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About SFG and How it is conducted
SFG is a test based course for Civil Services Prelims where tests are conducted 5 days in a week – at 7AM# – in online and offline mode across several cities and centers. You get a daily rank-list in a few hours after you have written the test. You have some awesome post test discussions which you can attend online. You get a weekly ranklist every Sunday – so that you know how you are doing. At the end of the month / 4 weeks, you get a monthly rank-list. At this point, the bottom performing students are required to leave the program so as to not waste their money for a second month. This also ensures that the quality of crowd is maintained – which ensures when you make it to the list – finally – you will meet a lot of your SFG co-aspirants in LBSNAA. You can expect at least a hundred SFG folks every year in LBSNAA. You will know it when you get there.
SFG is conducted in two levels – Level 1 and Level 2. Both will be about 8-9 weeks duration. Level 1 commences from 3rd week of December and ends in the last week of February. Level 2 commences from 1st week of March and ends about 3-4 weeks before the actual prelims. Level 1 has book based questions
What it takes to do SFG well?
Someone rightly said that whatever does not kill you, makes you stronger. Honestly, SFG’s primarily tool to ensure your success is to kick out the procrastinator in you – who likes to delay things, blame others and avoid doing hard things ( like the 98%) – and inculcate the right values – hard work, discipline, punctuality and tons of dedication – which ensure you automatically clear this exam. It is true that SFG will make your life difficult, but then it will put you at par with the effort level that future single digit rankers of IAS and IFoS [ Prelims cut off is higher for IFoS ]. In fact hundreds of folks have cleared IFoS in a single attempt – when they cleared Prelims with SFG and then they cleared IFoS with a TOP Rank.
Who shouldn’t join SFG?
SFG isn’t flexible. In fact we started SFG because we met a young bunch of students who had jeopardized their own prelims preparation by being casual about Prelims test papers ( like I-will-write-test-when-my-prep-is-complete ) and writing level 1 tests like one month before the prelims. Look, there are three resources that we need to achieve any objective, and they are time, money and energy. Most people ensure their own prelims failure by compromising on the first two – such as not investing in good courses – and for like years – or not giving prelims enough3 time. And when they finally realize they have no energy left. Do not join SFG if you are still exploring UPSC and are playing around with the exam. The SFG offline has limited seats and leave it for people who may need it more than you do. Also do not join SFG if you are looking for flexibility and doing-things-at-your-own-pace-even-if-it-means-exhausting-attempts
What’s the study plan ?
The study Plan will be updated by 1st week of November. For any suggestions, you can write to ravi@forumias.com. We read every email, though we may not be able to answer all of them.
How can I enroll for SFG?
That’s the thing about SFG. You cannot enroll for SFG. SFG selects You. And once, it does, its on us to train you ( or tell you – that you need to put in more time, effort – and sometimes sincerity – and sometimes bluntly ) . And train we will – where you will compete with the best of the best – including future and existing selected candidates of both CSE and IFoS. Selections for SFG will be done through an entrance Test. You can register for the entrance test by paying a registration fee of Rs. 944.
After appearing for the entrance test, you may be categorized in three groups
- SFG – Select Focus Group – in which about 100-200 students will be selected
- RLG – Reserve List Group – in which about 60% of the total students will be selected
- Rejected – Candidates who are not selected for the program. Between 15-30% of candidates appearing for the entrance test are rejected.7
Please note that if you appear for the entrance test in offline mode, candidates securing a position in the top 100 will be allotted to SFG, while the remaining candidates will be allotted to RLG. The SFG is available only in offline mode. However, if you choose to take your regular tests online, you will be required to make payment for the RLG program only. You can then join RLG in either online or offline mode. The purpose of doing this is because a small minority of students cheat in online tests so they can be part of SFG ( which has a bit of less fee compared to RLG ) . When we allowed online students to be part of SFG ( where the fee is less ), they found a moral reasoning in cheating ( the moral reasoning being saving parents hard earned money ). You can see this behavior by checking old rankings where a small number of online students cheat and get 90-95/100 score in daily tests. But the highest score of even IFoS rank-holder writing tests offline does not exceed 70-80/100.
What is the difference between SFG and RLG?
There is no difference between SFG and RLG except the fees. The position in SFG and RLG keeps changing on the basis of your performance. At the end of 1st month, you will be reshuffled and you will have a final allocation of either SFG/ RLG/ Not Selected. Then you will have to renew SFG subscription for the second month and pay fees as per your category. If you are in not selected category, you do not need to pay any fee, and you can leave the program. In other words, you cannot be part of the second month.
How do I register for the Entrance Test?
You can register for the Entrance Test by paying a registration fee of Rs. 944. Click here
What is the fee structure?
The Fee structure for SFG for CSE 2027 is
SFG – Offline – Rs. 2950 for Month 1 and Rs. 2950 for Month 2
RLG – Online/Offline – Rs. 3422 for Month 1 and Rs. 3422 for Month 2
However, the Delhi Karol Bagh Centre offline fee will be 3922 Rs. per month.
I am bad at Prelims. Will I survive SFG competition?
Ah, we get you. Look, there are 3 reasons why people are bad at prelims. One, they don’t know the effort they have to put for Prelims. When they come for SFG. They develop this clarity. Two, they lack a peer group which continuously helps in course correction. At SFG sessions, you can see how hundreds of co-aspirants sitting with you make it to Top 100 ranks ( one proof sent by a student )
When people write SFG, they have different levels of problems. While some say that syllabus is too small for the test while others say the syllabus is too vast to be done in a single day. You could lie anywhere in between this spectrum. The truth is – it will depend on what your actual level of preparation is.
In the end, those who conquer the world are the ones who show up, no matter what. Kyunki haar jane me, aur haar maan lene me farak hota hai.
