Mains 2021: Doubt and strategy discussion thread

Right, so I have a lot of individualised ideas regarding mains in my head, and this is an attempt to achieving some clarity in those thoughts.Penning them down for my own further reference.Feel free to ignore.

In other words, here is a "Bunch of Thoughts"I write to myself(Although much more benign than Golwalkar's) lest I forget or lose sight of them later. They are mostly in the nature of thumb rules I intend to follow:

General

1.93 daysmust be used forconsolidation of information, achieving crystal clearclarityon the things you already know, andpractice. Revision andRe-revisionis key. For this, the crispest of notes is necessary. You are not a genius, do not act like one. Consolidate and consolidate again.

2.Prioritise maximising score over acquiring information.

3.Prioritise certain parts of the syllabus over others, but do not ignore anything at all.

4.Cost-benefit analysisfor every single thing you do. Time is the most scarce resource.

5.Optional>Essay, Ethics>General Studies 1, 2 and 3in that order in terms of variability of score.

6.Plan less and execute more.

7.Too many cooks spoil the broth.Listen to yourselfand trust your understanding of the exam when in doubt. However, this should not stop you from being adaptable, when it makes sense to tweak own understanding.

Content 

8.Answer writing practice without content is useless. However,do focus on presentation as well so that the battlefield in the mind is not accurately represented in the sheets in front of you.

9. Do not fall into thetrap of trying to draw too many diagrams/ flowcharts at the expenseof quality content. You are terrible at drawing things. Your chicken looks like a horse. Quality first, always. You cannot hope to dupe the examiner with a flowchart.

10. 30-45 seconds tounderstand the demand of the question and structure answer accordingly will pay you a rich dividend.

11. 150 and 250 words isn't a lot at all.Each word must be pregnant with meaning, as far as possible. Do not exceed word limit; adhere to time limit.Filling space without content is a waste of time.

12. Must learn todifferentiate the paper from that of the crowd. Sell what you have produced over what the next person has.Statistics help, relevant graphs help, examples help, SDGs help, best practices help. But only if they are relevant to the demand of the question.Otherwise, you would only succeed in looking like a blithering idiot.

13. Be a generalist in GS.Prioritise breadth over depth as a rule. Converse is the exception. Deeper you go into one point, the less of other dimensions you'll be able to show in one answer. 

14. Be a specialist in optional as a rule.Prioritise depth over breadth as a rule. Converse is the exception.

15. Try andlink everything with what is happeningin the world around you.

16.Ready made intros and conclusions for hot topics.

Essay and GS

17.GS1:Too many books involved and too little time; must do bare minimum in new topics such as World History to achieve average marks. Be good atmodern History, use quotesto add value. LearnMaps for Geography,they can add value.Use examples and link Society with Current Affairs. In fact, as a rule, Point 15.Accept that I cannot aim for top marks in this, aim for above average and do not be disappointed with average.

18.GS 2:Mustde-specialise. I might know Constitutional law, but the paper is not about that.IR is generally high yielding; overprepare, but don't underprepare. No room for complacency,tread extremely carefully. Go back toPoint 15.

19.GS-3:Do not underestimate the utility ofEconomic Survey for the past 2 years. Paper is extremely dynamic in nature.MUST MUST MUST adhere to Points 11 and 15 to maximise score.Consolidate from Newspapers, online sources. Can be highly scoring if dealt with appropriately.Paper is dynamic, answer sheet must correspond to that demand.NITI AayogVision Documentis a goldmine.

20. GS4:Do not get too bookish. However, basis past year papers,do not ignore books altogethereither.Think deeply about the keywords in the syllabus, and use it as an opportunity to express myself as an administrator on the answer sheet.This takes work. Can creep up on you if ignored. Must give due focus every single day.Think about case studies.Read up on renowned officers in service.

21.Essay:Could be ticket to interview if dealt with appropriately. Learn the art fromtopper copieslike Vikram Grewal's. Content from GS preparation will be enough. But the beauty of the essay lies elsewhere. Focus onpossible themes, have ready ideasto be used and work on them.Maximise breadth of dimensionsin both the essays. Focus onflow of thought. Best opportunity to show clarity of thought.Do not yap awayjust because you have 1200 words.Write concisely, and stick closely to the topic.Do not go on a tanget because you think the tangent is beautiful. Demand of the paper>Beauty of the essay.

Optional

22. Make or break.Work on it every single day.Differentiate answer from a guide-based answer at every possible occasion.Examiner is a specialist. Attempt to speak to the examiner at the same level.

23. Be careful not to show off knowledge.Demand of the question is paramount.

24. MUST NAIL IT, no two ways about it.Study for 320, be content with 300. Nothing less than that.Single most important thing.

Compulsory Paper

25. No room for complacency. Get evaluated basis past year papers early enough. Do not wait till the last minute to do this.

Freedom in the mind

Remember that in mains, the ball is in your court. It's about what you show to the examiner. Flaunt the good, hide the bad.Prune the good so they appear fantastic, work on the bad to the level they seem passable.Play to your strengths, work on your weakness.If you ignore your weaknesses, you will be found out.Stay authenticduring the preparation, do not follow the herd.Do not do things that do not work for you.Do not try to be a person different from yourself.Work on yourself, get closer to yourself.Victory in the mind is key to victory elsewhere.

Few days ago I was quite confident of clearing pre and panicking how would I manage to finish everything in such a small interval. Lovely people of the Forum came to my rescue then and helped in strategising for the mains ahead. Four days into successfully implementing the devised strategy came the result. Unlike the CoViD-19 test when a negative makes us feel relieved this negative result of control+F brought despair. Toook the admit card out of the cupboard and typed the roll number again. Just like an RT-PCR test after Anti-gen test. However, the result was negative again. Kept searching using different bits of my roll number and then matching the remaining bits to my roll number but to no relief. Accepted it with much despise. 

Spent the whole night in resetting the mental mode from mains 2020 to CSE final list 2021. During the mains 2020 mode days used to wake up before 5AM(generally 4.47 or 4.53, so that I could start studying by 5). Today I kept on hitting the snooze till it was 6.30. Then looked out of the window and found the day to be pleasant and bright. Left for a morning jog after a loooong- time (I love walking and make sure I do around 5K for 5 days a week and around 3km on rest days but jogging or running feels like putting too energy-draining and makes the afternoon nap longer :P ). Did a 5km jog+walk. It turned out to be my fastest pace for 2020- 8:20 minutes/km, rather the fastest ever, when I compared to last year, it was 8:40 (Mind you, I am no runner, I always came last in my school times during the sports day.  I would rejoice at times even when I was second from the last and not the last. ). Rather than making me tired it further boosted my energy levels and I decided to walk till I feel tired. So I turned off the activity (in google fit) and started walking, albeit slowly. When I reached back home and sanitised my hands and phone, opened the app to check the overall walking statistics. I had walked a total of 9.93 km in 102 minutes. Realised only 70 more metres would have made it a whole 10 km. Just 0.07 km.

That is what must have very probably happened in prelims too. We never know how are we performing during the exam and even until the results are out. But we should always be working to our full capacity since the pain of trying is much lesser than the pain of regret. I did my best in prelims- didn't get through- would work even harder this time- how many times can they stop me. 

Came back to my room and saw the calculator that I left last night after tiring maths session on the table's corner near the window was under direct sunlight. (For the uninitiated, calculators, do have a mirror-like panel on top which kind of works as a solar panel).

The new dawn and pleasant sunlight recharged both me and my calculator for the longer journey ahead. 

Down but not out, the marathon is ongoing till the destination is achieved. 

Good luck to all those who have cleared. Put in your best effort and enjoy the new leg of your journey.

Was going through my mains e-notes and came across this wonderful post I saved from last year's Forum, taken just after Mains 2019 (apologies for not noting down the Original author). It sure does help me in what to expect from UPSC and the mentality with which mains need to be tackled (but again as per the advice below, listen to others but apply your own reason). I hope this helps you too in some way or the other. ATB

It's a long post, apologies again.  

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• Questions needed very careful reading and then, answers had to be written catering to the demands - cliched but necessary to keep in mind! Despite all said and done, answering to thedemand of the question should remain the utmost prioritywhile resisting the temptation to dump all the things we've read about a particular topic.

• There was considerable gap between quality of UPSC Qs and those I found in mock tests across the board. For instance, it took additional 30-40 seconds to comprehend the Q during Mains which was not the case vis-a-vis the mocks. In the mocks, either the questions were relatively direct or just too esoteric (which could safely be ignored).

• Given thescope for multiple interpretations in some Qs; additional time had to be spent (30-40 seconds extra) in understanding the question during Mains. Consequently, the answers towards the end suffered due to inadequate time. Moreover, to be able to attempt the entire paper, sometimes even the stuff that you knew in other answers had to be toned down or even overlooked (mostly forgotten because of the compelling need to attempt maximum Qs).

• Reading Vision, Forum material etc. may give satisfaction but considering the nature of Qs, consistent answer writing practice (throughout a good portion of the year) is vital because Qs asked are too broad in scope. Further, constant revision is imperative.

• Also, I found some institutions earmarking certain topics and emphasizing far too much on them. Ex - Private investments, nudge theory, MSMEs (because of 'Dwarfism' in ES, 2018-19) etc. They may be important but not more important than making topic wise notes and having a command over it. Notes that we make are much more important than say Vision 365 or Forum notes. The coaching material should only add value to our topic-wise notes not supplant them especially during the final rounds of revision.

• It's unfortunate how much fear psychosis tends to be generated by some of these institutions over-emphasizing on their so called 'important notes/topics'. If one has prepared topic-wise notes diligently and sincerely, then it's important that one keeps faith in oneself and doesn't lose sight.Thus, the lesson is to prepare topic-wise notes no matter what and keep adding current affairs content to it until at least a month before the exam.

• Also, it'squite evident that UPSC evolves faster than we can imagine*. Therefore, what toppers might have said about what worked for them or how they went about getting a good rank is almost rendered useless. For example, I remember a top 10 rank holder saying how s/he earmarked important current affairs topics before the exam especially with regard to GS-2 and GS-3 and fetched maximum marks in the exam. We listen to it and start doing the same the subsequent year, but UPSC turns everything upside down by asking a lot from static with negligible current affairs Qs.Therefore, don't treat what toppers say as gospel of truth.Hear them out but apply reason.Buddha's advice holds true, "Believe nothing, no matter where you read it, or who said it, no matter if I have said it, unless it agrees with your own reason and your own common sense."

• All said and done, the nature of the exam is such that it puts us through mental stress and exhaustion.Deliberate attempts are made to unsettle us(Ex -additional pages in a couple of 15 M answers in GS-3). We may be more effective when we accept it as a norm and respond rather than being overawed by it.

• Finally, just enjoy the next few days/weeks and forget about how you've written Mains and stop analyzing and over-analyzing. Let's spare ourselves of miseries and recover well from the exhausting period we've all gone through in the last few months. Read a nice book, take a vacation or watch good movies. Basically, do all the non-UPSC things we've not done in a while.
• To illustrate it further, even in Prelims, the length of questions have increased. Earlier while the entire booklet was 40 pages long; in the last two years, it's close to 50 pages. Thus, multiple reading of Qs (what people popularly tell) may become challenging and one may have to attempt at least a fixed number of questions in one go without having to come back to mark it.
   
  PS: Sorry for the long post and a lot of unsolicited advice. But I write this from experience of having dealt with the exam for a while now to be able to just reflect on a few things I thought may be relevant. Cheers! 

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I went (and maybe even am going) through the same thing, so I can empathise.

I would suggest you make sure that you integrate PYQs into your preparation.@SergioRamos had posted a brilliant document with topic wise PYQs. That gives one a really good idea about what not to read, I think. I personally dont subscribe to the idea of doing too many compilations (or too many mock tests), but think they serve better as indices.

Time is really limited, you simply do not have time for doing all of this and then for adequate revision plus mocks on top of that. Limit the things you do, but do them well. In your case, Maths optional you cant ignore. But I do think the stress on current affairs is a bit much given how ideally with your prelims preparation, you've already done quite a bit of it. Given how current affairs usually just throws up issues from the static syllabus rather than being independent stand alone issues in themselves, make sure you only integrate them in your preparation and have an informed opinion of things. There's a need to be extremely focused in choosing what you do and what you don't, so as to maximise score. Questions from GS papers have been extremely analytical and it does pose a challenge to answer them well in the alloted 8 minutes unless you have a very clear understanding of core issues. One might be able to give general gyan on many questions like the question on divergence in the relationship between hunger and welfare spending in GS 2 last year, but to answer them well requires you to have a clear cut understanding of the core issue rather than a fragmented understanding from a compilation. Use the internet well, make things easier for yourself.

This is the first time for me at this as well, so I might admittedly be well off the mark here, but I know that simplifying things is the best way to stand a chance at being successful. One might think of this as a mountain right now, and trust me, most of us do. That can be, and is overwhelming. However, if we can move past that thought and actually break it down, it doesn't have to be that hard. It is an examination that a person who has not had the privileges you have had, or who still cannot afford the things you can afford should stand an equal chance of clearing. Always be mindful of that. Try and read extensively, but keep one eye on the syllabus and the PYQs. Make sure there is direction to your preparation, and that the direction is of your choosing. This is your shot, so own every aspect of it. 

Leaving excerpts from the poem "If", which has always had my back:

" If you can keep your head when all about you   

Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,   

Everyone please go through this and keep it in mind always while deciding for answer writing!     :)       
One of my favourites!

In. 

But, Mains is the key. Those who couldn't make the cut, please don't get disheartened. You have got a great headstart for the 2021 Mains. Make sure 2021 becomes your last attempt! 

I'll try to contribute to the community in whatever ways possible. This community is family now. 

Arise, awake and not stop until selection! 

Keep a writing pad while studying. Write the things you learnt every 30 mins/ 1 hour without looking up anything, based on memory only. Do this for 1 month religiously. Thank me later. 

Marxism: I want a stateless society where workers will be at the helm of affairs! Workers have the wisdom to know that they are being exploited. They don't need leaders. So, they don't need any Communist Party! They will rise together against the oppression of bourgeoisie and establish an egalitarian, classless society where there will be no state. State is the instrument of capitalist class. 

Leninism: We can't have a stateless society just like that! Workers are not that intelligent. They need to be mobilised first. To do this, we need a strong Communist Party that will be the vanguard of our revolution. We need to establish a dictatorship of the Proletariat (working class) as an intermediate arrangement to reverse the excesses of the bourgeoisie first. Then, we can think about Marxism (stateless society). In the economic sphere, we will emulate bourgeoise policies to an extent for our development, but mind you- Communist Party is in charge and it knows what's best for the proletariat. (democratic socialism) 

Stalinism/Marxism-Leninism: I'll pervert everything and I'll call it a synthesis of Marxism and Leninism. Marxism because the end goal is same. Leninism because I also believe in bringing revolution with the help of Communist Party.

But wait wait. In reality, I'll be the role model. I'll nationalise everything. I'll control everything. I have the ultimate wisdom to usher in a bright future for Soviet Republics! =>Totalitarianism (1 leader) hence, just opposite to Marxism (all leaders) 

Maoism: You fake communists! Why don't you think about the peasantry? Peasantry is the real revolutionary group. They'll usher in the revolution to usurp power from the foreign bourgeoise. 

Trotskyism: Yo, I'm the wingman of Lenin. I'll carry forward his idea after his death. There should be a permanent revolution in the world and the bourgeoisie should be eliminated from everywhere. Don't talk about Socialism in just one country. Kind of closest to Marxism, Leninism. 

Comparison:

• Marxism and Leninism differ in the methodology. 
• Trotskyism takes a world view and want to make communism a global ideology.
• Stalinism is not an ideology but a propaganda! In my opinion, he didn't even believe in Marx. He put a blot on Marxism.
• Maoism was modified-Marxism to suit Chinese conditions that was predominantly agricultural. 

Hey!

I was in a very similar situation last year. That was my first attempt and first mains. My optional was Maths, and in the fight to prepare for Prelims, I hadn't done full justice to it. I had not even started two chapters (both the physics ones). The rest I had done only once.

I wish I could say that in spite of all these hurdles, I emerged victoriously. That would have been one hell of a success story. Didn't happen though. In paper 2 of maths, I'm expecting less than 50 marks. (Although to be fair I did do well in all other papers but can't be sure unless the marks are out)

Because of those failures, I learned some invaluable lessons which have helped me work on a better strategy for this time. 

1) The focus needs to be on Optional always. 60:40 is a good ratio. Like 60 per cent of your time every day on Maths and remaining 40 on all other subjects (GS static, current, newspapers). Towards the end of the day if what you have planned isn't done and you have work left in both GS and Optional, choose Optional.

2) Remember that this period of 93 days is mostly a test of your mental strength. Being calm, ably handling pressure and persevering on is MUCH MUCH more important than doing every bit of work you had planned.   

3) Optimise your time in everything you do. Can't watch all CA lectures you'd planned? Maybe watch them in 2x speed. Or just do the handouts. Maybe leave them all and just do the Model answers from your tests. 

Haven't done any topic in Maths? Don't worry. Take the previous years test series. Mark all questions that were asked in your notes (valid for IMS Notes for Physics portions, for instance). Just do their basic theory and then those particular questions you marked. You'll end up having a basic understanding within 2 days. Maybe expand on that solving other previous years test series questions.  

4) Don't worry too much about GS. There's no need to run after multiple compilations. If you can aim for a 320+ score in Maths (which is doable), getting 370+ in GS is great. So you see, you don't have to master everything. 

5) You will always have less time. Always. The secret lies in doing those things first that add most marks. Do a mental cost-benefit analysis (time spent/marks gained). Then end up doing around 80% of those things. You'll do great.

At the end of the day, you have a great support-cum-guidance system here. @Patootie and @Joeyisthebest have already given some great answers. I wasn't on the forum here last year. Probably that would have helped me. I have written here what is essentially my first comment because I can almost feel the agony you're in and how even the slightest help can be so relieving. Wish you the best!

PYQ.pdf

               Last 35-40 years Mains PYQ arranged topic-wise in minute details.
I'd suggest you all get the printout! Can be a brilliant guiding document! :)

Am I the only one who is totally overwhelmed by the sheer volume of work that needs to be done? 
The gigantic optional called Mathematics need to be tamed. Of which I haven't done 2 sub-topics even once yet. 

Then comes the essay. Had downloaded some videos from telegram to watch and improve upon my essays as I have never written a good essay and thus feel very underconfident writing one without "actual preparation". There are some 17 videos each about 2 hrs long. 

Ethics has also been neglected since I started off into the prelims mode. Really feel the need for revision. 

Apart from this, I have my notes of earlier versions of yojana, eco survey left to be revised.

Then there will be mains ca compilations out in the market soon. Have to study and internalise them too.

The most important part of answer writing has to be incorporated in the schedule too.

Then there will be test series to be written of both optional and gs. 

How are you guys managing time for all this?!

I really feel we should have at least 40 hrs in a day. 24 are grossly insufficient to manage all this :( :(

 I am guessing this is your first mains and hence, the dilemma. I dedicate my last year's failure to the blunder of banking on Mains365. I wasn't able to reproduce much that I read in the last two months prior to Mains.

I am not disputing the quality of Mains365 here, only the ocassion of doing it. Mains365 is content overload with very little time to internalise the content. It requires at least 2-3 readings to grasp any material for Prelims. For Mains, you need more readings! You won't be able to do those many number of readings in these months.

On the contrary, CA Classes are a different deal altogether. You'd only have to revise the notes. From last year, I realised that information accumulation is of no use if it does not translate on your answer script. I had read a lot last year-Books, Value addition materials, CA magazines and what not. In the end, under the panic and pressure of finishing the paper, I was writing what I had internalised in the whole duration of preparation and lot less the new information I had gathered between Pre and Mains. 

This time my strategy is to read less and to work more on the aspect of effective expression. 

The base remains the same. However, the perspective and the method of deliberating over a topic change. Note making (short summaries , outline of questions, stats, quotes) become important. Others have given very wise suggestions as to how to go about the process. Let me throw some light on the content building part.

So There was a question in2010 from Modern History. 

Dalhousie’s predecessors had acted on the general principles of avoiding annexation, if these could be avoided. Dalhousie acted on the principles of annexation, if he could do so legitimately. His annexations were both of war and peace”. Analyse.

Notice the sheer number of sub parts asked in the question. But the beauty is whole content for this question will come from what you have studied in Prelims. But you will now have to bring the analytical part and not just the Factual part you have studied. I have made the following outline of the answer by deliberating over everything i read in Prelims and may be borrowing a couple of things from World History.

The key, therefore, is deliberating on lines of ,"kya puch raha hai, subparts kya hain, intro mein kya likhna hai, body kaise structure karni hai," etc etc. 

And remember to always read things in aquestion answer format. Themore the brain is conditionedto reading questions, the more you are prepared todeconstruct the mains questions which can have 2 or even 3 subparts. Practice and Deliberation.

For CA. I would say, instead of reading the newspaper daily, pick up issues and read 2-3 articles to answer 2-3 subparts. collect your points and memorize them. 

SO if RTI amendment is in news and you have a topic "transparency and accountability" in GS 2 : then expect a questions on lines of ,"How far do you think the Recent amendments to the RTI act could lead to dilution of the spirit with which it was enacted?"

The following is the content that i have with regards to this topic. I must now memorize this so well, that whatever the question around RTI be, i should be able to write a decent answer and get a 5/12 or a 4/10. GS is prep is all about that.

I hope this helps you get some insights as to how to go about the process. At the end of the day, we all are learning. What i know or how i go about things may not be Foolproof. What matters isCONVICTION . The spirit of , "apun yahicch karega, apun iss ko baar baar padhega, aur apun chinki papa Doctor Asthana ko dikha dega ki saala ussne kisse panga liya hai"

Cheers !

Writing/trying to write at least 3-4 PYQs every evening on topics that I am covering in optional during the day. I find that when I look back at them that night, I can identify some flaws - either by comparing them to the source material (points I’ve missed out) or just reading it calmly (flow, structure, emphasis). Also comparing to good toppers’ mocks if I find a question with some overlap. Some of the truly terrible answers I am trying to rewrite. 

Optional 8 tests (Trying to write at least 20 PYQs on each section of each paper before actually attempting the test so as to not waste the test on a totally substandard answer). Trying to stick to the test schedule (delayed one by 2 days, will write on the same day henceforth) so as to have a milestone in mind coming up.

Going through ethics model answers as I do the topics, haven’t written PYQs yet but will start now. 7 tests in the test series, hoping to give them all (at least some of the motivation is coming from the sacrilege of wasting those pricey tests).

GS will start as soon as I finish OOEE. Will join test series then. Not sure how many I’ll be able to give etc. This prospect of GS still largely untouched is scaring me no end but trying to finish OOEE as quickly as possible so I can give it enough time.

Strangely miss prelims days now. Thought that was scary... this is a whole new game. 

Just give one day to this document and what not to read becomes clearer. For example, much-hyped CA in Paper 2 and 3 is not a make or break thing. well prepared GS with CA done even till prelims can get you great marks. There are certain topics which are oft-repeated. See, the thing is, coaching institutes have created a mass hysteria around CA and Answer writing. Why these two? Because these two, are the goldmines. So much money flows through these two that absolute numbers are shocking, to say the least. Thus the extensive marketing and FOMO created around it. Here, only PYQ's can save us students. 
Therefore,@AlexanderSupertramp  just go through the PYQ's, give them one day and much of your agony will fade away.  Anyway, the main focus should be on O-O-E-E. 
The three GS papers are there for Coachings to create a FOMO and earn money, just like Current Affairs for Prelims. 

Regarding mains 365 questions that were raised,

Firstly understand how important is CA for mains. Pickup last year PYQ and you'll find CA in only GS2/3. And what percent? A honest assessment will tell you that less than 50% of GS2/3 is about CA. Allot time accordingly, whether it is 365 or some other classes. 

I overestimated CA importance and paid the price in one of my three failed attempts at mains. 

Reg 365, a good part of 365 of 2020 will be a repeat of 2019 material ( this year with corona there can be more changes ). I would suggest to finish 2019 365, pick useful things, make notes and internalise. When 2020 comes out add whatever has been missing. 

Mains 365 of 2020 will come at about 1.5 months from now (has been the case usually). There's too little time to internalise it. And the material itself has overload of content (ignore unnecessary data wisely)

Was happily jotting down my plans to check malnutrition among adolescents girls, and suddenly, out of no where, UPSC posted the pdf which was supposed to be released not this soon. The frantic search for the admit card, and the haphazardly executed 'ctrl F' unfortunately culminated in the painful display of 'no matches found'. Out for this time.

Have learned so much on this platform. Wishing to all those invited to write mains dil se good luck. Indebted to humility and wisdom of so many wonderful people here. Let's try to keep up the vibrancy of these threads. 

♥️

Me with my new V7 :) experiment worked, hope you all find the pens you deserve.