1) The Preparation for Upsc Maths is in 4 Stages:
Stage 1: Learning New Topics.
Step 1: Take Printout of Upsc Maths Syllabus. Take Printout of Previous Year Questions. Take Printout of Checklist of Important Topics given in SuccessClap website.
Step2: KNOW THE PATTERN.
Upsc clearly follows a pattern from last 20 years. Understand it by reading the syllabus and Previous year questions.
Checkout the Checklist given by us. It has a list of important topics which must be done on priority basis. Do IMPORTANT TOPICS THINGS FIRST.
Follow ANY ONE BOOK for a topic. It is advisable to read from Standard Text Books ONLY. Don't read from Ready made Study material. Don't read from Toppers Notes. It is his notes, not your notes. You need to have First Hand Information. Internet is Full of Study material, pds, ebooks etc. But always learn from Standard Text books.Use the ready made study material as a supplementary reading material.
You can download Free SuccessClap Study material from the website. The study material is Not hand written. It is compilation from standard text books. It is sufficient for initial stage of Learning. Checkout the Link .
Checkout the List of Standard Text books which you must Follow.
How to PREAPARE NOTES ? Do I need it ?
It is advisable to maintain 2 Notebooks.
Book 1 is Formula book, which has ONLY formulas from ALL Topics. Write down All formulas which you come across. Write down All Integration formulas, because some times it is really difficult to recollect basic formulas.
Example 1 .What is the equation of a circle, which lies on Origin and X-axis pass through centre. It is r=a.COS(t). Such formula is regulary used in Dynamics, ODE and vector Analysis.
Example 2. Use of Walli's theorem in Definite Integrals.
Book 2 should contain the brief understanding of a concept.
All the theorems which you will be using to solve a problem.
One Question and Answer related to a particular model. Make sure you cover All Models
It should also contain brief substitution, formula used, for a given problem. Example: ODE Clairaut Problems. Write down ALL questions on left side and the substitution at right side. You can never solve these problems in exam, unless you put RIGHT SUBSTITUION. By seeing a question, you must remember the substitution. By repeated revision, you will remember the substitution.
Should I learn Proof of Theorem ?
Donot waste your time on Proof of theorem, during initial Preparation. You just note down all theorems at one place. You learn proof of the theorems only after finishing your syllabus.
Stage 2: Practice All Problems .
Upsc asks questions from Indian Books like Krishna series, S.Chand, Dr.M.D. Raisinghania, Golden Series Books, State level Graduation Books.
The Strategy is SIMPLE. Learn how to solve different type of problems. Learn the substitutions and the formula used to solve the Solve the Problems . One question from each model must be solved.
During Exam, you have to solve 25 questions in 3 hours. You don't have time to think. You have to be fast to solve problems. You will be FAST, only if you have solved it earlier or you know the procedure. All UPSC toppers have worked very very hard, and they have solved more problems, so they became Topper.
Upsc Maths is different from IIT-JEE exam. For IIT JEE exam, you should have clarity of concept and deep understanding.
But for Upsc Maths exam, the strategy is SIMPLE. Upsc asks a question from a well defined standard text book. You are supposed to give answer. It doesn't matter , your IQ and EQ level . It doesn't matter you are IITian or B.Sc Graduate. Whoever give right answer, will be a topper. Upsc is asking you to give answer. Either you mug up, understand, think, find logic, whatever you do.. Just give answer and get marks.
If a question appears in Upsc exam, which you have solved earlier, then it takes very very less time to solve it. Sometimes you even know the answer
So Practice, Practice and More Practice.
Stage 3: Taking Test Series .
This is very important stage of preparation.
a) MISSED TOPICS:
You will know the topics you missed during preparation. Example Asymptotes, Integration using Differentiation, Beta and Gamma Functions etc.
b) TIME MANAGEMENT :
You will know how to manage TIME in solving problems.
c) AVOID UNNECESSARY STEPS:
You will know the steps, you should avoid during presenting a answer. Example1: Boundary level problems: It takes 10 minutes to derive different initial possible conditions. There is no need to explain every thing. It can be directly shown by periodic conditions of wave, heat and Laplace equation.
Example2: ODE: Method of variation of Parameter. There is no need to derive . You can directly put final formula and get the result.
Example 3: PDE and ODE: Homogeneous eqns.. No need to derive steps related to X=log x... .. Write directly D'=D(D-1)(D-2) and get final result.
You will know ,how to save time, only by Practice.
d) CONFIDENCE BUILDING:
The more you give Tests, the more you get Confidence.
e) EXPOSURE:
Exposure to different type of problems. Example1: You might have studied Mechanics from Krishna Series book. But test series will make you practice different type of questions other than Krishna Series book.
f) NEW DOUBTS:
You will arise New Doubts only when you solve problems in Time frame. Generally we just see the solution, without understanding it. When u give exam, then the pen STOPS.
Example1: Dynamics: Central Force Problems. { minus of Integration of Root of one divided by a-square minus x-square } is minus-sin-inverse-x or may be written as plus-cos-inverse-x , as constant pi/2 can be absorbed in the equation. Such doubts arise only when u give test series.
g) QUICK ADJUST TO EXAM PATTERN:
Stage 4: Fill the GAPS
After giving test series, you will know the topics which you have missed during preparation. Now these topics can be finished.
Its the time to mug up very important theorems, like Cayley Hamilton theorem, Rank-Nulity theorem etc.
Now you can spare some extra time for Modern Algebra.
Learn tough topics like Generating Lines, Paraboloids of Analytic Geometry.
Now practice more questions on Statics and Dynamics.
Launch your Graphy