By systematic studies.

Yes, but it is not difficult to crack if you prepare for it well.

Yes, with right focus and hard work.

Yes by all means. You need to study systematically keeping the focus.

Generally speaking it requires one year of serious studies.

Systematic study and remaining focused are the keys to success.

Yes, don’t have any doubt in your abilities. It depends how well you prepare now.

Not at all. Past performance is not the criteria in evaluation.

Not at all. UPSC doesn’t give preference to any stream or subjects. All subjects are treated equally.

No, you can write in Hindi, appear in Interview Board in Hindi. You can surely brush up your English in few months while preparing for the examination.

You can download from our website iasmytarget.com or UPSC website.

Yes you can. The Opinions of others don’t matter at all. Give your best shot. Be confident with systematic studies and keeping the right focus you can surely crack the exam.

Yes, there is no issue. Don’t think of it as a handicap. You need to be more disciplined and focused as you have little time to waste. Keep focus on basic/essentials first.

Yes. You are better equipped for hard work and logical thinking. 

Choose the subject in which you are interested. See the syllabus. The most popular ones are Literature of any language and subjects of social sciences.

LIST:

Agriculture
Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Science
Anthropology
Botany
Chemistry
Civil Engineering
Commerce and Accountancy
Economics
Electrical Engineering
Geography
Geology
History
Law
Management
Mathematics
Mechanical Engineering
Medical Science
Philosophy
Physics
Political Science and International Relations
Psychology
Public Administration
Sociology
Statistics
Zoology

Literature of any one of the following languages:
Assamese  Bengali   Bodo   Dogri    Gujarati    Hindi  Kannada  Kashmiri Maithili  Malayalam    Manipuri     Marathi    Nepali     Oriya    Punjabi   Sanskrit   Santhali  Sindhi   Tamil   Telugu     Urdu   English

Criteria for choosing the Optional subject:
Well Defined Syllabus
Overlapping syllabus with GS Topics
Availability of Study Material
Your interest in the subject
Scoring pattern of the subject
Availability of guidance
Time required for covering optional subject: Approximately 4-5 months

Not necessary, if you can take out atleast 4/5 hours every day for studies.
Time required will be around one year. 

Many candidates commit this mistake.
You can not complete the course of Mains in 3-4 months.
Optional alone will take 4-5 months.

Read not more than two papers. Hindu is the popular choice. But it is suggested to read some other paper seriously for a month or two and then add Hindu. Starting with Hindu may be demotivating for some.

Reading Newspapers is important but knowing how to read Newspapers is more important. What not to read in a Newspaper is equally important. Clarity on what news is important and relevant is very important to save time spent with newspapers.  Some candidates get into a vicious cycle spending 4/5 hours daily reading newspapers. 

Start with basic books like NCERT books of 8th, 9th and 10th class. Then move on to textbooks of 11th – 12th class.

Yes you should. But don’t copy. Try to write in points in your language. Make notes topic wise. Leave some space for further addition of material.

Yes, but to start with, go easy. Don’t commit too much in too little time. It takes time in building up of tempo. Don’t try to study more than 10 hours a day. Your output will come down. You can not sustain that level of studies for a long time. This is what happens with many candidates. After some time, they feel they can not do it and quit. I see no reason to quit once you start your preparation.

Yes, it is there. It is 33%. So, you lose .66 marks for one wrong answer as each question is for 2 marks.

Total Papers in Mains: 9
Each Paper Descriptive
Duration: 3 hours for all papers Qualifying as well as Others where marks are scored for making the final list for further stage of Personality Development

Total Marks for Papers A and B  300 each They are Qualifying Papers
Paper A Compulsory Indian Language
Paper B English

Rest of 7 Papers
Total Marks each paper: 250 
TOTAL MARKS FOR WRITTEN: 1750

PAPER-I Essay: Normally you need to write on two topics

PAPER-II General Studies-I: Indian Heritage and Culture, History, and Geography of the    World and Society.

PAPER-III General Studies– II: Governance, Constitution, Polity, Social Justice and International Relations

PAPER IV General Studies-III: Technology, Economic Development, Biodiversity, Environment, Security and Disaster management

PAPER V General Studies-IV: Ethics, Integrity, and Aptitude

PAPER VI  OPTIONAL 1

PAPER VII OPTIONAL 2

Yes, it is possible.
You need a willpower of steel, very clear focus and a high motivational level. It is a year-long study. On many occasions you feel low and tend to give up. On many occasions you tend to lose focus and start wasting time in reading irrelevant material.
Coming back to your productive state is a challenge every time you are distracted and taken on a wrong path.
Only hard work is not enough. You need to study smart. 

I feel it is always better to have a mentor with whom you can discuss and keep your focus.  Syllabus is very vast. To know what to study is important but what not to study is more important.

There is no minimum qualifying marks for any paper except for Qualifying papers. It is a competition. Your relative marks matter i.e. how others have done in comparison to you.

Yes, listen to them. Collect tips. Frame your own strategy. Every person is different. Every person has his own strengths and weaknesses. So, don’t follow blindly, don’t copy. Use logic.

Mock Papers practice and writing full scale paper in three hours helps a lot. Your strategy to score high should be practised and discussed with a mentor. 

Yes it helps while preparing for different subjects. If your reading speed and comprehension is above average, then it is an asset. But the good part is it can be improved. Don’t neglect it. Study English also as one of your subjects. If your comprehension is better, you will be able to have better output from your study hours and your efforts.

Answer writing practice.
In each paper you need to write anything between 3000 to 4000 words in 3 hours.
Many candidates find difficulty in time management. They are not able to complete the paper.
Keeping a balanced approach to all questions pays dividends. Attempting all questions is the key to score more rather than attempting half paper with excellent answers.
How to present your answer is also a key factor in scoring high. 

The cut-off for general category was:
2015 – 107.34       2016 – 116
2017 – 105.34.      2018 – 98
2019 – 98             2020- 92.51                2021 – 87.54

 In 2021 the final cut off for general category is 953.

About 10 Lakh.

About 5 Lakh.

Around 10,000

Around 2,500

Around 1000