How to Prepare for UPSC CMS in 4 Months - Exam Tips

If you aspire to clear the UPSC CMS Exam this year and are just starting your preparation, you must read this blog.

The number of applicants for UPSC CMS is increasing every year and the competition is getting tougher. Almost every competitor works hard, but to get your desired job in a government sector you need to work smart. 

The best strategy is to adopt smart work together with hard work along with sincere dedication as revising each and every topic is not possible. 

For this the candidate needs to possess smartness to prioritize topics based on the weightage in the examination. 3 to 4 months of intensive study is an ideal time to prepare for the exam. Aspirants must divide time according to subject’s weightage. One or two week is sufficient for vast subject and 3-4 days for short subjects. Last 1 month should only be for revision and practice, nothing else.

Points to be noted

Prioritizing the topics 

Medical content in UPSC CMS needs to be given more priority in comparison to the general ability questions. For all those who have been preparing for the PG Entrance exams, will find the medical component to be covered fairly easily. MBBS final year subjects along with the clinical component should be focused more while preparation. 

Read your notes and highlights

Making notes is the most important part of your preparation. At the end, one can have a quick glance at the notes rather than going through the whole topic. If you have not been in the habit of making notes and highlighting texts in a standard text book you should start now. 

Making the right selection of books for UPSC CMS  

Preparations must be made from the best book that you can get for a topic. One good book is more than enough. Here’s a list of standard books for preparation:

• Elsevier Comprehensive Guide to Combined Medical Services UPSC Simplified by Rajeev Kumar and Prakash Nayak
• CBS Combined Medical Services UPSC Entrance Examination, 15e (PB) by M.S. Bhatia
• Rapid Digest UPSC Combined Medical Services Examination 11ed 2016 by by Arun Yadav and Tapas Koley (Author)

Revision is a must

Only learning is not going to help retain topics that you have prepared for UPSC CMS. Regular revision of topics ensures higher retention of information. Schedule your studies in such a way that you are able to have at least 2 rounds of revision. 

Also read: How to clear UPSC CMS 2017? 

Practice online mock tests: 

Candidates usually opt for offline mock test series whereas in reality the UPSC CMS exam is online. It does not give candidates an accurate idea of how to keep in mind time to be given to each topic while attempting the exam. This can result in huge disaster because candidates are unaware with the online pattern of the exam and the software being used. This leads to slowing down of their speed and leaving many questions un-attempted. You can prepare with PrepLadder’s UPSC CMS Pro Pack and make use of our premium content that aids learning and our exclusive technology that aids growth. 

Unique features of PrepLadder's UPSC CMS Pro Pack:

• Questions prepared by experts on expected exam pattern.
• Personal mentorship from recent UPSC CMS toppers (you can ask them anything like study schedule, best books, exam strategy, doubts).
• Exactly same software as real UPSC CMS.
• Artificial intelligence that recognizes your weak areas and gives you a topic wise improvement plan after each exam.
• Real- time connect with the faculty (all doubts answered by subject experts within 24 working hours).
• Revise offline using PrepLadder app.

Also read: Everything you need to know about UPSC Combined Medical Services 2017 Exam

4 Month Preparation Schedule for UPSC CMS:

The schedule for the preparation of UPSC CMS within 4 months can be broadly divided into 3 stage process. 

Stage 1 - Study (First 2 months) 

Stage 1 is the beginning time when you start studying the syllabus topic wise. Most of the candidates would already have gone through the syllabus once while preparing the PG entrance exams. Going through the topics will take around 2 months varying from candidate to candidate. Preparing the topics will take 1 month on an average. Lengthy and difficult subjects must be covered within 1-2 weeks while easy and short subjects to be covered in 3-5 days. 

Stage 2 - Revise 

Revision is something that is needed from time to time. This helps in refreshing the content. Revision must be done in 3 phases. 

Phase 1 

Spare some time daily to revise the topic that you have prepared during that day. This will help you have a clear picture of the topic. 

Phase 2 

After every fortnight, candidates must revise the topics covered in last two weeks. 

Phase 3 

Last 1 month should be reserved only for revision after the candidate has gone through the entire syllabus. Benefit of this revision is that it refreshes the topics. If you revise again and again, this will help save these topics firmly in your memory. 

Stage 3 - Practice 

Once you are done with preparing the topics, practice as much as you can both by conventional and online sources. Take as many tests as you can. Join test series and take mock tests. This will help you gain confidence and increase your speed. Try to improve with every full length mock test you take, see which subject you make mistakes in or waste time in and try to revise and improve on that. Clear your hurdles with each mock test and reach the zenith of the ladder when you take UPSC CMS. 

All the Best!! 

Keep following PrepLadder 

Also read: Why choose UPSC CMS?