From being a Professional Doctor to Securing a Rank 78 in UPSC CSE 23, the journey of Dr. Prashanth

How did you manage to clear this exam in the first attempt?

I think I had roughly 8 or 8 and a half months to prepare and I knew I was short of time so the only thing that I could do was to look up for limited resources, take couple of tests and go for the exam because that’s all that I could do.

Did you have the fear of not clearing the exam?

There is always a sense of feeling somewhat unsure because you never know, and I believe there is some luck involved in the process. However, at the end of the day, we just need to be confident that we’ll probably make it through, and I think that’s what worked.

What were you doing when the final results were declared?

I was actually outside and suddenly I saw a telegram notification which said that the results have come and it is a verified PDF so I just opened up and dropped my name and it came at 78, but then I was a little unsure so I rechecked with my roll number and then got it confirmed.

PRELIMS STRATEGY:

What worked wonderfully well for the prelims?

About the prelims, its the intuition that works.

I used to attempt around 80-85 questions on the mock tests but in actual I attempted 95 questions so I think it was a DO or DIE approach and at the end of the day, you just have to trust your intuition and work along, this is all that matters with respect to Prelims.

Was there a threshold for you, this much you’ll definitely attempt?

I thought to attempt a minimum of 80-85 questions.

I attempted more than 100 mock tests because I used to try as many test papers as possible until I really got baffled of the questions.

How did you cope up with CSAT?

I really didn’t practice with the CSAT because I was kind confident of the reading comprehension part and I really thought I was good at reasoning as well because I was an NTSC scholar and we had a mental ability paper for it but at the end of the day when I saw the paper it wasn’t anywhere close to being logical reasoning but it was more of maths so I started doing the comprehension and a little number of problems on the math side so I think that helped.

I attempted 55 questions in the CSAT paper.

Any particular strategy that you have to attempt comprehension first and then go to mathematics?

Initially I thought I used to do reasoning first and because that would give you a conclusive answer while English comprehension was subjective but in a paper which is filled with math based questions I think it’s about going for English comprehension more than the logical reasoning or the math question so I think English comprehension needs to be attempted first and every single passage needs to be attempted.

MAINS STRATEGY:

What was your strategy for Essay writing?

I think with respect to the essay it’s about writing the same old format of introduction body and conclusion with an anecdote and trying to connect the anecdote but it’s about the vocabulary you use and the number of dimensions that we give.

So anything that is novel is rewarded in UPSC.

Any amount of checklist or background work which we need to do when it comes to essay, for example making some notes or collecting some anecdotes and all?

I think I had two to three anecdotes which I had taken from topper copies and I would match the essay topic with the anecdote so that’s what I did. So if the anecdote that I have matched with a particular essay then I used to attempt that particular essay.

How many essays have you written before your main exam?

I think four or five essays because you can probably write an essay without much preparation so that’s what I did.

What was your strategy when it comes to GS1?

I think GS 1 was where I’ve really scored below average and it was 74 so I’m not probably the right person to talk for GS 1 but I kind of followed the same sources.

I followed Spectrum for Modern India.

For Social Justice and Society, I followed the toppers copies.

I think I could have done this paper a little better because it was the first paper and it was the starting inertia which made me score less.

When it comes to all the GS papers, did you have notes on every topic?

I never had the practice of writing notes because I found it to be a tedious process and time-consuming one.

I used to jot down two three hints for a particular topic and I just tried to recollect if I can generate points and dimensions and if I could do then I think I kind of left it at that.

What was your strategy for GS 2 and GS 3?

I think for GS2 it’s about revising and writing again and again because initially GS2 and GS4 is what I enjoyed doing.

GS3 again it’s a little tough to score and my resources were no different from every other topper. I think in every topper talk a set of resources is given and that’s exactly what I followed but what probably I did differently was to reiterate and revise that multiple number of times so much so that I could probably generate an answer in the span of 7 minutes where I could fill the page properly and satisfactory.

I think addressing the demand is where you start fetching a little more and that is the difference that all of us generate in the mains.

Any USP you had in GS?

I wouldn’t say USP in fact I never had the habit of drawing diagrams in any of my GS papers maybe GS 3 one or two diagrams is all that I would have drawn.

I wrote it in pointers and it was totally content driven answer. There was no point that I probably bluffed I would say, bluffed in the sense maybe it wasn’t a wrong point and it had some content in it.

I made it a point to somehow finish the two sides of the A4 sheet for a 10 marker and three sides within the required time frame with proper content driven approach.

I think it’s about the kind of content that you offer.

What was your strategy when it comes to GS 3?

GS 3 is about data totally.

I was careful that I should quote as much data as possible, name the reports.

I think that worked in my favor, I got 91 which I think is an above average score for this year’s GS3.

Especially economy questions have to be data driven and if it’s about the Environment or Science & Tech questions I think you can concentrate on the content more than drawing a diagram or something. This year we had again a little of the bounces even though Chandrayaan was expected, there was a question on the Vikram module per se which probably no one knew. So I think even in GS2 or GS3, there were a set of questions which no one knew but managing those questions and presenting content in it which can appear as though you’ve actually read and written it, I think that is what matters.

How to manage exceptions or bouncers in the questions? 

I think you know instead of leaving a question unwritten it is about writing something to it which is at least partly connected even if it doesn’t hit the Bull’s Eye.

I think it is still okay to hit somewhere random so that you at least get 3 instead of getting a 0 so I think that’s all that matters about scoring.

How did you manage to score 130+ in GS4?

I got 133 in GS 4.

I think what I did was to collect definitions from Lexicon and add examples to it so it was a chronic process because whenever I never used to get sleep in the nights probably I used to take up a topper’s copy of Ethics paper and I kind of used to read the question try to think what I would have written and what they’ve written so I just used to kind of compare.

Initially it was a tough process but later I kind of enjoyed doing it and every single night probably I used to look up a Toppers copy. So, in ethics, i think it also helps when you have a decent flow in English because you don’t have to waste time thinking you know what to write next and you’ll be able to cook up definitions even if that has not been something that you’ve read so I think this is what matters in ethics the kind of examples that you give if it’s a little different you get a little more.

Binging on examples and points that’s all that I could recollect worked for me.

What extra did you do to reflect the tone of Ethics in GS 4?

I think it’s about you know writing those ethical theories as well because this again comes under examples because someone would have quoted the particular theory.

Repeating the same doesn’t help so you need to have at least a diverse set of theories which you can probably split up and write in every single answer so philosophies theories is all about ethics and that is again a part of example.

How was your handwriting, considering the misnomer about people from Medical Science background having gibberish writing? 

I had a decent handwriting and actually handwriting does help in the mains is what I feel because when you have a decent to good handwriting or rather legible one, people start so I think that definitely helps.

It also depends on how your presentation is because presentation is what matters as everyone kind of gives the same content but how you present you know probably fetches you the extra one mark.

OPTIONAL STRATEGY:

Why Medical Science as your optional subject? 

I think for me the cost benefit ratio was good because I had already secured 40 gold medals and having done that I wouldn’t be able to do justice to another optional which would probably take me another 3 to 5 months. So I was kind of sure that I should probably take medical science and even end up getting 260-270.

I think that was okay with me considering I could put my time over on GS so it’s a nuanced approach it’s a cost benefit ratio and you just have to balance between the optional and the GS papers.

Three or four things which you would love to say that need to be done in Medical Science and need to be avoided in Medical Science.

Maybe one thing which I did wrong was to cut down on the diagrams and I think more number of diagrams fetches more marks in medical science otherwise I think it’s all about writing the points and looking back at your own subject books.

There is nothing new in Medical Science because there are quite a few number of takers and as well the content is not much which is available in the market and also there are not many test series either so if you could probably attempt the previous questions I think that’s more than enough.

How did you manage with the GS part, considering the huge syllabus of Medical Science and Mathematics? 

My cost benefit ratio again was about giving 15-20 days for my Medical Science and the rest of it for GS so that’s what I did so I think that has paid off well. I think it’s about calculating this estimated time and working on it if you’re good at GS then go for GS if you’re good at optional then go for optional.

INTERVIEW STRATEGY:

What clicked in your interview, considering you scored 190 marks?

I think interview is about a display of personality and it really matters about how you carry forward yourself so the kind of confidence that you display, the aura that you bring out to the interview panel is, I think what makes the difference.

Ofcourse there is subjectivity that is a much of luck as well and that is you know how the process has been designed so fingers cross is all you can do about the interview.

Did mocks help you in the interview? 

I think mock help you in that they kind of shape you and refine your answers so that’s why the difference lies.

When you were sitting in the Dholpur House and it was your first attempt, what was going on in your head?

I was kind of  baffled about which interview board I would land up going to.

I had Shukla Sir’s board, it’s a really good board and I really didn’t think much because at the end of the day, you know it’s all written on your fate so I just wanted it to go smooth that’s all that I had in my mind.

What is your perspective on interviews? What do you think they are judging?

I think it’s about the confidence basically even if you say you don’t know it’s totally fine provided you are confident in saying that. So I think it’s about every single circumstance where you display your personality and the kind of answers that you reflect.

How to handle questions which you actually don’t know?

It’s okay to say that you you’re not sure of it.

If you bluff, it has to be convincing if it is not convincing then you know you get caught off guard and that gives a very damaging phase to your reputation and the whole process. So it’s a double edged sword either you convincingly give an answer even if it’s something wrong if the other person doesn’t know. I think it’s okay if you convince them with something to back because there are so many dicey situations where you know either or could be an answer there is no one correct answer to it.

Read – Biography, Testimonials and Answer copies of Other toppers