Academician and IAS mentor, S B Singh, writes in Employment News that, whether in sports or examination, what matters is not the starting line but the finishing line. In other words, however serious the preparations for the prelims may have been in the beginning, unless they are sustained and accelerated at their last stage, the advantages gained during the early phase of preparation may become infructuous. Therefore, it is crucial to use the time between now and the exam date to prepare for the most difficult part of the IAS exam, which is the prelims. In order to ensure success, the nature of the exam must first be understood properly. The prelims is a qualifying exam and it is immaterial for the final success. It is just meant to give you a permit to write the main exam, which is the real test that would decide your success in the civil services. The objective should be to just secure the minimum qualifying marks in the prelims exam. But the minimum score, or required cut-off, in itself is very difficult to obtain given the unpredictable nature of the prelims exam. Therefore, one has to focus on the core areas where the most questions are asked and prepare accordingly. To grasp the pattern of the prelims, one has to analyse the last several years' questions of the UPSC, preferably those asked in the last three years and find out which areas are carrying a higher number of questions. In order to secure the required cut-off, which is usually 95-100 marks out of a total of 200 marks in the GS paper, one needs to attempt some correct questions from all the areas. This calls for a balanced and complete coverage of the prelims syllabus.