Mains 2019 Preparation and Discussion Thread

@Biryanimafia_said inMains 2019 Preparation and Discussion Thread:

@DijkstraI have very similar experience, how did you score in gs2 and gs3 in 2017?

105 in GS2
116 in GS3

@Dijkstranice, goodluck for '19.

@Biryanimafia_Thanks and good luck to you too.

@DKTNot too great bhai. Only solace is that I attempted all questions. Can never be sure of the quality. Yours?

who else felt personally attacked by work worship translation qsn in hindi compulsory

@K_9
I hv attempted only 800 marks out of 1000 marks of GS papers, but only hope is that CONTENT was not compromised in any question
In optional( socio) I attempted 450/500 again 50 marks less attempt but content was there in all the answers

Essay was good ( individual, South asia )

Now it is very difficult for me bcz i hv left 250 marks without attempting, it is equal to one GS paper,
Only MIRACLE can help to get call for Personality test.

This query is open for anyone who may genuinely know the answer. My paper2 (law) did not go well; seeing the trend, across optionals one paper was considerably tougher. My question is, does UPSC take any measure for equalizing the effects between paper1 and paper2 or between aspirants of all optionals? Or it's majorly as it is, and quite probable one may recieve 150 and 100 respectively in each paper of optional.
While I realize no way to find out until april '2020, just here trying to seek some consolation in distress. Thanks in advance.

@John_Titorhahah, hi5!
I felt like UPSC is trying to communicate with us.

@Biryanimafia_I wrote mains last year with law optional. Optional paper 2 was a little different even last year like this year but they generally give marks liberally in paper 2. Scoring in paper 1 is difficult than the 2nd one. Just to give an example, I had completed entire paper 1 and thought I have written decent answers. I got 125 in that paper. On the other hand, in paper 2 I had left questions worth 40 marks blank + I wasn't really satisfied with the other answers but managed to get a score of 119.

@Joeyisthebestthat is interesting, in 2017 my paper 1 went really good and I had 140 while paper 2 was just okay and score 136. Barely any divergence, though it was a pleasant surprise then, not so sure of 2019. Thanks for replying.

Anyone with Psychology optional? How did you find the paper?

@Biryanimafia_i got 125 and 128 in anthropology optional. my paper 1 was much better than paper 2

@zombielandidk why but understanding that variations are not drastic is a bit soothing. Thanks

@A_girl_has_no_nameThis time there were more direct questions than last year.. So donno about quality but most people would have felt comfortable in both the papers

Anyone please shed light on normalisation of optional scores, the algorithms and maths behind it.

@Rajanikant_ChilumulaYeah, I also feel the same. Hope that this year people will end up getting good marks in Psychology.

@corrigible_87i vaguely remember an old forum discussion on how upsc uses n-linear regression & copies are divided into stacks, not able to find it, it was from SC judgement or RTI

@A_girl_has_no_nameHope to see more toppers from Psychology this time.. All the best

@CaesarIt was UPSC's reply given to SC in some case, I think. It has been years since I read it last. The top 5% copies and lowest 5% copies are rechecked by the head examiner from each stack to make sure there is no unnecessary extreme marking. A normalization formula was also given.

@Caesarsounds very technical