Reference Books vs. Handwritten Notes vs. Coaching Study Material

Which is Best Coaching Material or Reference Books or Handwritten Notes? 

Whenever a student starts preparations for any exam he/she always gets confused, “What to prefer, Coaching Material or Reference Books or Handwritten Notes for UPSC CSE Preparation”. They all have some advantages and disadvantages.

All types of study material have a few benefits in some ways. From a competition exam point of view, you should be very careful while selecting the study materials.

A Right Study Material or Book will give you enough knowledge to crack UPSC or any other competitive exams in one or two attempts

When you choose the study source, first you should find out the benefits & drawbacks of each study material before you start learning the concepts from it.

Let’s discuss which option is best for your preparation by comparing their advantages and disadvantages both. And finally, I will tell you for UPSC CSE which option is best.

Reference Books

They are the origin of knowledge or concepts. Senior Professors or Researchers work intentionally in their respective fields and after lots of experiments, they conclude Results or Formulas.

By writing everything in detail in a single book and then publishing it worldwide. Always prefer top publishers only like McGraw-Hill Education or Indian Publisher, which are inclined toward competitions exams. Some books have direct theory and results which are very important for INDIAN exams.

Those books are useful for aspirants to learn concepts in-depth, in the right order, and right direction. In each book, every topic is explained in detail. You get to know everything from Basics or Level Zero.

Nowadays exams are focusing more on basic concepts rather than direct results.

Some books provide a variety of questions and some don’t provide questions. Sometimes exams questions are just a modified form of questions from Reference Books only. You can search for Best Reference Books for UPSC CSE Prelims or Mains, GATE & ESE, etc.

Disadvantages of Reference Books are, usually good reference books are obsolete (Outdated) and are not friendly with current exam pattern or its syllabus.

Few books are too old so you don’t need to buy a new book, you can take someone’s used book also as there is no more difference. If a newly updated book is available then always prefer it. They have huge content and some topics are totally irrelevant to exams.

Read Point No. 4 in Right Way to Practice Numerical to know the concise advantages & disadvantages of Coaching & Reference Books.

Coaching Material

They are a summary of their equivalent Reference Books. Most reference books are not written for exams. But their theory and explanation are very good.

Coaching institutes use this point for their benefit. They copy important content from standard books and rewrite it in their own language and then publish it. Sometimes they just directly copy-paste things from books. Not even diagrams, graphs, lines change.

It’s beneficial if you want to learn things quickly without in-depth knowledge. But mostly selected aspirants won’t support coaching printed books. Because the benefits of Coaching Study Materials are less compared to Reference Books. Advantages of coaching books are, usually, they are updated as per the current syllabus and trend.

The disadvantages of coaching material are they don’t give in-depth knowledge. They are very expensive. You can use them for quick revision purposes and to find out something new point, which maybe you have missed.

Handwritten Notes

There are two cases of Handwritten Notes. First, it’s your own Handwritten Notes and second is others Handwritten Notes (Free Online Handwritten Notes or Toppers Notes).

1. If you make your own notes through any reference book or by teachers. You need to focus on each point strictly, your creativity will increase and your representation skill improve.

For UPSC Mains also, your writing and representation skill is very important. While writing things you also revise them, which is beneficial as well but it consumes your time. You must manage time smartly between learning new topics, note-making, and revising notes (old topics).

Overall your own Handwritten Notes are the perfect choice for Competition Exams. You can update it anytime, they are the best notes for UPSC CSE Preparation or any other exam.

There are lots of UPSC coaching institutes like, Vajiram and Ravi, Next IAS, Vision IAS, Shankar IAS, etc. all that provide the best quality teachers. You can join them and their teacher’s notes are good for your smooth preparations. As they guide you to study the concepts right order

For UPSC CSE your personal Handwritten Notes are the best choice. Now you may think coaching students get notes from teachers and I’m a Self-Study aspirant, How do I make Handwritten Notes from Reference Books?

2. Or if you use someone’s handwritten notes then you are totally dependent on already written points only. You can’t update things as per the latest syllabus or exam pattern. If that person writes wrong concepts then you will learn wrong concepts.

Others notes save you lots of time, as you don’t need to write anything, just learn & revise. It looks like others' notes are not good compared to their own notes. But if you use them smartly then others' handwritten notes are also beneficial.

You can download free online written notes from Google or Telegram Groups. Always choose Good Quality Handwritten Notes of Toppers or selected students for preparation. Not only Social Media helps you. There are a few free things also for the Preparation of Competitive Exams.

5 Free Online Study Sources

For Short-Notes: Always use your own short notes. Write Key Points, draw Flow charts, use Tables to learn everything quickly. Short notes are very important for every aspirant to revise everything in less time. Don’t use others, as every person make short note as per their convenience.

Conclusion

Different exams require different types of study sources. Sometimes Coaching materials are not more profitable than Reference Books and sometimes other's Handwritten Notes are very effective than your own notes.

For UPSC CSE you must use two different sources for each subject. Use one Reference Book for each subject than other maybe your teachers provides note or others Handwritten Notes. Sometimes one book or note may not contain all the required information that is necessary for the exam.

Whatever you opt to study, trust the material and learn the concepts revise from it again & again. Don’t shift from one source to other without using it perfectly.

I hope this article helps you to find out which is best between Handwritten Notes or Reference or Coaching Study material?

Don’t forget to share this article with your friends, who might be confused between Coaching Material or Reference Books or Handwritten Notes for their Preparation of Civil Service. Share Your Thoughts with Me via the Comment section below.