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Hi,
As IAS is a tough nut to crack advisable would be that you should opt for coaching institute rather then doing self study. There are two stages in IAS: Preliminary & Main.
In Prelim, as the Exam pattern has changed, the examination is now designed to evaluate areas like decision making skills, logical and analytical abilities and the knowledge in the services in which you want to pursue your career instead of subject Knowledge. Since the preliminary exam is an elimination round the candidate should also remember to focus only on the information needed and filter out the rest.
Mains: the preparation of Mains should start at least a year in advance. Just because you have to prepare for Essay, GS and the two optional you never get enough time (to prepare for all these) Further, it is on the basis of your performance in Mains, on which mainly depends the final outcome of your efforts. You should think about appearing in the Prelims only when you have had a strong grip over the Mains' subject matter.
For more information on IAS & coaching Institutes please check the links below:
http://tinyurl.com/26obzbt
http://tinyurl.com/3ycfjq7
Hope this resolves your query.
Thanks,
Pooja

Hi Praveen,
Generally, For PhD you need to have a Masters degree from a Recognized University with 55% and above aggregate marks, so if XISS PGDM is considered equivalent to Masters Degree (which you need to check with the University you will apply to) then you can go ahead for PhD.
I would also suggest you to talk to XISS authorities and see if they can give you in writing that there degree is equivalent to Masters Degree, this will help you in getting into PhD programme.
Hope this resolves your query. Feel free to put up more queries In case your query is resolved please close this question by choosing it as a best answer or pressing the thumbs up icon.
Thanks,
Pooja

Hi Nidhi,
As Shiksha is an Education portal which believes in giving unbiased guidance to the students it would be unfair on my part to give my personal opinion or judgment on any particular institute. However, both Symbiosis and Welingkar Distance learning programmes are placed equally both are DEC approved. The parent Institute of Symbiosis is declared to be a Deemed University whereas Welingkar is an AICTE approved Institute.
Few of the other things which you should keep in mind while choosing the Institute are: the course curriculum and the study material, the infrastructure, the no. of classes provided in case it is a correspondence program, whether there is faculty or online support or not, last but not least Institutes reputation in the job market for which you should visit the institute and try and talk to the current batch students and get few of the alumnae contacts. This will give you a clear picture about the Institute.
I would also suggest you to surf Course & Institute section of shiksha to get the details of Alumnae feedback of these two Institutes.
Hope this will be of help. Feel free to put up more queries In case your query is resolved please close this question by choosing it as a best answer or pressing the thumbs up icon.
Thanks,
Pooja