2016 is almost gone and now all you have in your hands is 2017. Gear up to crack CDS in the very first attempt in 2017. And for that, you still have 2 months left in your pocket, if you really want to join the Indian Armed Forces and wish to be recruited as a Permanent Commissioned Officer. As you must be knowing that UPSC offers you two chances to clear the exam, by conducting it twice a year.
Your first chance is in February 2017. It’s high time to put it on the top of your priority list. When I say Indian Armed Forces, it includes all three categories, which are:
- Indian Military Academy (IMA)
- Indian Naval Academy (INA) and
- Indian Air Force Academy.
Selection Process
You have to climb up four steps to grab the trophy of CDS. The process is given below:
Eligibility
But, first of all, you have to check if you follow up with all the eligibility conditions to appear in the Exam. Talking about Educational qualifications, one thing you must have, no matter for which category you are aiming for, is, a graduation degree or you should be appearing for the graduation final year. Other than this, every individual category asks for different educational qualification, as mentioned below:
- Indian Military Academy: A bachelor’s degree from a recognized university
- Indian Naval Academy: Engineering degree from a recognized university or institution
- Indian Air Force Academy: B.Tech. or a bachelor’s degree from recognized university. Plus, Physics and Chemistry should be in the list of compulsory subjects, you opted for, in 12th class
UPSC is very selective when it comes to Combined Defence Services. And so, there are few other eligibility standards related to age, gender, and marital status, that UPSC sets for the students who wish to apply for the exam. You can get the essence of all those conditions from the image given below:
And if you applying for Officers Training Academy (SSC Course for Men), you should be a married or unmarried male, belonging to the age group of 19 to 25 years. While for Officers Training Academy, which is an SSC Women Non-Technical Course, only female applicants belonging to the age group of 19 to 25 years are invited whether married, unmarried, widowed, or divorced.
Get yourself Registered
After getting through eligibility of CDS, the next thing UPSC asks you to do is to get yourself registered for the Entrance exam. And to do so, you have to surf through the official webpage of UPSC. If you are thinking, that you will buy the offline form and fill it, then you are wrong as UPSC doesn’t offer any other mode to fill the registration form, other than online mode. The whole registration process of CDS is divided into two parts which are named as Part I and Part II. In the first part, you have to fill in your personal details and educational details. And in the second part, UPSC requires you to pay the application fee and upload your photograph and signature.
What will you face in CDS Written Exam?
It is always good for you to know your opponent, as much as you can. That is the best mantra to win any battle. So, instead of studying blindly and wasting your precious time and efforts, get some in-depth knowledge of the syllabus of the exam and what comes in it. That way, you can plan your whole preparation strategy, which will ultimately make it easier for you to win over CDS. This much you must be knowing already that it is a pen & paper-based objective exam and it consists of 3 papers of English Language, General knowledge, and Elementary Mathematics. But what you really need to know is, that how much each section weighs and how much marks you might lose if you make mistakes in the exam.
Well, you have to be very sure while marking any answer because you lose 1/3rd marks for every wrong attempt you make. Each of the 3 sections weighs 100 marks and 120 questions which you have to solve in 2 hours’ duration. Here, all you need to do is to be creative and smart, so that, you can solve all the questions within the time duration, as there is no chance that you will be assisted with any mercy minutes to complete your test. Start analyzing the syllabus and make a smart strategy to win over this CDS battle.