Study plan For CDS

 Hey guys, I know there are lots of confusion comes in mind while preparing for any competitive exam and CDSE is not an exception. Candidates often confuse about how to start preparation and on which subject we have to focus more. Being 2 times CDSE cleared candidate I have so much experience to cover the whole syllabus, so I will give you tips as per m strategy.

So in this blog I will share with you topper's strategy to crack CDSE. You will be knowing about full CDS preparations tips. CDS study plan for 2021 and also how to cover whole syllabus of CDS along with revision. I will be covering CDS plan for OTA, CDS plan for IMA /AFA/INA also.

Let's start with the first subject of CDSE 

ENGLISH - The whole grammar portion is divided into three parts

1. Vocabulary

2. Reading and comprehension skills

3. Grammar

My strategy to cover English was very simple yet effective. For vocabulary portion I did daily vocabulary words 5-10 and Idioms and phrases 5 per day. Even if you follow this strategy for 3 months only you will have quite large word bank of your own. Although it is not compulsory but you should do SSC previous year vocabulary words ( So I did and helped me a lot). 

For reading and comprehension portion there is no special efforts is needed. Just be in touch with newspaper read it on daily basis and try to bring out the crux of the news you are reading. It will enhance your reading skills. Also go through previous year papers for practice.

The grammar portion cover 50% of the paper. So command on grammar is very important. For this you should do grammar from WREN and MARTIN English grammar book (if you are very weak in it). After having introduction form grammar move to YouTube videos. There are lots of channels on YouTube providing classes for grammar. Follow one of them seriously (i personally followed Utkarsh classes' Ravi Moray sir and Wifistudy's Sanjeev Sir's classes). Do revise again and again through previous year paper also. 

General Awareness - In this paper you will find many subjects. But DON'T NEED TO COVER ALL THE SUBJECTS. Even by covering 4 subjects you can clear GA cut off ( I covered only 3 but had a little knowledge about another subjects too).

CURRENT AFFAIRS- The most important subject of the paper. Not only help you to clear CDSE but also led you to have good preparation for SSB. CA of last 6 months are enough for the test. Grab newspaper/Magazine anything as per your convenient. But have to cover last 6 months CA including Defense CA. I suggest to do daily CA rather than as one liner. I preferred daily CA classes on YouTube for this. 

 SCIENCE - Another important subjects that covers more than 25 questions in the paper. It further divided into

1. PHYSICS

2. CHEMISTRY

3. BIOLOGY

If you are science background student then you will find no problem in covering it but having arts/commerce background faces some difficulties to understand the concept. Just grab NCERTS from 6 to 10 of science. You will find all the chapters of science in that. 

In Physics focus on FORCE/GRAVITATION/WORK,POWER.ENRGY ( NUMERICAL TOO)/OPTICS. (Don't leave another chapters, these chapters covers most of the physics portion but UPSC is unpredictable!).

In Chemistry ACID & BASES/METALS & NON METALS/ ORGANIC CHEMISTRY/ELEMENT COUMPOUND MIXTURE/PERIODIC TABLE  (Don't leave another chapters, these chapters covers most of the chemistry portion but UPSC is unpredictable!).

For Biology CLASSIFICATION (both animal and plant kingdom) / REPRODUCTION/ BODY SYSTEM ( Nutrition. Excretion, Digestion, Transportation)  (Don't leave another chapters, these chapters covers most of the biology portion but UPSC is unpredictable!).

Indian Polity- One of the scoring subjects in the exam. It covers roughly 10-15 questions. Grab NCERT +1 and +2 , for clearing basic concepts. Then moves forward to M Laxmikanth. Also read those articles which are related to CA. You don't have to rad the whole book. Read first 25 chapters and Panchayati raj system, and of course go through PYP at last. Note down articles related to C.A. any decision by S.C.

History- UPSC's level of history is very high. Even in CDSE you will find both conceptual and objective type questions. But on the same hand it is also one of the most scoring subjects. Modern History is the most important in History. To cover  modern India. Start with 1857 revolt then Moderates and Gandhian Era. Focus on the organizations and newspaper founded by freedom fighters. In ancient India no need to give so much time. Just do Buddhism and Jainism (favorite topic of UPSC). Grab 6 to 10 Ncerts. or you can do from YouTube video lectures ( personally I did from Study Iq Vishal Chauhan Sir's lectures).

If you just want to get good marks in GA paper for clearing cut off then the said syllabus is enough to do. But if you want to secure more marks then you can have look upon-

Economy - Microeconomics will be more than enough for economics. Have knowledge about basic terms like GDP/ NNP/ GNP/ Poverty etc. Be connected to current Monetary policy of RBI and fiscal policies of Government.

Geography - In physical geography Drainage system of India. Himalayan and peninsular mountains of India. Natural vegetations. National parks , Biosphere reserves and mineral locations of country will be enough, Apart from that have knowledge about Universe and planets/ Atmosphere/Inner portion of Earth/Oceanography. For geography Atlas plays very important role to retain the studied material so have atlas to revise the syllabus of geography. Ncerts 6 to 10 and YouTube lectures will be enough to cover the syllabus.

If you are OTA candidate then this much will be enough to be in merit list. For other than OTA candidates MATHEMATICS will be deciding factor.

Mathematics -  Start with basic chapters like Percentage/ Average/ Ratio and proportion/ Simplification this will help you to increase your calculation efficiency. Chapters like Trigonometric ratio/ Geometry/Mensuration / Number system have the most weightage in the paper. So keep your strong point over that. Apart from these chapters Set theory/ Statistics has also a little weightage in the paper. So cover these chapters first. These are primary chapters. Then move to secondary ones that will be Work and time/ Profit and loss/ SI & CI/ Speed distance and time , but don't need to have much headache in these chapters just have basic knowledge. You will easily clear the sectional cut off in the mathematics.

Don't forget in competitive exams like CDS mock test plays very important role. It will boost your experience and will reduce the exam fear. It will show your weak points. So start with PYP then at least 10 -15 are must for practice. This strategy will help you to clear CDSE and to be in merit list. 

GOOD LUCK!!

Books for CDS I have covered in another blog , have a look upon it Important books for CDS.