Update

If anyone is appearing again for Mains, please get yourself registered in AICSCC. They've some 60 seats vacant. They'll provide stipend apart from stay and food. Please share with people who are in need of support.

All India Civil service coaching centre is a govt of Tamilnadu initiative to provide an excellent opportunity for pursuing civil services. It is located in Greenways Road, Chennai.

Hi all,

For sometime this Channel has become inactive. I primarily run this Channel and due to my teaching commitments, I got little busy. Others are busy in their Mains or up and running for the Foundation course. I don't want this Channel to die. I want this to be a part where I can directly communicate with students, especially from Tamil Nadu.

I know a lot of you guys are preparing for Prelims. So let's start a crowd sourcing of questions. Send your questions on my email id connectwithrish@gmail.com. Once I receive many questions, I'll give answers for them.

Basic questions like booklist and all can be avoided. If you want any specific strategy, if you aren't going to coaching etc etc, you can ask.

Ask me questions. If not email then text me @rishab_ias. This is my telegram id.

Happy preparation.

BTW, your question can be anything in general also. Will be happy to share something that I know. Life before upsc or after results, what are the things that you can look upto etc. So you can keep few questions informal.

1. How did I keep myself motivated?

Your environment decides your motivation level. I was always surrounded my people who were preparing for the exams. When my friends got top ranks it motivated me.

I used to write a lot of tests. I was not afraid of self criticism. I heard a topper saying he/she won't show her marks. But for me marks were like a drug. I want my name to be at the top in any list. So I worked hard. Whenever I got top marks I'd share it to my family. I don't have those pics now. But I used to share them time and again.

My parents and my brother were a consistent support.

Sometimes YouTube videos. Not those motivational ones but meaningful ones. Google, hiware Bazaar and ralegaon sidhhi. See those videos. See the videos of apj Abdul Kalam sir. Hear the talks of great men. These small things motivated me.

2. How to proceed for mains answer writing?

1. Take out PYQP. Sit and think and how will you be able to answer. Frame an answer and pen it down

2. Follow insights secure. It'll be of great help.

3. Start a mains test series by the month of Nov or Dec. Do it for few months. This will give you an understanding of how to write answers

4. Go through toppers answer scripts regularly. I learnt a lot by interacting with my seniorss, seeing their answers and emulating few things.

5. Spend some time for writing. Coaching institutes will go slow. They've a year plan. You devise your own plan and go about it.

3. How to definitely clear prelims?

1. Start with PYQP. Do an entire vertical and horizontal analysis of each and every question. Makes notes of it. DO IT OFTEN.

2. Subscribe to a test series now. Don't ask me which. I don't know. You have to do the experiment and choose the one that resembles the UPSC pattern. Attempt it regularly.

3. Everytime I solved more that 50 mocks and revised them 2-3 times. I always got 10 marks higher than the general cut off. So. You need to solve a lot of qps.

4. Don't be afraid of writing tests. Only by writing test one knows where one stands

5. Spend time judiciously. Don't overdo. Don't spend 6 hrs on newspaper and 5 hrs on geography because many questions comes from there. Plan your prep and go accordingly

4. Which test series is best?

Trust me I don't know which one is best in the current times because I'm not following any.

I'll tell you what I did

1st attempt prelims : shankar + vision + insights (few)

2nd attempt (Delhi) : vision and other instt

3rd attempt : vision + numerous other random ones.

5. Best mains?

The ones in Delhi are super costly. 12 tests in vision will cost 15k. So I didn't apply to any test series because money was a serious handicap. So I learnt through answer writing practice and peer review. Seeing toppers papers was also one thing where I learnt how to write effectively

5.

I also felt the correction is very subjective. Every time a different person will correct who are students. We've no idea to gauge what's their qualification. So I stayed away.

6. What to do with Geography optional, how to start etc etc.
Follow the below links

https://youtu.be/eNsc8finXmA

https://youtu.be/bLVlrLx8kHQ

7. What's this analysis of questions that everyone is asking about?

Okay, I'm breaking down to the basic level.
Suppose there's a question on tributaries of River Brahmaputra (2016), let's do an analysis.

Horizontal analysis

Since the tributaries of Brahmaputra is asked, tomorrow tributaries of any river could be asked. So your tip is 'Prepare all tributaries well'

Vertical analysis:

Brahmaputra tributaries is asked now. Tomorrow it's dams, it's source or any info about it could be asked. This is vertical analysis

How did it help me

In 2015 prelims there was a question on amnesty International because of Syrian human rights violations
In 2016 doctors without Borders was largely in news. I expected that this could be askes and prepared extensively. In 2016 this was indeed asked.

Analyzing PYQP will give you an idea about what to prep, how to prep, what to ignore, how to attempt questions etc.

8. What's the strategy if I didn't clear 2019 prelims.

Well, give few months for optional. Try to complete it before November. Put your heart and soul to complete the entire syllabus of optional.

In December subscribe to a test series and start following it diligently. Solve numerous question paper. Read and revise repeatedly. Six months is more than enough to clear prelims with right strategy and hardwork.

9. People writing mains, anxiety is natural. Don't worry about it. Instead focus how better can you present your answers. I have always said that it's jot about what you write but how you write. Focus on the how part to get good marks.

10. Certain myths breaking

A. Your coaching part in your success in 5%. It's your hardwork which is 95%

B. Subscribing to fancy or costly test series ain't gonna help you. Don't waste money thinking that test series will save you. If you've learnt to analyse the PYQP and prepare strategically then without test series you can pass.
If not then no test series will be able to help you. The push must be from you

C. Don't chase material. I've heard one person reading two newspapers and watching Current affairs discussion of byjus and raus and still unable to clear prelims. He was never meant to clear prelims if he chases so many sources without actually studying them. A friend of mine said, you can keep one step in twenty directions or twenty steps in one direction. You know in which of the above case there's
progress.

D. You decide what's best for you. Everyone is unique. Don't join a coaching program just because your study hall friend said you that. Think whether you really need it.

E. Understand how coaching institutes make questions. They've a set of students who've attempted the exam few times. And they've freelancers who've attempts prelims few times. They may or may not have cleared. Now these freelancers will create questions and send to the main person who'll then curate. This happens in most of the academies. In other ones there's internal R&D who does the work. Bottomline : NO TEST SERIES WILL EVER COME EVEN CLOSE TO USPC.

11. My mains experience

I improved my marks from 784 (787 Gen cutoff, 789 (808 Gen cutoff), 877 (784 Gen cutoff).

First attempt mistakes

1. Started answer writing only after prelims. Only aim was to complete the paper. Didn't focus on the no of points or presentation etc

2. Didn't complete the syllabus

3. Messed up with my essay

Second attempt mistakes

1. Didn't do time management in exam. Left some 50 marks

2. Geography optional qp was tough. Didn't knew answers (although attempted) for few questions

3. Messed up with essay (people scored 165+ in essay that year)

Third attempt

1. Focused a lot on time management. Was able to complete paper FULLY, writing in all pages end to end in 2 hrs and 50 mins.

2. Focused on improving my presentation

3. Understood the demand of the question well

4. Worked on essay part.

12. Mains strategy

1. Analyze all the PYQP to understand how questions are asked

2. Tune your prep. Whenever you read a news article think what mains question can be asked. And for that question what intro and conclusion will you write, what diagram will you draw etc

3. Make short notes of every topics in syllabus and update them with current affairs

4. Subscribe to a test series. Write a full length test every fortnight and 5 ques on a daily basis

5. Spend time in analysing toppers answers and model your answer that way.

6. Create a group who are very serious. Peer to peer learning will help

13. How did I keep track of my preparation?

For Prelims I had the strategy ready.

1. Analyze pyqp to understand how questions are asked.

2. Do a vertical and horizontal analysis. I've said about this already

3. Write tests. Analyse the performance

4. Read the syllabus again after the test

Track :

Subscribe to a test series. I used vision ias prelims test series. There'll be 35 nos. So I prepared along with the test series. The exam can be preponrd or postponed. So I decided in which dates I'll write them and studied accordingly. Once the test is written, I've made a excel in which I updated my marks.

This way it was easier to know where I'm going and where to improve.

Mains also similar strategy with more of self writing of answers

A lot of queries pending. I'll take up few tomorrow. Goodnight.

The magnificent LBSNAA