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Relevance / Need of Coaching for GS Mains

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Comments

  • @Arpit True! If you think you need coaching, then you need coaching. If you don't, then you don't.
  • From my college years, I recall a discussion on CAT pattern where it is generally assumed that IIMs are looking for people who are already semi-managers (read interviews) AND good at language (and its usage), good with numbers and data. All it needs is to identify half groomed managers among the crowd and start training them.

    Who's to say, UPSC may be moving towards the same pattern? (Wasn't this the intention behind making English scoring?)

    On this argument, I really wonder if coaching classes have the capability to pull out over 'administrative potential'... :))
  • @arpit I agree that only the individual can assess his/her needs and requirements. However as @eric said, Coaching institutes have been good mainly for the static portions and with increasing dynamism in Civil Services Examination, these institutes may become irrelevant if not extinct! :)
  • edited April 2013
    What i wanted to say is that these people are good with static momory oriented subjects.They will not be at ease with the new format which will require interlinking of traditional with dynamic newspaper stuff that people with dynamic optionals are acquainted with. A lot of them used to qualify at least for the interview everyyear with these optionals.the above is just a small sample. the new format is a curse for them.
  • @Eric
    Not all Candidates who had 2 science optionals are not out of the race, not in a million years...
    Those who took science optionals coz they have studied it thoroughly their entire life and preparing for mains would require much less effort than taking Pub ad or Geo and not just because they are high scoring are still ahead in the race...
    Only Candidates who thought they can ignore GS coz they have 2 science optionals are the ones that are dead in the water...

    @fallen_leaves and @Eric and others
    These policy moves work gradually in iterations. (happened in 3 years in CAT coaching industry-TIME has already shattered, CL and BYJU are getting innovative, IMS was always the underdog)
    Year after year more people are gonna realize that coaching is not necessary to crack the exam,not anymore...
    Even then there will be fools with more money than brains willing to pay 6 and 7 figures happily, Its impossible to stop them...

    But when all this is said and done whether it be senior or junior player
    anyone who has minimum levels of mental acuity and is willing to actually do the simple work that it takes to beat the crowd...
    Is gonna do just fine...
  • edited April 2013
    @carteey
    most of the people with science optional ignore GS.that's what i meant and u can see it in the links.They will suffer and make way for people who had good marks in GS but were victims of low marks in one optional(like psycho where people had 2 digit scores inspite of 230+ in GS).

    and if you look at the time table you will see that science optionals will not get the usual luxury to revise for weeks like they used to earlier.Science optionals require a haitus after GS to come in tune.This is true even if they have studied science optionals for decades.(considering the type of derivations they ask for 40 marks which require multiple revisions and one quick glance before exams.Also comes in the factor of sudden shift from GS to science.left brain right brain) although there will be some who will do good but majority will face diffiulty.
  • @fallen_leaves @Stardust1901 @Caartey @Eric


    I cannot agree more with the points that have been raised in previous comments. I believe that with the new Mains pattern, the need for coaching has become dead. If you look at the trend in GS for the past 3 years, scores are getting lesser and lesser even for toppers. GS used to be a rewarding subject, even as high as 350+, if you were thorough with static topics. Alas, not anymore. Coaching institutes have miserably failed to grasp the glaring shift in the type of questions that are being asked by UPSC and the kind of answers the examiners expect, especially since the past 2 years. That is the main reason why only a handful of toppers were able to breach 300 mark in GS since 2011.

    I myself took coaching for both Optionals and GS and Mains 2012 was my first attempt. Coaching greatly limits your perspective and reach. I was really stumped by seeing the 2012 Mains GS question paper. Not that they were rocket science or out of syllabus, but questions like innovation policy, govt intervention in the unorganised sector, how humankind can benefit from Curiosity rover etc., require analytical skills and no coaching institute would help you in that respect. In fact, as I said, they can be detriimental as they limit your perspective and outlook as they only shove the so called "important topics" down your throat just before the Mains.
  • edited April 2013
    @Neyawn would you like to share your experience here? The debate here is one sided. Need some balance.

    Anyone FOR coaching institutes?

    -After the recent pattern change the writing on the wall is clear - Coaching institutes have become irrelevant and absolute, the pattern change was the last nail in the coffin. UPSC has sounded the death knell for many bogus money making shops. I fail to understand; Why even after such glaring observations, aspirants opt for coaching?

    - Are we afraid? Do we consider ourselves incompetent? (because of the colonial dominance for 200 years? haha.) or is it because our education system has become the biggest joke of 21st century. I don't know. :( I am not making this an issue of self pride, If anybody here thinks that education in any form, must be attained by hook or crook, I completely agree with him/her. The question is, is this really EDUCATION?

    - Education can never be a business. One cannot pay and get his mind opened.

    - Or do we follow the herd mentality? We know it is wrong, but we don't know what is right. So let me do what my friend is doing.

    - Or we really expect that the coaching institutes will help us answer questions like - "Tell me something about yourself" in the interview? What is your opinion on the recent bomb blast in Bengaluru, Contrast it with boston blasts? What is the definition of a leader according to you? Is Rahul Gandhi a leader? Who is a leader?

    - Mains questions were mentioned by @Pink_Floyd let me add more questions ( Fictitious ) from recent past - Explain how technology has made geography history. Shifting of Lions - A good move?. Ethics question - Is it acceptable to use force against unarmed citizens who have gathered to protest in large numbers to disperse them? When can it be acceptable? If you were asked to fire on an unruly mob, will you shoot down your neighbor/relative?

    - Let me know, if coaching institutes can help you answer these questions. Originality is an asset, do not sell it to these coaching walas.

    - Many proponents of coaching institutes say, that they guide you, give you the right direction, they act like your torch bearers! - Really? Aspirants who have experienced coaching, will be in a better position to comment.


    P.s - 1 lac, seriously?? I can have a mini library at home, that too by spending only half of it. :O
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