i wanted to make a new thread of all those guys who cleared mains 2013
here just provide us the details which will help us understand what materials you guys used,your strategy and whether you were in a job or not
please provide details like mentioned below
aim: ias,ips,ifs or ifos
job: yes or no
newspapers: hindu, ET, IE etc
materials for prelimns: TMH,spectrum,Ncert etc
materials for mains: any coaching institute materials, supplementary,books etc
sites refereed: mrunal,govt websites etc
did u join a coaching institute: yes(which one?) or no
your optional:
materials used for optionals: books,websites,coaching materials etc
any additional information:
your comments:
Comments
Right now everyone's
ass is on fire!Waiting for the profiles now .
aim: ias or ips
job: yes. Took leaves with no pay for 2-3 months. Wasn't sufficient.
newspapers: hindu only.
materials for prelimns: none except newspaper, laxmikanth, etc. Was sure about paper 2 so dint really care.( 90s + 180+). I have had a habit of reading random books that helped me everywhere.
materials for mains: all standard books like laxmikanth, ramesh singh, bipin chandra, spectrum art etc. Forte was current affairs notes prepared from newspaper everyday. As you keep doing it for months you start seeing connections and links that help write better answers. Nowadays I can read a news and can recollect its whole history and imp. points without any effort. For example Indian Patents office rejected an patent applicatikn for another drug recently under section 3d of indian patents act, i could readily recollrct sc's glivec verdict and IPAB's naxavar. I hope you understand what I am getting at. Some selected visionias notes for random topics.
sites refereed: selectivery mrunal especiallu enb part. Prsindia.org.
did u join a coaching institute: no just visionias test series.
your optional: doesn't matter didn't prepare well enough. Probably could have scored 30-40 more marks here even with 2-3 more weeks of prep. All is history now.
any additional information: primary focus on daily newspaper with the kind of general question they ask nowadays. Writing practice is a must. I scored more marks in general questions where i dint know much while questions i thought i knew all about were less scoring in test series. You must prepare to attempt more. You'll never be able to guess the scoring pattern/mind of the examiner, better to give him a lot of options to award you marks.
Result : not recommended.