Mains 2019 Preparation and Discussion Thread

@Biryanimafia_ I do not envy him at all. I'd never improve if I were that positive.

@K_9oh come on! With 120+ in pt, 160+ in essay and expecting 860/1500 in mains, where's the need for improvement?

@Biryanimafia_ yahan saala language paper pass karne ka bhi confidence nahi hai

@Biryanimafia_ Dont forget 185 marks in interview....hum yaha mains ke result ke liye ruke hai aur vaha interview ka bhi rslt lag gya...abtk toh cadre bhi allocate ho gya rahega usko

@pmishra997125yes .. read your answers outlines .. mujhe laga ki agar phir se laga hoga toh idea lag jayega

10 markers were too specific in paper -2

Finally getting our share of well deserved entertainment, nearly 40 days after mains.

@ShubzSameer Kulkarni in disguise to nahi??

@tssBhai my name is shubham
Ye sameer Kulkarni kon hai

@Shubz2016 mains ke result ke time famous hua tha..result vale din kafi entertainment mila

Kya yaar, mera bhi around 140 marks ka miss hua hai gs 1,2&3 main.(1st mains appearance)@DKTsahab ki baatein sunkr thoda confidence badha, ki 840-850 takk kheench lunga shayad. Tum sabne wapas zameen par laa diyastill thanks for bringing me back to reality and carrying on with my prayers.
Love, not so confident guy

@Shubztumhe nahi@DKTko bolna Cha Raha tha..

@sat_009said inMains 2019 Preparation and Discussion Thread:

@Shubzyear to year variations are there,
2017 gs3 was checked with 70 60 50 40 percent contunuum,
70 percent for excellent, 60 for good, 50 for relevant, 40 for average
in paper gs1 and 2, seems 65 55 45 35 percent was awaded.
gs 4 was strict.

2018 me
gs paper 1 me 55 45 40 35 % (excellent, good, relevant and average)
gs paper 2 and 3 ,60 50 45 35 % (excellent, good, relevant and average)
gs paper 4 was 1 grade liberal than 2017,

in short marking depends upon -

1. questions asked( specific or general - more number of specific questions reduces average score of that paper across the board)
2. standards set for evaluator
3. marking pattern
4. which paper gets liberal scoring (consider if someone has done good in gs paper 3, liberal checking will be bonanza for him or her, consider if someone has messed up gs 2 and checking is strict there, it will be disaster for him ir her).

comclusion - not messing up tough papers (for marking)
and doing good where paper was easy and marking scheme is good will lead to great scores overall

What is the difference between an average answer and a relevant answer ? I am not able to understand How to categorize my answers in different categories.

for eg in GS3 - IFS wala question. I first defined what is IFS and wrote 4-5 points on How IFS can help in sustaining agricultural production like better returns and remuneration, climate change resistance, better productivity, diversification etc. And in end I concluded with the line that IFS will help in doubling farmers income by 2022.
(no examples and no diagrams and figures) [1.5 page total]

According to you is it a relevant answer or an average answer ?

@dancingminionan above relevant answer

@dancingminionseems good answer imo for 10 marks

@Chanakyabhai it wouldn't matter much if you had attempted all questions, without knowing much content. Little personal e.g for you: In 2017 my gs score was 91,107,94,85 and anybody writing mains that year can tell you this score is much much below average. It was my first mains and I was told attempt all questions, come what may! Now I hadn't read any newspaper or any ncert book, at all. I picked up mains365 and model answers, enrolled in 3 test series. Voila! I completed all answers and was quite positive about my performance too! Until I saw the marksheet, and I realized that completion of paper is important, but not as important as people make it to be. I barely knew 7-8 questions in each gs paper that year but had attempted all.
So, moral of the story is if u have written content in questions you attempted, stay positively hopeful! All the best to you!

@Biryanimafia_thanks bro, I haven't lost hopecompletely.itwas just this flicker of joy within me when I first read about DKTs experience. Even I was repeatedly told to attempt all questions but during the exam I realised that compromising on stuff that you know about inorder to write gibberish on stuff you don't know cannot be a useful policy. Anyways it's important to stay grounded as well motivated to move forward. That's what I'm hoping to do

For me, it was my first attempt and first mains. I only left 1 question in GS, that too 10 marker in GS2( federal supremacy one). But in rest of the question, most of them were completed in 2-2.25 pages( 250 words) and 1.25 page(150 words), for few question where I had ample of content, I wrote 2 page , 3 pages respectively, but such questions were not more than 7-8 in every paper, some 15 markers were written in 1.5 page. So I think if one aspires to complete 20/20 questions in GS, some questions had to be cut short otherwise its impossible!
( I am reading The Hindu regularly since 2017 when I was doing my graduation, means I started my preparation bit earlier which kept me such position that I had something write about in every question)

@Biryanimafia_It was not that much below avg. GS2 nd GS 4 me decent h..hope u attempted gs1 nd 3 better this time

@Biryanimafia_if someone does not know the answer of ten questions in each paper then whether he attempts all questions or not is immaterial.

completion of paper becomes important when we have decent content for 15-16 questions. then reducing time in some questions and attempting those questions where we have very less knowledge will be beneficial.
increasing score from 5 to 5.5 out of 10 in our best attenpted questions is much difficult than getting two marks in questions where we know superficially. in such situation comletion of paper becomes beneficial