CSAT RELATED INFORMATION

CSAT

                   For the CSAT preparation the most important requisite is to have a mind free of fear,and dislike/hatred towards maths. As it is usually made out, CSAT is not 'all about maths'. In fact, maths per se is a very small part of the exam. Therefore to begin with, before you start your preparation for CSAT i would like you to go through the previous years question paper once. This will give you an idea of what i expected from an aspirant as far as CSAT preparation is concerned. (you can find the paper by clicking here )

                 After you have read the paper, i am sure now you understand that UPSC is not looking for people who are geeks in maths or just engineering and technical students. All the people are on the same level (more or less) because of the type of questions asked and their difficulty level.

                This brings us to the syllabus and the approach. Let us first take a look at the break up of questions in the CSAT paper to understand the high frequency areas.

• Comprehension + English Comprehension + Verbal reasoning => 67% questions
• Firstly,what this means is 2/3 of the CSAT paper is not related to maths or problem solving. So please purge the wrong notions if you have any, regarding CSAT being a maths/problem solving dominated exam. 
• English comprehension questions as you might have seen in the paper (link above) are of very simple, Class 10th difficulty level. If you have done your schooling in a English medium school you need not prepare anything for this section. In fact anybody who can read English and understand it and answer these questions.
• Comprehension : This section had the highest weightage in the paper (35%). Here, you have passages in English followed by 2/3 questions that need to be answered. The focus here is on understanding the content of the passage. As useful book for this preparation is this . Even though this book is for CAT preparation, getting  prepared for a higher level of question will ensure that the CSAT questions can be easily tackled.
• The emphasis while preparing for this section should be on
• trying to understand the content
• and getting to know the different type of questions that can be asked
• Verbal reasoning : This involves the two broad syllabus head viz. Logical reasoning and Analytical reasoning. This book is useful and can be used as a reference.I would suggest this book because the different varieties of questions have been covered with adequate number of solved and exercise problems.
• General Mental Ability and Basic Numeracy => 13%
• This book can be referred for this part of the syllabus. It covers the different varieties of questions along with good methods to solve them. This book will also be useful in completing the preparation in a time bound manner.
• Data Interpretation and Data sufficiency => 10%
• Book
• Decision making and problem solving => 10%
• A part of the preparation for this is covered in the few books mentioned above. But generally speaking this section does not need specific preparation and can be tackled if you have prepared well for all the sections above and if you have a good administrator's mind.

Coming to the mode of preparation, there are a few points that are very important to bear in mind :

• 3C's : Calm, Composed and Confident. These qualities are according to me the foundation for CSAT preparation. Or for that matter for Civil services preparation. You should not have any kind of phobia or fear or discomfort while preparing for these topics. An open minded , fearless and confident approach is required.
• Since CSAT preparation is usually a mind intensive exercise, it is suggested that you do not prepare for  this for more than 4 hours per day. Regular work for 3-4hours per day (with intermittent breaks) will result in good efficient preparation.
• All the books mentioned above are clearly delineated in different chapters. Trying to complete one chapter in a session/day should be the target. On these lines, consistent work for about 60 days can ensure completion of syllabus.
• For ex, say if you start from the 15th of February : you can start with GMA. There are 9 chapters in this book. If you prepare daily, you will be able to finish this book in 15 days time i.e. end of February. Similarly you can start preparing for Logical reasoning and analytical reasoning (finish it in 20 days) and Data interpretation (in another 20 days).
• Also from personal experience i would suggest that you prepare for comprehension daily. You can solve 2 or 3 passages everyday in about an hour. Please focus on fast reading and comprehension during your preparation.
• In this manner in a period of 60 days i.e by April 15th you will have completed your syllabus , with one month left for revision. If you are able to do this, then you can consider yourself well on track on cracking the CSAT paper.( Not to forget, CSAT is just paper 2 on the prelims. The paper 1 preparation has to be done simultaneously as mentioned in the cma group blog. )  
• Above all, CSAT is all about speed and accuracy. You have to work consistently on developing these qualities during your studies. Coverage of vast variety of questions is also another important dimension of the preparation.

Hope this helps.

  All the best! :-)

p.s please feel free to post replies and feedback's. And watch this space for more information.