(Here is the post by Mr Irfan)

Just wanted to share and would like to have others sharing experiences of their preperation for CSS exams 2004.

First of all, its really critical to select the right subjects, even if u have went through the syllabus details and past questions, unless and until u start reading the text, u wont be able to get the clear picture, whether the subject is right for u or not? i mainly looked for only one option while selecting the optional subjects. and that was, the subjects i already familiar with and secondly which i have interest in.
i made the list of optional papers and i changed my selection almost thrice before submitting the application.
moreover, after the selection u start proper prepration, and still u dont know how to prepare.i first started memorizing things, it didnt work, i started making my own notes. it did work but required lots of extra effort and time. and finally i reached to a conclusion. its just like the ways we studied in our schools, colleges and higher studies. u just need to go through the course. just know what it says. what is in it. and have a complete picture of the subject. and the learning (memorizing) phase comes just like the ways it came in our college days. just before the exams. like a week or 3 days may be.
and this is true for most of the optional subjects, except for those who actually requires note preperation like history subjects, Economics, and theorotical subjects.
So, even while selecting, u select the subjects, among whom u can actually share ur time effectively.
one basic mistake that i made myself, was neglecting the compulsory subject. just thought of preparing them right before 1-2 weeks before exams. but fortunately, i covered my first phase of optional papers soon and started peeking in compulsory papers. and i found them more important than the optional ones. rather if u have went through the course of optional papers, it is easy to cover them right before exams (u have gaps in optional papers as well) but in case of compulsory papers, u dont have time and the course is also not that simple. so its better to prepare compulsory papers before hand.
Well, i m now-a-days covering compulsory papers after going through my optional papers once or twice.
this is my experience till now, it might varry in your case due to some effecient way u have adopt for preperation.
i am looking forward for the experiences of other candidates, that way i hope we might help each other.

(Thanx Irfan)