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Takeaway points from Mains-2013

edited December 2013 in Miscellaneous
Hi fellow members of the forum, as mains are over, it will be good to put down your observations from this new pattern and suggest other candidates about strategy and Dos and Donts in preparation.

Best of luck for interview call.

Happy Learning
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Comments

  • Important lessons from mains:

    1) Revise, think and strategize all you want before entering the exam hall and preferably during the preceeding year. Trust me, you will never get a chance to 'think' inside the hall.

    2) Cover the entire syllabus or at least cover as much as possible. The new pattern gives more importance to breadth and not the depth of knowledge.

    3) You should be able to concentrate under all kinds of environments including hot, humid and noisy.

    4) Develop a strong habit of writing in a fast and concise manner.

    5) Optionals are still the deciding factors to a large extent. Chose your optionals wisely according to which one can fetch you the highest marks and not whether it will aid your GS preparations.

  • 5) Optionals are still the deciding factors to a large extent. Chose your optionals wisely according to which one can fetch you the highest marks and not whether it will aid your GS preparations.
    Genuine and insightful point! 2014 aspirants should think about it.
  • Most important take away point is

    Taking back question paper...from the QCA sheet....wow \m/
  • @dp81 i forgot it in my geography paper - 1............... in a way, it is good as i dont want to look back to the ''devastating'' question paper
  • My lessons from Mains 2013:-

    1. Make your own notes from newspaper. Re-revise it, every month, or fortnightly

    2. Don't rato coaching notes in the last week. Everything you already know gets overwritten.

    3. Writing Practice is the key to Nirvana

    4. Attempt the entire question no matter what. I happened to speak to two of the people I deem as smart. One of these is from IIM-A and in IRS and the other is a chick from IIT D. They are smart. They both completed the paper. Wrote at least something in all questions. I couldn't :-(

    5. Your long term memory is your best friend.

    Damn, I should write a blog post on this.

    @Partho, what is YOUR take? and IPS @robinolds, IRS @kammo care to share your take home?

    Yes, I am back :-)
  • edited December 2013
    My inability to complete GS papers would perhaps turn out be my undoing. Deeply disappointed on that front. I too believe that completing the paper should be on the top of one's priority list, come what may. It's all about maximising your marks and the probability of your selection.

    Coming on to optionals, Pub Ad Paper -1 was really fuzzy with some random quotes thrown around and asking us to comment on it. Each question was like a mini-essay with 100 different possible interpretations.
    I just hope UPSC would be kind enough to treat Pub Ad with some respect. IMO, the subject has really become a big gamble. So if I were to suggest someone who is about to enter the fray, I'd say choose anything but Pub Ad.

    Btw, haven't seen @Partho around for some time now. Where art thou?
  • @Neyawn

    What was your optional?
  • My lessons from Mains 2013:-

    1. Make your own notes from newspaper. Re-revise it, every month, or fortnightly

    2. Don't rato coaching notes in the last week. Everything you already know gets overwritten.

    3. Writing Practice is the key to Nirvana

    4. Attempt the entire question no matter what. I happened to speak to two of the people I deem as smart. One of these is from IIM-A and in IRS and the other is a chick from IIT D. They are smart. They both completed the paper. Wrote at least something in all questions. I couldn't :-(

    5. Your long term memory is your best friend.

    Damn, I should write a blog post on this.

    @Partho, what is YOUR take? and IPS @robinolds, IRS @kammo care to share your take home?

    Yes, I am back :-)
    In your absence, @partho overtook you as the top poster on the forum so in deference to your exemplary previous contributions, he is allowing you some time to get back in the lead, a deficit of over 500 posts :P
  • @Pink_Floyd Philosophy. There are a bunch of Philosophy guys here on the forum here. I wonder why no one discusses Philo paper at all.

  • My take on mains(1st experience):

    1) For paper 1 Ncerts and basic books are more than sufficient.
    2) For paper 2 and 3 reading newspaper is the most important part of preparation.
    3) Paper 4 is mostly a general paper . No idea if the level will increase as the years go by.
    4) Geo P1 had some unknown question while P2 was mostly GS.
    5) Essay does not need special preparation but practice does help.
    6) Writing practice and improving speed is very important!

    Writing mains was an amazing experience! 6 hours of non stop writing in a day is extremely challenging ! If you enjoy the challenge, your journey through the exam should be smooth ride. :)

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