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Prelims 2021 Results Declared - In or Out ?

Prelims 2021 - In or Out?

Dear All,

Prelims 2021 results are out . Click here to read more

https://blog.forumias.com/update-upsc-cse-prelims-2021-result-declared/



This page is not only to congratulate those who made it through th first round, but as a community to share what worked for them and what did not.

If you have made it, share what worked for you. If you have not made it, share what you missed.

Together, we are there for each other.

With this we close the the previous thread on Prelims 2021, which is nearing a million views.

https://forumias.com/post/detail/Prelims-2021-paper-discussion-1633845800






- root



DM,Falconand4 otherslike this
167.6k views

191 comments

@Neyawn Thankyou for giving me confidence when i was  confused i was getting 95-105 and you told me to continue preparation and i did so....Thanks a lot guruji

Everyone studied when exam comes. The goal is to take a leap of faith and study when others are in the guessing game.

ssver2,Joeyisthebestand10 otherslike this
11.8k views
@SamyArya Whats your answer to Chenab/Sutlej, pressure cooker, virus culture. Congrats


9.9k views
@SamyArya Whats your answer to Chenab/Sutlej, pressure cooker, virus culture. Congrats


LET IT GO 

Neyawn,ssver2and7 otherslike this
9.6k views

@Neyawn 

Sir , saw the youtube notification of your session today .

Sir please guide me with a way ahead. I have exhausted all my Civil services attempts.  I'm 30 year old . So technically I have two more attempts of IFoS. For two years I have worked  as a state govt employee( currently not).  Is it practical to give one more attempt of IFoS? Or is it wise to stop this preparation and see what( other opportunities) lies outside ?

Please through some light Sir. 

plmokn25688524,Anduinand2 otherslike this
9.1k views

In. Was scoring around 80s with the early keys. Best case (using Google and mix & match various keys for ambiguous questions) was 90. So, surprised.

What I think worked - strictly adhered to@Neyawn 's advice of revising static multiple times and focussing on PYQs in the run up to the exam. 
Also, didn't hesitate to go with first instincts in areas of strength, especially S&T and Geo/Environment.

Thanks! 🙏 

Make it count !

ssver2,Akbar_Birbaland5 otherslike this
8.2k views
Did upsc release name list of csp21?
7.5k views

@Neyawn  I failed prelims even this year. This was my 5th attempt. 2022 will be last. 

Had done previous year papers atleast 3 times and basic fundamentals atleast 10 times. Though, I concede, had done less mocks. 

Please guide. What course of action can be taken now?


Falcon,gaugau24and1 otherslike this
7.3k views
@Truthseeker9 pyqs are overrated. just a thought. 


7k views

Now as the forest results are out, prelims marks for 2020 should be available for all right?

Still not there, anyone able to get that?

7k views
Deleted
@Magic   even they removed the link as well. 


7.1k views
@Truthseeker9 same here have done pyqs diligently of past 10 years atleast but still not able to figure out how to approach pyq analysis or make the most out of it. 


6.3k views
@Bhavya_Jha any basic source is equally good,focus should be on fundamentals they help you get through exam other than careful observation of questions and common sense.


6.1k views

@Truthseeker9  Small suggestion to do the PYQs mindfully, that might help (saying this without knowing at all how you're using them).


There's 3 different uses I have personally found for the PYQs for someone who has written past attempts:

1.  to mop up repeat questions (e.g. places the Buddha visited being repeated back-to-back, Money Multiplier, etc).  

2. To understand what the general trend of accepted answers is. All the fundas e.g. "just blindly tick D" or "organisations are usually wrong" concept arose because of successive years of UPSC taking the most general statements for science questions as correct. Attempting PYQs can help you develop your gut understanding of when those rules work or not, e.g. in a 50-50 situation. This is why it's also v v important to use the actual original answer keys and not any coaching centre's ones (to catch awkward situations like the Gypsum wala questions).  2020 and 2021 answer keys will be v useful for future attempts depending on answers for AI and Magnetite as it will give an indication of what direction UPSC will go for such questions in the future. 


3. Actual measure of your gut-check ability. One trick you might want to try is to attempt all your last few papers fresh in test-conditions using your old question booklet and a blank piece of paper. While you're attempting, circle the questions in which you took a blind guess. Then compare your previous answer (when you had written the attempt), vs your present answer, vs what's the correct answer. Doing this with all 5 papers can help you understand whether your guessing ability has improved, whether you can trust your gut, and whether you've retained the information fully. 

DM,D7and2 otherslike this
6.3k views
Was scoring around 94 - 96 in all the keys..Couldn get through. Can anyone who cleared tell how many questions you guys attempted
6.1k views
Any idea guys when upsc will release 2020 prelim score for people who had also applied for forest?
5.9k views
@Sruthi_asokan have seen people claiming 85 from shankar Clearing prelims, there must be wide disparity between upsc key and coaching keys.i know the feeling of dejection, stay strong.


Philosopher94,
5.7k views

https://t.me/joinchat/vFlZ5Bf5U3Q3NTll

Plz join for mains 2021 answer writing and peer review

4.9k views

Hello friends,

I have seen many of ur comments which just forced me to give advice for prelims:-

MY OPINION ON PRELIMS

1. Don't make notes of too many things because:-

 -Certain people like me will eventually fall into dilemna that maybe book contains more things than I have written and in the end revise from book(thus wasting the whole purpose of making notes that too after putting so much efforts)

2. Read static 3 times more than the current. Since I have seen that ppl who are well with static no matter what they clear prelims every time.

3. I believe doing ratta is of utmost necessity whether it is in static or current. It doesnot matter whether it comes from writing/reading 10 times/understanding the concept.

4. One already knows which areas are weak so in place of focussing on the entire chapter one should read those chapters which are more beneficial and the one in which there are more confusion. Although it is difficult since we get satisfaction only when we read entire book but then repeating the same mistakes leads one to failure.

5.  Make some small notes of purely factual things aur rat k ghot lo(jubaan pe hona chahiye)such as parks,rivers, wildlife sanctuary, tiger reserves,tribes, reports. 

6. Prelims is tricky and believe it or not there is an element of luck but your time will come. But your hardwork can beat it when you are overprepared for it. Revise ur static book such that u beat ur competitors here in tests itself. Whether the rank in test is good or bad is not at all your concern. But if you consistently score less in the tests here, believe me you will not have confidence in the actual exam and your tukkas wont be right. Practise it here and apply it.

7. No matter what you do here the day of exam is important. The only way to remain calm and fast in applying your mind is to do meditation and exercise on a daily basis. So practise it and your memory will improve.

8. Discuss with your peers(Pucha-puchi karo) or someone who you know is good enough. It forces your mind to recall. Moreover the person with whom you discuss slowly knows what are your weak or strong areas so they will hammer your weak areas and you will improve.(Best way to do revision)

9. Highlight current affairs/static in first go with blue pen,2nd with yellow highlighter, 3rd with green highlighter and from 4th have a highlighter which can merge both yellow and green,in my case it is orange--make the imp things very dark(either with highlighter or red pen or putting a/many stars) and then revise the dark waala during last days. 

(There are some exceptions to above strategy-like they study 10-12 hours on daily basis in last 3-4 months before  prelims.They will clear  without meditation/exercise.They actually dont need anyone to tell them a strategy. They are tharki people-madly obsessed and driven. They have to and they will clear this exam. All they need is  30 years question bank, Revise static(with minimum books) for 5-7 times, one current affairs magazine of last(12 months),50-60(with minimun 15 full length) tests. They don't listen to naysayers who says tera nahi hoga es saal ya ye wo falana dhimkaana. These people are ruthless and dangerously dedicated to their goal-they will clear not because of your taana baana but because they have a stronger reason to pursue it, a deep rooted desire which has already taken everything from them and this forces them to perform beyond their limits.)



Note:- Luck chahiye kyunki randomness bahut jyada hai prelims mein right from 2018. But believe me you can increase your chances by fair margin if u become monomaniac for prelims in last 5 months. And I believe that I would have told you earlier never to study lucent but now i will say that please read it for history and science.... 


These are my personal opinion

DM,Shambhavi_singhand9 otherslike this
5.4k views

A bit late but I think I had to say it@Neyawn sir your advice of revising the stock books n number of times worked best for me this year and luck followed next. Going to give it all for mains since i know the price of falling short in efffort.


Per Aspera 

Ad Astra

DM,
4.1k views
@Truthseeker9 I have given 5 civil and 5 Ifos prelims attempts (cleared IFoS this year-first time).
SFG of forumias-helps to break the inertia built up over 5 attempts by getting up in morning and giving tests everyday. Rather than knowledge, you need mindset re-orientation. SFG helps in that.

Also, I do not agree that without mocks you can clear. Please hear me out before bashing me for being mock-sympathetic. It is my personal opinion that since every serious aspirants (10,000 or so ) give mocks, you are inherently and automatically losing out the mind-game of confidence if you don't give mocks. Let me tell you what happens. Suppose you encounter a totally random question in the paper. Now, if you have done mocks and you still cannot attempt, you can be rest assured that no one else (or very very few) will be able to attempt. This momentary confidence gives you continuous boost in the exam, howsoever incremental. Your confidence remains intact, knowing full well that since you did mocks (AND REVISED THEM) this random question never came, so others also wont be able to do it. Positive mindset helps you attain atleast 10-15 marks more.
But, complete opposite happens if you skip mocks. Random question starts giving you nightmares-what if this had come in papers of other coachings? OMG, other aspirants will be able to attempt it, I cannot. OMG, why did not I do mocks...........etc etc etc. You see the cynical negative spiral? This starts happening at that very moment. Now tell me, with this negative mindset, if even a world class top ranked experienced bowler like Bumrah also cannot stick to his line and length and keeps missing his toe-crushing accurate yorkers, how do you reckon you will perform? Your mind then automatically goes into damage control, you become over-cautious, over-think every question, start missing out the hints, and most sinful, you start marking basic, static questions wrong. All happened due to that simple logic-you did not do what your competition that year was doing. 
 
So, rather than for knowledge, it is more to remain alive in the competition that you should do mocks. Do of one coaching (that covers 80% of competition, because almost all coachings have a peer review among each other). If time permits, gather courage and do one more coaching. Thats enough to cover the mindset part.  


I did SFG this year, and cleared IFoS prelims (GE). So, the strategy worked for me. 

Xera,sleeplessnights89and4 otherslike this
4.2k views
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