For the Geography, Environment, and Disaster Management section, you can prepare from at least 3-4 guide books and the relevant chapters from Class 9-10 Social Science textbooks. If you look at the 35th BCS preliminary questions, you’ll notice that most questions came from the Class 9-10 Social Science books. Study those books thoroughly, marking important sections.
For the Ethics, Values, and Good Governance section, study from 3-4 guide books. You might also look at Muhammad Habibur Rahman’s ‘Nagorikder Jana Bhalo’ (What Citizens Should Know). Common sense is most essential for answering questions in this section. Some questions are deliberately designed to have different answers depending on how you think about them. The PSC intentionally plays this game so that candidates avoid attempting such questions. Greed leads to sin, and sin leads to negative marks.
You can find many questions from these two sections online. Search Google using the subject names and study those as well.
Now let me share some general thoughts about BCS preliminary preparation:
1. Let me share a fact. There are some difficult questions that don’t stick in memory even after repeated study. Stop trying to memorize them. Because trying to remember one such question drives out several easier questions from your head. The preliminary exam isn’t about getting the highest marks; it’s simply about getting the cut-off marks to pass. Getting 190 marks and passing the preliminary is the same as getting 90 marks and passing. Invest the extra effort for unnecessary marks into preparing for the written exam—it will be useful. Remember, difficult questions carry 1 mark, and so do easy questions.
2. Don’t worry too much about what others can do. What you can do versus what others can do—ultimately, theirs might not be more useful than yours. Mix less with those who know more. Never compete with those who excel greatly in any particular subject. Let the competition be with yourself. Always take this challenge: whether today’s ‘you’ is ahead of yesterday’s ‘you.’
3. Rather than convincing yourself and everyone else that you’re preparing—actually prepare. “The appearance of preparation, the absence of preparation”—this happens when preparing for competitive exams. Better to study wisely and pass than to work hard and fail. You need to perform very well or reasonably well in every segment. So while preparing, you can’t focus all your effort only on what you already know. My technique is to take extra care of what I know well, so I can gain a significant advantage over others. But first, I check whether what I know well is actually worth the advantage. Suppose you’ve memorized even the name of Clinton’s wife’s friend’s pet dog, but you write “My grandfather was a black dog…” for “My grandfather had a black dog”—that won’t help at all.
4. To those taking BCS for the first time: who said first attempts don’t succeed? I became a cadre on my first attempt. There are countless other examples. Immortal creations like Pather Panchali (by Bibhuti and Satyajit), Nagarik, The 400 Blows, Wuthering Heights, The Catcher in the Rye, To Kill a Mockingbird, The Kite Runner were all first-time creations by their creators. Doesn’t the thought of having to take such a tedious exam like BCS again frighten you? That alone should motivate you to study. Why should you have to take BCS repeatedly like everyone else? However, luck does play a role here. Those who become cadres are both qualified and fortunate.
5. Many will say, “I’ve finished studying such-and-such topics!” Take it easy. Just because someone finishes their work before you doesn’t mean they’ll have the last laugh. And if someone studies more than you, that’s not your fault. When I started preparing for the BCS exam, I found that many had finished studying many things. You’ve watched 3 Idiots, right? A friend’s bad result makes you somewhat sad, but a friend’s good result makes you even more upset! When I realized I knew practically nothing compared to others, I did two things. First, I tried to understand whether what they knew was actually necessary to know. Second, I stopped comparing myself with them and started comparing today’s me with yesterday’s me.
6. How necessary is group study? It depends on your habits. I didn’t have this habit. I didn’t do group study for two reasons. First, when I saw everyone knew so much that I didn’t know at all, my mood would sour. I don’t like thinking that I can’t do something. Remember the dialogue from The Pursuit of Happiness? What’s the point of everyone telling you that you can’t do it, and you understanding it? If everyone says it, you won’t start doing better; rather, your desire to do better might diminish. Second, studying with everyone made me want to chat more, and I’d think what they were doing was right and mine was wrong. I don’t like blind imitation.
7. More important than what you know is how well you can apply what you know. Those who know a lot usually underestimate those who don’t know as much, considering them easy targets. This complacency gradually makes them weak and vulnerable. If you can exploit this, it’s fun. There’s a special joy in watching over-learned people fail! It’s not even as satisfying when you pass yourself.
8. Sometimes you won’t feel like studying—that’s normal. I didn’t either. Always wanting to study isn’t a sign of mental health. Why so serious? Job for life, not life for job. You don’t have to become a BCS cadre! Your livelihood is already predetermined. There’s so much else to do! So take breaks, give studying a holiday. Occasionally. Close your room’s doors and windows, play music at full volume, shake off all thoughts and dance! Shout your heart out! What else is there in life! Don’t waste two more days feeling bad because you didn’t study for two days. Who learned anything without making mistakes? Where’s the time for regret? You haven’t committed the world’s greatest mistake! You’re not the world’s saddest person either!
9. Solve as many questions from guide books as possible. The more questions you solve, the better your preparation will be. Buy 3-4 model test books and take at least 2-3 model tests daily. By the way, don’t get discouraged if you score a bit low on model tests. More important than what you know is how well you can apply what you know. Taking a good exam is more important than having good preparation.
10. Instead of running around to coaching centers or here and there, study at home with plenty of time. Study at least 15-16 hours daily. All sleep, rest, and wandering will happen after getting the job.
11. Never try to answer all questions! The preliminary isn’t an exam for getting the highest marks, just for passing. Show the generosity to leave some difficult and confusing questions, keep your temperament stored up for the written exam.
12. Never try to answer all questions through blind guessing, but some intellectual guessing is fine. Getting 1.5 by answering 3 correctly is much better than getting zero by leaving 6 questions. Make mistakes intelligently. Successfully failing is also a great art.
13. In competitive exams, confidence works better than preparation for doing well. Maintain the attitude “I’m the best” in the exam hall. It works like magic! Getting a question wrong yourself doesn’t upset you as much as getting it wrong after hearing it from someone else. (Then you think, “Oh no, I could have done this myself!”)
14. There might be one or two small mistakes in the questions. Don’t go crazy over this. If there’s a problem, everyone will have it, not just you! Try to eliminate nervousness, because it won’t make the questions easier, but it will increase the chance of getting easy questions wrong. Remember, Que sera, sera.
15. During this time, reduce sharing your studies with friends. Hearing that friends’ preparation isn’t good makes you sad, but hearing that their preparation is better than yours makes you upset! Someone being a better student than you doesn’t mean they’ll pass the preliminary and you won’t. Try to have the last laugh.
May everyone’s preparation go well. Good luck!!
This article was published on Wednesday, October 21st in Kaler Kantho’s ‘Chakri Ache’ page. The link to the article is given below: