Tips for CDS 2014 Written Exam

The UPSC has declared the dates for CDS 2014 exams and forms for the same are available on its website. The CDS or combined defense service exam is conducted by UPSC twice in a year to select candidate for service selection board’s interview for commissioned officers in army, navy and Indian air force.

For those aspiring to get into the Indian military academy, Dehradun or naval/airforce academy for permanent commission in the armed forces, they are expected to score the minimum cut off marks set by the UPSC in all the three papers of CDS examination. These three papers are English, general knowledge & elementary mathematics. The maximum marks for all these three papers together is 300.

For those who are aspiring to join armed forces for short service commission, they are exempted from appearing in the elementary mathematics paper of cds examination.

Out of the total candidate (which is appox. 1 lakh)who appear for the cds examination, the upsc recommend a total of around 10000 candidate for ssb-interview for all the three services. Those candidates who have not studied mathematics at either 12th/isc level or in their graduation are only eligible for army(pc) and army(ssc).

Age limit for permanent commission is 23 years while that for short service commission is 27 years. Apart from this those candidates who are possessing N.C.C c-certificate are exempted from the written examination. They are directly called for ssb-interview. There is a separate vacancies for such ncc candidates in army airforce and naval training academies.

A very good thing about the cds examination is that rarely a candidate gets merit out after being recommended by the ssb board. Thus once you qualify CDS and then the ssb & if every thing goes well in the medical tests, you may find yourself in the training academy very soon.

Pattern of CDS Examination Papers

English

The paper is very easy especially for those who are from c.b.s.e/icse school educated as it contains basic English grammar/vocabulary. For those who have problem with English the best way to prepare for this paper is by reading some good books for English grammar and vocabulary.

I would recommend the following books for preparation:

Wren and Martin’s English grammar by S.Chand publication
Word power

Apart from that I would highly recommend the aspirants to read Indian express newspaper as its good for beginners. Reading hindu newspaper might prove dull and boring experience for those who are not habitual of reading English newspapers.

Questions in the English paper are mostly based on

1) Sentence Correction

2) Verb Uses

3) Jumble Words

4) Synonyms

5) Antonyms

6) Word-Meaning

7) Vowels Uses

So if you feel that you are not familiar of one or the other issues mentioned above, then start preparing from now onwards. Cutoff for English is high because questions are really very easy to solve. The more you score in English the better will be your over all score and hence confirms your selection as well.

Mathematics

They ask basic elementary questions in mathematics. The books that I would recommend could be:

NCERT Class 7-10
R.S Agrawal’s mathematics for competitive examinations.
Any mathematics book for ssc/cds can be referred.

In this paper most of the questions are from:

Number system- this includes squaring, cubing,root,lcm,hcf,bodmas
Trigonometry system- this includes sin/cos/tan/cot based derivations as well as values.
Geometry- this includes questions based on angles and their theorems/derivations.
Similar figures- this includes concurrent triangle and derivations based on it.

A mere 35-40% correct attempt can led to selection. But the aspirants are advised to attempt questions correctly and as many as they can.

General studies

The previous few papers shows that the level of questions in g.k for cds is rising day by day. Now they don’t just ask general basic g.k but also current affairs.

The aspirants are advised to read the following materials:

Lucent’s GK
Lucents’ general science
Daily newspapers
Manorma year book/any yearly issue.
Any monthly g.k magazine

Apart from this there are questions specific to some fields like geography and economy. So aspirants are adviced to read NCERT class 10 to 12th geography and economics books. For polity they may refer to lakshmikant’s polity or internet search engines like google/wikipedia.

The cutoff for this paper is around 40%.

Tips:

Start preparing from now onwards.
Give equal time for all the three papers.
Make sure that u have command over some specific topics like trigonometry, geometry & number system.
Read newspaper and note down important happenings. Maintain a diary/copy for this.
Buy cds practice books and practice it daily.
Learn and mug up some important historical events mentioned in lucent etc.
Make sure that u know the basics about planning commission/finance commission/pay commissions/law commissions e.tc
Make sure you know about the production of metals and ores in different parts of India. Often they give a map to locate such reservoirs.

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