Good trusted Telegram channel. Csp20info
Btw the name toppers Key is a misnomer. Not necessary that top rankers have given this. Most likely this is given by ex-aspirants who are in service. It's a decent key, but will have mistakes, so just consider margin of error. This is not the holy grail.
"GS paper1 was very easy. Study basics, you will clear the exam."
Says the guy who probably won't clear the exam.
Though, to be fair, he's kinda right about the basics part, and to not fret too much about the CA aspects of it.
But in the exam hall, with the pressure of 2 hours, on top of that if it's your 2nd or 3rd attempt, you get obliterated if you put one step wrong. Also as everyone said, getting to 80-90 is the easy part, getting the extra 5-10 marks to clear the cutoff is where the real game lies.
Take his advice with a pinch of salt, it's condescending af, but it's kinda true as well.
Don't spend your time trying to disprove coaching institutes answer keys or prove your answers correct. It's a road which has no end. UPSC will end up selecting a totally separate answer. If you are confident with your answer, adjust marks accordingly and prepare for the next round!
@Sujaydubal I feel you friend completely. I was scoring a 107-112 last year from various coaching keys and eventually wrote the MainsThis time I left no stone unturned even for the Prelims but my score is hovering around 92. People will not accept this and will continue to believe that this is NOT A RANDOM EXAM.I can still say that 2019(which I failed) and 2020 (which I cracked) both papers were very nicely set and required thorough analysis. But this paper was Random but the vested interests who benefit from your faith in this constitutional body will continue to Eulogise the commission which seems to have only one purpose - Ruthlessly eliminate people by hook or crook.A lot of people are bringing random Hindu articles and Indian express articles. We must ask ourselves that we are barely able to remember exactly what is written in those PT 365 booklets and the suggested standard texts . How can an aspirant be expected to learn lacs of articles that come around the year ? It is stupid as well as not pragmatic to make notes out of such articles. And if those articles were so obviously important, how come those PT EXPERTS (who only have the job to filter content with a hawk eye) in coaching miss them in NOT ONLY IN THEIR CA material but also the PREMIUM test series? How can a normal aspirant who has to study so much, fight so much everyday be expected to know? The burden of this failure is NOT ON YOU, who gave their very best. I know the coaching and toppers will make you believe that IT WAS YOU. But I want to tell you that it is the commision this time and their egoistic battle to keep the cutoff low and be a step ahead of the coaching industryYo Yo Chhoti singh (IPS) recently wrote a long post about how the UPSC has been reduced to a Random lottery. But Toppers will never question it because their credibility depends upon the very same process. The coaching will never blatantly state this harsh fact because the Rozi roti and revenue depends on it. They will continue holding seminars in colleges about the GREATNESS OF A COMMISSION that is randomly eliminating people just for the sake of it. (Feel free to disagree)My learning is to Diversify your options after a certain number of attempts. It is impractical to suggest to leave this prep altogether because YE CHASKA 6TH attempt tak nahi jaega. But an important lesson I learnt at least AFTER 2021 prelims is It was NOT WORTH THE EFFORT THAT I and other serious fellow aspirants too had put in (who repeatedly cleared prelims in past attempts)
In their supposed crusade to destroy the so called coaching mafia, UPSC has forgotten there are actual humans, with real human emotions, at the receiving end of their attacks.
After a point, the sheer randomness of the paper stops making sense. I almost felt like this paper was made by an intern who was trying to impress the higher ups lol. Jokes aside, it was truly a shock. I still hold that this years paper had some pretty easy pickings, and some moderate pickings, and some UPSC controversy specials, but the quota of random weird things was one too many.
But, all said and done. People have cleared worse papers UPSC threw at them, and people will continue clearing these exams, no matter how tough or random they get. Maybe I will clear it as my score is 105+ according to some keys, but after last years debacle, I'm still sceptical.
After the first shift, I had one clear idea, that if I don't clear prelims, I am done with the cycle of CSE. Even if I clear it, this could potentially be my last attempt. This exam doesn't deserve me or any more of my time. I can't deal with the sheer randomness the Prelims throws at me. While the mains is somewhat predictable, that's different gravy altogether. Prelims is just there to stop people from giving mains, nothing more, nothing less.
Even if you clear prelims, and clear mains, you end up being shafted in the interview and the whole cycle repeats again. As Dipin Sir teaches us, "it's a Vicious Cycle" (just to be clear, he was teaching about the cycle of poverty, not UPSC)
I left my job in 2018 to prepare for this, and have given up a pretty big chunk of my life. I'm 28 years old, with a 2 year work ex, and an employment gap of more than 3 years old. I'm extremely privileged that nobody in my family depends on my income, in fact those poor souls have been actively encouraging me to give the paper again if I fail. They had to give up on certain dreams because I'm sitting at home and studying. Hell, even I had plans which never saw the light of day.
The longass rant is just to put it out there that y'all need to make sure there are backups, have some hobbies, don't live your crucial years cramming facts from all ORNs material. Because at the end of the day life is as simple as "Carrom ramwanu, juice peevanu, majja ni life"
Update:
the current scenario of keys
Insights: 105.9
Iasbaba: 108.5
Shankar ias: 106
Topper’s 2020 key: 113
Forumias: 107.9
Drishti ias: 108.5
Iasexamcongress (TG group): 116
I guess no point in wasting time on other keys now…if it were 2019 I would have straight away jumped into mains prep but because of last year’s answer key fiasco I’m not pushing my hopes high till result is out(The agony of not finding your roll number in pdf is excruciating). But anyway gonna start with optional now, with some optimism and belief in Murphy’s law.
I have almost the same scores, and feel the same way. Too fucking scared. But yeah anyway, going to start with mains prep. Always praying to the old gods and the new, naiyya paar kara do.
