How I prepared for CSS! - Page 2

Jolie Dame · #11 Saturday, August 08, 2015

I used to divide areas in National issues, International issues, Relations, Organizations and Core issues. In addition to that, you can also divide different areas of the world like Asia, South Asia, Middle East etc and cover the issues accordingly.

The list below is just an idea of how you can start preparation of Current Affairs if you are starting it from the scratch. You should add events of importance which are now in the news. But stop looking for the new topics in January. Just keep yourself updated, get relevant information related to the topics you have already prepared and improve skills for a good critical analysis on them.

International
US war on Afghanistan and Iraq
US withdrawal from Afghanistan and its impact on Pakistan + AFPAK policy
Drone Strikes and their implications for Pakistan
Iran and P5+ Nuclear deal
Syrian War Crisis and emergence of Islamic State
China as emerging economy and its impact on South Asia + Reservations of US
Global Warming
World economic crisis
Islamophobia and Muslim Radicalism
IS in Pakistan and Afghanistan
Oil game and US intentions

National Issues
Current Political Scenario
New Province Saga
Terrorism and Extremism
Sectarian Violence
Poverty/ Illiteracy/ Corruption
Energy Crisis
18th, 19th, 20th and (21st Amendment prepared for the interview)
NFC Award and Provincial Autonomy
Pak-Iran Gas Pipeline
Foreign Policy of Pakistan
Good governance
Strategic Depth Policy of Pakistan
FATA at crossroads
Army operations against terrorism
Pakistan's Nuclear Strategy
Status of Women in Pakistan
Education
IMF funding in Pakistan

Core Issues(must be covered with judicious critical analysis)
Kashmir Dispute
Palestine-Israel Conflict
Water Disputes of Pakistan and India
Balochitan Issue
Gwadar Port and Strategic Significance
Economic Potential of Central Asia and Western Interest
Geo-strategic Position of Pakistan

Relations (a good critical analysis is required for this section as well)
Pak-US, PAK-China, Pak-India, Pak-Iran, Pak-Russia
India-US (their Nuclear Deal), India-China, India-Iran, India-Russia, India-Israel (Concerns of Pakistan on all these relations)
Russia-US
China-US

Organisations
UN, EU, WTO, SCO, BRICS, SAARC, ASEAN, OIC, NATO (every organisation should be done a little in accordance to its relations with Pakistan after covering its brief history, role played by it and its current state)

Grand Events (In case you are just a beginner and don't have a good knowledge of World Affairs)
World Wars
Cold War
USSR invasion of Afghanistan
Afghan War
Great Game and New Great Game
9/11 and its impacts

Alice · #12 Sunday, August 09, 2015

hi Jolie Dame
Thanks for sharing your wonderful study plan with us
Q. Can u kindly tell us which essay you selected in exam and how you went with it and if u have time to share its online . how many words you wrote about it ?
Q. You mentioned books for every subject which are one or two books . Did u prepare whole topics in book u selected for your preparation or only the topics which u wrote in your study plan ?
Q. How was your experience about islamiat mcqs in 2014 ? , what u suggest for mcqs preparation for islamiat and other subjects as well?
Q. how you improved you English writing skills ? and is it possible to improve it in short span of time ?
Q. what was your strategy to revise during exams ?
Q/ you used to memorize from JWT or just the concept?
Q. while preparing any topic , how much material is sufficient for a single question? and whether to memorize it word by word or just to take concept and write in ones own words?
Q. how many Ahadith u quoted in a single question in islamiat?
Q. is Journalism safe option for upcoming exam ?
Q, Please share topics which you listed in your study plan for different subjects , especially islamiat , journalism .
Q. how many essays u practiced before exam ?
Q. from where u prepare sentence correction question?
Q. how many pages you wrote for a single question in exam?

Amna · #13 Sunday, August 09, 2015

Quote:

Originally Posted by Alice

hi Jolie Dame
Thanks for sharing your wonderful study plan with us
Q. Can u kindly tell us which essay you selected in exam and how you went with it and if u have time to share its online . how many words you wrote about it ?
Q. You mentioned books for every subject which are one or two books . Did u prepare whole topics in book u selected for your preparation or only the topics which u wrote in your study plan ?
Q. How was your experience about islamiat mcqs in 2014 ? , what u suggest for mcqs preparation for islamiat and other subjects as well?
Q. how you improved you English writing skills ? and is it possible to improve it in short span of time ?
Q. what was your strategy to revise during exams ?
Q/ you used to memorize from JWT or just the concept?
Q. while preparing any topic , how much material is sufficient for a single question? and whether to memorize it word by word or just to take concept and write in ones own words?
Q. how many Ahadith u quoted in a single question in islamiat?
Q. is Journalism safe option for upcoming exam ?
Q, Please share topics which you listed in your study plan for different subjects , especially islamiat , journalism .
Q. how many essays u practiced before exam ?
Q. from where u prepare sentence correction question?
Q. how many pages you wrote for a single question in exam?

Avoid regular use of "Netspeak" or other "cute" grammar or spelling (For example: writing "R U a woman?" instead of "Are You a woman?").Forum Rules and Policies

anabiya mughal · #14 Sunday, August 09, 2015

was this your first attempt in css ?? how you prepared precis, please share your strategy and advice ...
how you improved your vocabulary and writting? did you cram everything or just relied on your own knowledge and short bullet notes ??
I am very bad at cramming ,i forget everything as i do not revise it for a month or so....kindly suggest some tips to memorize effectively...

MorningLark · #15 Monday, August 10, 2015

Mam did you pass CSS in first attempt or second?

Jolie Dame · #16 Thursday, August 13, 2015

Quote:

Originally Posted by Alice

hi Jolie Dame
Thanks for sharing your wonderful study plan with us
Q. Can u kindly tell us which essay you selected in exam and how you went with it and if u have time to share its online . how many words you wrote about it ?
Q. You mentioned books for every subject which are one or two books . Did u prepare whole topics in book u selected for your preparation or only the topics which u wrote in your study plan ?
Q. How was your experience about islamiat mcqs in 2014 ? , what u suggest for mcqs preparation for islamiat and other subjects as well?
Q. how you improved you English writing skills ? and is it possible to improve it in short span of time ?
Q. what was your strategy to revise during exams ?
Q/ you used to memorize from JWT or just the concept?
Q. while preparing any topic , how much material is sufficient for a single question? and whether to memorize it word by word or just to take concept and write in ones own words?
Q. how many Ahadith u quoted in a single question in islamiat?
Q. is Journalism safe option for upcoming exam ?
Q, Please share topics which you listed in your study plan for different subjects , especially islamiat , journalism .
Q. how many essays u practiced before exam ?
Q. from where u prepare sentence correction question?
Q. how many pages you wrote for a single question in exam?

1. My essay was 'Violence is the last refuge of the incompetent'. It was of 23 pages almost since I had a good writing speed and satisfactory content to write on the topic. I covered violence from every aspect either it be related to women, children, poor people or in the form of extremism/terrorism on mass level. I started from giving the psychological, social, economic, political causes and then gave its impacts in the form of domestic violence, child labor, even mentioned FATA, Balochistan, South Punjab. I don't remember the exact outline but I will try to give you an idea.

2. I prepared only the topics that were in my study plan. Sometimes, a book may not contain every single topic. In that case you may consult any other source to prepare that particular topic.

3. In my attempt, objective of almost every subject was slightly nontraditional. Islamiat was not an exception. For objective I would say, you can prepare and prepare and still it can leave you surprised. Just prepare whatever is in past papers and the books or your study plan. I myself studied Jahangir's MCQs for Islamiat but it wasn't of much use.

4. My English writing was fine already. I didn't practice much for it during CSS preparation. But you can always improve it, only depends upon the level of writing skills you are on.

5. I mostly revised bullet notes during exams. No cramming, just reading. The night before exam, I used to prepare the paper I had in the morning and I would always prepare the second one in the two hours break between two papers. The day you find your exam schedule/datesheet, you start making your preparations accordingly.

6. JWT is only for concepts. If there used to be any useful facts and figures I used to write them down for future reference.

7. You are the one who have to decide what amount of material would be sufficient. Concentrate more on the quality of material. Please, never memorize word by word. Just take concepts and write in your own words.

8. 5 to 6 references from Quran and Hadith normally but in exams it varied from question to question. Some answers had even more.

9. Journalism will give you average score mostly.

10. I will share topics of Islamiat and Journalism InshaaAllah.

11. I don't remember practicing a whole essay. I wrote only comprehensive outlines.

12. I used past papers for sentence correction and studied some general rules.

13. Almost 4, front and back.

Quote:

Originally Posted by MorningLark

Mam did you pass CSS in first attempt or second?

It was my first attempt.

Syed Ali Hadi · #17 Thursday, August 13, 2015

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jolie Dame

There are many aspirants who have been asking me how I prepared for CSS examination, in how much time and what were my strategies etc. I personally find it an obligation to pass on the experience and knowledge that I have got throughout my journey because once it was me, striving to get my hands on any useful tips or information that could help me in achieving my goal. So, here it goes!

The preparatory phase of an aspirant depends upon the factors like availability of time, ability to grab the concepts, level of motivation and sincerity to the aim. In addition to that, a very essential feature is the skill of planning and organizing. Every subject of this exam requires a proper planning to cover it efficiently and effectively. One should be very vigilant about the time in hand and necessary requirements to get through. I had the habit to write a lot. So, I was there, always making lists and organizing study material from different sources and then used to launch the final step of memorizing and understanding. It was like, I have my weapons in hand and I am ready for the war. Furthermore, the basic trick is to "MAKE A PLAN AND STICK TO THAT NOMATTER WHAT".

I would try to give a precise, yet, useful overview of my strategy for the preparation of different subjects. I started with the preparation of Pakistan Affairs and Punjabi. I would always try to take both compulsory and optionals side by side which kept me satisfied that I am not spending too much time on any single section while keeping the other one pending. I used to make a proper topic-wise plan for each subject with appropriate allocation of time as per my ease. I did thorough research before making every study plan. Once I had my checklist in hand, I used to give one comprehensive read to the book of subject under study. Important to mention here is the fact that i didn't go for too many books for a subject. It was always one book and may be another as a second reference, but never more than that. One can use CSS Forum and past papers to prepare the checklists which I also did and it proved helpful. After completing Pakistan Affairs (alongwith its notes) and Punjabi in a month or little less, I started Islamiat and Journalism. Punjabi in particular took less days like 10 to 15. I prepared full length notes of Islamiat because I couldn't find any single book that could satisfy the whole preparation. I completely relied on the past papers for the preparation of its study plan.

I finished Journalism in a short span of time i.e. 5 days so I started Everyday Science with Islamiat. Everyday Science is a type of subject which takes quite some time because its a little lengthy and you do not necessarily have to cover it in one go. You can always cover three to four topics in a day which helps in retaining the information easily without getting bored. Once I had completed Islamiat, I started British History with EDS. Soon, it was the month of October and I was done with EDS. Now, I was left with two entirely untouched subjects i.e. Arabic and Current Affairs and one partially completed subject i.e. British History. I accelerated the pace of my preparation because I wanted to reserve December and January for revision. I quickly finished BH and started preparing my own notes for Current Affairs in November alongwith studying Arabic. In November, the study was in full swing. And my full focus was towards a December, reserved for revision. It was only mid of December that I managed to complete all subjects.
I kept on doing English Precis and Comprehension and English Essay from time to time throughout the preparation and read Dawn Newspaper daily particularly focusing Page 1,3 and the last ones related to International affairs. I also read Editorials and used to keep the cuttings of important ones from the point of view of Essay. For Essays, I selected 10 hot topics of that year and prepared their outlines (sources were internet, JWT Magazine and Dawn Editorials). While I used past papers of 10 years for English P&C.

Sources for preparation:

Compulsory
1. English Precis&Comprehension (Past papers and notes on idioms, POW, corrections from STC, PU, Lahore)
2. Pakistan Affairs (Ikram Rabbani and Trek to Pakistan, prepared notes from these two books but major focus remained on Ikram Rabbani)
3. EDS (Dr. Rab Nawaz Samo and MCQs done from Sudha Publishers)
4. Current Affairs (Notes prepared from internet, JWT, Newspaper)
5. Islamiat (Notes prepared from internet and Anwar Hashmi's Islamiat)

Optional
1. Journalism (Ilmi's Journalism by Nadeem Abbas Baghoor and also read notes by Miss Saleha, got them from STC, PU, Lahore)
2. Punjabi (Punjab Rang by Faisal Hayat Jappa)
3. Arabic (Notes of Sir Hafiz Arshad, used for poetry and grammar while prepared literature from book by Hafiz Karimdad Dilshad Chughtai)
4. British History (Prepared Paper A from P.C.Thomas and Paper B from Norman Lowe and Top 20 questions of Jahangir's. For few topics on modern British History, I had to consult internet)

For Revision

Once you are done with your detailed first read, second read should be done along with preparation of short bullet notes. Almost every qualifier would suggest you this and it is an absolute fact that these bullet notes help you in revising the night before exam without putting you in much tension and trouble. We can safely say that two revisions can get you good marks in a subject but it can always vary person to person.

Moreover, you should have a very good writing practice because you are going to attempt two papers in a day and six papers in three days. There could be your optionals in the same row as well. So, mixed with the stress it becomes a very hectic and lethargic routine that can leave you completely devoid of energy. The plight is massive for a while and only the strong ones sail through it smoothly. You only need to have a firm belief in your abilities and have faith that true hardwork is always rewarded by Almighty Allah. Do your best and leave the rest to Him.

I would try to share the lists of topics and other related material soon, InshaaAllah.

Regards

I congratulation you on your success first. Can you elaborate your study plan regarding British History? And how do you see the revised syllabus of British History when compared to previous one?

Jolie Dame · #18 Friday, August 14, 2015

Quote:

Originally Posted by anabiya mughal

was this your first attempt in css ?? how you prepared precis, please share your strategy and advice ...
how you improved your vocabulary and writting? did you cram everything or just relied on your own knowledge and short bullet notes ??
I am very bad at cramming ,i forget everything as i do not revise it for a month or so....kindly suggest some tips to memorize effectively...

Yes, it was first attempt. I would soon share my knowledge about how to make a precis. Well, I used to read Dawn daily, extract difficult words, write down their meanings and then read them casually two or three times during the day. Writing also gets improved when you read Dawn etc with a little concentration. I didn't cram anything except dates, places, quotes, ahadith etc. I relied on bullet notes. In exam, you mostly have to write something different than your outlines.

Try to complete the memorization tasks in the day timings, mostly between 7am to 2pm. Go for weekly revisions if you have this issue. Just save a day for revision in every week and revise whatever you have studied the whole week. Take good care of your diet and stay motivated. Just be sure that its not about cramming but understanding, creativity, good writing skills and power of analysis.

Alice · #19 Saturday, August 15, 2015

Jolie Dame
23 pages of essay = front and back of page ?

Jolie Dame · #20 Saturday, August 15, 2015

Quote:

Originally Posted by Alice

Jolie Dame
23 pages of essay = front and back of page ?

Yes, front and back and that includes outline as well.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Syed Ali Hadi

I congratulation you on your success first. Can you elaborate your study plan regarding British History? And how do you see the revised syllabus of British History when compared to previous one?

http://www.cssforum.com.pk/css-optio...h-history.html

This link was my study plan for the preparation of paper 1. And I prepared plan for paper 2 in the same way. Anyways, since you would have only one paper now and the new syllabus is almost the same as the previous one, with more subtractions and less additions. The syllabus has been reduced a lot. I hope you have the new syllabus outline with you.
Prepare following topics:

The Glorious Revolution, William III & Mary II, Queen Anne (from the book British History by PC Thomas)
Hanoverian Era (PC Thomas)
The Union of England and Scotland (PC Thomas)
Union of England and Ireland (PC Thomas)
The Old Colonial System (PC Thomas)
The French Revolution and Napoleonic Wars (PC Thomas)
Industrial and Agricultural Movement (PC Thomas)
Robert Peel and Return of Tories (PC Thomas)
Irish Problem (PC Thomas)
The Methodist Movement and Chartist Movement (Sohail Bhatti or Jahangir's Top 20 Questions or internet, your choice)
Socialism, Colonialism, Liberalism (Internet)
Victorian Era (PC Thomas)
Disraeli and Gladstone (PC Thomas or Jahangir's Top 20 Questions)
Edwardian Era (PC Thomas or Norman Lowe)
Britain World War I, World War II and Aftermaths (Jahangir's Top 20 Questions)
Cold War, Churchill, Thatcherism, Cameroun (Internet)

Norman Lowe's is also a good book to cover the whole syllabus but I have mostly told you from where I found it easy to prepare.

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The Following 7 Users Say Thank You to Jolie Dame For This Useful Post:
Adeel Afzal (Sunday, August 23, 2015), anabiya mughal (Sunday, August 09, 2015), Aqazaansari (Saturday, August 08, 2015), asgharali (Saturday, August 08, 2015), Man Jaanbazam (Saturday, August 08, 2015), Miss blue (Sunday, August 23, 2015), Raheel Mughal (Monday, December 31, 2018)

The Following 3 Users Say Thank You to Jolie Dame For This Useful Post:
Alice (Saturday, August 15, 2015), Imrantm (Sunday, August 30, 2015), Muhammad Daniyal Khalek (Thursday, August 13, 2015)

The Following 5 Users Say Thank You to Jolie Dame For This Useful Post:
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The Following User Says Thank You to Jolie Dame For This Useful Post:
Alice (Saturday, August 15, 2015)