Seeing all these confessions..I fear sharing my so called experience,better call it experiment with UPSC,.Few years back when I was in my last semester of graduation,my friend literally forced me to fill up this UPSC form as he believed in me more than I used to believe in myself..I never attended any coaching,,never touched any single test series,,never did any practice set papers or anything..I just went to attempt prelims after finishing all ncert nd the hindu newspapers hand made notes. I gv prelims nd forgot about it..got busy with my RBI exam and bank PO IBPS exams..I got the first shock of my life when my best buddy informed me I cleared prelims..He was more happy than me..Now bigger question was how to prepare for mains..I told him it will be foolish to even think that I will be able to cover the mains syllabus in 2-3 months,,as always he forced me to go to a bookshop in ber Sarai,,he himself purchased sm 5kg materials including 2 small booklets of upendra ias for sociology(my optional). Anyhow I appeared in mains half-heartedly,,I was so uninterested back then ki mai mains paper likhte likhte class me baki students ko dekhne lgta tha ki kon kya pahan ke aaya hai..I was so convinced ki prelims ho gya mains to aese bhi nhi hona hai bas baba(oldie) logo ka hoga..As usual after finishing exam I forgot about it and concentrated on banking exams,,got selected in IBPS PO,, interview call for CDS,nd other exams..finally Result aaya aur again it's my best friend who broke this news to me..By then I believe smthng seriously wrong with upsc or me.. for Interview preparation i joined sankalp coaching (rss ppl run it)..There I met real bureaucrats(serving as well as retired) for first time.. I was allotted HC gupta board..Mere jeevan ka sabse worst 45 minutes..Pta nhi kya ho gya tha uss din..In all my interview mocks I used to get good marks nd comments of veterans..But real interview me pta nhi kya hua..I straight away said ,"sorry sir,I don't know" to straight continuous 5 questions..I couldn't answer the single question of the chairman..Ekdm se feel aa rha tha ki dharti fat jaaye aur mai uss me gir jaayu..Na dharti fati..Na un logo ne mjhe jaane diya..Agle 40 minutes tak mai kaise kaise jhelta rha..My friend was waiting for me outside..He understood,,didn't ask me anything..We went to india gate nd spend whole evening there without talking to each other..Cut long story short..On result date I was sleeping,again it's my best friend who cm banging my door nd screamed loudest to announce I cleared it..Rank was not good..I managed to pass it..I was shocked nd surprised as hell.."mai janta tha tu faad dega"..He was more happy n relieved than me..I was one of the youngest officers that year..Just 21 years old..But real zindgi baki tha..After getting selected I becm serious nd got sm confidence that I can top this exam..My optional & essay marks were exceptionally good..I started preparing seriously for next year prelims..This time I was confident like never before..Failed in prelims by 1 marks..Again failed in prelims by 2 marks..Nd cycle continues till I accept I m no one in front of these buggers question setters..Asking random 100 gk gs questions with no relevance at all..My story sums up as zero to hero& again Hero to zero... Managing job & study is tough..Accept the unpredictability of upsc at earliest ,,try to make peace with yourself.. Otherwise upsc preparation have everything to make you a suicidal..Dil se nhi lene ka..Exam hai de do..Mn hai padh lo..Nhi mn hai best frnd se baat kr lo..Toppers ke strategy..Unke success stories sab bakwas hai..Ye hota to kya hota..Ye thoughts hmesa aate rhenge..Don't lose ur heart ..Don't take ur success or failure too seriously..Don't be so harsh with ur own self.. Whenever feeling low see open vast sky,,distant stars..Talk to ur near n dear ones..Hona hoga to ho jaayegaa,,load nhi lene ka..Na select hone wale turram khan hai,,naa tm koi gye gujre ho..Next attempt ke liye best of luck..
If I'm not wrong u asked for question pprs of exms like cds,capf etc conducted by upsc few days back(such questions r mostly asked by freshers). If u were selected at 21 and failed 2 prelims thereafter thn by now u must be no longer eligible fr cds and a upsc cse qualified candidate hardly cares abt capf after getting selected in upsc...also ur bio says aiming to clear pre 2020 which is what freshers aim fr when they enter the game
So u r most likely a fresher.
Candidates who have the experience of clearing or guiding students who have cleared the preliminary examination consistently, what would you recommend - solving + two revisions of 1 test series or solving + one revision of 2 test series?
More than revising test series focus more on revising ur books, if possible
