The Coaching Conundrum

This is one the most difficult questions which pokes in the mind of every aspirant at whatever stage he/she may be. I have been flooded with similar queries, specially from the candidates placed outside Delhi. Let me share my experience.

Phase 1: Kerala
I started my preparation when I was stationed at Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala for my job. I came to know about Kerala State Civil Service Academy which was very popular academy among the aspirants there. Here is what I felt.

Pros: I felt that this academy introduced me to the process of civil service preparation. Being from a engineering background (B.Tech), I was totally stranger to the world of humanities,  and here I came to know about existence of subjects like Polity, Economics, History, etc. I learned about some of the important books, materials, etc interacted with like minded candidates and obtained some basic notes.

Cons:  However after spending some time I soon realized the futility of attending all the classes there. I sensed that after certain stage teaching was out of tune with the demands of exam, pedagogy seemed outdated, and materials were too basic.

Phase 2: Delhi
In 2015 I shifted to Delhi (which happens to be my home state) to focus entirely on the preparation. I joined Samkalp for GS and ALS for Geography Optional.

Pros: this time I got improved pedagogy, better materials, more like minded aspirants, and better advices and strategy. So initially I was contended with my decision to join coaching.

Cons: However after clearing prelims 2015, I could not clear mains 2015. This time I realized that I had relied heavily on coaching materials, which not only is limited compared to exam’s demand but it’s staticness tends to influence your thinking.

Conclusion:

So I believe any coaching has certain pros and cons which need to be weighted. I always believe that given the exam’s vastness, you always have to keep in mind the cost-benefit ratio to arrive at decisions.

If you conclude that coaching are not for you. Great! Don’t worry, you are not missing on anything. Now there are many online websites which are simplifying the preparation. You can follow that. Besides, one can easily put hands onto relevant coaching study materials in the shops of Rajinder Nagar and Mukherjee Nagar, and many are even providing courier services for those living outside Delhi.

If you arrive that you have to do coaching, than its my sincere advice to not rely on them entirely. Coaching are not going to play more than 30% role in your preparation. As mentioned above, you also need to follow websites to be abreast with current affairs, browse  for good examples, case studies, articles, diagrams, etc. and than prepare your own notes.

Hope it helps! All the best!

PS: this post is meant only for classroom coaching, and do not confuse with Test Series which I will be dealing later.