UPSC 2024 final result out.

We can get connected. 2 mains one interview. A little disenchanted with the process. No matter how much I detested moving to ORN, but  I moved here a couple of months ago. Although I can't move to as different flat now but would appreciate to be in touch people who have some logical experience in this journey and want to sustain momentum. 

Tg: @anniiccaa

😅

First attempt first mains , started preparation last Year July after leaving corporate job.

My experience:

1. Was in tension whether I will clear pre, to my surprise I cleared even forest Pre

2. Was able to complete every paper , I believe my attempt in ethics (though completed the paper ) was average as could not find scope to write some example /VAM etc - maybe lack of practice 

3. In optional , P2 could have been better , as did some silly mistakes .P1 was the best I could attempt 

Overall a soul sucking process , I was thinking mains is easy , pre is tough but I was horribly wrong. But I am satisfied to write 50 pages in each of GS papers .

@tedmosby Bhai how was your optional this time ?

Can't answer that in one word! 

Optional experience- 

Before giving Mains- Now I had done 4 full length tests properly between Pre and Mains. Before that, I had already given some tests in the month of Jan-Feb (But those don't count as I had not analysed them). I had realised that focusing on analysis is more important than mindlessly solving mocks. So I had identified that I was making small + - mistakes. I had identified that some questions in Section B were chokers and for some reason, since 2022, ODE had been that topic for P1. So I had a strategy ready- whatever be the case, I need to solve the questions I knew in 2 hrs 15 mins and leave 45 mins for questions which I did not know. During mocks, this strategy was proving effective for me and my major problem was that I had high hopes and expectations from Maths opt. 

During Mains-
I just grabbed the paper and without filling my details (I did them afterwards), I started to read the questions one by one. I had put in extra efforts for Section A, so I knew I had to choose questions from that section. Section A was fairly easy but again some questions like Taylor series rattled me a bit (because that topic had never been asked for numerical analysis - did one small silly mistake but concept was right). Now coming to Section B. I attempted Q6 out of 6,7,8 because imo it was like choosing the lesser evil. After seeing the paper, I knew that whatever choice I took, UPSC had strategically placed a tough question with two other doable questions which made the paper very tough! I left 20 marks blank in Paper 1. When I came out of the hall, I was not happy with some silly mistakes I committed - I couldn't recheck 4b (15 marks gone straightaway) and 4c (I started the question nicely but for some reason I couldn't recall the concept! Heartbreaking tbh). So in Sec A- Q2c, 4b, 4c pulled me down. Sec B - 5b (I knew it was convolution but again couldn't get it right), 5c (Got vectorial volume correct - couldn't complete it), 5e(ii) (I was going to do it later on but couldn't do it), 6a (Blank). 

I knew that I had to perform well in Paper 2. I revised all the formulas properly and after learning from Paper 1, I knew that I need my A-game here. I had already revised Modern several times now and I had shortlisted some theorems like Cayley's theorem to appear in the paper (which did not happen :/). Now as soon as my revision got over, I just went in at 1.30 pm. I closed my eyes and started to mentally revise all the formulas. I knew that Paper 1 did not go according to my expectations but now doing well in Paper 2 was in my hands. 

Paper 2 was distributed at 2.25 pm, during the reading time I numbered which questions I had to attempt. I saw this trend- easy questions from topics which were ignored by aspirants and tough questions from traditionally easy areas. In Section A, 1e was an inconvenient question for me because I had not practiced it but still I got the answer correct. Q2 was a ruthless massacre! I setup Q2a properly but proved it to be divergent (last few steps were wrong. In hindsight, I should have revised the series expansion part properly), Q2c (I got the logic correct but again couldn't complete it), Q3a (Got the residues part partially correct), 3b (I am not sure about all steps being correct but by PYQ knowledge I just somehow proved it). Overall, Section A was tough according to me. In Section B even after revising so many times, I still got confused between Gauss Elimination and Gauss-Jordan. Got the whole question correct but I am not sure which method did I apply. Next, I got 6a partially correct because lord knows what the other half was xD. 

I surprisingly got the MoI question exactly correct! 

So paper 2 was relatively better for me. 

Post Mains- 

Overall, I wasnot quite satisfiedwith Mathematics Optional because as you can see, one silly mistake and you lose alot of marks even if you know the concept. When you know a question, you know it else you have to leave it. Also balancing it with GS is extremely difficult plus you tend to have high expectations of high rewards from this optional but UPSC has stopped rewarding it that much (360-370 type scores). So yes, satisfied with my own efforts but still I don't see what else I can do for next year. Solving random questions from reference books is not the solution (I know this because I had committed this blunder in 2023. Picked up Gallian for Modern and MDR for FD among others. Wrote a beautiful Essay on "Mathematics is the music of reason" which fetched me 119. I have a lot of gyaan to give on physical significance of concepts asked in these papers but they are not enough for scoring). I have realised that solving UPSC Mathematics is like following a standard operating procedure with essentially no scope for creativity and innovation (like one can do for Humanities opt). You cannot write a generic answer if you do not know a question. 

Anyways, I have done whatever I could now. It is for the Commission to decide the result. [I am done with the debate on scaling and normalisation (We do not know if there's a system in place or not). Raw marks ka bhi, we can't say anything because we do not know the marking scheme. Finally, not making comments on hoga nahi hoga butI am done with this optional]. 

My advantage has been that I am good in tough topics so that's why I chose those questions. Plus I had practiced that so that's the reason behind my choice. 

I commit a lot of silly mistakes in easy questions which is why I have lost a lot of marks in previous attempts. 

ye har saal ka hai, kuch nhi hota

Insider se sunna kya Jesse bhai? :D 

So finally November is here! Mohol banna chalu ab. 

Mains 2024 result will be declared on November 26. - latest hai

Oh insider no. 2 ki info :D 

Exciting! 

My take- Don't take any info seriously bas mazze lo. Abhi mohol banna bas chalu hua hai. Result aayega end November ya early December mai hi. 

I remember "insiders" claiming so many things in the last two years and they were incorrect most of the times. 

Baat toh sahi hai. Post-Mains time kaisa Jaa Raha hai sabka? 

studying for IFoS but not that efficiently

I can only imagine how you are studying post-Mains bhai. I didn't fill IFoS because I knew I would be damn exhausted post-Mains and also ab strength nahi bachi hai kuch toofani karne ke liye. Also tired of the Pre-Mains cycle honestly. 

I still remember studying Analytic Geometry just when Pre got over. I didn't even feel like studying anything but started studying irrespective of what I felt. I think Jul 1, 2024 will be etched in my memory for causing a lot of "upsets" that day. Most of my friends who wrote 2023 Mains with me were not in the list this time. I felt bad. Surprisingly, I found many first attempters this time and also some people who were giving their first Mains. Idk what the trend is at the national level but certainly ye mujhe thoda odd laga tha. 

Anyways with the Mains result coming soon we will again have some upsets. Again, some deserving candidates would be out of the list. Again vohi bakkar and frustration about Mains marksheet not being released sooner. I remember my rants after Mains 2022 and 2023 results ab toh naa energy hai aur na hi utna hu utna involvement. Mehnat toh iss baar utni ki hai jitni shayad pichle 6 yrs mai nahi ki thhi. Accepted a lot of my mistakes and tried improving on them. 

Looking back to the kid who started UPSC prep on his own in Dec 2017, I have come a long way. Toh ab jo hoga dekhi jayegi. 

Last year too had qualified for IFoS but was in no mood for studying; and world cup bhi tha. So wrote CAT instead (considerably lighter prep wise). This year, will be writing IFoS and quitting the cycle if do not qualify either mains.
They are better things than this honestly. Also, studying for pre is quite a bore.
Regarding qualifying for mains; most of my circle who wrote mains last year are writing this time too. After paper 1 I thought it would be borderline but upon calculation, ache hi bane.

The cycle is also pretty long and difficult to quit if u are writing mains. Window for decision making is quite small; even more so if u are appearing for interview.