The Union Public Service Commission conducts the Civil Services Exam for the recruitment of higher civil services to the central government such as the Indian Administrative Services (IAS), Indian Foreign Services (IFS), etc. It is a national-level competitive exam held every year. Lakhs of aspirants appear in the UPSC CSE exam and only a few of them are selected.
Highly competitive, vast syllabi and the long process of examination are some of the main challenges faced by aspirants. We can not do anything about the competition and its lengthy selection process, so in this article, we are going to look at the second challenge of the vast syllabus.
UPSC conducts CSE exams in three stages: preliminary, mains, and interviews. Preliminary and Mains requires the study of a lot of books. Flipping books back and forth for covering the syllabus and revising from many books can be very frustrating and confusing. Cracking UPSC needs a thorough understanding of its syllabus. That’s why creating notes for UPSC is very crucial. Making notes helps you by giving all the important information in one place. This is not the only reason why you should make notes while preparing for your exams, there are a lot of benefits UPSC notes can confer upon you.
Table of Contents
Why Should You Create Notes When Preparing for the UPSC Exam?
How to Create Beneficial Notes?
Why Are Notes Beneficial?
First of all, writing makes you remember more. When you write something it stays in your mind for a longer period and it becomes more important as most of the books we read for prelims and mains are the same. Taking notes will also provide a reference point for studying later on so that you don’t have to rely on your memory alone.
Making notes gives you an edge as they have more points given by one teacher or one professor. Notes include information not from a single book but it has multiple sources.
Notes make revision quick and easy. Revision is very important to crack this exam. UPSC syllabus has a variety of subjects, from Political Science to Economy and from Art & Culture to Disaster Management, you need to study a lot of subjects. We can not keep so much information in our heads just by simply reading books, we need to make notes of them and keep revising them. It is one of the most effective strategies to pass the civil services examination.
Another reason why notes are so crucial in upsc preparation is current events. The Civil Services Exam often asks questions about current events in both prelims and mains. Newspapers and Magazines are the sources used to cover the current affairs section by aspirants. Neither we can keep every newspaper and magazine handy nor we can refer to them again and again as it can be very confusing and there are high chances of forgetting the information we read in newspapers and magazines. Taking notes of current affairs will help you in keeping the relevant information in an organized manner.
How to Create Beneficial Notes?
Another important question is How should you create UPSC notes? Foremost you need to read all the books you find suitable for covering your syllabus. You should avoid making notes in the first read and always start making notes when the concepts in the book are completely clear to you. It differs from person to person. Some aspirants can have clarity in the second read and some read it three or four times to get a better understanding.
Once you cover your whole syllabus comprehensively, you should be starting making your notes. There are a few things that you need to keep in mind while making your notes. Your notes should always be to the point and very concise. Only write relevant information about topics that are mentioned in the syllabus. Try to make notes in bullet points and you are most welcome to use abbreviations and symbols to keep your notes as short as possible. Make your notes in your own words and try to summarize what you have learned.
You can use pen or paper or digital tools for note-taking. Always try to make separate notebooks or files for different subjects. Highlight the important topics and sections. Be a little bit more creative and use different colors and labels to highlight important portions of your notes or the portion you find difficult to memorize. It will increase your learning efficiency.
Try to make notes in a logical order and keep them organized so that you would not be confused while referring to them in the future. There are many methods of note-taking. The most commonly used are Outline notes also known as linear notes. They essentially serve as a summary of the material you have already studied, with a heading for each subject. You can keep the information fresh in your memory and organize your thoughts by taking notes in this manner rather than having to go over everything again. You can also use mind maps and concept maps for certain topics.
Wrap-Up!
You should now be able to understand the importance of taking notes while preparing for the UPSC Civil Services Exam. It helps to keep track of the portions covered and also as a ready-reckoner for revision. It is advised that you take notes in your language and terms to ensure that you don’t skip over any crucial information. This will make them easier for you to recall and will also show how knowledgeable you are about the topic.
You need to review and constantly revise your notes to add current events that are relevant to your topics. Make sure your notes are succinct and easy to understand so that anyone who reads them afterward can understand them. Additionally, avoid writing too much information at once to avoid confusion between what was written earlier and what was added later during revision sessions.
If you find it very difficult to create notes you can refer to the handwritten notes of UPSC toppers or digital notes prepared by coaching centers. Free PDFs of handwritten notes and digital notes are easily available on the internet. There is a lot of material that you can access online to ease your preparation and make the most of your valuable time.
FAQs
When should we start making notes for UPSC?
While preparing for UPSC, you should make notes when you read the book for the second time. Firstly, you should understand clearly, in the first revision which is your second time of reading, start making notes.
Do toppers make notes?
Yes, they make their notes for better understanding and clarity of topics. Most of the toppers make topic-wise, organized notes.