Prelims Mains and Interview Strategy of Akshay Doshi- AIR 75, UPSC CSE 2023

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How did you sustain your long journey of six years?

It was both good and bad. My journey was for eight long years. I started my preparation journey from 2016 where for the first year, I stayed in Delhi, post which I shifted back home to Barmer, Rajasthan.

I never encountered any negativity during my journey. Even though it was my last attempt and there was some pressure, it went smoothly.

When do you think people should start preparing?

Everyone has their own background. If you attend a good college like IIT, enjoy your time there, get good grades, and have fun for four to five years.

In IIT, you have to study a lot so you need not divert from there, but if someone is attending a regular college then they can prepare along with their college studies. It all depends upon the individual choice.

PRELIMS STRATEGY

What have you discovered, what is the formula for passing prelims?

Study as much as possible and take as many tests as you can. For example, in my first and second attempts, I took 30 to 35 tests but didn’t succeed. However, in my third and fourth attempts, I took the same number of tests and passed. During my fourth and fifth attempts, I didn’t take any tests, and my prelims weren’t cleared because I went in without any practice.

In my last attempt, I took all the tests, around 15-20 in total. Taking fewer tests can help manage exam pressure and teach you, how to effectively utilize your two hours.

Without practice, you won’t know how to handle the pressure or manage your time efficiently.

MAINS STRATEGY

What kind of net should you cast for mains?

When preparing for the mains, make sure to take notes. Even if you study from five different sources, consolidate them into your notes. You should aim to do a second revision because if you try to study from all five sources again, it won’t be practical. This is crucial because revising between papers is very challenging.

Were your notes digital or pen-paper? Did you use AI for your notes, and what are the risks for using AI? 

I preferred digital notes because it was easier for me. I can copy, paste, and edit them as needed.

The day ChatGPT was launched, people were unaware of it. I found out about it on the fourth day and soon learned that it could be used in various ways. I took questions from the past six to seven years and entered them into ChatGPT to get answers. I then used those answers to create extensive notes.

How do you practice answer writing?

I was a part of MGP and I tried to write all the answers on time. One has to be very sincere during answer writing. You should have a proper schedule and study accordingly.

Until you practice tests, you cannot apply the knowledge that you have even though you have studied a lot.

Which GS paper out of four is your favorite?

I was interested in GS 4, and I was strong with GS 2. I was very good with writing answers for Governance.

I did not like GS 3 much because it had a vast syllabus so you have to study a lot.

For Science and Technology, I did not study much because the basic knowledge of Science will help because the pattern of asking questions is fixed, and it is scoring.

You have to structure and strategize your answer writing in GS 1, GS 2 and GS 4, but it is not required in GS 3.

How did you add value addition to your basic notes for Mains? How did you analyze the presentation of the 

For adding value addition to my notes, I followed ForumIAS’ content from where I used to jot down the facts, which helped me structure my answers in a better manner.

For presentation of the answers, I followed the Toppers’ Copies.

How did you prepare for your Essay paper?

For essay, you have to practice a lot because the horizon for essay is very vast, and you cannot have specifications as to what you need to study.  Write in simple language and do not fear the essay paper.

INTERVIEW STRATEGY

How was your interview journey?

I had Shukla Sir’s board.

During my interview, at places, I could not answer few questions, which were fact based.

I had my interview on 4th January and I did not do any proper preparation for the personality test.

OPTIONAL STRATEGY:

What made you choose a technical optional as Chemistry?

My graduation was in this M.Sc. Chemistry from IIT so from the beginning I thought that this is my only option and on the basis of that, I started my UPSC preparation.

Was your optional paper tough? 

Yes, the papers were tough, but I had a background with this subject which did not make me worry much.

How to prepare for technical optional subjects?

The benefit of technical subjects is the ability to quickly determine if the content is being understood, although the issue of scaling can still pose challenges in the selection process.

It has a very vast syllabus which cannot be revised in five days, you need to study a lot.

The papers for technical optional are very lengthy where each question would have atleast 5-10 sub-parts which require a lot of time.

Read – Biography, Testimonials and Answer copies of Other toppers