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Takeaways from Civil Services (Mains) 2015 for the future

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  • Thank you Defcon..

    Thank you Portobello..

    Thanks Amit.. Haan papers theek thaak gaye.. 60-70% attempt raha GS mai.. Tumney kaisa kiya..

    And so kind of you warrior0602.. :)



    Achey to gaye tumharey papers.. Ab marking imp hai ki kaisey hoti hai.. Mrunal k according GS 1,2,3 mai kaafi question ussi se aaye the.. Aur kuch log visionIAS k material k baarey mai bhi bol rahe hai.. Agar aisa hai to next baar k liye ye dono bhi karney hongay.. Is this your first attempt ?

  • edited December 2015
    hello seniors, am having great difficulty in choosing book list. i am reffering to ias baba for pre books coz mrunal has 2011 pattern booklist. pls pls pls help.
  • hello seniors, am having great difficulty in choosing book list. i am reffering to ias baba for pre books coz mrunal has 2011 pattern booklist. pls pls pls help.
    Hi @Workhard
    Here is a basic book list-

    Laxmikanth for Polity, Spectrum for Modern History, NCERTS for geography, Sriram notes for economics if you don't have a background in eco (otherwise, just go through NCERT - macro eco)
    Read these first. Read them not once but twice, thrice.
    Then for sci-tech go through the NCERTS, for envt you could read shankar ias notes
    Culture will require a bit of hard work- ccrt, nios, ncert. Pick any two and read them thoroughly.

    My best to you :smile:
  • hello seniors, am having great difficulty in choosing book list. i am reffering to ias baba for pre books coz mrunal has 2011 pattern booklist. pls pls pls help.
    Hi @Workhard
    Here is a basic book list-

    Laxmikanth for Polity, Spectrum for Modern History, NCERTS for geography, Sriram notes for economics if you don't have a background in eco (otherwise, just go through NCERT - macro eco)
    Read these first. Read them not once but twice, thrice.
    Then for sci-tech go through the NCERTS, for envt you could read shankar ias notes
    Culture will require a bit of hard work- ccrt, nios, ncert. Pick any two and read them thoroughly.

    My best to you :smile:
    shukriya :-)
  • Thank you Defcon..

    Thank you Portobello..

    Thanks Amit.. Haan papers theek thaak gaye.. 60-70% attempt raha GS mai.. Tumney kaisa kiya..

    And so kind of you warrior0602.. :)



    Achey to gaye tumharey papers.. Ab marking imp hai ki kaisey hoti hai.. Mrunal k according GS 1,2,3 mai kaafi question ussi se aaye the.. Aur kuch log visionIAS k material k baarey mai bhi bol rahe hai.. Agar aisa hai to next baar k liye ye dono bhi karney hongay.. Is this your first attempt ?

    Vision se I don't think kuch aaya
  • Drop any coaching/ test series you've bern lured into. It will be a serious drag on your efficiency..
  • My takeaways from this years mains exam are:
    1. GS1:I had followed text books like RS Sharma,Wonder that was India,Fine Arts,Sumit Sarkar(for modern history),Plassey to partition these books really helped in improving language for writing any questions lucidly with appropriate expression.For Geography:NCERT and GCL i found these two books along with Hindu sufficient.For Society I had studied NCERT 11th and 12th really helpful.I found GS1 questions ok.Could not make notes during prep time so revision took time.Hope to make short notes this time,"one page one chapter notes".
    2. GS2:I found a bit tough,as many of us have the same feeling.For GS2 i dint make notes so could not revise.But I was aware of all the questions.Again language and writing flow is important for any answer,Am hoping to improve on that.Gs2 was mostly opinion based,so its important that we give more stress on thinking while reading the Newspaper.In my view marks can be anything in GS2 depending on examineers perspective and originality of the opinion given.
    3. I found GS3 the easiest.In GS3 I had made up to date notes (knowing that in 2014 many people screwed this paper).I had followed analysis of RSTV from youtube it helped me a lot.Looking to do it for GS2 as well.Hoping to get more than 100 in this paper.
    4. In ethics paper Mrunal had come up with youtube lectures,found them helpful.I picked up trick on how to form examples.In paper 4 vision test series helped a lot,especially in time management.Again language matters a lot in Ethics paper.In future I look to make notes of some key words and day to day examples.
    5. Essay was ok.cant comment.Should have opted for an essay test series.I opted for phillosphical essays so that the reader doesnt get bored and such essays have more scope to present diverse views.
    GS +essay on overall was good.
    Sites to refer in future:"law of the land" "policy watch" from RSTV,Down to earth magazine for geography.
    Test series of either vision,GSscore or synergy do help in writing 20 qns.

    Optional:
    I had Electrical Engineering as my optional.My prep was skewed more towards GS preparation.Could not finish optional in time.I had kept optional till the very last :neutral: .Nightout on the night before exam did help in getting some marks
    optional paper1:hoping to get around 140 to 150.Found it easy and could solve the problems and had time even to verfiy the answers.

    Optional paper2:Screwed.expecting 40-50.

    Overall thin chances of getting through.I realised that Electrical as optional is scoring and straightforward qns are asked.Less scope for subjective marking scheme.Will opt for coaching and tuition for the same this time(If optional remains in 2016).Lesson learnt:Optional and other fringe syllabus like world history,security forces,food processing,investment models,post independence should be finished before prelims.
    Lucid note making in notepad helps for revision.

    One tip I can share:copy one portion of syllabus say "food processing" of GS3 and paste it on your browser,google will show all the recent news item analysis of the same topic as suggestion.Read them all.It helps in revision just before exam.

    Thanks
  • Kindly also guide regarding mains test series. I am confused between Vision and GS Score. If any one has personal experience at either of these institutes that would be really helpful. Please guide which one would be better as far as evaluation, doubt clearing, feedback and discussion classes are concerned
  • I had opted for both through Distance learning.So I had to scan and send the pdfs to them.
    Vision:questions were good.checking too harsh and sometimes I found them illogical.They dont score above 50 percent even if your answer is too good.I don't think UPSC follows this scheme.Comments given by Vision people are generally helpful.If one opts for it make sure that u attend them sincerely within an exam environment.They return the checked answers sheet in time.Dint attend discussion session or read any model answers,they were full of facts and numbers,so could not digest.Plus they give rankings which is nice.

    GSScore:Questions are a bit easier but very nice.Checking same as vision and better sometimes.Delay in returning checked answersheet.Comments and all good.But less people opt for it.

    One can opt for one on his/her own and share the other with someone.
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