MAINS 2021 Failure ! What to do Next ???

msdiansaid

@NAIROBI22 Thanks for pouring your heart out via this thread. 

I also graduated in 2013 and went to USA. Some things happened at the time of graduation which made me decide that UPSC is not something I want to do. However, I was wrong. UPSC never left me. 

I came back to India after about 3.25 years. Took my first attempt in 2017 and took my last and  final 6th attempt on 5th June. Scoring between 88-98 from various keys. 

2017 - Failed prelims by 5-6 marks

2018 - Failed Mains by 41 marks. 

2019 - Failed Prelims by 9 marks.

2020 - Failed Mains by 61 marks.

2021 - Failed Mains by 15 marks. Thought, this time I will make it. Optional did me in. I even had a score of 133 in essay. Felt dejected and decided I am not taking the exam again. But come 5th June, I went and took the exam again just because I had nothing better to do.

Have got an opportunity to join a Top 50 ranked University for my PhD in North America starting this September. It has all come down to what I really want and to be frank I don't know. Do I still want to write the Mains again?

To be frank, I never really put in the hardwork that's required to crack the UPSC exam. Relied on my natural intelligence to get through,  I realised this exam needs the hours that needs to be put in. Luck maybe a factor but the only way to overcome is this by putting in the hours that is just non-negotiable.

After my first attempt had joined a PSU (cracked the open exam conducted on an All-India level), to be financially independent as I thought job and UPSC preparation can go hand in hand. I think I was complacent and lacked real motivation to crack the exam which can be gauged by the hours one has put in by reading newspapers everyday and the answer-writing practice. 

@Neyawn has rightly summarized what it takes to clear the exam. 

I wish and pray that things work out for you and am sorry for the losses and the personal hardships that you have had to go through. 

I wish you success in whatever you wish to decide. Just wanted to let you know that there are many like you who feel they have squandered it all but that's not the case my friend.

It is never over until you say it's over. I think we can find solace in the fact that life is too big to be bogged down by a failure in the UPSC exam. We just have to get up, when we fall down.

Hope, this post has been of help and sorry if I haven't been truly able to empathize with you and your situation right now. Just wanted to let you know that I can feel maybe 1% of what you might be going through.

Regards.

Neyawnsaid

What not to do?

1. Prepare for Prelims 2023 with high enthu from now itself.
2. Waste next 4-5 months ( typical ) and then think of Prelims after that.
3. Be a seasonal aspirant ( difficult to avoid ) and become serious only 4 months before the exam.
4. Study for Prelims now, and begin or extend mains/optional  till March April 2023 and set the road for prelims failure in 2023
5. Do not  put yourself down - treating people appearing for Mains as "successful" and yourself as "failure". 

Some suggestions on what you can do ( what people with good ranks have done after a prelims failure )

1. Follow exam calendar and prepare for Mains - GS and Optional till September/oct
2. Do anything that simulates you prepare for Mains as if you were appearing for Mains 2022
3. Be a part of the crowd and finish off the GS Mains and Optional preparation in the next 5 months.
4. Realise the fact that some people take 3-4 months to prepare for Prelims, but you may next 6 months to prepare for Prelims. Then make a plan such that you give dedicated 6 months to prelims. No matter what a topper says. Understand the fact that by committing more time to prelims, you can become better at it, just like anything else.
5. Develop a regular Newspaper reading habit. That is the single biggest thing that will help you in Prelims. There will be toppers who have not read the newspaper. Do not pick up the 5 things from 5 toppers which they did not do , and make a 2 hours-is-more-than-enough study plan.  Typical plan
6.             T1 = No newspaper ; T2 = only studies 5 hours ; T3 - did not write any Prelims Test T4 - did not do any mains answer writing practice T5 - Did not join any coaching. Now the plan is No newspaper + No need to write test papers + No Answer Writing + No coaching. Now you have a bullet proof plan that can be applied to UPSC  , NEET , JRF, CUET, SSC, PO with equal chance of failure/ success.
7. If you cannot do on your own, and you have wasted 2-3 years, try to move away to a place which has a coaching hub and join coaching, and do class, and be part of crowd, no need to waste half a decade and then do it.
8. There is no problem being a part of crowd as long as you can benefit from the energy of a crowd. People dont finish their first Marathons because they are great runners. They finish it  because the crowd and the 60 year old man running behind him makes him finish it. More often than not.
9. Study. Life is a numbers name. You clear exam because you have studied certain number of hours. You can clock them over a year or 4 years - studying seasonally. 
10. Do not take too many inputs or advices. Only you know your true position. No one but you . Write it down and you will see a good ray of light coming. 
11. Accept that there is an element of luck in success in any walk of life. That is a fact accepted by most successful people. But luck begins when hard work is done. Most people who bank on luck are the ones who havent done the hard work needed to trigger luck.
12. Some of us will get throughkismatand some of us will get throughmehnat.If you have not made it, at leastkismatis ruled out. Focus on themehnat.

morsmodresaid

Neyawnsaid

What not to do?

1. Prepare for Prelims 2023 with high enthu from now itself.
2. Waste next 4-5 months ( typical ) and then think of Prelims after that.
3. Be a seasonal aspirant ( difficult to avoid ) and become serious only 4 months before the exam.
4. Study for Prelims now, and begin or extend mains/optional  till March April 2023 and set the road for prelims failure in 2023
5. Do not  put yourself down - treating people appearing for Mains as "successful" and yourself as "failure". 

Some suggestions on what you can do ( what people with good ranks have done after a prelims failure )

1. Follow exam calendar and prepare for Mains - GS and Optional till September/oct
2. Do anything that simulates you prepare for Mains as if you were appearing for Mains 2022
3. Be a part of the crowd and finish off the GS Mains and Optional preparation in the next 5 months.
4. Realise the fact that some people take 3-4 months to prepare for Prelims, but you may next 6 months to prepare for Prelims. Then make a plan such that you give dedicated 6 months to prelims. No matter what a topper says. Understand the fact that by committing more time to prelims, you can become better at it, just like anything else.
5. Develop a regular Newspaper reading habit. That is the single biggest thing that will help you in Prelims. There will be toppers who have not read the newspaper. Do not pick up the 5 things from 5 toppers which they did not do , and make a 2 hours-is-more-than-enough study plan.  Typical plan
6.             T1 = No newspaper ; T2 = only studies 5 hours ; T3 - did not write any Prelims Test T4 - did not do any mains answer writing practice T5 - Did not join any coaching. Now the plan is No newspaper + No need to write test papers + No Answer Writing + No coaching. Now you have a bullet proof plan that can be applied to UPSC  , NEET , JRF, CUET, SSC, PO with equal chance of failure/ success.
7. If you cannot do on your own, and you have wasted 2-3 years, try to move away to a place which has a coaching hub and join coaching, and do class, and be part of crowd, no need to waste half a decade and then do it.
8. There is no problem being a part of crowd as long as you can benefit from the energy of a crowd. People dont finish their first Marathons because they are great runners. They finish it  because the crowd and the 60 year old man running behind him makes him finish it. More often than not.
9. Study. Life is a numbers name. You clear exam because you have studied certain number of hours. You can clock them over a year or 4 years - studying seasonally. 
10. Do not take too many inputs or advices. Only you know your true position. No one but you . Write it down and you will see a good ray of light coming. 
11. Accept that there is an element of luck in success in any walk of life. That is a fact accepted by most successful people. But luck begins when hard work is done. Most people who bank on luck are the ones who havent done the hard work needed to trigger luck.
12. Some of us will get throughkismatand some of us will get throughmehnat.If you have not made it, at leastkismatis ruled out. Focus on themehnat.

@NeyawnCould you please clarify some things for me?

1. When preparing for GS Mains till Sept/Oct, would we be not required to read basic books for subjects like Geography, Polity, Modern History? Or with GS Mains you only mean covering Ethics, Security, Agri, Social Justice, Governance, Society, World History, Post-Independence, and Mains specific topics of Geography, Polity?

2. To say I am 'weak' in Environment, S&T, Geography would be an understatement. When and how should I prepare for them from Pre Perspective?

Neyawnsaid

morsmodresaid

Neyawnsaid

What not to do?

1. Prepare for Prelims 2023 with high enthu from now itself.
2. Waste next 4-5 months ( typical ) and then think of Prelims after that.
3. Be a seasonal aspirant ( difficult to avoid ) and become serious only 4 months before the exam.
4. Study for Prelims now, and begin or extend mains/optional  till March April 2023 and set the road for prelims failure in 2023
5. Do not  put yourself down - treating people appearing for Mains as "successful" and yourself as "failure". 

Some suggestions on what you can do ( what people with good ranks have done after a prelims failure )

1. Follow exam calendar and prepare for Mains - GS and Optional till September/oct
2. Do anything that simulates you prepare for Mains as if you were appearing for Mains 2022
3. Be a part of the crowd and finish off the GS Mains and Optional preparation in the next 5 months.
4. Realise the fact that some people take 3-4 months to prepare for Prelims, but you may next 6 months to prepare for Prelims. Then make a plan such that you give dedicated 6 months to prelims. No matter what a topper says. Understand the fact that by committing more time to prelims, you can become better at it, just like anything else.
5. Develop a regular Newspaper reading habit. That is the single biggest thing that will help you in Prelims. There will be toppers who have not read the newspaper. Do not pick up the 5 things from 5 toppers which they did not do , and make a 2 hours-is-more-than-enough study plan.  Typical plan
6.             T1 = No newspaper ; T2 = only studies 5 hours ; T3 - did not write any Prelims Test T4 - did not do any mains answer writing practice T5 - Did not join any coaching. Now the plan is No newspaper + No need to write test papers + No Answer Writing + No coaching. Now you have a bullet proof plan that can be applied to UPSC  , NEET , JRF, CUET, SSC, PO with equal chance of failure/ success.
7. If you cannot do on your own, and you have wasted 2-3 years, try to move away to a place which has a coaching hub and join coaching, and do class, and be part of crowd, no need to waste half a decade and then do it.
8. There is no problem being a part of crowd as long as you can benefit from the energy of a crowd. People dont finish their first Marathons because they are great runners. They finish it  because the crowd and the 60 year old man running behind him makes him finish it. More often than not.
9. Study. Life is a numbers name. You clear exam because you have studied certain number of hours. You can clock them over a year or 4 years - studying seasonally. 
10. Do not take too many inputs or advices. Only you know your true position. No one but you . Write it down and you will see a good ray of light coming. 
11. Accept that there is an element of luck in success in any walk of life. That is a fact accepted by most successful people. But luck begins when hard work is done. Most people who bank on luck are the ones who havent done the hard work needed to trigger luck.
12. Some of us will get throughkismatand some of us will get throughmehnat.If you have not made it, at leastkismatis ruled out. Focus on themehnat.

@NeyawnCould you please clarify some things for me?

1. When preparing for GS Mains till Sept/Oct, would we be not required to read basic books for subjects like Geography, Polity, Modern History? Or with GS Mains you only mean covering Ethics, Security, Agri, Social Justice, Governance, Society, World History, Post-Independence, and Mains specific topics of Geography, Polity?

2. To say I am 'weak' in Environment, S&T, Geography would be an understatement. When and how should I prepare for them from Pre Perspective?

1. When I say finish off Mains by Sept /Oct/ Nov at best, I would mean the four to five basic books/ subjects like Polity, History, Gegraphy, Econony and S& T must also be done with. 

2. About half a decade back, I hadthis enlightened soul( now the DM of a District ) ask me to take couple of mock Interviews for him. He was in Allied Services, a little disspaointed in life, and thought he needed some luck.

I was holding a mock test for Forum in offline mode. One student called Himanshu particularly called and said that we must do so.

So I asked Mr N to help me distribute the paper, and after the mocks tests were done, we would sit for the mock Interview in ORN, New Delhi.

A young candidate walked in and asked me - I am bad at History. This gentlman could not control. He said - who is poor at history. It is a subject that is most easily understood. There are no major concepts involved that need teaching. If you read history more times than me, you become better. If I read it more than you, I become better. 

This is someting that you need to understand that most things are a matter of "how many times you have read it". Geography and S&T I would say to some extent are subjects that need to be taught by a teacher. Even eco. But as far as prelims is concerned, you must try to read them 7-10 times.

Also, if you find them super difficult, please take some classes for it. Do not waste years trying to solve problems that can be solved by takeing classes.

Neyawnsaid

What not to do?

1. Prepare for Prelims 2023 with high enthu from now itself.
2. Waste next 4-5 months ( typical ) and then think of Prelims after that.
3. Be a seasonal aspirant ( difficult to avoid ) and become serious only 4 months before the exam.
4. Study for Prelims now, and begin or extend mains/optional  till March April 2023 and set the road for prelims failure in 2023
5. Do not  put yourself down - treating people appearing for Mains as "successful" and yourself as "failure". 

Some suggestions on what you can do ( what people with good ranks have done after a prelims failure )

1. Follow exam calendar and prepare for Mains - GS and Optional till September/oct
2. Do anything that simulates you prepare for Mains as if you were appearing for Mains 2022
3. Be a part of the crowd and finish off the GS Mains and Optional preparation in the next 5 months.
4. Realise the fact that some people take 3-4 months to prepare for Prelims, but you may next 6 months to prepare for Prelims. Then make a plan such that you give dedicated 6 months to prelims. No matter what a topper says. Understand the fact that by committing more time to prelims, you can become better at it, just like anything else.
5. Develop a regular Newspaper reading habit. That is the single biggest thing that will help you in Prelims. There will be toppers who have not read the newspaper. Do not pick up the 5 things from 5 toppers which they did not do , and make a 2 hours-is-more-than-enough study plan.  Typical plan
6.             T1 = No newspaper ; T2 = only studies 5 hours ; T3 - did not write any Prelims Test T4 - did not do any mains answer writing practice T5 - Did not join any coaching. Now the plan is No newspaper + No need to write test papers + No Answer Writing + No coaching. Now you have a bullet proof plan that can be applied to UPSC  , NEET , JRF, CUET, SSC, PO with equal chance of failure/ success.
7. If you cannot do on your own, and you have wasted 2-3 years, try to move away to a place which has a coaching hub and join coaching, and do class, and be part of crowd, no need to waste half a decade and then do it.
8. There is no problem being a part of crowd as long as you can benefit from the energy of a crowd. People dont finish their first Marathons because they are great runners. They finish it  because the crowd and the 60 year old man running behind him makes him finish it. More often than not.
9. Study. Life is a numbers name. You clear exam because you have studied certain number of hours. You can clock them over a year or 4 years - studying seasonally. 
10. Do not take too many inputs or advices. Only you know your true position. No one but you . Write it down and you will see a good ray of light coming. 
11. Accept that there is an element of luck in success in any walk of life. That is a fact accepted by most successful people. But luck begins when hard work is done. Most people who bank on luck are the ones who havent done the hard work needed to trigger luck.
12. Some of us will get throughkismatand some of us will get throughmehnat.If you have not made it, at leastkismatis ruled out. Focus on themehnat.