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Originally Posted by SPRR
Hello and AoA everyone!
It's great to see so many people actively participating in this forum!
I have made up my mind about appearing for the CSS Examinations in 2014 and had a couple of questions to ask. Before that i would let you know a little about my educational background. - Schooling + O Levels + A Levels from Beaconhouse School System
- Bachelors in Business Administration (Honors.) from one of the top Universities in Lahore.
- Masters in Management from U.K
My English Language is good, but after looking at the past-papers i realise that i need some practice to come up to speed. I have studied, Economics and Business Management related courses throughout. I love reading books and have been reading and writing regularly since school.
This is my first time appearing for the CSS Examinations, and i intend to keep it that way by working hard and giving it my best shot inshaAllah !
Anyway.. back to the questions 
1. Is it actually useful to go to an academy to get the basics of the exams? Do they teach students things which we can not learn from books or the internet? |
First of all welcome to the forum. In my opinion it is not mandatory to go to an academy. You can get the guidance from books, internet, seniors etc. On this very forum there are many csp officers who can guide you in a very effective manner since they have successfully gone through the whole process.
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2. Time. I have heard people saying that ''you will have to study for 10 months daily and for 8-10 hours, stop any social activities and stay at home all day and study!'' - How true is this? Frankly speaking, i have never been able to concentrate more than just a couple of hours at a stretch. Will i have to change my self for this ?
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Time for preparation depends upon your ability to manage that time. I myself gave less than 2 months to my preparation and qualified by the grace of Allah. I never left any of my social activities and moreover believe me I can't study consistently for more than 20 mins. So it is actually upto you to decide who much time you need to prepare yorself for CSS.
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3. Subject selection. First of all, what do experienced people suggest - is it better to have more subjects because they might be easier for you or is it better to study less subjects because there would be lesser subjects to study? For example: I have come up with a couple of combinations but have not decided yet because i want to study the syllabi further.
Option A: Public Administration, Sociology, Journalism, US History, Constitutional Law and International Law.
Option B: Economics, Sociology, Journalism, US History and International Law.
Option C: Economics, Political Science and Islamic History.
Now. I really like option A, but i will have to study 6 different subjects where as in option C i will only have 3 subjects (but again, those 3 subjects have a really lengthy syllabus and I'm uncertain about Islamic History)
So.. is it worth going for Option A/B or is it better to go for option C?
Out of these which ones are usually considered as scoring and which ones are usually tough?
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Subject selection should totally be based upon one's aptitude and interest. one should also go through the past papers and the syllabi before finalizing one's subjects. As far as syllabi are concerned, you can yourself figure it out that subjects of 200 marks have a lengthy syllabus as compared to those of 100 marks. You can fearlessly go with option A or B if you have interest in these subjects. The problem with option C according to me, is pol science. It has a much lengthy syllabus and is often low scoring. You can replace it with subjects like geography, psycholpgy, Arabic etc. Choice is yours.
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4. Books. Are there any set of good books for the mandatory/compulsory subjects? I do not want to read people's notes. Can any one recommend a single book for each subject? (Or is it better to study from more than one book?)
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One good book is sufficient for each subject.
For Essay, read daily dawn and Jahangir world times.
For precis and composition, go through High school English grammar by Wren And martin OR you can go through Exploring the world of English by Saadat.
For EDS, Kashmiri's book is sufficient
For current affairs, read dawn newspaper as well as International journals.
For Islamiat, Islami nazria e Hayat by Khursid Ahmed OR if you want to opt it in english then, Islamic way of Living in the light of Sirah by Liaqat Ali Khan Niazi
Pak affairs by Imtiaz Shahid.
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5. I am currently working full-time and plan to leave my job around August/September so that i can fully concentrate on CSS preparations because these days i only have some time on the weekends. Would you recommend this? Or would you suggest that either i keep on with the job, or leave it next month i.e May ?
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You can continue your preparation with your job. There are many csp members of this forum who did a full time job yet they achieved there goal.
Regards.