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PSIR - Strategy, resources & discussion

I need some help in PSIR. Feels as if I have not yet learnt writing language of the subject. And was adequately punished in marks assigned.

Also Is some strict checking being pursued in PSIR ? Found one analysis in which average marks was in mid 260s

Please check DM :)

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@mansiiii Depends on where you are in your preparation. If 2023 is going to be your first attempt, it might be a good idea to join. However, you need to be more specific in your query as to what you are looking for - a course to aid your first reading or a course to solidify your answer writing or something else maybe. You can DM for a longer query, or if you need some samples which might help decide. Good luck!


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@mounikamouni24_h944 with the kind of questions asked, nearly everyone has done some creative writing of 20-30 marks. Yes leaving a 15 marker costs you anywhere between 4 to 9 marks so you are looking at a potential damage of 7 to 12 marks overall. One could hope that Essay and GS4 would make up for it. Good luck! :)

Sorry I realized after replying that you directed your question to Ann2510. Still leaving it here just in case it helps.

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@LuckyKat my doubt is....whether it can impact my scores more than that due to scaling factor


That would depend on your total score, but the answer is a definite yes. I am no expert but this is how someone explained working of Bell curves to me. I may be wrong but unless your total is at median, scaling would impact you.

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@LuckyKat do u have any idea of scaling factor for original score for PSIR...like whether more than 1 or less 


No I do not, sorry!

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have a doubt....in optional...I have choosed to write qsn  3 but mistakenly wrote 2 words in 2 a...and I strike it off...and started writing under 3a....can that be  a cause of concern?

If you have struck off, no cause of concern.

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Hi is there any way to get PSIR pyq evaluated.

Check out Convert IAS evaluation. They have 2 demo questions. Use your best judgement. :)

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@LuckyKattI'm in my initial reading of the subject and very confused after reading SR notes. Lack of structure and flow with offtopic scribbles along the margins. Any other way of going about this subject? I'm an enginnering student and more often than not tend to delve too much into a topic I'm reading and not understanding. I just want to be able to complete the subject once with a good basic understanding.


Heyy! Assuming you do not intend to take foundation classes (Some coachings like PW IAS are starting at 9000 bucks btw),I would like to mention two concepts here - FOMO and Compounding.Since SR Notes are recommended and read by everyone, you will constantly have the FOMO of not doing them. Consider them a toll road that you have to cross now, only because everyone else drives through it. Even if you are merely skimming it, it will ease off that anxiety which would consistently stay with you otherwise.

Now more importantly, the second concept, compounding in PSIR works in two ways -memorizationandinterconnections.Memorizationis simply revision of the same thing again and again till it gets printed visually for you to produce it in the tests.Interconnections, however, take time. For example, understanding Marxist approaches in Comparative politics in Paper 2A needs some understanding of Paper 1A. This requires you to go through the whole syllabus once at least only to understand"what is what and where is that what."

Now coming to your dilemma about not liking SR notes, you could check out plethora of options such as OnlyIAS, Tejal Khandelwal ma'am, and class notes of countless institutes available in lanes of ORN. However, I would urge you to change your approach of"I just want to be able to complete the subject once with a good basic understanding."  Please do bear in mind that ANY optional is never prepared, it is alwaysre-prepared- in the sense that if you studying something where you need graduation++ level knowledge, understand that it will take some time and effort (and re-effort). 

Further, do try to finish your optional before November to catch the last train of test series in case you want to appear for 2024 attempt. I hope I have been able to address your query. Feel free to reach out here in thread if it is a general query. DM if it is something very specific that wouldn't help fellow aspirants :)

Good luck!

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