15 Best Toppers Tips for UPSC ESE Prelims Preparation

15 Best Toppers Tips for UPSC ESE Prelims 2023

UPSC Engineering Service Examination 2023 Prelims preparation has been started. And as usual, aspirants are working with full potential to get a good rank. Every year some candidates Top UPSC ESE and share their preparation strategy and a few IES Tips.

This article is all about those Tips shared by past ESE Toppers. You will get to know all ESE Toppers Tips in one article only. This article will be helpful for both Self-Study & Coaching Aspirant.

Before going on the Best 15 ESE Toppers Tips. First, let’s clear some doubts that few aspirants have.

How much Time is Required for ESE / IES Preparation?

If you are starting from level zero, then you need approx. 7-8 months of preparation to qualify ESE Prelims with a good score. Then for subjective, you have enough time to prepare well for the mains exam.

Is Self-Study enough for ESE / IES Preparation?

If you are preparing on your own. Then my first suggestion to you is to spend most of the time in your studies. Don’t waste a single hour in any day throughout the preparation. If you invest 100 % time then Yes, you can, you will, qualify ESE Prelims in your first attempt. Follow the below 15 Tips they will add some positivity to your learning.

As ESE Preparation is not simple as GATE. ESE have General Studies and Engineering Aptitude, which make it a bit complex for Self-Study aspirant. Even those students who join any coaching institutes also face problems with GS

I will arrange these 15 ESE Tips in the right order such that you can easily understand all of them. And you can use these Toppers Tips for your preparation.

I’m not going to tell you the old & usual Toppers Tips. Like, Have Proper sleep, East healthy food, Reduce anxiety, Stay Motivated & Happy, and don’t over think about the result

These ESE Toppers Tips are not focused to make yourself clear about the exam. But I intend to share with you some Best Tips for getting ranked. Just you need to follow them perfectly until you get your dream.

Best 15 Toppers Tips for ESE Prelims Preparation

Let’s discuss these Best 15 Toppers Tips for ESE Prelims in detail. You can learn something new from Toppers Experiences. Read them and compare, your current strategy and the strategy I share.

1 Prime Target

Before you start preparing UPSC ESE, Set a Prime Target. Engineering Service gives you an opportunity of various departments in all branches. Every department has a specific work profile. You should select one of them which is most fascinating for your future growth.

Your chosen department will give you internal motivation to work hard to achieve your dream. Self-Study students requires more internal motivation than coaching students

You can read the working structure of each department on the internet.

Choose a Department in which you want to work as an officer,

2 Authentic Study Sources

UPSC ESE Prelims have General Studies & Technical Subjects for both of them a few books are best to learn from basics. You will have 4 options to opt for Reference Books, Coaching Material, Handwritten Notes, and Free Study Sources.

For Self-Study aspirants, Technical subjects should follow Handwritten Notes to Learn Concepts. And Free Study Resources for Practice Questions more & more. Or you can buy Coaching’s Questions Practice Books also (Not Compulsory). For GS use Coaching Printed Material.

Books Recommended by Toppers for General Studies & Engineering Aptitude

Coaching students (Offline or Online) only use the Class Notes for Concepts and Practice Set for Question. Don’t run behind multiple sources it will waste your lots of time. Coaching is designed as per the requirement of the ESE exam. For GS Coaching Books + Class Notes are sufficient. You can use YouTube free Lectures also if you face any problem in any topic, few selected aspirants use them and get reasonable benefits.

Once you select a study material, Trust your Books 100 %

3 Syllabus & Weightage

ESE Prelims have General Studies & Technical Subjects both have a huge syllabus. And it is very important to know, from which subject you should start the preparation. To know the learning sequence of your specific branch.

Go through the 10-15 years of Previous Year Question of each subject. And based on the total questions from each subject. You come to know from which subject more number of questions are asked by UPSC.

Those who join any coaching institute should not worry about the right order of learning. Because coaching will teach them the subjects as per the availability of teachers.

For Mechanical aspirants, we have a specially focused article. Mechanical Engineering Subjects Study Order

4 Strategic Approach (Paper 1 & 2)

Strategy is the main reason behind the selection of any student in ESE. As the syllabus is very large compared to GATE. Students need to plan their timetable and for that, you need to analyze a few things first. Like the time you have, which books you are using, how many times you can revise things, and what is your question practice pattern.

The strategy includes all those factors and using them you can plan your strategy

For Self-Study aspirants, first, they should arrange their study order as I explained earlier. Then if you have sufficient time to cover 100 % syllabus definitely covers every topic. Otherwise, prepare the important topics or subjects, only from which most questions are coming in ESE Prelims.

For Prelims Technical only, Learn Concepts + Practice Questions + Revise old Concepts & Formulas + Test & Analyse. The plan for GS is to first find the easy subjects then learn them completely. After learning GS practice 20-30 from each chapter and mark the answer for future revision.

For more detail, you can read, Preparation Strategy for ESE Prelims GS (Paper 1)

For GS if you are getting approx. 100 marks in each Test then it good otherwise you have to give some extra efforts in GS Revisions + Practice

Coaching going students are advised to follow the coaching schedule only. They don’t teach you as per your interested subjects. But they will try to make each subject interesting for you. Because teachers have years of experience. Coaching students should not worry about the Strategy.

To know How to make ESE Strategy in detail you can read, Strategy for UPSC ESE Prelims. Further, we will discuss the other ESE Toppers Tips to know well what is more important for Strategy.

5 Handwritten Notes

Notes for Competitive Exams are of 2 types, your own Notes, and others Handwritten Notes. Both have almost equal values but lots of aspirants think that making your personal notes are more beneficial than others.

Self-Study aspirants can make notes from YouTube lectures or books. Coaching aspirants have teachers for providing notes.

How to make unique Handwritten Notes for Competitive Exams?
Do Self Notes are necessary for ESE Prelims?

No, it’s not compulsory to make your own notes for ESE prelims. I personally used 2017 ESE Topper’s notes for ESE Prelims 2021 and Qualify with 342 marks out of 500. But when you are going to face ESE Mains you need a very special skill, i.e. Representation Skill.

To improve it, I’ll suggest you practice writing concepts with explanations during Conventional Questions Practice + Test. It’s not important to use your Handwritten Notes.

6 Question Practice

Solving Problems is the main task during the preparation. You can only solve any question when you have understood the concepts perfectly. Keep your mind active while solving questions. They teach you in-depth concepts and applications.

Self-Study students, first go through Solved Examples then GATE PYQ then ESE PYQ. Coaching Students have solved a few problems in their classes only so directly start solving GATE PYQ then ESE PYQ. After GATE & ESE PYQ, solve Practice Set Book (also known as Work-Book).

If you are in coaching then you can clear your doubts in Doubts Clearing Sessions. But Self-Study aspirants have to use their own Brain to resolve every doubt.

How many Questions do I need to Practice for ESE Prelims?

Target 50 questions each day when you start your preparation. After it when you complete about 50 % syllabus you can solve approx. 100 questions per day. When you finish the 100 % syllabus then try to practice 150-200 questions every day.

Don’t invest more time on a single question. Leave those questions for late in which you feel difficulties applying concepts or formulas.

7 GATE & Conventional Question

When you are focusing only on ESE then you might get a question during preparation. Whether to practice GATE PYQs or not? Do I need to Practice Mains PYQs for ESE Prelims? These 2 question looks different but the answer for them is the same.

Do we need to solve GATE or ESE Mains Conventional PYQ for ESE Prelims?

In one word, the answer is yes. You must practice GATE & ESE Mains PYQs for ESE Prelims also. They increase your depth of knowledge and make your concepts crystal clear. While practicing ESE Prelims PYQs solve GATE PYQs also.

But you have to be very smart while practicing ESE Mains PYQ. For that, I make a strategy.

Let’s divide aspirants into 2 cases. First, you have lots of time (4 or more months) and second, you don’t have time (Less than 4 months).

If you don’t have much time to then don’t go for Conventional Questions. You can use that time for practicing more new objective questions.

If you have much time then solve 1-2 Conventional Questions from each topic. No need to solve a complete book. There are lots of theory-based questions which are irrelevant to the ESE Prelims exam.

8 Use Brain, Not Calculator

All of you know that in ESE Prelims Calculators are not allowed. It means you have to calculate the numerical values on your own. It looks easy to calculate values but when we actually give exams this calculation is the hardest task to do.

Some questions are intentionally set with hard calculations. You have to either leave those questions or make your calculation strong while preparing. Otherwise, it will waste your precious time.

Practice ESE PYQ without calculator. For GATE & ESE Mains PYQ you can use calculator but only when you can’t calculate manually. During easy or simple numericals always use Pen + Paper to solve it. In order to solve it quickly, don’t find the answer orally

9 Focused Revision

For ESE, revision is a bit boring part but it plays a vital role in selection. Let’s directly divide the revision of Paper 1 & 2 differently.

For GS you should revise each subject 3-To 4 times. Each revision includes question practice also. 10-20 question from each chapter is sufficient for one revision. You don’t need to rote all things, just read and read. After these 2 revisions, you can give tests.

The syllabus of General Studies is very vast you need to revise them smartly to remember all data in your mind for a longer time. You can follow the Scientific Approach of Revision to revise GS.

For Technical, revise subject minimum 5 times. Each revision must include questions also. But the amount of questions varies from 100 to 200 depending upon the subject. For easy subjects, you can practice approx. 100 questions but for hard & conceptual subjects you should practice 150 + questions. Revision make sure you won’t forget things in final exams

The gap between two successive revisions?

Generally, revise each subject within 12 to 15 days. Basically, there is an order of revision that should be followed by aspirants to revise things easily. Such an order looks hard to do but I personally use it and get a good result from it. You can use this, Revision Pattern to Revise Technical Subjects

10 Avoid Distraction

When you prepare for any exam you always think to clear it with just one attempt. If you follow all Tips strictly still you have 2 things which disturb a candidate a lot. Social Media & irrelevant friend circle.

These 2 things are very fascinating. Every aspirant knows that they can spoil your 1-year preparations. But still, most of the aspirants have them.

Social media are created very attractive such that you spend more time on them. As long as you log in the social media more money they create.

And if your friend circle is not serious about exams then, you will also become like them. On the other hand, if your friend circle is serious about exams then you get some benefits. I have seen most of the aspirants waste lots of time with friends only and repeat the exam next year.

If you want to clear the exam in one attempt choose wisely your friend circle and social media.

11 Time Management

Time Management is simply related to Self-Discipline. You should be a Self-Disciplined person. Discipline doesn’t mean you have to follow a set of rules strictly. Instead, follow a Study Plan only with dedication.

Whether you 100 % achieve your target or not. But you should try your best to complete the daily target. An aspirant must have 4 qualities to manage time properly.

1. Consistency in studies.
2. Prioritize the subjects.
3. Set daily targets and achieve them one by one.
4. Make a balance between new topics learning & old topics revision.

Sometimes you fail to manage time as per the plan but it won’t make your preparation weaker.

12 Short Notes

Short Notes are the best option for Quick Revision Purpose. As the subjects cover one by one, the load increases on you. To revise things quickly and practice lots of questions, you need short notes.

Do Short Notes are compulsory?

You are a Self-Study or coaching aspirant you must make short notes for revision. Well, there are lots of students with good ranks. You never use Short Notes but you should not compare with others.

Most of the Toppers suggest making short notes

13 Right order of Test Series

Every Test Series have 3 types of test. Subject wise, Mixed, and Full-Length Test. If you follow the correct order of giving tests, then you can use these Test Series effectively.

And the order is, Subject wise – Mixed – Full length

When you have revised the subject minimum of 2 times then you can give subject-wise tests. As you finish more than 50 % of subjects. Now you can give some mixed tests (mixture of 2 or 3 subjects). Once you have finished all Subject wise and Mixed tests now it’s time to give full-length tests.

When you analyze your Test results you come to know, each test reveals your new mistakes. Finally, you have to either remove or reduce those mistakes from your preparation.

14 Hunt the Mistakes

Mistakes are the internal enemy of your preparation. If you do everything perfectly still there are some chances that you can’t excel in an exam, due to your silly mistakes.

And the best point about the mistakes is, they can be removed or reduced by practice. You need to work on yourself to resolve such problems.

The right way to avoid mistakes is to make a mistakes copy. Revise it each time, before you give a new test. In this way, you come to know what mistakes you have done in the past test. Which decreases the probability of doing the same mistakes again.

15 Right Time to Cover 100 % Syllabus

As per the current competition level of UPSC ESE Prelims. I have seen most of the Topper finish their complete syllabus 45-60 days before the final exam. These 45-60 days give them enough time to revise everything perfectly.

For Self-Study aspirants, they should finish the syllabus of both GS & Technical. Before 45 days so they will have time to Revise + Practice + Analyse all subjects before giving the final ESE prelims paper.

For Coaching Aspirants, either they wait for the teacher to finish the syllabus or they can do it on their own. Mostly coaching finishes their syllabus in Mid-December. And in December you have to revise other subjects as well. It will become very hard to cover left subjects on your own.

Conclusion

These 15 Secret Toppers Tips are not focused to make you pass the exam. Instead, I aim to share some Tips for Self-Study aspirants. Just you need to follow the above ESE Prelims Toppers Tips perfectly until you get a deserving rank.

“Maybe you can take more than 1 attempt to achieve a good rank. But your Hard Work, your Consistency, your Dedication will lead you to success”

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