How to Prepare for CSS in 1 Year

Assalamualaikum!
[It is often asked that how to prepare for CSS, so I thought to put it down in my blog for you guys, according to the best of my knowledge and experience]

Subjects Selection:

The process starts with subject selection.  Choosing optional subjects is utmost important in CSS. The success is primarily based on what subjects you choose. Going for wrong subjects could produce drastic results. So let me know:

• Have you chosen the subjects?
• Have you consulted your seniors and/or CSPs before choosing these subjects?

If the answer is “NO”, then you’re doing it wrong, STOP right away!

I won’t recommend you to take opinion from Academies/institutes that prepare students for CSS. (It sounds weird! Right?) The reason is, they would always recommend you the subjects they are proficient with and/or they’ve faculty for. It would be folly to going for such recommendations regardless of your own interests and/or academic background.

The reason I recommend consultation with Seniors and/or CSPs is that they have gone through it and they have no personal interests in what you choose or don’t, they are sincere with their opinions and would reflect their experience with subjects they chose and/or dropped with logical reasoning.    

Remember! Don’t choose any subject by just hearing “it’s so easy”. One that’s easy for others might be tough for you. So, you must go through “Course Outline” and analyze the complexity of subjects you’re going to choose. Moreover, there are some optional subjects that correlate with compulsory subjects (e.g. International Relations – Current Affairs; Muslim Law – Islamic Studies; Indo-Pak History – Pak Affairs etc.) so consider such options as well while selection.    
Note: Never forget to take a second opinion.

4 Steps Process of Shortlisting Optional Subjects in CSS: 

Always remember that there is no "easy" or "difficult" subject in CSS. Your personal interest and academic background determine the level of difficulty of any Subject. You must start from noting down the subjects that you think you’ve familiarity with or your seniors have recommended you. At second step, you need to thoroughly go through the Course Outline and have proper understanding of the subject requirements, depth and scope. At third step, you need to go through Past Paper and analyze the questions been asked, the depth of knowledge that is required to answer these questions and your instinct about the subject. At fourth step you would be able to shortlist the subjects that you believe are in best consonance with your personal interests and academic background.

Preparation:

In a year-program you’ll have abundant time so don’t panic, go steadily, smooth and be consistent. Joining any academy/institute for preparation totally depends upon your subjects-selection and complexity thereof. However, private couching for English, by reputed and renowned professors, is highly recommended for aspirants with weak English skills.   

Read Newspaper daily –front page and The Op-Ed – this would help you preparing your current affairs and English vocabulary, since most of the vocabulary words being asked in examination are used in Newspapers. Moreover, most of the Essays and Questions being asked in Current Affairs and Pakistan Affairs are discussed in Opinion-Editorial Section of Newpapers.

Recommended Newspapers:
1: Dawn.
2: Express Tribune
3: The Nation 

Set a weekly study schedule in which you’ll cover 3 subjects per day – 1 topic per subject – on week-days (Monday to Saturday). Don’t rely on single-source [notes etc] and cover the complex topics through all of its dimensions by researching on the internet (if required). Right after reading the topics, write down the outline (important heading/issues/points discussed in that topic). Ok, so you’ll have 18 topics prepared in a week, Right? Now it’s time to relax your mind on Sunday. Have fun Guys! It’s Sunday.

Don’t be so fast. Be relaxed, smooth, steady and consistent with your study routine. Don’t tell everyone you’re preparing for CSS, there are haters, de-motivators, and they might distort your passion and courage which is utmost necessary throughout your preparation period. Be confident and determined, if Usman Ali – Topper of CSS-2015 – can do it, you can do it too. Have faith!    

   
By this practice, during the first fourth months, you’ll have finished your entire course and there will be enough time to repeat the process twice – or thrice is you do it little faster next times – before the examination. Now I’d recommend you to write every topic you revise, since the topic which took 90 minutes when you read it first time, would now take only 15-20 minutes to revise, so write it down in the rest of its designated minutes.

So by the 8^th month of your preparation you’ll have thoroughly gone through the entire course, at least, twice and have written it once by your hand. Isn’t it fair enough? Now repeat the same process of revising and writing until your examination so that you could excel these topics.  

Tips for Essay:

This is the one that causes most of the failures in CSS examination. The main reason is lack of research, information and command on given topic, weak arguments, and flaws of grammar and sentence structure coupled with spelling errors. To overcome these problems, following are some recommendations.

Don’t rely on single source while preparing an essay. Read multiple articles; cover all the dimensions; go through the entire scope of the topic. Examiner is not going to ask (for instance) “writes an Essay on Terrorism”. So you’ll have to cover the intricacies e.g. the genesis, causes, impacts, states involved, roles of nations, roles of multinational organizations, non-state actors, groups of terrorisms, their motives, situation in south, situation in north, steps world has taken, their results, the aftermath/consequences etc. Only such immense information would make you capable of answering/writing the topic against any asked dimension of the same. It is highly recommended to enhance your writing speed, style and stamina.

You should stop using “short language” while chatting on social media. (e.g. complt instead of Complete; Sngl instead of Single; Artcl instead of Article etc.) Your brain is very adaptive; such short words (misspelled) may cause trouble while taking exams. So always use properly spelled words while you converse.

Recommended Books for Compulsory Subjects:

1: Constitutional and Political History of Pakistan by Hamid Khan.
2: Pakistan and World Affairs by Shamshad Ahmad. 
3: Trek to Pakistan by Ahmad Saeed. 
4: Siraj Islamic Studies by Prof. Hafiz Arshad Iqbal.
5: Islamic Studies by Hafiz Karim Dad Chughtai.
6: General Science & Ability by Mian Shafique. 
7: High School English Grammar by Wren & Martin.

Never prepare yourself from Notes prepared by any Academy/Institute. You need to have proper understanding of the topics given in outline and for this you need to have books properly written by Authors of speciality. You can search online and visit Markets to find books by famous authors accordingly. 

Last but not the least, the Internet is your best teacher.

Disclaimer! All the information, details and recommendations given are purely based on the best of my knowledge and experience, and are totally fair & unbiased. Nonetheless, people may have opinions otherwise and I respect the opinions of others. This is just a free-opinion; the one who disagrees may comment below or ignore it. Thanks.