issues relating to oil, gas and energy flows, the role and functions of IMF, World Bank and WTO which influence India's economic interaction with other countries and international institutions are important.

The candidates who score more than 300 in the General Studies papers are those with excellent understanding of the subjects at the secondary and higher secondary school level. They do not require any specialised study in any of the subjects for the General Studies. NCERT books of history, geography, polity, economy and statistics continue to be useful for revising the syllabus for the main examination.

IGNOU materials on optional subjects could be used for understanding the basic concepts for the General Studies and the optional subjects.

The Civil Services Aptitude Test (CSAT) this year had 14 questions on current affairs of May 2011. Over 70 questions in the CSAT were related to current affairs. This trend is likely to continue in the civil services main examination too.

“Many first-timers have cleared the prelims. So presentation of answers will be more important,” says Ganesa Subramanian, Director, Ganesh's IAS. Questions pertaining to the celebration of the 150 years of existence of the Comptroller and Auditor General of India, diamond jubilee celebrations of the Election Commission of India, Union Budget, Constituent Assembly and Reserve Bank of India may be of significance, he says.

Current affairs based on newspaper reports from September 2010 to October 2011 are the key areas. The candidates should be able to think and formulate views based on their subject knowledge based primarily on NCERT material.

Last year, questions on news covered in the period between October 1 and 15 took candidates by surprise.

More surprises may be in store for them this year. UPSC is expected to continue testing the analytical mindset of candidates in this main exam too. Environment, ecology, biodiversity and climate change may be prominent areas.

Reading editorials of newspapers has been found helpful for Essay paper and for answering questions on polity and social issues. Economic Survey and publications such as Yojana may be useful. Lok Sabha channel debates may throw light on social issues. Weekly group discussions or joint study with other candidates would enrich the understanding of key areas.

New lands, new opportunities

CHITRADEEPA A.

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The HinduBUILDING SYNERGIES: Stefan Balzter of DAAD Chennai addressing students at a pre-departure meeting in Chennai. Photo: Special Arrangement

Embarking on a trip to study abroad? Pre-departure meetings can help you shed your inhibitions and prepare you for the experience the unknown holds.

After having steadfastly tried for admissions in universities abroad for over a year and having succeeded, now it is time for students to get ready for departure. Advice and suggestions on which airline to fly, what to pack and where to stay will come in from all quarters. Invariably, students do get confused at the last moment and get desperate too.

Pre-departure briefings are valuable source of information for students going abroad. Such briefings provide them with required information and also clarify certain country-specific doubts they may have. Travel, accommodation, food, weather, clothing, packing, banking, medical facility, insurance, local transport and academic culture are the areas where students have plenty of questions during such sessions.

“At the pre-departure meetings students generally get their doubts pertaining to practical, cultural and academic information cleared. Students going abroad for higher education should attend such orientation meetings and educate themselves and be fully prepared for a whole new experience. ”, says Sudha Sudeep, of Study in Holland, Chennai.

“These days students going to universities overseas are very well-informed. Thanks to social networking sites and blogs, students network well. Even before they left India, a group of students I met recently, made their Christmas vacation travel plan via Facebook with five other students from India, going to Germany,” says Padmavathi Chandramouli of German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD), Chennai.

While much of the general information is available online, students flock to these pre-departure meeting with the goal of networking.

“Networking is a must when you study in a foreign country. Apart from providing you an opportunity to travel to another city or another country to meet up with friends, you can find an opportunity to do internships in another university. A good networking has immense benefits,” says Naveen Chopra, of The Chopras, an education consultancy. Meeting alumni and interacting with other students who have secured admissions in various other universities is exciting for students going abroad.

“We rope in Indian students currently studying in Holland and on a vacation in India, to address the students. Alumni are also invited to share their experience,” says Ms. Sudeep. Helping students understand the cultural differences seems to be the major task at pre-departure briefings. “For any successful collaboration — be it in an educational context or business, inter-cultural knowledge is absolutely imperative. Culture being the software of the mind, if people are running on different cultural coding, let alone successful collaboration, the venture could even fail,” says Sreemathi Ramnath, founder and principal consultant, Immer Besser, a cross-cultural management consultancy.

For students travelling to France for higher education, a strong cultural orientation will be of great help to enjoy their stay there. “We brief them about classroom experience, student-teacher interaction, homework and assignments and also on examination and evaluation. For one batch of students, we organised a dinner wherein they learnt table manners and food habits of the French,” Joan Thangaraj of Campus France.

Pre-departure briefings also bring up various problems faced by Indian students. Usually, Indian students are concerned about their academic competence in a foreign university set-up. It is understood that Indian students are strong in theory but need to improve a lot in areas of application. “We communicate drawbacks if any and also what is expected of them by the universities and prepare the students adequately, so that they enjoy their campus life without any stress, says Ms. Chandramouli. “Academic culture must be understood by Indians and they must learn to adhere to the rules and regulations of the university,” says Ms. Thangaraj.

Students are advised not to confine their interaction only with Indian students, but to interact with local students and those from other countries. These experiences go a long way in building international network and a strong career as well. “ “Be aware, tolerate and adapt to the new culture. Only then can students gel with the mutli-cultural population and that is necessary for a global career,” says Ms. Sudeep.

Cultural understating is a skill. Familiarity with the local customs and cultural context, and speaking the language can make the stay in a foreign country a pleasant experience.

These apart, Indian students can effectively plan the role of a cultural ambassador and inspire other international students to visit India as a tourist or do their internships in one of the Indian universities. Today inter-cultural competence has been singled out as the chief ingredient of international success.

As Ms. Ramnath says, “Investing in this learning makes eminent sense as it would minimise the losses through failed projects and maximises the collaboration potential.”

Animated future

In today's world learning animation provides a lot of good opportunities. It provides a base for all computer games and for advertisements. 3D computer graphics are graphics that use a three-dimensional representation of geometric data that is stored in the computer for the purposes of performing calculations.

A good animator should be able to draw cartoons with a wider view. There are many big companies that offer good salary for animators, but unfortunately such companies are few in India.

3D animation has gained a lot of popularity among the youth because of the realistic feel it adds to their gaming experience. Even advertisements that we see today have a lot of impact on the viewers because of the animation used in them.

‘Students from smaller cities keen to study abroad'

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David Payne

New format makes GRE longer and is designed to provide schools with more reliable results, says VP and COO ETS, David Payne

Last year the number of Graduate Record Examination (GRE) has seen an 18 per cent increase in the country making India the highest growing market for the examination that helps Indian students get into universities across the United States.

David Payne, Vice-President and COO of Educational Testing Service (ETS) that conducts the GRE and TOEFL said that the numbers coming from smaller cities is growing in India indicating that students from smaller cities are showing keen interest to study abroad.

Speaking to The Hindu Education Plus during his Indian visit to assess the receptivity of the changes brought in the GRE test, Mr. Payne said the social media has in fact helped students from two-tier cities to understand the importance of the test while students from the bigger cities understood the changes effectively. Mr. Payne was surprised that the top six cities that use Facebook are from India, including Hyderabad. India is also the second largest group on Facebook after the United States.

The changes in the GRE, he says, are positively received by the students in India. The new format that came into existence from August 1 this year makes the test longer and is designed to provide graduate and business schools with more reliable results.

Indian students, he felt, were concentrating on memorising for high scores in vocabulary, but now the focus is more on reading skills. “It ultimately helps them as the universities are judging them based on these skills.”

Will the changes affect the scoring pattern?

Mr. Payne says they are collecting the data from test takes to study the scoring pattern. However, the new pattern will help the admission professionals to compare scores better. The new verbal reasoning and quantitative reasoning score scale will be in the range of 130-170, instead of 200-800. Scores will be reported in one-point increment rather than the 10-point increment.

It means candidates with larger differences will stand out clearly and comparison of candidates will be simpler.

With regard to the growing acceptance of GRE in place for GMAT for business school admissions, Mr. Payne said 650 business schools are already accepting GRE scores. Comparatively, the GRE is less expensive and more test-taker friendly. Moreover, candidates will have access to the evaluation tool for non-cognitive skills that business schools are now valuing.

CAT: new pattern to benefit aspirants

K. RAMNATH

COURSE DIRECTOR

T.I.M.E

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The HinduGO FOR IT: Candidates with specific areas of weakness can now expect a better shot at the IIMs. This is due to the combination of areas that the sections now have. Photo: K. Murali Kumar

With the new pattern announced this year for the CAT exam, there are many questions that the students have related to preparing for it

This is the time of the year when CAT aspirants will be at the peak of preparation, with the exam under two months away. With the new pattern announced this year for the CAT exam, there are many questions that the students have about the way they need to prepare for it. Let us examine the changes and what they mean to the students in terms of their preparation.

The CAT 2011 will be for 140 minutes as against the 135 minutes last year. It will have only two sections instead of three. The first section has questions from Quantitative Ability & Data Interpretation and the second section on Verbal Ability & Logical Reasoning. Each section will have 30 questions.

These two sections will be implemented sequentially with separate time limits. The sections will have a time limit of 70 minutes each. After the first section, candidates will move to the second and cannot to go back to the first.

The students cannot submit the first section and move on to the second whenever they like but have to wait for the allotted 70 minutes to end, before moving on to the second section. They can submit the second section earlier than the allotted 70 minutes, but cannot leave their seats till all the students in the hall have submitted their tests. CAT is known to change its pattern regularly and the current pattern was used earlier in the ‘Paper and Pencil' days in 1996-97.

It is believed that the changes this year are to the advantage of the students in many ways.

The students are relieved of “time management” between sections, with the sections being timed individually. This was one of the crucial factors in the earlier CATs as the students had to show their competency in all the three sections within the allotted 135 minutes for the exam. Now, the exam has two sections with individual time windows of 70 minutes each. So, the students now need not worry about the time they spend on each area/section and can instead devote their attention to solving as many questions as they can. This will reduce the mental stress and is a big advantage to the students. This will, thereby, help in increasing the accuracy levels.

Candidates with specific areas of weakness can now expect a better shot at the IIMs. This is due to the combination of areas that the sections now have. Candidates can now compensate for a weak area in a section with the other area from the same section, thereby putting in a balanced performance overall. The students should not change the way they prepare because of the change in the pattern.

The basics and their application are still required and are going to be tested. Selective preparation of areas will be another trap that many students may fall in, due to the combination of areas. The students need to watch out for this.

To get used to the new pattern before the actual exam, taking mocks in the new pattern is very important.

Those who take mocks regularly and analyse them for areas of improvement stand a better chance in the CAT exam.The main focus of the students on the test day should be to maximise their score in the given 70 minutes for each section, without worrying anything about cut-offs, minimum number of attempts, composition of the section etc.