hey@Neyawn i would be attempting my first attempt in 2025, doing a foundational course (at a different online institute) includes weekly (pre tests+ answer writting sessions) and a part of MGP+ cohort 10, started preparing in feb 2024 with college (currently in the final year) trying to finish the syllabus by jan end, and plan to attempt the 2024 mains as a full length test in the first (and second) weekend of feb 2025 and then attempt the pre 2024 full length (GS+CSAT). Haven't seen the papers, but glanced through them and seen the distribution of marks (for taking in stress in the subject promotional to marks), havent done in depth analysis to the themes or questions. Should i do them now as practise or keep them as FLTs in feb?
Few inputs from my end.
1. Whatever you are doing, do it well. Developing poor study ethics / habits in foundational year is what gets most people stuck in exam loop, or exhaust attempts. In short, try to excel academically. You need not be topping, but be robust with what you are doing. This is not going to be easy.
2. Focus on finishing your MGP tests. About 30% questions in the commission may have questions on which you may not be aware of all dimensions or even the major dimensions. Hitting them now, and geting demotivated is not going to help. Answer the PYQs which you can answer and note down the ones you cannnot, if at all.
3. Do not do any Mains prep in Feb, if you have not cleared Prelims before. Give prelims 5 months time. You will have people saying, I gave 5 months and cleared prelims, but my mains was not prepared, and its my 3rd attempt. What lesson you pick up from this line is important. The person is finding mains tough not because he gave 5 months to prelims, but because he didn't give mains the time it needed in the 3 years. This was easy to understand in the hindsight but sometimes difficult to fathome when seen from the windscreen.
Hello, I have given two attempts at upsc in 2023&24. Didn't qualify the prelims.For the past 40 days, I have been preparing for UPPSC prelims. And it is speculated that UPPSC prelims will be postponed (for the 2nd time) to December. That means the pcs mains will happen around March end or April beginning.This way I will get only 40-50 days for UPSC prelims and seeing past two prelims performances. I think I need to devote 4-5 months for prelimsI have two options if the pcs exam gets postponed:1) prepare for pcs full fledged and leave next year's upsc exam.2) prepare for UPSC mains till January mid and then start for upsc prelims.Give some suggestions.@NeyawnKindly reply sir.
Didn't clear Prelims is a vague term. What was your score in the two attempts. That matters. If you have not studied well for prelims, and you are hoping to top State PCS, then you are mistaken. People topping State PCS are now usually ex-UPSC folks, and no they are not the relims non-qualified ones.
Give one good attempt to UPSC prep. If you can write such correct english, you are good enough to have a good civils prep. And follow the calendar. 6-8 months to GS Mains + Optional and 5 months to Prelims exclusively should do it.
Some people don't clear prelims because they are too much in hurry to clear it.
Sometimes slowly is the quickest way to do a few things.
This exam is a career defining one. Give it due respect and resources. My resources I mean time, energy, money and effort.
Hello, I have given two attempts at upsc in 2023&24. Didn't qualify the prelims.For the past 40 days, I have been preparing for UPPSC prelims. And it is speculated that UPPSC prelims will be postponed (for the 2nd time) to December. That means the pcs mains will happen around March end or April beginning.This way I will get only 40-50 days for UPSC prelims and seeing past two prelims performances. I think I need to devote 4-5 months for prelimsI have two options if the pcs exam gets postponed:1) prepare for pcs full fledged and leave next year's upsc exam.2) prepare for UPSC mains till January mid and then start for upsc prelims.Give some suggestions.@NeyawnKindly reply sir.Didn't clear Prelims is a vague term. What was your score in the two attempts. That matters. If you have not studied well for prelims, and you are hoping to top State PCS, then you are mistaken. People topping State PCS are now usually ex-UPSC folks, and no they are not the relims non-qualified ones.
Give one good attempt to UPSC prep. If you can write such correct english, you are good enough to have a good civils prep. And follow the calendar. 6-8 months to GS Mains + Optional and 5 months to Prelims exclusively should do it.
Some people don't clear prelims because they are too much in hurry to clear it.
Sometimes slowly is the quickest way to do a few things.
This exam is a career defining one. Give it due respect and resources. My resources I mean time, energy, money and effort.
Sharing your score can tell more about your prep.
@Neyawn 55 in GS1 in the first attempt.76-81 from various keys in GS 1 & 73-76 in CSAT in the 2nd attempt.
You are close. If you continue what you have been doing, you should be within 10 marks of the cut off in the coming year, and subsequent year you could be within 5 marks range. This is what I have seen happen to most folks.
Have you tried something like SFG? Some folks selected way back in 2019-20 era messaged me about its utility 4-5 years after getting into service.
And doing it doesn't mean being complacent and settling for like bottom 50%tile.
Waiting for actual prelims to slaughter you.
It means doing it like crazy and being in top 5% tile. And it is not easy. That will mean sleeping at 2AM and then waking up again at 6AM, and writing tests in Delhi winter.
But it delivers results, especially if you are the kind who is lazy , indisciplined, and lack self control.
See some of these folks.
from not clearing prelims, to getting rank 9 in IFoS
And if SFG has not worked for you, and you need 2 more years to put the level of effort that others are able to put in 4-5 months, then take a look at FRC 5.
We got at least 10 folks there who cleared exam after 5-6 years ( Gen category ). However the trick there was to get people to study till like 2AM or sleep at 10AM and wake up at 2AM.
Studying as if there is an exam on which your life depends.
This is what I did more than a decade and half ago to clear prelims myself.
@Neyawn First of all thank you so much for replying. 🙏🏻I have analysed the prelims paper and noted a pattern that my basic questions from polity and other basic books are going wrong. And I am unabashedly going to accept that " *it is not an accuracy but knowledge problem* ".No, I haven't done SFG. But for this attempt I will do it and follow the schedule to the hilt. I want to address the problem of being indisciplined. So, doing SFG is for sure this time.
Do what it takes.
For the world is not kind to people who do not have the will power to fulfil their dreams.
In fact, dowhateverit takes.
Civil services is a tricky exam. There are several challenges you will face in your prep journey. Prelims should not be one of them. Unless you are the youtube following mass crowd who dreams of becoming an officer, but cant sit on a desk for 8-10 hours a day. ( which the final nature of job also ! )
And worship every new guy who makes a YT video showing tricks to clear prelims using hacks which work in one year and don't the other year.
Learn to extract max out of resources. That is a skill. If you do not have it, acquire it.
Hey people I am new here . just I am in third year and pursuing political science honours.i will be giving my attempt in 2026 and have started my preparation and done with polity, Geo ,eco ,and gs 4.Currently doing history and have started optional last month.
So on this basis I just want to know that I am right track or need more pace ..
what do you mean when you say you have done polity, geo, eco and gs4?
What have been your sources?
Itna sannata kyun hai bhai?
Can't believe this thread has only two pages so far. Wake up people- has everybody left prep or is everybody just super consistent?
I am not. Mujhe to yahan post karna padega.
Aaj ke liye,
1. Physical geo lectures- 11,12/38
2. Pride and Prejudice- notes + discussion
(Limited targets cuz doing masters alongside. And I have mid sems next week).
Done and done.
Today,
1. Phy geo lectures 13,14/38
2. P&P answer writing
Done, done.
Today is going to be a long long day at the university. Still, let's see how much we can do.
1. Phy Geo lectures- 15,16/38
2. Tom Jones notes- 1/2
What's this Tom Jones notes?
For polity I have read laxmikant and oxford handout of Indian politics plus little bit BL fadia because I'm doing political science honours from kirori mal college..Second, for ecomomy I have done it from mrunal pcb 7 and nowadays making mains notes oriented from it and toppers notes.Third, for geography I have done from sudarshan gurjar sir and Ncerts +gc Leong and little bit dr Khullar that I have read for college G.E.For gs 4 ,I have taken the smriti Shah lecture +red book of forum ias + shruti sharma notes.Guys ,Plz reply so what I should do further as I am in third year and my attempt will be in 2026. It would be great help to me
This is enough. Read the same thing like 5 times.
Since this is a competitive examination you will have to master stuff you are reading. Not college type reading stuff.
Think of it, in college you have to just pass. In cse, you will have to beat others reading the same book. That will need college+ effort.
Have short notes of things. Also develop a healthy newspaper reading habit. That is your biggest insurance against an unpredictable prelims by the time it comes.
@Neyawn I know quality matters than the no of hrs, but having a tangible target feels better. So, after the unnecessary context. I wanna ask that when you say a student study for say 8 hrs or whatever, do you count the time we spend in note making too? cause I don't consider those hrs as study hrs.
Having said that, note making consume lot of hrs of mine. I scroll through multiple sources. So, basically going through few sources, making notes do take a lot of my time but somehow I don't feel that I have studied anything, only a very small part of my day is spent in learning (read ratta) which is the only thing that makes me feel-yes I did something.
Can we call note making studying?
How to reduce time in making notes? If I try and write it off quickly, just writing basic points and whatever generally available, I feel that it'll cost me in mains when I'll be trying to make notes instead of writing answers or will be writing average answers (and won't be able to improve much cause will not be able to sit and go through few sources to enrich my notes - cause lack of time) And if I put in few more efforts now then it takes a lot of my time? What's the madhyam marga? And may be I am going completely wrong, if so, plz tell that too.
Any suggested time prd for ratta and note making for the day?
P.S. - I am taking foundation at forum, so busy till 1'o clock with classes
Note making is like sharpening the axe. It takes time, but it saves you in the end. If you are ding foundation, take class notes. Leave 1/3rd margin in the pages and summarise or add points in that 1/3rd margin.
Notemaking counts as studying, by all means - what else would you do.
Also there are some people who love making notes. I meet folks who have made such pretty notes I wanna buy it from them. But too pretty notes is usually a sign of person having a thing for making notes but not using them - like revision and re-revision.
On the other hand there are folks, who dont make notes and like reading from the book. They think making notes in own handwriting is a waste of time.
Success often lies in the sweet spot between the two.
And three golden rules of note making
1. they should be rough and not pretty. Only you should make 100% sense of it
2. they should be brief and synoptic, not huge spread over pages. In short they should be a summary which you can consume just before exam.
3. Do not be afraid of re- summarising and quickly making fresh notes for the purpose of exam.
I had my classmate for TISS join Forum Foundation. She cleared it in the first attempt. It gives a huge kick when people who have studied with you in the same class join your academy and then successfully clear the exam in one go. And the best compliments come from them. ( You see your friends and family and relatives will only come to you when they have heard from OTHER people you are good. No matter how much you tell them in the beginning, they won't come to you. )
She was the rebel kind in college too and at the academy. But one thing I observed in her CSE attempt was she was fully conformist to what was told. As in she implemented what was told very religiously.
And she made like really good rough notes. quick revision things.
In fact ForumIAS may not have gotten the best testimonial from her, but I personally got the best pat on the back from her ( a validation from friends and family helps. everyone.)
( after that so many of my friends selected in other services called saying is it advisable to give paper at 31-32 years to get IAS, lol )
@Neyawn I know quality matters than the no of hrs, but having a tangible target feels better. So, after the unnecessary context. I wanna ask that when you say a student study for say 8 hrs or whatever, do you count the time we spend in note making too? cause I don't consider those hrs as study hrs.
Having said that, note making consume lot of hrs of mine. I scroll through multiple sources. So, basically going through few sources, making notes do take a lot of my time but somehow I don't feel that I have studied anything, only a very small part of my day is spent in learning (read ratta) which is the only thing that makes me feel-yes I did something.
Can we call note making studying?
How to reduce time in making notes? If I try and write it off quickly, just writing basic points and whatever generally available, I feel that it'll cost me in mains when I'll be trying to make notes instead of writing answers or will be writing average answers (and won't be able to improve much cause will not be able to sit and go through few sources to enrich my notes - cause lack of time) And if I put in few more efforts now then it takes a lot of my time? What's the madhyam marga? And may be I am going completely wrong, if so, plz tell that too.
Any suggested time prd for ratta and note making for the day?
P.S. - I am taking foundation at forum, so busy till 1'o clock with classes
Quantity of hours at some number is also a measure of quality of effort.
Hi, I'm new here. I took prelims twice in '23 (with no prep, to understand the pattern) and in '24 (serious, but haphazard with poor revision; ended up attempting only 55 qns >scored 66 ish; cleared CSAT comfortably). I spent all of 2023 disproportionately focusing on CA from different sources and ignored the static content. And I've paid the price for it
Since July, I've worked on my optional (law) and ethics. I'm 90% done with both. I now want to get back to the static GS books and work through them properly.
I find SFG very promising. I desperately need the rigour and consistency it'll bring to my schedule. But I'm confused b/w the forum prelims test series and SFG. Should I enrol in the upcoming PTS October batch? Can I enrol in both? I'm honestly itching for some order in my prelims prep.
PTS is like a regular thing. SFG is not like a regular test series. As in if you miss the test, you miss it forever. If you do not have the discipline, you go for PTS. They are not substitutes for each other.
@Neyawn first of all thanks for replying sir. I have realized, after I saw you replying to every single query asked to you that it is so much easier to get to you through the community than through any other medium. And instead of sitting and doubting and getting faltu information from random people and sources, I would rather reach out to you, if that's okay?And thanks again, I always felt I wasn't doing enough or wasn't doing it right, your reply really helped in calming the self doubt. I will try to follow your golden rules on notes .
Thats because I believe in the community.
Plus there is a selfish motive.
You see when the first version of the community was built, there was this dude who guided people well
The elder one guided a lot of people and the younger was a student with forum many years later.
The one thing that happened was that noise-free good guidance was available, so many people cleared prelims.
You had live Rank 1,3,4,5,6,8,9,11 from the people participating in the discussions. Very civil, very censored.
Once that happens ( people clear prelims ) , there is some positivity on the platform.
The quality of questions and kind of crowd improves.
Those things are infectious.
For people to get selected the right environment has a bigger role than anything else. We tried doing that in FRC, but it is too expensive. Digitally let us see how far we can go.
@Neyawn Hello sir,
I am writing this because I am feeling lost, I am enrolled in forum pts 2025,
mgp alt 12(starting oct4) and had also done CA classes from forum.
This is gonna be my 4th attempt (2022-68 marks, 2023-76 marks failed in csat, was scoring 85+ this yr-bodernline on csat) (sc category)-Never cleared prelims.
currently prepping for upcoming mgp test and some gs3 backlogs.
sir plz rah dikhaiye...
@Neyawn Sir pls reply if you can. thanks
Why are you feeling lost?
Prioritise things for the month.
One good way to proceed would be to give 20 days each to GS 2, GS 3, and GS 4 and write the tests. See how youbare doing.
And because you have had trouble clearing prelims before try to solve anywhere between 25 to 50 questions everyday. You can refer to the prelims toolkit for it.
Whatever you do, you do it well.
October's task is to be done in Oct, Nov's in Nov and Dec's in Dec. Do not import work of Jan 2025 in Oct 2024. Similarly do not postpone today's work to tomorrow.
Also everyday divide the day into two parts . When youbare tired doing the same thing, change the subject in second part, such as take up your otional.
This is one of the ways to proceed. There can be other ways too.
@Neyawn Hello, did he join SFG in his final attempt? Was his selection year also his first mains, sir? Just curious.
Who are you talking about?
This kid cleared prelims in 4rth attempt or so and was in SFG - offline mode.
She was personally recommend by our very famous old forum user
Anyone that old who can tell what is ☝️username ?
I am a little afraid of your question, because it appears that you think that by enrolling for a course you can get selected. That is far from the case. You don't get six pack abs by paying for gym membership. The hard work has to follow.
You have to do it.
It will require effort.
Done with the mid-terms.
Today, will spend the day covering my optional backlog– prepare notes for Tom Jones and write answers. Additionally, need to start work on my MA dissertation from today.
Will resume GS targets from tomorrow.
Very bad day. Could only partially do the notes.
1. Finish yesterday's targets
2. Phy geo lectures 15,16/38
Bad days make me not want to post. Anyways, the update is I am done with notes and answers of Tom Jones, and partially notes of Hard Times. This is a hectic month at the university– back to back seminars + dissertation work.
GS has been on nearly a total break.
For today,
1. Phy Geo lectures 15,16/38
2. Hard Times answer writing
Bad days are the days one must show up
Few inputs from my end.
1. Whatever you are doing, do it well. Developing poor study ethics / habits in foundational year is what gets most people stuck in exam loop, or exhaust attempts. In short, try to excel academically. You need not be topping, but be robust with what you are doing. This is not going to be easy.
2. Focus on finishing your MGP tests. About 30% questions in the commission may have questions on which you may not be aware of all dimensions or even the major dimensions. Hitting them now, and geting demotivated is not going to help. Answer the PYQs which you can answer and note down the ones you cannnot, if at all.
3. Do not do any Mains prep in Feb, if you have not cleared Prelims before. Give prelims 5 months time. You will have people saying, I gave 5 months and cleared prelims, but my mains was not prepared, and its my 3rd attempt. What lesson you pick up from this line is important. The person is finding mains tough not because he gave 5 months to prelims, but because he didn't give mains the time it needed in the 3 years. This was easy to understand in the hindsight but sometimes difficult to fathome when seen from the windscreen.
Thankyou for the response, consider this as an accountability/seeking reform measure (post 12 days of progress)
Background - Final year student at IIT Delhi (B.Tech in Biotechnology), 8 months into the prep done with : -Polity, Economy, Geography (World Map, Indian, Physical, Human), (Morden, World, PI) History.
Optional - Philosophy (about 60% done), test series starts from 13th Oct.
Enviorment 33% done - mostly pre centric mapping (national parks TR,BR etc.) (10/30)
Mains centric topics - governance (3/12), DM(3/7), Society and SJ (2/19), IR (2/21)
Topics Remaining
A&C, Ancient and Medivieal Hist, IS, and Ethics.
Done includes watching lectures, making notes for revision (and pre centric mapping in geo), weekly pre tests and daily Prelims - PYQs/Practise MCQs, and a few answers written (each)
- Using MGP as Revision and for reading the books (more on that in the problems section)
1) Goals and Tracking -I try for
Bi weekly tests - on for Prelims (usually weds evening) and one for mains (sunday)
Prelims mock - only to identify the weak areas and write it on the notebook cover for better revision later.about 2 lectures daily - one optional (philosophy) and one GS (about 5hrs a day - mostly watch the lectures in 2x/1.5x, but making notes, and sometimes thinking within the lectures consumes about the same time as of the duration)
Newspaper - a signature for consistency - have been following daily since June (after 4 months into the prep) and started with forum CA quiz recently (2-3 weeks)
Answer writing - did a DAW program with Sunya for GS2 in July, and started with MGP in August.reading before sleep is for self - helps me sleep better. Spill over of targets is allowed (other than read before sleep)
i) a good/decent week -
ii) a below average week due to college work (733/732 are course codes)
2) Ended up analysing the questions because came across some very oddly specific questions - (Cite four examples of NGOs, Briefly discuss any three such technologies, etc.) To better accommodate value addition from news papers such as : -
The antimony example. (Have divided the keywords from the syllabus to collect unique points, form any source i get outside of course material.)
3) In the best case scenario - syllabus (watching lectures) gets over by jan 26 and attempting a full length mains test (most prolly the 2024 mains) in a time and place bound manner GS on 1st weekend (31 jan, 1 and 2 of Feb) and optional and compulsory language on (8th and 9th of Feb) and then shift to pre centric mindset (revise all the weak topics written on the notebook covers), start revising current affairs from the magzines, and daily pre tests, etc. (i am not sure what all is included but will try to do all that i can)
Problems ArisingPrep Related :-
1) Books - Haven't read any books from cover to cover (hoping to read a few topics (if not all) with MGP and pre centric books such as Laxmikant and Spectrum for revision before pre (Having trust on my teachers that they have taught me all the important stuff and the books are for revision and reference)
2) Mains PYQs - haven't exclusively alloted time to solve Mains PYQs rn (in the pre to mains period the plan is to only do PYQs, Tests, Value addition and Revision.)
3) Syllabus v/s Frequency of tests - Almost every week have to make a choice between completing the syllabus (lectures) or revise notes/ read a new topic to give MGP tests - mostly end up watching the lectures (because the are easy), and convince myself to give tests the next day with full energy.
Have attempted 3 HLTs till now (September was a college exam and assignments month thereby the tests have piled up)
HLT1 - 45.5/125 (rank 250/1500 ig) - couldn't give it in one go (did 5+3+3) had to look up notes for specific article numbers etc.
HLT2 - 42.5/125 (rank 600/1500 ig) - gave it in one go too 2hrs and 20 mins to complete.
HLT4 - yet to submit. (Also coudnt complete in one go had some new topics that i had to read up)
Prelims objective tests don't give me much sweat - can consistently score about 50-60% in revision tests and 70-80% in freshly read topics.
4) Current Affair magsines - not reading any now (relying solely on newspapers) plan to read them in pre prep period.
Strategic issues
1) Unplanned college interventions - Usually the reason for spillover of goals (MGP tests and pilling up of lectures which makes me watch lectures on sunday the dedicated day for Tests) (and 2nd)
2) Sleep routine - no consistent sleep routine - usually try to follow a biphasic (4am - 8am and 2pm-6pm) sleep routine (works good for the productivity) but somedays due to extra work the cycle keeps changing and it becomes tough to be accountable on what goals are achieved for which day.
any feedback/suggestions (any red or green flags) that you can spot or anything that i shall incorporate to omit out the unnecessary or prioritise doing (mostly between completing the syllabus v/s the frequency of tests)
any advice from the experienced peeps (not limited to) @Neyawn @tedmosby @GaneshGaitonde @Rashmirathi would be really helpful. Thanks in advance.
You are sorted. There will be a struggle, but that will make you. It is supposed to be that way. A bit chaotic.
@happySisyphus It was great interacting with you on gmeet. 1st attempt hai toh kuch na kuch humesha missing hi rahega, you cannot avoid that. So just focus on achieving whatever targets you have decided upon and be consistent.
@Neyawn I just saw your session and I know I am a bit exhausted and burnt out but I will get back to studying within this month itself after taking a small break. The thing about Maths Optional resonated with me and I would still say that Maths was a good optional till 2020. After that, RoI has been decreasing. So even if you get say 300+ in Maths then also you can't get a good rank without having good marks in GS + Essay (say 500+ with the current trend). And if you are not getting a rank then there's no point (Sirf interview tak jaana is not enough).
After interaction with @GaneshGaitonde bhai, I could actually gauge how HIGH the competition is. People with Humanities optional are armed with keywords and have a better "understanding" of concepts.Earlier, writing generic answers in GS would have been sufficient but the competition has increased a lot. To compete with them, we need to answer logically and analytically along with getting the quality-quantity trade off correct. This requires A LOT of answer writing practice now (Identifying the demand and writing a good answer under 7 to 11 mins with adequate keywords). In this context, balancing a science optional with GS is extremely difficult because now you have to compete with these people who have such fluent understanding of current events.
Anyways, gyaani baba days would be over soon and the hustle would begin again so ending this comment with a quote from Bhagvad Gita (Chapter 3, Verse 19):
tasmād asaktaḥ satataṁ kāryaṁ karma samāchara
asakto hyācharan karma param āpnoti pūruṣhaḥ"Therefore, giving up attachment, perform actions as a matter of duty because by working without being attached to the fruits, one attains the Supreme"
I badly want you to succeed. At the same time I am concerned that if the optional is not working in your favour more than twice, do have a rethink.
I may have forced some people to change their optional, and sometimes rightly so because it has ended their vicious cycle..
If the optional isnt working for 2 or more times, it wont work in the 5th time or so. And this is the only time to think about it.
Have Been Following this forum blog for many days and even years you one can say.
I am blank after 30th September as i am not able to focus on my study.
I am a Government Employees new into my job still settling into it and not in a mood to do worl that is assignes even 1% of it
Work environment is also not that good as state govt level C job.
I was studying in good way but something happened and lost the overall rhythm and still not able to come back.
Reading newspaper and solving mcqs is the bare minimum i am doing. i was doing mains answer writing sincerely but idk how i lost the track of it.
Just confessing that i am stuck and couldn't come out of this lathergy.
I have joined forum Mgp as this being my last attempt. And given 4 test already.
This is the worst time for anyone preparing for Civils. Both exam and result are far far away. Nearness to exam brings the much needed sense of urgency.
Where are you located?
This type Environment and Ecology notes is sufficient for prel
You have to think what is the question that will come from this topic. It should be shorter than this. Like just 5 things to remember about Nitrogen cycle.
This is how a book would be written. Or a teacher would teach the subject. The prupose of self study is to make final exam relevant notes. Think of notes in the sense of the word. You are attending a meeting and someone has given a long speech with instructions and details. You wont write the whole speech. You will note than 3-4-5 things that you need to remember for doing later. Note should not be elaborate.
For exam this should be more crisp, just 5 things about nitrogen fixation. Otherwise you will make bulky SnT notes and will take lot of time to revise. Let us say if you dont understand Nitrogen cycle, read the book, but these notes are for revision before the prelims.
Just make a cycle and write 5 things thats all. Should take 1/3 to 1/2 of a page.
This type Environment and Ecology notes is sufficient for prel
You have to think what is the question that will come from this topic. It should be shorter than this. Like just 5 things to remember about Nitrogen cycle.
This is how a book would be written. Or a teacher would teach the subject. The prupose of self study is to make final exam relevant notes. Think of notes in the sense of the word. You are attending a meeting and someone has given a long speech with instructions and details. You wont write the whole speech. You will note than 3-4-5 things that you need to remember for doing later. Note should not be elaborate.
For exam this should be more crisp, just 5 things about nitrogen fixation. Otherwise you will make bulky SnT notes and will take lot of time to revise. Let us say if you dont understand Nitrogen cycle, read the book, but these notes are for revision before the prelims.
Just make a cycle and write 5 things thats all. Should take 1/3 to 1/2 of a page.
On second thoughts, I think your notes are fine. But if you take so much space then you will make it so bulky you will lose patience before the exam.
Inability to achieve the monthly targets leads to negative emotions, disrupts studies, and ultimately leads to chaos in my brain.
The idea is to just study, and hopefully not feel the same by the end of this month : )
declaring targets on the community helps, so here we are
3 Nov (only env)
1 BD
2 Intl conven
3 Eco
4 Poll - notes n answers
itne bol bacchan ke baad couldn't do anything, will try again
4 Nov
1 BD
2 int conv
3 Eco
completed 1, 2 & 3 not done
today
1 class rev
2 enlight & socialism
1 done, 2 not done
today
1 soc class complete, is - read
2 topic 1 opt
didn't do
targets for today
1 society
2 topic 1
1- 80% done, 2 no
today
1 society, is - ans, notes for all
2 topic 1
1 done, 2 confused
today
1 ethics - full
2 topic 2 - FR, brit - least
well, you inspire me so heres my past 4 weeks of progress
Still struggling to juggle around with tests and lectures. lets see, if posting weekly progress here could stop me from spilling over the targets to the next week.
Actually, you inspired me. I remember the day you posted these excel sheets for the first time. I guess you are younger than me, considering you are in college right now + you being able to manage it with college, that was extremely inspiring. Also, I was really impressed by the objectivity in your process. Thank you for posting, this is again quite motivating.
I don't have anything else to wish for somebody, but their mental well being, so I hope you are doing fine. Take care baba : )
and all the bestt!
I am not sure at what stage of preparation you are. But you remind of one nandini, an active member on the forum.
Sometime in 2016 or 2017 we were having our first class in ORN. There wasnt much seating space.
Forum Community members had come for some prelims classes. You can some more folks like yoga123 - There is Sachin in red, Rank 3 , Yoga 123 Rank 199 ( and decided not to write exam )
nandini ( katyayani was the real name, her sibling got through last year in top 50 ) She was sitting on the left of this picture.
(Not in the picture)
And she said "neyawn I am only banking on forum for prelims as I cant commit much time. Its my Achilles heel, safe hai na?"
A little taken aback, but then assured.
She cleared and joined IRS that year. ( This was prelims revision classes at Forum ).
I wish you have a very successful inning here.
@Rashmirathi Thanks for your reply. What makes you recommend ORN?
Just pavolian conditioning
You had me in splits!
And I am not supposed to laugh or speak due to a throat exertion. ( Part of occupational hazard exacerbated by the Delhi Pollution )
Why haven;t I seen you since Mains? How is IFoS prep going?
@tedmosby how are things post mains, the architect ?
Mera toh post-Mains 2024 hi chal raha hai, did not give this year's attempt.
Job ne jaan le rakhi hai xD
Ah I remember we met. How is work then ? You know sometimes I feel that you are working too hard on the job compared to other aspirants. If needed , take a sabbatical, go full throttle.
Ah I remember we met. How is work then ? You know sometimes I feel that you are working too hard on the job compared to other aspirants. If needed , take a sabbatical, go full throttle.
Stress at the workplace has reduced a bit.
Yes, I have been working too hard on this job.
Last Mains was an eye-opening experience, though I think I improved in GS (353 to 381 (1: 93; 2: 93; 3:80 ; 4:115) [still not enough]) but the shock of performing poorly in Essay and Optional was something which made me rethink fundamental aspects of my preparation (Given the fact that I had worked very hard for these two specifically, a terrible fall in Essay from 126 to 86, and my continuing low score in GS2, although I had scored 112 in my 1st attempt).
For prep, I took your advice regarding changing my optional and I have taken a break to work on those points properly (in addition to GS).
So yes the progress is slow. For now, I will just stick to your advice and I will be back to the exam cycle soon. :)
We need to sit and talk then. This 350 to 380 isn’t an improvement. You can’t have that slow progress.
I am not sure how much you will understand me. Look there are people who have scored 360-380 types for 5 mains, and then they have crossed that 420-430 barrier. I am talking about 7th , 8th attempt people- not from gen category - who felt they could never get that much - and then they did.check For 3 things
1. Are you updating your content for gs2 and 3 by taking some classes
2. are you reading new books / content ( not base level mass coaching that may aid in prelims )
3. Do you have a writing legibility problem
4. as a last resort are you integrating current affairs from newspaper.
Do this and you will shoot upwards 450+
