Mains 2019 Preparation and Discussion Thread

I think this trend of asking ambiguous questions will most definitely continue in the optional papers. It won't be a surprise in PubAd since they are all used to it. But even in conventionally "stable" optionals like Anthro.

@Kira0705Kaunse answer mei bhai? Itna sab to yaad bhi nahi rehta paper mei

@K_9bhai main toh usi link p jo post kiya h neeche wala para copy paste kr diya , haan itna acha aur exact toh koi bhi nai likh sakta

@Valar_morghulisYeah, Vision's simple way of asking "Explain causes, consequences and solutions" had seriously dumbed down the brain.Forum's test series was a bit on UPSC line but this year GS2 paper was on a completely different level.I still cant understand what few questions were demanding.

@Kira0705ismese 4 pnts likhe hai.

Am I the only one who couldn't complete ethics paper and couldn't use many examples despite very well prepared for that paper?

@Jyoti_k same here...was not able to finish the whole paper...

@Jyoti_k #meToo. Felt like my prep was hardly applicable to the paper

Completing papers is highly over rated. You are more likely to score higher if you leave 2-3 questions you know nothing about and instead focus on improving the rest of the content.

I felt that GS 4 was slightly different and difficult than 2018 mains.

Case study 8, 10 & 12 were difficult. The first two of these were still manageable but the last one was "yuck".

@Champakdon't say that mate, completing all questions was the only positive thing in this mains for me
P.S: there goes my last grain of hope...

@Biryanimafia_
You did right, Mate. Out of 10 he won't give you more than 6.

But if you attempt next two along with it in same time then
3 question*3 marks =9 marks.

I guess quantity fetches you marks.

But then yes, last year I was not able to complete my paper. I thought I will score less... But I score better.

So seriously, we can just speculate.

Seeing the nature of gs papers , what do you all think about cut off lower than last year or on similar lines?

@Behemothsaid inMains 2019 Preparation and Discussion Thread:

Seeing the nature of gs papers , what do you all think about cut off lower than last year or on similar lines?

Almost on the similar lines, toda 10-20 marks kam ho sakti hain par usse kam nahi

Almost everyone had the vision material in their hands at the centre and i am just like...sab agar ek jaise hi points likhenge to marks kaise milenge...
it is very high probability that upsc paper setters are referring to the material in orn...
current affair classes/ magazine alone wont help...

Markings are all relative. In 2014, 100 marks in a GS paper was a very very good score. I remember Gaurav Agrawal scoring 350 in all GS papers combined. Now, I see people freely scoring in that range. WHo's to say UPSC won't revert back to the old days this time?

"Let's make UPSC great again!"

@ChampakGlad you wrote about GA.. Other day i was flitting through mrunal and saw his marks in GS as 85, 63, 88 and 102 !! Total shock and disbelief.. Phew !! competition has increased soooo much... Ready made points now with so many CA modules, magazines, structure

I think competition is not the reason at least not the only reason. People worked as hard and had as many resources in 2013 as they do now. The available resources like vision are useless anyways in the paper. Just that the base(which is relative) has shifted. If an average answer got 5 marks in 2013, it gets 7 marks now. I don't know the reason behind it though. As long as it is all relative, doesn't matter.

@ChampakNo. I think quality of answer writing has improved. In 2013 vision insights were just starting. Plus the new format in 2013 meant nobody knew what constituted a "good answer". Today we can see how toppers write, what fetches marks and what does not. We subsequently modify our answer writing according to that. Gaurav agrawal had no baseline to compare himself with.

@Champaksaid inMains 2019 Preparation and Discussion Thread:

Markings are all relative. In 2014, 100 marks in a GS paper was a very very good score. I remember Gaurav Agrawal scoring 350 in all GS papers combined. Now, I see people freely scoring in that range. WHo's to say UPSC won't revert back to the old days this time?

"Let's make UPSC great again!"

Yes.. GA topped with a score of 975. UPSC is maybe irked at increasing cut-offs. In pre, they have already settled the dust!