Thread to Clarify Doubts, Seek Guidance from 2021 Batch Civil Servants
Hi, everyone! Starting this thread, so we can all seek specific guidance from, clarify our doubts from friends who successfully cleared CSE 2021. Please feel free to ask any and all questions, however trivial, so we can collectively benefit.
It's opportune time for this, as with Pre 2022 ending in a few hours, friends giving Pre this year can also benefit from their Post-Pre Preparation Experience.
Tagging
@sjerngal @Pam123 @AzadHindFauz @TheFinalStand @CSLWARRIOR @Arsene @Bubba_gump @Apollo11 @impatientoptimist @whatif1997, and requesting them to enlighten us plebs on tricks & trickeries of preparation.
Edit: Adding@Newton981 (AIR 107)
@sjerngal @Pam123 @AzadHindFauz @TheFinalStand @CSLWARRIOR @Arsene @Bubba_gump @Apollo11 @impatientoptimist @whatif1997
Hey, everyone! I made this account using a Temporary Phone No, from some site I don't remember, to safeguard my Privacy. I believe in Free Access to Resources. So, if you see any posts from this account Selling anything or trying to scam, they wouldn't be from me. Someone would have gained unauthorized access to this account. Best recourse to prevent such a thing would be to delete the account, but Forum doesn't provide that option.
1. Could you please give a broad timeline of your preparation?, including
a) When you started with & completed Mains Topics?
b) Was Optional Preparation Simultaneous?
c) Your Revision strategy. Daily? Weekly?
d) When did you start giving Mocks for Pre?
e) When did you write 1st answer?
f) Time set aside for Prelims-only Preparation (and how were Mocks incorporated in this phase)
2. Your specific strategy for Current Affairs:
a) In how much depth did you read Newspaper (Only Op-Ed/Science Tech?, or all of it?)
b) When did you read CA Magzines? Did you read them bit-by-bit everyday, or all in one sitting?
3. How did your general Day Schedule look like?
a) Did Newspaper first, or Static Subject?
b) Did 1 subject per day? Or,GS & Optional Simultaneously everyday?
Hey, everyone! I made this account using a Temporary Phone No, from some site I don't remember, to safeguard my Privacy. I believe in Free Access to Resources. So, if you see any posts from this account Selling anything or trying to scam, they wouldn't be from me. Someone would have gained unauthorized access to this account. Best recourse to prevent such a thing would be to delete the account, but Forum doesn't provide that option.
1. Could you please give a broad timeline of your preparation?, including
a) When you started with & completed Mains Topics? Ans: GS: Dec 2020-Feb 2021
b) Was Optional Preparation Simultaneous? Ans: Completed GS before Pre and Optional(PSIR) after pre.
c) Your Revision strategy. Daily? Weekly? Ans: Completed the First reading of all subjects in one go. Followed it by revision
d) When did you start giving Mocks for Pre? Ans: I joined SFG for Pre.
e) When did you write 1st answer? Ans: Joined AWFG for Mains.
f) Time set aside for Prelims-only Preparation (and how were Mocks incorporated in this phase) Ans: 3 months for Pre only preparation. Focused on SFG only for Pre.
2. Your specific strategy for Current Affairs:
a) In how much depth did you read Newspaper (Only Op-Ed/Science Tech?, or all of it?) Ans: No newspaper for Pre and Mains. Followed Youtube videos for daily newspaper analysis. For interview read IE in-depth and made notes.
b) When did you read CA Magzines? Did you read them bit-by-bit everyday, or all in one sitting? Ans: Monthly. Completed in one go.
3. How did your general Day Schedule look like?
a) Did Newspaper first, or Static Subject? Ans: I completed one subject in one go.
b) Did 1 subject per day? Or,GS & Optional Simultaneously everyday? Ans: Did 1 subject per day.
1. Could you please give a broad timeline of your preparation?, including
a) When you started with & completed Mains Topics? Ans: GS: Dec 2020-Feb 2021
b) Was Optional Preparation Simultaneous? Ans: Completed GS before Pre and Optional(PSIR) after pre.
c) Your Revision strategy. Daily? Weekly? Ans: Completed the First reading of all subjects in one go. Followed it by revision
d) When did you start giving Mocks for Pre? Ans: I joined SFG for Pre.
e) When did you write 1st answer? Ans: Joined AWFG for Mains.
f) Time set aside for Prelims-only Preparation (and how were Mocks incorporated in this phase) Ans: 3 months for Pre only preparation. Focused on SFG only for Pre.
2. Your specific strategy for Current Affairs:
a) In how much depth did you read Newspaper (Only Op-Ed/Science Tech?, or all of it?) Ans: No newspaper for Pre and Mains. Followed Youtube videos for daily newspaper analysis. For interview read IE in-depth and made notes.
b) When did you read CA Magzines? Did you read them bit-by-bit everyday, or all in one sitting? Ans: Monthly. Completed in one go.
3. How did your general Day Schedule look like?
a) Did Newspaper first, or Static Subject? Ans: I completed one subject in one go.
b) Did 1 subject per day? Or,GS & Optional Simultaneously everyday? Ans: Did 1 subject per day.
Was this your first attempt? If not, could you please tell what went wrong in the previous ones?
In the previous attempts i was working as Assistant Commandant, so never got enough time to prepare.
1. Could you please give a broad timeline of your preparation?, including
a) When you started with & completed Mains Topics? Ans: GS: Dec 2020-Feb 2021
b) Was Optional Preparation Simultaneous? Ans: Completed GS before Pre and Optional(PSIR) after pre.
c) Your Revision strategy. Daily? Weekly? Ans: Completed the First reading of all subjects in one go. Followed it by revision
d) When did you start giving Mocks for Pre? Ans: I joined SFG for Pre.
e) When did you write 1st answer? Ans: Joined AWFG for Mains.
f) Time set aside for Prelims-only Preparation (and how were Mocks incorporated in this phase) Ans: 3 months for Pre only preparation. Focused on SFG only for Pre.
2. Your specific strategy for Current Affairs:
a) In how much depth did you read Newspaper (Only Op-Ed/Science Tech?, or all of it?) Ans: No newspaper for Pre and Mains. Followed Youtube videos for daily newspaper analysis. For interview read IE in-depth and made notes.
b) When did you read CA Magzines? Did you read them bit-by-bit everyday, or all in one sitting? Ans: Monthly. Completed in one go.
3. How did your general Day Schedule look like?
a) Did Newspaper first, or Static Subject? Ans: I completed one subject in one go.
b) Did 1 subject per day? Or,GS & Optional Simultaneously everyday? Ans: Did 1 subject per day.Was this your first attempt? If not, could you please tell what went wrong in the previous ones?
@CSLWARRIOR and others. What's a quantifiable benchmark to set for a good Mains Preparation. If there is something that you want to tell ki itna karoge to at least interview call ayegi. Is it ultimately writing 20-25 tests, short notes or is it 4-5 times revision or something else (Assuming decent content and notes)
Gaitonde’s Den: https://forumias.com/post/detail/Gaitondes-Den-1727638216
DM,
3rd attempt (2021) , 1st mains. Once missed pre by less than 2 marks and once due to CSAT(2020).
Preparation heavily focussed on optionals. Completed optionals throughly after failure in 1st prelims.
gs strategy more inclined towards current affairs. Did monthly magazines throughly.
didn’t write answers much, didn’t write any essay beforehand in this attempt. Wrote a few in 2020 as i was expecting to sail through (had great marks in gs 1 paper prelims).
So, hopefully this mains the focus will be on writing more answers.
Knew all my lacunae. Struggled to maintain any schedule after 2020 attempt. Good people of forum know that i was struggling. Made a post about it. Probably deleted now. So therefore a lot of scope for improvement.
However from 2019 to 2020 was my real preparation that somehow helped me in this attempt.
Schedule during those days: newspaper, monthly magazine revision, optionals revision/test writing (joined the answer development series of Shubra Maam) , sometimes used to write few gs answers using insights secure, csat classes, etc.
for prelims in 2021, sole focus was on to clear CSAT. But for gs, did full length test series and read pt365 thing(for quick revision).
Hoping to clear 2022 pre, didn’t get much time to revise as interview was on 9th may and got involved in father’s surgery. Then anticipation of results, and then results. So focus again was on not failing CSAT. Apart from that in 2-3 days just revised the static portion.
Pre focussed 2-3 months for someone who is just starting is required.
@Pam123 Which monthly magazine did you follow? I find Vision's mag (mostly their mains oriented articles) full of gibberish, only intended to make them longer, so that puts me off from reading them. Did you mark the magazine, or made notes out of it for quick revision?
Sorry if these questions sound childish, but I'm really struggling with incorporating Current Affairs in the preparation.
Hey, everyone! I made this account using a Temporary Phone No, from some site I don't remember, to safeguard my Privacy. I believe in Free Access to Resources. So, if you see any posts from this account Selling anything or trying to scam, they wouldn't be from me. Someone would have gained unauthorized access to this account. Best recourse to prevent such a thing would be to delete the account, but Forum doesn't provide that option.
JohnButlerTrain,TheNishkaamAspirant
morsmodre,@Pam123 Which monthly magazine did you follow? I find Vision's mag (mostly their mains oriented articles) full of gibberish, only intended to make them longer, so that puts me off from reading them. Did you mark the magazine, or made notes out of it for quick revision?
Sorry if these questions sound childish, but I'm really struggling with incorporating Current Affairs in the preparation.
I did vision monthly thoroughly. Didn’t make notes but highlighted and revised it 2-3 times every month. However if it doesn’t interest you forum epic monthly is also good. Secure monthly is also good to cover issues for gs mains. Only made notes for facts and examples that I’ll be using in cse mains. Otherwise the magazine reading was for the purpose of mains generally not prelims centric much. I do PT365 skimming for that.
Animesh_Maths,morsmodreThanks@Pam123. One more question: How did you approach Mapping? Specifically asking considering Gandikota Canyon, Lake Faguibine questions this year. Was mapping helpful for them?
Hey, everyone! I made this account using a Temporary Phone No, from some site I don't remember, to safeguard my Privacy. I believe in Free Access to Resources. So, if you see any posts from this account Selling anything or trying to scam, they wouldn't be from me. Someone would have gained unauthorized access to this account. Best recourse to prevent such a thing would be to delete the account, but Forum doesn't provide that option.
Xplore Rau's Focus/Compass.@morsmodre I am struggling with the same problem regarding VisionIAS monthly magazines. Can't finish any due to unnecessary lengthiness. But every topper(mostly) recommends them so can't risk not reading it.
HermoineGranger,Thanks@Pam123. One more question: How did you approach Mapping? Specifically asking considering Gandikota Canyon, Lake Faguibine questions this year. Was mapping helpful for them?
Left those qs since didn’t revise this year at all. But generally for mapping I follow onlyias material
HermoineGranger,morsmodre
@morsmodre I am struggling with the same problem regarding VisionIAS monthly magazines. Can't finish any due to unnecessary lengthiness. But every topper(mostly) recommends them so can't risk not reading it.
@HermoineGrangerYou using 'Morsmodre' gave me a good chuckle! Welcome to the Dark side :P. All hail the Dark Lord!
Hey, everyone! I made this account using a Temporary Phone No, from some site I don't remember, to safeguard my Privacy. I believe in Free Access to Resources. So, if you see any posts from this account Selling anything or trying to scam, they wouldn't be from me. Someone would have gained unauthorized access to this account. Best recourse to prevent such a thing would be to delete the account, but Forum doesn't provide that option.
HermoineGranger,morsmodre,
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