Experience Sharing CSS 2014: Share your exam expereince here
 

Slowly but surely CE 2014 is drawing to close, some are done with the papers, others right on the verge. I wish you all the good luck for your glorious success.
It must has been nerve-wrecking yet very exciting week or so. One can has as many mocks or pre-exams in the comfort of one's home as one likes but real time exam anxiety and stress management is different. I envite all those who took the exam to share their experience of CE 2014 i.e. all the highs and lows, strong and weak points, interesting and diappointing times and most imotantly the lesson you leant from this make or break exam. It will also be great resource and learning curve for potential and future aspirant.

The practice which helped me the most was to remain calm and read questions a few times before starting the paper. Then I wrote the questions which I could attempt and then i used to select from them the best prepared ones. Then i Continued with making rough outlines of these questions. This practice may seem time consuming, but trust me I was able to complete this whole process in no more than 15 minutes. This really helps you in last question when you face shortage of time.

i started my preperation for ce 14 from last september and studied whole heartedly for one and a half month.then i had to attend a marriage function and it took my whole two weeks that i didnt even touch my books[except for reading dawn offcourse] and when i was over with the function it was mid november and i realized that i had very little time left for the exam and i wont be able to prepare well for the exam in that short span of time . i lost interest in it and i bacame so much lazy and wasted all my remaining time untill 20 days before the exam i suddenly felt motivated and i started to study again and forgot about everything in those 20 days just study and sleep though i was still of the view that i wont be able to make it i studied hard and then it was the start of the exam and with every paper passing by i cursed myself more and more and wished to have a little more time even for a week and how much difference i could have made if i havent wasted that precious time of mine by losing hope.i just want to advice not to loose hope even if you have left very little time for the exam you never know how the paper would turn out for you. p.s all my paper went well and still have some hope that i can make it through.

it was a life threatening week with lots of experiences and adventures... in the mid of the exams i felt so exhausted that i thought to quiet but yes that was the exam of nerves. how much one can hold his nerves that is important!!! i had consecutive papers without any gap and last papers were like giants for me, my hand was tired of writing and brain was exhaust of thinking...
held my nerves and got to know my strength...
that was css... may Allah help me get my desired results (aameen)
and good luck to every aspirant :)

it was a ravishing experience.to me it was a spiritual journey.i feel a little self actualized now.:)

Experience
 

I experienced, intake of nicotine and caffeine helps since there are so few hours to sleep in between. one can take cold coffee, readily available. Glucose intake like chocolates etc is good and now, quite common. Having discussion at the cusp of paper rather book study helped cooling down my nerves. Overall it is a tiresome week.
Whats that lyric? Thank God the week is done, i feel like a zombie gone back to life.. ;)

Hi Guys,

It was my last attempt after an epoch struggle for becoming a CSP. I enjoyed all of my papers except for essay paper which made me scary of. In essay paper I stuck to two topics and finally decided to go for NUMBER 9. I tried my level best to take essay in a correct way but couldn't conclude it in the end. Now I m too much worried about it after my papers. My all the papers went more than good but this essay. My essay took time because I was focusing more on my language and expression. I don't know what a blunder I had made in the end. Now I just pray, " may the examiner show mercy on my conclusion." Except fr this all of my papers went perfect...

Pray for me...

Don't read it if you hate preachers, self criticism and love your comfort zone.
 

Okay, so un popular opinion but i'll say what i really think so here it goes,

The Exam centres were of medieval ages, no Roll Number/ID card checking in the last exams, Really low security checking, Girls with Abaya's not checked, people cheating in the exams centres largely ignored, There were two people on my right side having a 'conversation' (really quietly though) throughout the papers, IGNORED by the examiners.

Staff WAS helpful though, no qualms in the rooms, the paper process itself went smoothly.

MOST IMPORTANTLY, what i've noticed is, people giving CSS Exams expect it to be a regurgitation of the text books, majority of the aspirants LOVE whining and complaining about the papers and don't even realise what holding this position actually means. They will find something or someone to blame except their own abilities or preparation. So what if you prepared from four books and thought the word structure of the Exam paper did not match your textbooks? Un-familiar words in the questions? Seriously? By age 25, everyone should have covered the GRE word list of 5000, its not the world's fault if you were born less privileged. You are taking COMPETITIVE exams and your abilities are going to be matched with rest of the world's elite officers, do you expect that the government will induct you out of pity that you never had enough opportunities?

THE HARD TRUTH: The government is corrupt, but you are not right? So don't expect any favours, prepare as hard as you can for as long as you can. Many people from under privileged background succeed in Life's tough situations because of their resilience and learning, they don't ask the world to be easy on them because the world never does.

If you'll keep complaining about your circumstances and play the blame game, you aint getting nowhere kids. Instead you can try your hardest and if you don't get in, remember that you were competing with Pakistan's best minds and that even if they had some edges over you, its no one's fault and we can't hate other people for our failures.

Biases of the examiner? What does that even mean? So you gave exam once and you realised that the examiner awarded you lesser marks in certain papers, you know what your approach was in that paper and that it is not being taken well enough by the examiner, SO, don't repeat that mistake in the next attempt. Still didn't get in? Can't do anything about it either, right? So move on, try something else. Just don't complain about it.

I know i might not get in this year, but i know where i lack and what things i missed. So i will never say that it was FPSC's fault and they somehow mis checked my papers. I will know that i didn't prepare well enough.

Worried about opinion based papers, increase your knowledge of statistics related to the subjects topics and you'll still get good enough marks. You don't understand statements well enough to interpret their meaning? Increase your general reading abilities, join a library, invest in your critical thinking by watching argumentative shows, you can always find someway to access these resources, there is ALWAYS a way to get what you want. You just have to be willing to give it EVERYTHING you have.

[QUOTE=Rida Malik;698607]Okay, so un popular opinion but i'll say what i really think so here it goes,

The Exam centres were of medieval ages, no Roll Number/ID card checking in the last exams, Really low security checking, Girls with Abaya's not checked, people cheating in the exams centres largely ignored, There were two people on my right side having a 'conversation' (really quietly though) throughout the papers, IGNORED by the examiners.

Staff WAS helpful though, no qualms in the rooms, the paper process itself went smoothly.

MOST IMPORTANTLY, what i've noticed is, people giving CSS Exams expect it to be a regurgitation of the text books, majority of the aspirants LOVE whining and complaining about the papers and don't even realise what holding this position actually means. They will find something or someone to blame except their own abilities or preparation. So what if you prepared from four books and thought the word structure of the Exam paper did not match your textbooks? Un-familiar words in the questions? Seriously? By age 25, everyone should have covered the GRE word list of 5000, its not the world's fault if you were born less privileged. You are taking COMPETITIVE exams and your abilities are going to be matched with rest of the world's elite officers, do you expect that the government will induct you out of pity that you never had enough opportunities?

THE HARD TRUTH: The government is corrupt, but you are not right? So don't expect any favours, prepare as hard as you can for as long as you can. Many people from under privileged background succeed in Life's tough situations because of their resilience and learning, they don't ask the world to be easy on them because the world never does.

If you'll keep complaining about your circumstances and play the blame game, you aint getting nowhere kids. Instead you can try your hardest and if you don't get in, remember that you were competing with Pakistan's best minds and that even if they had some edges over you, its no one's fault and we can't hate other people for our failures.

Biases of the examiner? What does that even mean? So you gave exam once and you realised that the examiner awarded you lesser marks in certain papers, you know what your approach was in that paper and that it is not being taken well enough by the examiner, SO, don't repeat that mistake in the next attempt. Still didn't get in? Can't do anything about it either, right? So move on, try something else. Just don't complain about it.

I know i might not get in this year, but i know where i lack and what things i missed. So i will never say that it was FPSC's fault and they somehow mis checked my papers. I will know that i didn't prepare well enough.

Worried about opinion based papers, increase your knowledge of statistics related to the subjects topics and you'll still get good enough marks. You don't understand statements well enough to interpret their meaning? Increase your general reading abilities, join a library, invest in your critical thinking by watching argumentative shows, you can always find someway to access these resources, there is ALWAYS a way to get what you want. You just have to be willing to give it EVERYTHING you have.[/QUOTE]

We said Keep it up.
One need to be mature enough t take CSS exam. Though, It may take years to be mature enough. One's papers must be error less. There is no any justification of errors for CSS EXAM. Perfect approach and rational thinking with prompt decision and smooth writing help to get though this EXAM.

Adeel sir how one can be mature? if anybody whose dream is to be CSP in early years I mean before the age of 23 then how can he be a mature? This problem of maturation discouraging a lot of aspirants. I am sorry if I am wrong.

[QUOTE=ahmed khoso;698620]Adeel sir how one can be mature? if anybody whose dream is to be CSP in early years I mean before the age of 23 then how can he be a mature? This problem of maturation discouraging a lot of aspirants. I am sorry if I am wrong.[/QUOTE]

Practice practice and practice as much as You can. Try to feel in the domain of CSS every day.
Develop your critical analysis approach by reading various magazine. Try to ask questions whenever you read something and answer them by yourself. This approach will hep you during your CSS EXAM when you will find a surprising questions in ANY PAPER, especially a great aid to deal with essay and current affairs papers.
It will bolster your mental ability to solve any complicated problems on the spot and in a jiffy.

Thats my first attempt and quite hopefull for success.
After eassy paper 50% css complete and all mind pressure release and after P&c paper 30% furthur confusion release.CA & PA & eds may be relatively easy this year but marking is so strict in these paper.A candidate who got around 150 marks in these paper are relatively high score.
ALL my effort compelete and remaining effort fulfill with Namaz and prayers. WISH ALL CE-2014 Best wishes.

well, i have prepared for it and i got one heck of a faith on myself that i could certainly achieve the hights but my father came and said "beta, aglay saal exam de dena, bhala 3 maah ki tayyari bhi koi tayyari hoti hai" and i got to agree with him because we do what we do, agreeing with father (especially when they are retired army men) :0

Please left out all criticism;cope paster and illegal user or naqal copier don't make history.Css is a exam of efforts and hardships.Only singal eassy is enough to make Csp officer.Left out all criticism dear.But this year faisalabad make history secure and safe exam in all centres especially labortary high school.

It was my first attempt and very hectic experience...though managed to give good exams...well i would say...CSS has become very general exam after 2012...Crammers should now ponder...mostly papers are out of syllabi...eg Isl. of our CE-2014
Questions asked now are very general...not for ratta-baaz students...i watched alot candidates cramming KIPS,Toppers notes before exam...but i believe these are of no use...as ''if we all cram same stuff from these so called high scoring notes...then we all will write same thing...then checker will get fed of reading again n again same answers''(point to notice)
so CSS is game of english,knowledge,vast study,general study etc though one should always stick to outlines given by FPSC for every subject...increase command on english...thats it

Trend in our society for civil exams is very weird...like for example for Essay candidates cram four basic topics like Education,Terrorism,Women in Islam,Energy crisis...and go for it...I mean really? a candidate going for civil service exam ,most prestigious exam of country with such a kiddish caliber and attitude...disappointing...for example Essay 2014 one of topics was privatizing higher education...knowledge or money making...i heard some of friends that they just added para of privatizing and wrote whole on education...which they had crammed...man! blunder!!! now if you look at topic Examiner has not even asked about ''education'' he has just asked for ''privatizing money making or knowledge?''...this is topic...

For 2015 and onward aspirants i would say open your minds,stop cramming these notes,broaden your level,try to write on anything,enhance english and ofcourse knowledge,and above all always answer what is asked...read question then just n just answer what is asked may it be of one page...dont start on secondary topic as it is highly disliked by checker...

Hence I am very much in favour of screening test...so that only deserving lot sit in exam...

fingers crossed for CE 2014 result :)
best of luck to 2015 Aspirants,
May ALLAH bless us all...Ameen

[QUOTE=Adeel Ahmed;698599]Hi Guys,

It was my last attempt after an epoch struggle for becoming a CSP. I enjoyed all of my papers except for essay paper which made me scary of. In essay paper I stuck to two topics and finally decided to go for NUMBER 9. I tried my level best to take essay in a correct way but couldn't conclude it in the end. Now I m too much worried about it after my papers. My all the papers went more than good but this essay. My essay took time because I was focusing more on my language and expression. I don't know what a blunder I had made in the end. Now I just pray, " may the examiner show mercy on my conclusion." Except fr this all of my papers went perfect...

Pray for me...[/QUOTE]

Adeel stay calm, have faith and pray for yourself. If your oulines, intro, and body are as per required standards you may get away with bad finish as I did. I made a similar folly in CSS 2012, took lot of time in brainstorming, constructing outlines, and writing introduction. I was left with hardly an hour to complete remainder of essay and could not conclude very well. My conclusion consisted of just single concluding sentence. Rather, I went a step farther, I could not write all the points of outlines on page 1 which I wrote in rough portion, whishing that paper checker may have a glance on the rogh portion. At the end, I was rushing to commplete outlines as well as concluding the essay, unable to do none satisfactorily and it all ended in wrestling match with lots of spactators enjoying the scene when my papr was finally snached. I left the examination hall with lots of dismay, looking another year down the line. It all ended well as I scored 42 in it.

i d'nt wana to appear in exams this year as i had a long perid ov my illness nd hvnt control on my nerves which is the mst impt thing in these examz.......and unfortunately i hav sum realy bad exprns abt life which cant help me to stand in a competition like CSS exams:hurt......... however pushing and pulling by my BABA the only person who loves me a lot and 4 the sake ov their wish i'm in exams without any prepration.......so any 1 can thought abt my paprs...... bt i tried to give my best effort as i'd appear in 2012 exams whole heartdly and learn alot at that time nd i wnt to get rid of all my weaknesses as........... 1-understand the Q what the examiner ask nd what he riquired to u in ur ans, 2-select the Qs nt on ur knowldge but on ur critical judgement, 3- manage ur time, 4- outlined the Qs roughly as it helps u if u hav shortage ov time inthe last, 5- attemt all the Qs(wd full strength)............ nd above all i realize that CSS is not the game ov knowldge it is the game ov ur strengths and control on ur nerves(which i fully manage during exams) asi didnt give a single time study to my subj,,,,bt i used my past knwlg nd put my best! lets hope 4 the best;):pp

It was my second attempt. In first paper, I performed well on account of consistency in writing practice. Except CA, every paper went well alhamdulillah. This time, luckily my selection of optional subjects went sound and good enough to perform pretty good in every paper. More or less, in every paper my performance went to the level of perfection. I am confident this time, inshallah I will make it :) This time FPSC's staff was really cooperative and decent :) I enjoyed a lot while attempting every paper. I drew maps, gave statistics, used variation of colors in attempting. I believe in Allah that this time He wont dishurt me on account of my hard working and burning mid night oils :)


Wish you all the very best...:)

Exclusively from where your centre and whats your optional subject and which topic you choose for eassy writing.

I was in Abbotabad centre. The invigilators were cooperative and strict. The halls here weren't that big. I only saw once, an invigilator pointing out two "cooperating" candidates, and he did it with grace too: he went to them and just shifted one of them to another seat.

i stopped studying on 14th and did not open a book or consult notes on 15th, 16th or 17th. why? because it is these three days that burn you out. on exam day, from twelve to two, i did the following things:
1. have a samosa chat
2. sip a cup of tea
3. smoke a cigarette
4. and then sit in the net cafe in cantt plaza, and watch a movie. i watched the axe wielding, vampire hunter; Abraham lincoln and Hidalgo and the last race of Hidalgo AND the last race of Hidalgo.

The point is that what you have done in two, four or six months, don't ruin it by increasing stress on exam days, especially the first three. It was my first attempt and one does feel jittery. thus pretend to CHILL and you will feel relaxed.

I don't think that I have done good. i mainly relied on smart work. the lesson I learned was: SMART WORK TO CHOOSE THE WAY, HARD WORK TO GO THE DISTANCE.

so regardless of what CE- 2014 hatches for me, CE- 2015 here I come

and one more thing to know:
the important thing is not WHAT answer you give, but HOW you give it. Learn HOW to approach any particular topic, question etc. and align your studies with the HOW. make outlines of EVERY topic that you study and work upon how to improve it. it will help you in all papers.

you can develop your unique approach, but then work on it. but learn HOW and you will know what "WHAT" is missing, which then you can search.

Primary objective of starting this thread is to guide aspiring candidates by sharing firsthand experince and ambience of exam. So beside experiene sharing, emphasis should be on following areas

What you learned from exam?
What proved your strength or weakness?
How methodology of preparation should be like?

Keeping in view the contemporary trends and style of papers, it is imperative for aspiring candidates to avoid selective studies, prepare throughly, do not rely only on ready made notes or guidebooks, study recommended materials to start with, improve writing skills and expression and whet your analysing skills. Dont pay heed to those who claim that they did it in one or two monts preparation. Believe me there is no short cut, its through study, consistency and perseverance that pay dividend.

What I learned from exam?
1. I did write answers, but did not write them in a manner which can facilitate the examiner. I did not give sufficient and relevant headings. Just wrote away what came in my mind.
2. I had crammed a few things, but none of them were in my grasp during the course of paper. I was just writing what came first in my mind. Thus I conclude that conceptual understanding is a must to attempt CSS exam. I am actually astonished at crammers if there are any.
3. I did not analyse a complete question, i.e. I did not make any rough outlines. Whatever question seemed likely my first heading was INTRODUCTION in black ink and then fire away.

My weakness was insufficient study and practice.

METHODOLOGY TO STUDY
1. Separate syllabus in the divisions given in CSS syllabus.
2. Then write the relevant questions from past papers.
3. Attempt the question. At least make an outline.
4. Analyse your outline and find weaknesses

What you learned from exam?

I learned passion to study deeply and focus on self-exposure


What proved your strength or weakness?

Strengths are extra knowledge which i gained during last some years by exploring almost all the topics mainly and weakness is that lack of specialization.


How methodology of preparation should be like?

It should be "study like a researcher".


I was very ill before the start of exams and the 5 constant days work, (10 papers) daily travelling of 2:30 hours morning and then in evening made me more sick. Still i believed in God and God helped me to fight. Every day my first paper was quite easy and interesting to me but the 2nd time paper was quite strange to my expectations. Specially the last paper of URDU was very tough technically.

:thinking

Before giving any verdict about my experience, papers and ideal methodology let me admit I was the one who was not sure of taking this attempt in the morning when I was heeding towards my exam center and even while taking the first essay paper I was sure of not taking other papers so whatever I will say is just a layman approach and not an approach of someone who is a serious CSS aspirant with months of hard work behind!

firstly, control your nerves.
secondly, choose the questions you have a command over, like if you are going towards a question that asks for your opinion, analysis be pretty much sure you have dozens of points to strengthen your claim if not, go towards the question that asks for a answer you have been memorizing for long ( though the papers in 2014 most of them asking for your opinion , had questions that only asked for writing what you have crammed just you wil have to mold the answer but few were too analytical asking for pronged approach)
Thirdly, keep a check on time. Attempt those answers first that will take less time and none of your answer (at least first three answers should not take more than 35 minutes)
Then, dun start writing the answer, plan your answer. There is sufficient time available for attempting paper. So, plan your answer, plan headings and write your answer in a go. It should not look like that disjointed sentences have been jolted down.

In short, how you control your nerves will decide how you are going to perform. If you have a feeling you don't now the answer to the questions at least give them a try and give your best.


About Methodology, I will love to admit, CSS is no exception to the luck and smart game we have been going through since the day we started taking board exams. So, start with the clarity in your mind that you can never attain the perfect with your preparation and even you cann't attain something without preparation.
For preparation, dun resort to past papers ( in terms of questions that have been repeated), never ask people for notes and don't try to go for selective studies.
Prepare the part thoroughly before going towards the next part! your command on a part can secure you a complete question in the paper. Then, refrain from just cramming and reproducing what is in the text. Try to get hold of opinions and debatable points in the text and read something about them ( with papers having a different trend cramming and concepts cann't secure you marks, your ability to present argument will secure you marks)

[QUOTE=musmanhussain;700233]Exclusively from where your centre and whats your optional subject and which topic you choose for eassy writing.[/QUOTE]

Center: Sukkur
Attempt: 2nd
Optional Subjects:
Geography
Psychology
US Hisotry
Sindhi