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.
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.
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
@Neyawn sir can we talk? Where do I reach out?
