CSE 2022: Plan/ Strategy/ Daily Routine

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Hi guys! Anyone who gave Mains and now preparing for prelims? How are you doing it? Ivejust given up, my brain is just incapable of studying anymore. It’s been 3 years…. I have just lost all the motivation to study for prelims again. The break keeps on extending. I know where to start, I have Laxmikant open in front of me… but it’s just there…I’m not actually studying. I am reading the newspaper daily though + economic survey. Also, I should be giving prelims mocks again, right? Like with all seriousness and a decent no of them?

any tips are welcome.

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@D503 Hey, thank you! That is actually a good advise and I think I’ll do exactly that- starting with mocks.

Well, even though I didn’t clear 2020 prelims because of CSAT, I did score way above the cut off (99) in GS. But I’m still very scared of prelims, but I get your point, I’ll work on Mains prep as well.

Thank you so much, been great help.

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@Celeborn Thank you so much ! You’re right, yes. The least I can do is study through YouTube. Does help knowing that I’m not the only one going through this :)

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Hi, I’m back again, asking for help 😅

My optional is history but I am rarely able to solve history questions in prelims, especially in 2020’s paper. Should I be employing a different strategy (if yes, then what) or should I just focus on strong points (map based, polity, economy, art and culture) ? Considering that im not too strong in science questions & okay-ish in environment (it’s a gamble), I feel like I should I borrow some strategies from pros here, who score well no matter how hard the paper is.

I usually don’t know questions that can get too factual - Mongolian invasion , subsidiary states, Gandhi’s book/ poem whatever it was, and I think one question was about a city’s significance (?).

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@mithrandir31 you’re right. I had actually forgotten about the easy questions (Dholavira, sangam period, Ina trials, Quit India, Burzahom, post Gupta etc). Somehow we tend to remember the difficult ones ( I actually went back to the paper after posting my query here).

So yeah, like you said, I’ll stick to the basics only. May be revise obscure topics from medieval India better. After 2020 paper, I focused more on ancient names/titles for 2021 (Mirsaidar etc) & forgot to focus on basics, I guess. I’ll be mindful now. Thanks :)

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Hi

does anyone else think that articles on International Mother Language day and it’s origin story (Bangladesh war) have SUDDENLY become so common in newspapers or were they always there and I NEVER noticed in 3 years of my prep? 😂

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@DM yeah, definitely. I read almost all the articles of his that get published in The Hindu.

All I’m saying is somehow I’m only noticing these now after the question in last year’s Prelims.

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@Macro although I do have a map put up in the room, I have only occasionally used it, when the atlas or phone is out of reach. In my opinion, a normal atlas or region wise maps in your digital notes are much better. Firstly because it’s not the whole world looking at you all at once and secondly, it has more scope of noting things down (a wall map can get chaotic & some regions are pretty small on it). And I think I’ve become pretty decent at maps using this strategy.

Then take up a region, for example, Central Asia, each day. And start with countries then, seas/ oceans, straits, any ports in news (Duqm port Oman) and then associations, if any. Relate it with history/current affairs/ international relations, to remember better. Because it’s hard to just memorise a random ‘list’ w/o any context. This has worked for almost all regions of the world for me, except may be Africa because we don’t really study much of current affairs from Africa in our prep.

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@Thunderstorm I don’t think ‘lender of the last resort’ is to be taken literally. It’s more a conceptual phrase used in the context of RBI. So, RBI only uses the phrase in content of lending to ‘banks’, specifically. We had this in our school economics books, that’s why i remembered.

You can check on their website as well. https://www.rbi.org.in/scripts/FS_Overview.aspx?fn=2758

For govt lending it uses the phrase ‘banker to the government’.

This is very to similar to the committed judiciary question where many of us took it literall6 and thought that committed judiciary means committed to its role when actually the phrase is used in a context- committed to the government.

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@aa12 and also because, govt keeps borrowing from RBI through securities etc., so not really a lender of last resort.

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Since the calendar was messed up last year with prelims in October, what would be a reasonable time period for current affairs to prepare for coming prelims? I know they ask questions for a 2-3 year old news as well but I’m asking generally, as in MUST do time period ? June to May?

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@DM I get your point but sorry to say, I think overemphasis on current affairs se bhi nahi hoga. IN my opinion, quality should matter. For example, I had studied about the Mitakshara and Dayabhaga when the Hindu succession act judgment came out but only the part which talks about daughter’s inheritance and not anything else , so I got confused while solving it.

2 saal k 365 padhti (which I actually did to be honest) tab bhi shayad Water credit, St Xavier, Right to city types question solve nahi ho paate 😅 but to each their own, I’ll try doing from Jan 2021, as you suggested. Thank you :)

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@Celeborn yes I agree. I didn’t do any 365 last year, just my own newspaper notes (very few) and was able to clear. And scored way above cut off in 2020 as well because of static knowledge. But I dont want to get overconfident, just want all my bases covered. But yeah, I agree with you

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@Caffeinity it’s both, because it performs both the functions.

https://www.rbi.org.in/scripts/FS_Overview.aspx?fn=2757

And this is the 100th time someone has assumed me to be a bro 😭

I am ‘sis’, if at all !!

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@Capedcrusader1 I’m solving vision as well. Started with polity tests and yeah, one test/ day for a subject. Then i shall pause to revise another subject.

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@Capedcrusader1 I’m not doing FLTs either. In fact, I don’t even do all sectional ones. I usually skip geography, science and sometimes ecology as well. I use them as question banks / source of information instead of testing myself. Last year, I skipped vision FLT totally (or may be did 2-3 of them) because they were getting unnecessarily difficult, asking obscure questions trying to replicate upsc.

I read newspaper daily and note down any factual stuff. I do go through vision monthly’s but selectively. I’ll do the same with PT 365 of environment, economy and science. Didn’t focus much on PT 365 for the last two years and scored above cut off. I focus more on my notes (from newspaper + monthly’s + from Tests).

Economy, I don’t have a specific source.I studied with Mains perspective so comprehensive coverage. Mostly newspaper + google + tests + topics like agriculture from vision notes + budget/ eco survey + PYQs.

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@Capedcrusader1 you could do Forum as well for FLTs, if not doing it already !

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@Capedcrusader1 yeah, of course. Just answered because you asked and honestly because padhne ka mann nahi kar raha 😅

All the best !

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@Jiraiya Hahaaa I’m just glad that at least someone remembers !! Thank you

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@Macro yes, if the subject matter is new to you then it is wise to google all the options. For example, they have asked a different question on pressure cooker before, I remembered that question but never bothered looking up even the basics of pressure cooker…. and regretted it.

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@Macro I mean you have to prioritise. If you’re ignoring some other part, then may be you can do it . But I’d rather do S&T current affairs as it has more weightage than basic science (if you don’t know it already ). Topics like genetic engineering, viruses, space missions etc.

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Hi,

I can’t find the link to Forum prelims Test series, that only consists of Full Length Test. I can only find the All India Series + Batch 5, both of which have subject tests included.

Can anyone send me the link to Full length series, please ?

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@crypto7 it indicates growth percentage from previous year.

The methods of calculating Mo and M1 haven’t been used here, I think.

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Hi

can anyone tell me what were the sources of last year’s environmental questions like Fern/mosses, diatoms, hedgehog, magnetite, filter feeder, symbiotic relationship etc? While I was able to answer most of them using general knowledge + elimination + common sense, I want to know if there’s any specific source that upsc probably picked them from? Or any source that I should cover on my part?

I don’t want to rely on general knowledge again in this gamble of an exam, especially because I’m not from a science background.

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Laxmikant - The ministers are collectively responsible to the Parliament in general and to the Lok Sabha in particular.

So if the statement in the question says - Council of ministers are collectively responsible to the Parliament.

Will that be correct? Because not one but multiple tests I’ve given over last 2 years, count that as incorrect because Lok Sabha in particular isn’t mentioned.

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