{"id":1244,"date":"2015-12-16T11:34:08","date_gmt":"2015-12-16T11:34:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.forumias.com\/?p=1244"},"modified":"2019-07-12T14:10:27","modified_gmt":"2019-07-12T08:40:27","slug":"how-to-maximise-your-score-on-the-mains-day-some-motivation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/how-to-maximise-your-score-on-the-mains-day-some-motivation\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Maximise your score on the Mains Day + Some Motivation"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>The truth<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>The next few days <em>are<\/em> important. This is a fact and\nnot an opinion. How you should behave in these last few hours totally depends\non &nbsp;the type of person you are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>If\n you are a last moment type of person, by all means study . study on all\n days until the last hour.<\/li><li>If\n you are the type who panics and doesn&#8217;t do last minute studies, by all\n means watch a movie, relax and sit back.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>What I mean to say is &#8211; do what suits you. Do what boosts\nyour performance in the next few days. Don&#8217;t do what I tell you or your\nroommate is doing right now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>When I first reluctantly started my preparation, &nbsp;I\nstudied hard. Also because I hadn&#8217;t studied in four years of college, so I\nkinda liked studying. I had to study harder than other because my friends like\nShaleen ( who later secured Rank 81 ) were doctors &#8211; and were habituated to\nstudy as most doctors have to. &nbsp;The engineer friends like Aravindan , (\nwho cracked and chose IPS at 21 or 22 years of age and made a good IPS officer\n) were also from colleges like BITS Pilani where people actually have to study\n(I think so). I came from a college that was only later glorified by Satya\nNadela as a famous alumni.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But this articles isn&#8217;t about me. Its about you&nbsp;, and\nwhat you can do do improve your score in the coming days. And hence , I would\nput in the collective wisdom of a lot of people , in writing this to you -and\nthose lot of people include Shaleen, Devranjan, Tejawani, Lingraj and Prem\nRanjan &#8211; all of them who scored very good marks and secured dream positions in\nthe service. Things mentioned here contain tips from my interactions with\nForumIAS members like neanderthal and shalimar who also secured under 50 ranks,\nand India bhai, who has helped almost all the names above in some way &#8211; with\nhis notes or guidance or by being a patient roommate .<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So here are a few things to keep in mind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>1.When the game is on, all bets are off.<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>When the exam starts, no one knows who is going to win and\nwho is going to lose. Olympic record holders break the record multiple times in\nprivate rehearsals before they breaks such records in public eye. But they are\nnever sure if they will be able to do so in the real exam.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So if you are confident and cool, congratulations &#8211; because\nconfidence is half the game. If you are underconfident or nervous, remember\nthat no one &#8211; absolutely no one knows where they are going to land up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The newbie thinks a guy who is in service or has appeared\nfor the Interview has better chances. Guess what ? Guys with Interview\nexperience think quite the opposite. I know this because half a dozen\nservicemen friends tell me so.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>ForumIAS member @crazyphoton did publish some of his model\nanswers after Mains last to last year , and on seeing his answers , some people\nhad commented that if you write such answers, bhai , you will get rank 1. He\ndid . But he did not know back then that he was going to be the IAS topper that\nyear. &nbsp; He got Rank 1. Most of you know him as Gaurav Aggrawal &#8211; An active\nForumIAS alumni.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>@shalimar too neither knew where he is going to be three-\nfour month later if you see this:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"628\" height=\"168\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogadmin.forumias.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/an.jpg?resize=628%2C168&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-49536\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/forumias.com\/portal\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/shalimar.jpg\"><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Few months later , <a href=\"http:\/\/forumias.com\/portal\/ias-rank-34-how-arunraj-cracked-ias-in-first-attempt\/\">he\nsecured Rank 34<\/a>. So, all I am saying is, its okay to be shivery and scared.\nIts normal to feel that way and <strong><em>still win<\/em><\/strong>. Most people feel the\nsame and still make it. Even those ones who get a single digit rank. Keep calm\nand do you best.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>2. Do not screw up GS Paper 1<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>By which I mean complete the paper. On day 1 of GS, you are\nmost likely to have a slow handwriting, while you will be writing like a\ncheetah by the time optionals come because of the practise over 3-4 days. Try\nbeing a cheetah on Day 1 itself. Write first &#8211; even in the English paper before\nGS Paper 1 as a practice for GS Paper 1 &amp; 2.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>And by completing the paper I mean just one thing &#8211; <strong>do\nnot &nbsp;miss questions that you knew because of lack of time .&nbsp;Its okay\nto miss questions that you don&#8217;t know<\/strong> because of lack of time. But its not\nokay to miss questions you know. Now how do we ensure this?&nbsp;Read on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>3. Be even. Spread time as evenly as possible.<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Half of you will take 20-30 minutes to complete your first\nquestions. And in the last ten minutes , you will write three questions. Don&#8217;t\nbe odd, be even. 7-8 questions should be targeted every hour- depending on the\nnumber of questions. Keep this evenly spread. Do not do 3 questions in first\nhour and 10 questions in the last hour.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Keep your watch close by. I recommend a digital watch, even\nfor ladies. After every thirty minutes, see that if you have already\n&nbsp;spent more than 7 minutes on that question &#8211; quickly wind up under 1\nminute on that question &#8211; even at the cost of leaving the question abruptly and\nmove to the next question.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>4. &nbsp;Break the numerical sequence to prevent missing\nout easy questions\/ your strong areas.<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>After every one hour, break the numerical sequence of\nquestions, and start from a different number. Like if you have begun from Q1\nand have only done upto Q4 in the first hour, do not pursue Q5 in hour two,\nbecause you are most likely to reach only upto Q10 at the end of the second\nhour . Instead start from question 20 ( or 25 ).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Say if you are doing Paper 2 and you are not so fluent with\nPolity, you will not do too many questions soon. What is more, if you are weak\non a topic, you end up writing more on that topic to fill pages, to hide\ninadequacy of knowledge. So you end up on time for IR questions in the end &#8211; in\nwhich you may be better. Hence, I recommend, breaking the sequence and doing\nquestions at the end after first hour &#8211; and aiming at doing 10 questions in the\nsecond hour.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>5.&nbsp;Don&#8217;t do unto others what you don&#8217;t want others\nto do unto you<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>The examiner is a human too. We often tend to write more in\nquestions where we know less so that somehow the examiner doesn&#8217;t realise that\nthis kid doesn&#8217;t know the answer &#8211; because you have filled up all the 2 or\nthree pages. Bravo! But the trick doesn&#8217;t work! At least it didn&#8217;t work last\ntime in 2014.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So as mentioned inline above, do not try to make up with\ngibberish ( wink ) just to fill pages and cover up for inadequacy of knowledge.\nPrem Ranjan, who secured IPS every single year , and IAS ultimately, recommends\nwriting even two- three points, but no more, if you don&#8217;t know any more. That\nrewarded him pretty well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>&nbsp;6. &nbsp;Draw diagrams<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Especially in GS Paper 2, even if there is any country name\nmentioned &#8211; its largely going to be Bhutan, Nepal, Bangladesh , Sri Lanka,\nChina, Maldives &#8211; at least two- three questions on any of the aforementioned &#8211;\ntry to draw an indicative diagram , no matter what the question is. Yes , I\nrepeat no matter what the question is. And if there is <strong><em>anything&nbsp;<\/em><\/strong>that\ncan be added pertaining to the question in that diagram, by all means do it.\nFor example, show the chicken&#8217;s neck, if Bhutan&nbsp;&amp; security words are\nmentioned in the question. Draw something, draw <strong><em>anything. <\/em><\/strong>It\nhelps.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>7. Lastly, remember <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=sBHHXWnng9Q\">the 70 minutes<\/a><\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Without panicking , taking stress or anything, do your best\nin those minutes, hours and seconds during the exam. That, my dear friends, is\ngoing to be<strong><em> the single most useful piece of advice<\/em><\/strong> I could give\nyou. The examiner doesn&#8217;t know if your are under prepared or unprepared or\nsuper prepared. The examiner doesn&#8217;t know if you have a PHD in Economics or\nwith a GPA of 4.9 in college, preparing for UPSC is your only option. What you\ndo in those hours and minutes, is the only thing that the examiner knows, sees\nand evaluates. He doesn&#8217;t need to know anything else.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So pack your biggest punch in those hours. Put your life in\nthose hours and give it your supreme best. This is especially important , if\nthis is <a href=\"http:\/\/forumias.com\/portal\/the-inspiring-story-of-suharsha-bhagat-5th-attempt-and-5th-rank\/\">your\nfifth attempt<\/a> and you have given up all hopes, or if this is your highly\nunderprepared attempt and you have given up all hopes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I wish you all the best in the days to come. Do your best,\nwrite your best paper ever.&nbsp;People are rewarded in public for the fight\nand hard work they put in private. This is your private battle only you will\nhave to fight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Be your best.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8211;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Neyawn<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The truth The next few days are important. This is a fact and not an opinion. How you should behave in these last few hours totally depends on &nbsp;the type of person you are. If you are a last moment type of person, by all means study . study on all days until the last&hellip; <a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/how-to-maximise-your-score-on-the-mains-day-some-motivation\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">How to Maximise your score on the Mains Day + Some Motivation<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1601,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[37,20],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1244","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mains","category-motivation","entry"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/Neyawn-featured-Image-with-filters.jpg?fit=960%2C435&ssl=1","views":{"total":336,"cached_at":""},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1244","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1244"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1244\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1601"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1244"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1244"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1244"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}