Civil Services Mains 2020 Results: In or Out ? Way ahead, gratitude and Pain
The Civils Mains result has been declared. This thread is for sharing your grief , joy , mixed feelings - absolutely anything and everything.
Hey fellow aspirants, I need some help.
I find it extremely difficult to follow monthly magazines. Initially I thought that it was probably one particular institute whose magazine I am finding difficult to grasp. But, I have tried quite a few including Forum's, and somehow feel that these magazines are not for me.
There seems to be too much information overload. And somehow , I always ALWAYS end up NOT COMPLETING ANY MAGAZINE. It is not that I dont read newspapers and rely solely on magazines, but I just find myself difficult to concentrate and spend hours on just one issue.
It read one page and by the time I reach the next one, I already forget what I read minutes ago.
IT is so demotivating everytime.
I sometimes decide not to go through any magazine, but thats when the FOMO hits really hard. Everyone is reading Monthlies, Yearlies and so on and here I am, not able to finish even a single document.
Please help.
Just tagging a few people here whose name I can recall at the moment. Others may also give in their opinons @SergioRamos @Arrokoth @Patootie @nerdfighter @DeekshitaP @Jammu .
Also, if there is any video/youtube alternative to these magazines, please suggest .
Thanks.
@sjerngal I am a monthly magazine junkie, so I can't comment much. But what@nerdfighter and@DHARNA suggest seems logical. So, maybe you can try that.
My personal opinion on CA is to read it so many times that I can't read it anymore without hurling. Something like "Ab okhli mein sir diya hai toh muslon se kya darna" remains my philosophy.
Hey fellow aspirants, I need some help.
I find it extremely difficult to follow monthly magazines. Initially I thought that it was probably one particular institute whose magazine I am finding difficult to grasp. But, I have tried quite a few including Forum's, and somehow feel that these magazines are not for me.
There seems to be too much information overload. And somehow , I always ALWAYS end up NOT COMPLETING ANY MAGAZINE. It is not that I dont read newspapers and rely solely on magazines, but I just find myself difficult to concentrate and spend hours on just one issue.
It read one page and by the time I reach the next one, I already forget what I read minutes ago.
IT is so demotivating everytime.
I sometimes decide not to go through any magazine, but thats when the FOMO hits really hard. Everyone is reading Monthlies, Yearlies and so on and here I am, not able to finish even a single document.
Please help.
Just tagging a few people here whose name I can recall at the moment. Others may also give in their opinons @SergioRamos @Arrokoth @Patootie @nerdfighter @DeekshitaP @Jammu .
Also, if there is any video/youtube alternative to these magazines, please suggest .
Thanks.
Here’s a secret!You don’t need to read everything in monthly magazines.Pick and choose what you want to read. I would suggest doing them purely from a mains point of view. Maybe you could reflect on what you read and make one page notes with random points you can think of about a topic. That way, since you have engaged with the idea of the topic given in the monthly, you’d be able to remember it better. I don’t see the utility in chumma mugging up current affairs from the prelims point of view. It’s not in line with the prelims pattern post 2016. In any case, since you will do enough mocks, these trivia type things will get covered anyway. Word of advice, don’t do these things cover to cover.Remember, 250 words in mains. Enough understanding for prelims. This is what will sail you through.There is no need for FOMO. An average UPSC aspirant cannot even recollect 1 percent of the cumulative total they’ve read on the exam day. That is simply because of the volume that we read.Therefore, my suggestion would be to strictly limit what you study.Of course you may read if you have interest, and that will have some effect on your answers as well, but it almost entirely depends on how well you have internalised and predetermined what you are going to write about a specific issue. If you have just passively read it, it’s of no use whatsoever for the exam.
Therefore, my suggestions would be:
1. Don’t rote learn from a monthly. Instead, Rote learn from a Mains 365 for GS.
2. Don’t read too much about things that won’t come for Mains. And this is 50 percent of the magazine in most cases.
3. If you have enough content about something, skip left right and centre.
4. Do enough mocks to get over the fomo. Revise the mocks. And that too, just the bare minimum about things such as initiatives, space missions, missiles etc. The more you know about these things usually indicates that you have wasted more time on information that is unnecessary for clearing the exam.
5. UPSC aspirants usually have a lot of information/knowledge with them at the time of Mains. It is based on whatever fraction of it that they display that the marks are allotted. Therefore, it stands to reason that you need to maximise reading the things that you can replicate in the exam. Because anything you read beyond that is useless for the exam because the examiner won’t know about it.
6. Knowledge is never wasted. I still read up on things that interest me. It’s a bad habit when you have limited time and if your sole purpose is to clear the exam.
7. If you limit what you read, you’ll realise that the time you are spending reading rn is enough. Just that you need to strategise better.
8. For prelims, do places in news, organisations, reports, PT365 for environment. Cost benefit ratio is high usually. The game is usually won and lost basis your grip on static subjects, your concepts, and a whole dollop of sheer dumb luck.
Hey fellow aspirants, I need some help.
I find it extremely difficult to follow monthly magazines. Initially I thought that it was probably one particular institute whose magazine I am finding difficult to grasp. But, I have tried quite a few including Forum's, and somehow feel that these magazines are not for me.
There seems to be too much information overload. And somehow , I always ALWAYS end up NOT COMPLETING ANY MAGAZINE. It is not that I dont read newspapers and rely solely on magazines, but I just find myself difficult to concentrate and spend hours on just one issue.
It read one page and by the time I reach the next one, I already forget what I read minutes ago.
IT is so demotivating everytime.
I sometimes decide not to go through any magazine, but thats when the FOMO hits really hard. Everyone is reading Monthlies, Yearlies and so on and here I am, not able to finish even a single document.
Please help.
Just tagging a few people here whose name I can recall at the moment. Others may also give in their opinons @SergioRamos @Arrokoth @Patootie @nerdfighter @DeekshitaP @Jammu .
Also, if there is any video/youtube alternative to these magazines, please suggest .
Thanks.Here’s a secret!You don’t need to read everything in monthly magazines.Pick and choose what you want to read. I would suggest doing them purely from a mains point of view. Maybe you could reflect on what you read and make one page notes with random points you can think of about a topic. That way, since you have engaged with the idea of the topic given in the monthly, you’d be able to remember it better. I don’t see the utility in chumma mugging up current affairs from the prelims point of view. It’s not in line with the prelims pattern post 2016. In any case, since you will do enough mocks, these trivia type things will get covered anyway. Word of advice, don’t do these things cover to cover. Remember, 250 words in mains. Enough understanding for prelims. This is what will sail you through. There is no need for FOMO. An average UPSC aspirant cannot even recollect 1 percent of the cumulative total they’ve read on the exam day. That is simply because of the volume that we read.Therefore, my suggestion would be to strictly limit what you study.Of course you may read if you have interest, and that will have some effect on your answers as well, but it almost entirely depends on how well you have internalised and predetermined what you are going to write about a specific issue. If you have just passively read it, it’s of no use whatsoever for the exam.
Therefore, my suggestions would be:
1. Don’t rote learn from a monthly. Instead, Rote learn from a Mains 365 for GS.
2. Don’t read too much about things that won’t come for Mains. And this is 50 percent of the magazine in most cases.
3. If you have enough content about something, skip left right and centre.
4. Do enough mocks to get over the fomo. Revise the mocks. And that too, just the bare minimum about things such as initiatives, space missions, missiles etc. The more you know about these things usually indicates that you have wasted more time on information that is unnecessary for clearing the exam.
5. UPSC aspirants usually have a lot of information/knowledge with them at the time of Mains. It is based on whatever fraction of it that they display that the marks are allotted. Therefore, it stands to reason that you need to maximise reading the things that you can replicate in the exam. Because anything you read beyond that is useless for the exam because the examiner won’t know about it.
6. Knowledge is never wasted. I still read up on things that interest me. It’s a bad habit when you have limited time and if your sole purpose is to clear the exam.
7. If you limit what you read, you’ll realise that the time you are spending reading rn is enough. Just that you need to strategise better.
8. For prelims, do places in news, organisations, reports, PT365 for environment. Cost benefit ratio is high usually. The game is usually won and lost basis your grip on static subjects, your concepts, and a whole dollop of sheer dumb luck.
For the uninitiated, “chumma” means “simply” (pronounced “simbly”). It’s a way of life for us here in the South. :)
Hey fellow aspirants, I need some help.
I find it extremely difficult to follow monthly magazines. Initially I thought that it was probably one particular institute whose magazine I am finding difficult to grasp. But, I have tried quite a few including Forum's, and somehow feel that these magazines are not for me.
There seems to be too much information overload. And somehow , I always ALWAYS end up NOT COMPLETING ANY MAGAZINE. It is not that I dont read newspapers and rely solely on magazines, but I just find myself difficult to concentrate and spend hours on just one issue.
It read one page and by the time I reach the next one, I already forget what I read minutes ago.
IT is so demotivating everytime.
I sometimes decide not to go through any magazine, but thats when the FOMO hits really hard. Everyone is reading Monthlies, Yearlies and so on and here I am, not able to finish even a single document.
Please help.
Just tagging a few people here whose name I can recall at the moment. Others may also give in their opinons @SergioRamos @Arrokoth @Patootie @nerdfighter @DeekshitaP @Jammu .
Also, if there is any video/youtube alternative to these magazines, please suggest .
Thanks.Here’s a secret!You don’t need to read everything in monthly magazines.Pick and choose what you want to read. I would suggest doing them purely from a mains point of view. Maybe you could reflect on what you read and make one page notes with random points you can think of about a topic. That way, since you have engaged with the idea of the topic given in the monthly, you’d be able to remember it better. I don’t see the utility in chumma mugging up current affairs from the prelims point of view. It’s not in line with the prelims pattern post 2016. In any case, since you will do enough mocks, these trivia type things will get covered anyway. Word of advice, don’t do these things cover to cover.Remember, 250 words in mains. Enough understanding for prelims. This is what will sail you through.There is no need for FOMO. An average UPSC aspirant cannot even recollect 1 percent of the cumulative total they’ve read on the exam day. That is simply because of the volume that we read.Therefore, my suggestion would be to strictly limit what you study.Of course you may read if you have interest, and that will have some effect on your answers as well, but it almost entirely depends on how well you have internalised and predetermined what you are going to write about a specific issue. If you have just passively read it, it’s of no use whatsoever for the exam.
Therefore, my suggestions would be:
1. Don’t rote learn from a monthly. Instead, Rote learn from a Mains 365 for GS.
2. Don’t read too much about things that won’t come for Mains. And this is 50 percent of the magazine in most cases.
3. If you have enough content about something, skip left right and centre.
4. Do enough mocks to get over the fomo. Revise the mocks. And that too, just the bare minimum about things such as initiatives, space missions, missiles etc. The more you know about these things usually indicates that you have wasted more time on information that is unnecessary for clearing the exam.
5. UPSC aspirants usually have a lot of information/knowledge with them at the time of Mains. It is based on whatever fraction of it that they display that the marks are allotted. Therefore, it stands to reason that you need to maximise reading the things that you can replicate in the exam. Because anything you read beyond that is useless for the exam because the examiner won’t know about it.
6. Knowledge is never wasted. I still read up on things that interest me. It’s a bad habit when you have limited time and if your sole purpose is to clear the exam.
7. If you limit what you read, you’ll realise that the time you are spending reading rn is enough. Just that you need to strategise better.
8. For prelims, do places in news, organisations, reports, PT365 for environment. Cost benefit ratio is high usually. The game is usually won and lost basis your grip on static subjects, your concepts, and a whole dollop of sheer dumb luck.
Wow!!
Thanks for such a detailed response. It is really helpful.
venkataharish,nerdfighterHey fellow aspirants, I need some help.
I find it extremely difficult to follow monthly magazines. Initially I thought that it was probably one particular institute whose magazine I am finding difficult to grasp. But, I have tried quite a few including Forum's, and somehow feel that these magazines are not for me.
There seems to be too much information overload. And somehow , I always ALWAYS end up NOT COMPLETING ANY MAGAZINE. It is not that I dont read newspapers and rely solely on magazines, but I just find myself difficult to concentrate and spend hours on just one issue.
It read one page and by the time I reach the next one, I already forget what I read minutes ago.
IT is so demotivating everytime.
I sometimes decide not to go through any magazine, but thats when the FOMO hits really hard. Everyone is reading Monthlies, Yearlies and so on and here I am, not able to finish even a single document.
Please help.
Just tagging a few people here whose name I can recall at the moment. Others may also give in their opinons @SergioRamos @Arrokoth @Patootie @nerdfighter @DeekshitaP @Jammu .
Also, if there is any video/youtube alternative to these magazines, please suggest .
Thanks.The power of compound effect, bro. Keep a target for each day. Say, everyday I am going to read 10 pages of a magazine. Do it well. Like, if any question is asked from this thing, you should be able to answer it well. This way, you can revise the magazine twice a month.
A monthly magazine with 100+ pages of dense info can sound overwhelming. Break into chunks. And also a person like me cannot take in a magazine like vision. EPIC is much more tolerable. So, is Rau's magazine. But pick one, and stay with it. Also, I've found that revising the related static portion makes me much more likely to retain and be interested in whatever issue I am reading.
Idk if I could help.
Sounds doable!!
Thanks :)
nerdfighter,@sjerngal You can watch Rau's DNS. Also, they upload a pdf along with it, daily. So instead of going through monthly magazine you can read and revise those pdfs on daily, weekly and monthly basis.
Thanks:)
Will check them out !
Infinitybeyondinfinity,
Hey fellow aspirants, I need some help.
I find it extremely difficult to follow monthly magazines. Initially I thought that it was probably one particular institute whose magazine I am finding difficult to grasp. But, I have tried quite a few including Forum's, and somehow feel that these magazines are not for me.
There seems to be too much information overload. And somehow , I always ALWAYS end up NOT COMPLETING ANY MAGAZINE. It is not that I dont read newspapers and rely solely on magazines, but I just find myself difficult to concentrate and spend hours on just one issue.
It read one page and by the time I reach the next one, I already forget what I read minutes ago.
IT is so demotivating everytime.
I sometimes decide not to go through any magazine, but thats when the FOMO hits really hard. Everyone is reading Monthlies, Yearlies and so on and here I am, not able to finish even a single document.
Please help.
Just tagging a few people here whose name I can recall at the moment. Others may also give in their opinons @SergioRamos @Arrokoth @Patootie @nerdfighter @DeekshitaP @Jammu .
Also, if there is any video/youtube alternative to these magazines, please suggest .
Thanks.
Hi dost, I do understand reading these magazines is such a tedious task. I have read good suggestions here by fellow friends. It’s nice how different people do the same things as differently, and in this context, the approach I follow is totally different but I am glad it has worked very well.
Few things that I could figure out in your concern is, doing CA is boring and retaining it is challenging. For the former, I have devised my own way which is time taking but rewarding. Incidentally, persuing it helps in retaining.
One advise here I would also like to give that Neyawn has also very well talked in the video posted on SFG thread, that there is no memory problem, but only revision problem. I do believe it is 200% true.
I generally read newspapers everyday, but the moment I see some prelims related news, I skip through the pages. I never read monthlies/yearlies every month. When prelims is just 3-4 months away, I compile them and start reading.
1st reading - I read one monthly / yearly a day and underline what is important. 12+ days goes like this
2nd reading - I read what I have underlined. 6+ Days
3rd reading - I devise ways to retain it. 6+ days
4th reading - I eliminate stuffs that are already in memory. 6+ days
5th reading - I eliminate further. 4+ days
6th reading - I eliminate further. 2-3 days.
Now there are things that are hard to remember, so I would copy them on my Evernote. There I make good use of ‘bold’ ‘unbold’ the text and do this exercise every morning. In few days, I am able to retain every aspect of it.
Now comes the application part, here I do multiple MCQs. I try recollecting from memory and apply in eliminating options there. This way in mocks I attempt 95+ questions because every option I have read either in static or current.
This exercise of’course looks monotonous, but when I do it, and especially on Evernote, it makes this phase so wonderful. Thus in 30-40 days every CA is in memory.
Regarding which institute’s magazine one should read, I feel in personal opinion that one should read what most of aspirants are reading. Efforts should not be to know more of knowledge but to score a mark extra from competitors by reading same text but in a better way.
I am attaching some screenshots to show how it looks.
Edit - consolidated memory would make sure tendency to mark MCQs as wrong during actual prelims under stress is minimal.
Hey fellow aspirants, I need some help.
I find it extremely difficult to follow monthly magazines. Initially I thought that it was probably one particular institute whose magazine I am finding difficult to grasp. But, I have tried quite a few including Forum's, and somehow feel that these magazines are not for me.
There seems to be too much information overload. And somehow , I always ALWAYS end up NOT COMPLETING ANY MAGAZINE. It is not that I dont read newspapers and rely solely on magazines, but I just find myself difficult to concentrate and spend hours on just one issue.
It read one page and by the time I reach the next one, I already forget what I read minutes ago.
IT is so demotivating everytime.
I sometimes decide not to go through any magazine, but thats when the FOMO hits really hard. Everyone is reading Monthlies, Yearlies and so on and here I am, not able to finish even a single document.
Please help.
Just tagging a few people here whose name I can recall at the moment. Others may also give in their opinons @SergioRamos @Arrokoth @Patootie @nerdfighter @DeekshitaP @Jammu .
Also, if there is any video/youtube alternative to these magazines, please suggest .
Thanks.
I am someone like you, unable to complete the CA magazines, hence shifted to the PT and mains 365. Rest I rely on my static syllabus completion. Now I see people here doing magazines likes religious rituals, I feel a massive FOMO.
Serious question guys, is doing PT and Mains 365 along with rigorous newspaper reading not a substitute for magazines? Do I need to do magazines?
I am total nobody but here is how I like to think. The ultimate goal is to write a mains answer, an essay and answer questions in interview & do intelligent guesses in prelims. So, whatever you are doing, is it solving all these things? Like, you can skip newspapers but do you have anything else in your schedule that sort-of plugs the gap that the absence of a newspaper reading create? Similarly, 365 ho ya monthly or a current affairs course. Look at what function that particular thing is performing in your prep and see if you can't do that, what else you can do that manages to closely fill in that same gap. Newspaper, magazines, etc. All are mediums. Be medium blind. I guess, that should be the way. But what do I know anyway.
It is a pretty good approach. The reason why I am less invested in CA is due to the nature of GS papers. A good chunk of the questions, be from any GS paper, are out of NCERT's, one way or the other. Since my optional is pretty much static (History), no CA needed there too. Then, only 2 papers remain for me which are heavy CA centric, i.e. GS 2 and 3. Somehow giving daily 1-1.5 hrs on magazines for few questions in GS 2 and 3 does not look like a worthy proposition to me.
.
Hey fellow aspirants, I need some help.
I find it extremely difficult to follow monthly magazines. Initially I thought that it was probably one particular institute whose magazine I am finding difficult to grasp. But, I have tried quite a few including Forum's, and somehow feel that these magazines are not for me.
There seems to be too much information overload. And somehow , I always ALWAYS end up NOT COMPLETING ANY MAGAZINE. It is not that I dont read newspapers and rely solely on magazines, but I just find myself difficult to concentrate and spend hours on just one issue.
It read one page and by the time I reach the next one, I already forget what I read minutes ago.
IT is so demotivating everytime.
I sometimes decide not to go through any magazine, but thats when the FOMO hits really hard. Everyone is reading Monthlies, Yearlies and so on and here I am, not able to finish even a single document.
Please help.
Just tagging a few people here whose name I can recall at the moment. Others may also give in their opinons @SergioRamos @Arrokoth @Patootie @nerdfighter @DeekshitaP @Jammu .
Also, if there is any video/youtube alternative to these magazines, please suggest .
Thanks.
I survive with compilations (daily) solely, I read the newspaper mainly for the editorials. I usually end up making notes from the daily compilation (copy+paste) so I don’t really end up doing monthly because i consider a redundant task. What I revise my current affairs, I usually go section-wise, so I keep 1/2 sections for the day and keep a time limit to finish. Ive realised that is very important, or else mugging up current affairs can take the entire day due to its mechanical nature.
I also make sure that i can do at least 3 revisions or so before the exams, never try to retain everything in the first go itself. You’d be setting yourself up for failure. My first reading is purely to take note of certain facts, underlining, highlighting etc. 2nd reading I try to read only the highlighted portions and remember them. The 3rd reading (not too far after) is an active recall, where I usually make a table of contents/ index and try to recall facts or at least the basic details of each issue and then fill in the blanks
Hey fellow aspirants, I need some help.
I find it extremely difficult to follow monthly magazines. Initially I thought that it was probably one particular institute whose magazine I am finding difficult to grasp. But, I have tried quite a few including Forum's, and somehow feel that these magazines are not for me.
There seems to be too much information overload. And somehow , I always ALWAYS end up NOT COMPLETING ANY MAGAZINE. It is not that I dont read newspapers and rely solely on magazines, but I just find myself difficult to concentrate and spend hours on just one issue.
It read one page and by the time I reach the next one, I already forget what I read minutes ago.
IT is so demotivating everytime.
I sometimes decide not to go through any magazine, but thats when the FOMO hits really hard. Everyone is reading Monthlies, Yearlies and so on and here I am, not able to finish even a single document.
Please help.
Just tagging a few people here whose name I can recall at the moment. Others may also give in their opinons @SergioRamos @Arrokoth @Patootie @nerdfighter @DeekshitaP @Jammu .
Also, if there is any video/youtube alternative to these magazines, please suggest .
Thanks.Here’s a secret!You don’t need to read everything in monthly magazines.Pick and choose what you want to read. I would suggest doing them purely from a mains point of view. Maybe you could reflect on what you read and make one page notes with random points you can think of about a topic. That way, since you have engaged with the idea of the topic given in the monthly, you’d be able to remember it better. I don’t see the utility in chumma mugging up current affairs from the prelims point of view. It’s not in line with the prelims pattern post 2016. In any case, since you will do enough mocks, these trivia type things will get covered anyway. Word of advice, don’t do these things cover to cover.Remember, 250 words in mains. Enough understanding for prelims. This is what will sail you through.There is no need for FOMO. An average UPSC aspirant cannot even recollect 1 percent of the cumulative total they’ve read on the exam day. That is simply because of the volume that we read.Therefore, my suggestion would be to strictly limit what you study.Of course you may read if you have interest, and that will have some effect on your answers as well, but it almost entirely depends on how well you have internalised and predetermined what you are going to write about a specific issue. If you have just passively read it, it’s of no use whatsoever for the exam.
Therefore, my suggestions would be:
1. Don’t rote learn from a monthly. Instead, Rote learn from a Mains 365 for GS.
2. Don’t read too much about things that won’t come for Mains. And this is 50 percent of the magazine in most cases.
3. If you have enough content about something, skip left right and centre.
4. Do enough mocks to get over the fomo. Revise the mocks. And that too, just the bare minimum about things such as initiatives, space missions, missiles etc. The more you know about these things usually indicates that you have wasted more time on information that is unnecessary for clearing the exam.
5. UPSC aspirants usually have a lot of information/knowledge with them at the time of Mains. It is based on whatever fraction of it that they display that the marks are allotted. Therefore, it stands to reason that you need to maximise reading the things that you can replicate in the exam. Because anything you read beyond that is useless for the exam because the examiner won’t know about it.
6. Knowledge is never wasted. I still read up on things that interest me. It’s a bad habit when you have limited time and if your sole purpose is to clear the exam.
7. If you limit what you read, you’ll realise that the time you are spending reading rn is enough. Just that you need to strategise better.
8. For prelims, do places in news, organisations, reports, PT365 for environment. Cost benefit ratio is high usually. The game is usually won and lost basis your grip on static subjects, your concepts, and a whole dollop of sheer dumb luck.
Heheh chumma mugging
Patootie,
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