CSE 2023: Plan/ Strategy/ Daily Routine
Life update for all those kind souls who care about me : Not giving the exam this year. I am focusing on completing my LLB. Telling this because while we are in this preparation, it is so damn easy to forget that there exists a huge & beautiful world away from the civil services examination
Today, I am here as I thought of sharing some of my learnings as a lot of my friends have started shifting gears towards prelims prep. I felt I should share my learnings with you all. For that I need to give you all a background as well. Here we go :
I am someone who has failed prelims twice & also managed to clear prelims twice
2019 : I couldn't Crack it mainly due to lack of revision(didn't have short notes + obviously first attempt naiveness), blunders in Economics (Static part) & lack of what I call the stillness of mind. I attempted around 78 Questions & fell short by 4 marks
2020 :Attempted Vision tests + Revised throughly + Kept still during exam + Made short notes. I attempted 87 questions & cleared by a narrow margin of 2 marks
2021 :This was the attempt that pained me the most. This is where I was most prepared but still I choked. I was so shocked to see sports questions & I couldn't digest that questions were still so difficult for me despite putting in so much efforts. None of my friends & even I till this date cannot believe that I attempted only 68 questions. I fell short by 4 marks again. This is the attempt that made me realise about the need for a strong mental state and how "Losing your mind in the face of a crisis(here - shocking prelims paper) is a good way to become crisis itself"
Then began the roughest & the toughest phase of my life from Nov 2021 to June 2022. This year I decided to Join FORUM IAS test series & thoroughly analysed the PYQ. I realised medieval history including name of kings is bound to increase given the trend from 2020. Thus, I made short notes from Satish Chandra as well. This time, I didn't want to leave any stone unturned.
I focussed more on understanding & inquisitively thinking about things that appear. I used YouTube, watched a lot of documentaries to FEEL things. This time I also decided to completely ditch Vision (despite massive FOMO) . I just couldn't stand the dry language. Instead I relied more on PMF IAS Current affairs notes & Only IAS Videos. Another thing I focussed was on being anti fragile (concept by Naseem Taleb) & develop nerves of steel. I gave all Forum tests at center & attempted Abhyas. While Vision did simulate UPSC in terms of toughness , I still found Forum SFG & Test series question, the most relevant. Vision's questions irritated me a lot. I still don't know why 😒
Again in this attempt, I could only attempt 81 questions. I had only one principle : I will not make any random Tukkas (But do know that in my humble opinion - Prelims cannot be cleared without taking risks & making intelligent guesses) . Hence I was satisfied with even 81 questions. As per keys, I was scoring around 102-106 and cleared the cutoff
While this was my journey, following are my learnings
1.Short notes + Revision: For me, it was impossible to revise anything without short notes.So if you believe you have time, please do invest on making smart & short notes2.Practice for Randomness. After the COVID shock, countries are moving towards developing resilient economies. UPSC aspirants too need to develop anti fragility & resilience. This can only come by facing shocking papers. Then come back & analyse how you could've fared better. List those things down & try again
3.You MUST know what NOT to study. Prelims test series provide a lot of random stuff. You must learn to separate the chaff from the grain. I don't know how a new aspirant can develop this skill. But I believe this is a very very important skill and Seniors are able to do this very easily. They are able to eliminate the FOMO & still carry massive confidence
Also, I never studied any frog species that was discovered or random facts. I knew I won't be able to remember them. Hence eliminated them completely. I never focussed on Polity current affairs as UPSC has stuck largely to the static part only. For rest, I believed that TS would make for it .4. Method in madness : Develop a method & STICK TO IT TILL the end. Which test series you'll practice, how you'll Revise & how you'll analyse. Understand WHY are you practising or WHY you are reading a certain book/chapter. Once the objective is clear, your efficiency would increase a lot. For eg- I never focussed on making notes out of Vision Abhyas as I felt my only aim was to simulate & not develop content out of it especially as it is held in April end & May. But with Forum & SFG (Till April), I did make notes
5.Do what works for you: Vision current never worked for me. I found it very very dry. Even for Mains, I couldn't stand the document (Still don't know why)
6. Study everything (especially biotechnology) with inquisitiveness & interest- In all my 4 attempts, this has always helped me solve some questions easily. Watch youtube videos to understand concepts (Discussed above too). Those who have given 2022 prelims -(Watch from 33:00, At precisely 36:00, Fungi is discussed)
7.The last learning (for life & not prelims) that is very close to my heart is I began to appreciate ALL those around me who were putting their heart and soul in to the preparation . It didn't matter what score or what result they got or whether they would make it or not. I began to respect them solely for the efforts that they were putting in. I don't know how relevant this is for the exam. But whenever, I went to write Prelims test, I felt very very proud of all my peers who sat along with me, each going through their own struggles, and coming back test after test. Maybe some of us were not moving in the right direction but all of us fought like fierce warriors and that's what mattered !
At the end I would say : Feel free to ignore anything that you're not able to connect with. I am just posting this because a lot of peers messaged me that they had benefitted in some ways from some of my posts. Hence even if one of you benefits from this, I would be content. All the best to ALL OF YOU. Go get it this year ! 😁
P. S : Putting it here as I couldn't find the relevant Prelims thread. If there is separate thread, do let me know please.
Edit : In 2022 Prelims, I had set D and I am telling you I could only attempt around 20 questions from the first 50 questions. But I tried to keep calm and from 50-100 Qs were relatively easier. I came back with greater confidence and attempted 81 as explained earlier
Also I have added a YouTube video to illustrate the inquisitiveness aspect in point 6.Also, This doesn't mean you should watch dozens of documentaries. Just be Inquisitive
Just checked
The orangutan Question in Prelims 2023 could be solved from the 2nd part of this documentary just like the ant & fungus question last year in Prelims 2022.
3. Should one leave the monthlies and only depend on the Mains 365 before mains? Different people suggest differently, I'm sure everybody has their own way, but I am conflicted as to how to approach CA: it feels like something is constantly being left out.
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OctagonalArcher,DM
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