Is UPSC CSE this easy?

dpagarwal

Thisbyear Rank 61. Had an altogether different approach towards this exam. This was his 1st mains. Dont know how much is true.

His fb link
https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000242341604

Hardworking Human:
#GratitudeTime (E1 of the series , read time 3.8 min..flow : Non smooth)

****Coaching (Online/Offline)/ Books ***

In my first real attempt , In my first ever mains and Interview, with God being the real guide, I could bring a smile on the face of my family.

Time I used to get to prepare : 1-2 hour on week days and 3-4 hours on weekend

UPSC AIR : 61

Is my selection a bluff -> No a very thought of , mentally- emotionally hard worked calculated risk and very very focused preparation ( high on productivity)

Total month I prepared : prelims -> 2.5 months
Mains -> 25 days
Interview -> 6 days

Job Nature : Investment Banking

Time job takes : 10-12 hours on avg (many a times last person in GPF team to leave the floor)

Mock Interviews : 0

Answer Writing : Wrote in total 5 answers in entire preparation, though I did mental answer writing which very few people do

Went to Delhi : No

Interview Date : Apr 17

Interview Board : Dr. Manoj Soni sir

Interview Nature : Stress interview (went for 55 minutes)

Optional : Pyschology

Main Passion : Long Short Trade Strategies ( Pair trading) and teaching / learning , Writing Stories, poems, taking Inspirational sessions, Trying to be a better Human Being, creator WYFY (With You For You campaign)

On weekends : used to teach underprivileged kids in Dharavi SSRVM , online teaching for RBI grade B exam after clearing it from Nov , Teaching IIT Kanpur students for placements for last 4 years , teaching DB freshers about cross desk functions and CFA

Last Year exams cleared : CFA L3 , RBI Grade B (AIR 49)

Newspaper read -> None ( no Hindu no Indian express nothing..I never had that luxury and I personally find the opinions of so called intellects many a times biased)

Books for UPSC read

Prelims : Manohar Pandey ( small book-> Arihant Publication)

Mains :

Static : No books ( no Lakshmikant, no Ramesh Singh), no NCERTs also sadly,

just one book fully (D Subbarao for GS4 -> ETHICS) and India Struggle for Independence ( half book completed)

Evernote note making -> Never

LSTV/RSTV -> None rather watched Dance + / Super Dancer 2and wrote an entire paragraph in Essay on that ..Also helped me to connect with school kids

Total pages of notes made : In total 52 (GS1-2-3) / GS4 ->28 , for my optional Psychology -> 2 small copies (51 pages)

Reason : Time constraint - The most important transition in office was happening at a time when Mains were just 20 days away !!

Do I regret -> well if I had time i had bought gist of NCERTs to read

What worked for me : An out of box plan for MAINS...just went with a all together new approach, Positive momentum before mains that I was a topper in SST in my school so i can do it !!

What could have been better : My Interview

Final analysis : Post marksheet

Coaching

OFFLINE -> None for mains / interview

ONLINE -> None for mains / interview

Test series for Mains : Joined none , saw Q of Vision IAS, did not have time to write)

Test series for Prelims -> Insights ( Full Pre test series) -> Found it very useful , Vision IAS (open Mock tests)

For RBI -> Pre (EduTap full test ) and level 2 (Edutap material)-> I was unaware of syllabus of RBI , hence needed something to know -> In total I prepared for RBI -> 5 Days for Pre, 7 for Mains and 2 for Interview)

However even being not a student of any of them ,

I found everyone very useful (free of cost materials)

Insights -> SECURE is LEGENDARY (took a print out of last 7 months when I had 14 days remaining for mains..It helped me immensely). This is the only website I open

I read a lot of topper's talk on INSIGHTS to understand if I don't belong to that level..I found I can be there...I will share my story this year and God has provided that opportunity

D BALAJI article is mind blowing in Insights!!

Nutshell -> Insights on India is the most hardworking team I can think of..

Vision-> The monthly free magazine and the Economic Survey gist ( Brilliant again) -> Read this for 7 months I had in preparation with honesty

VisionIAS is also a very very good platform if people want to read things for free.

Also in interviee he eas advised to seekna counsellor after it. Yet got 201 marks.


Kya hain ye UPSC. Mazaak lag raha hain ab sab.

Cena

.

Shad

Arrey usne to bahut kuch padh lia, 5 saal pahle ek rank 2 (venky wala) said "I just read The Hindu and nothing else"

sandrokottos

yeah some facts are defo correct like IB job is a min 12 hr workday.He did clear RBI grade B and CFA.Perhaps he is a genius as he has also topped from psychology with 20 day prep only 10 hrs every day.He shared the strategy in psycho telegram grp plus quora.

zohanmukharjee

arre he is IIT grad , upr se top bank me kaam , and moreover CFA , RBI cracked , he would be(is) exceptionally talented , things come easily to him ( humari trh ni ki revisions pe revisions , fir b confused). and he is able to put it in perspective , i know him well , i tried connecting him to @Neyawn sir , pr it didn't worked out .

pizzza

These guys(Rank 61 in this case) ignore the fact that they have spent years perfecting the art of learning.
Same applies to Roman Saini and Gaurav Agrawal. They like studying like anything and if they sit with the books, it's hard to separate them.

They can digest humongous amount of information and process it in a very short span of time. They are in this competitive phase of mind for years before even attempting this exam. It's a different ball game for them.

If a who guy who has been average throughout his academics tries this method, he will spoil his career let alone become an IAS.

Write ups like these should come with a disclaimer : For geniuses only.

But nevertheless, we should get inspired by such people and try to be like them ultimately.

sandrokottos

Arrey usne to bahut kuch padh lia, 5 saal pahle ek rank 2 (venky wala) said "I just read The Hindu and nothing else"

Manish sharma tha woh I rem had just started by upsc prep.Bahut bada feku nikla since I thought itna easy hai

Komedian_binku

These guys(Rank 61 in this case) ignore the fact that they have spent years perfecting the art of learning.
Same applies to Roman Saini and Gaurav Agrawal. They like studying like anything and if they sit with the books, it's hard to separate them.

They can digest humongous amount of information and process it in a very short span of time. They are in this competitive phase of mind for years before even attempting this exam. It's a different ball game for them.

If a who guy who has been average throughout his academics tries this method, he will spoil his career let alone become an IAS.

Write ups like these should come with a disclaimer : For geniuses only.

But nevertheless, we should get inspired by such people and try to be like them ultimately.

+1 kudos to his strategy. But I refuted to follow his mains strategy just after watching his video.

It will not work for me.

zohanmukharjee

Arrey usne to bahut kuch padh lia, 5 saal pahle ek rank 2 (venky wala) said "I just read The Hindu and nothing else"

Manish sharma tha woh I rem had just started by upsc prep.Bahut bada feku nikla since I thought itna easy hai

btw there is lot one can gain from his videos at youtube ( just have a look) , he does play with his own rules and that works for him ( i would say he is gifted)

pizzza

Arrey usne to bahut kuch padh lia, 5 saal pahle ek rank 2 (venky wala) said "I just read The Hindu and nothing else"

Manish sharma tha woh I rem had just started by upsc prep.Bahut bada feku nikla since I thought itna easy hai

btw there is lot one can gain from his videos at youtube ( just have a look) , he does play with his own rules and that works for him ( i would say he is gifted)

The word gifted often undermines the hard-work they have put in their youth, while we were still busy exploring youth.
They are extremely hard working and diligent.

zohanmukharjee

Arrey usne to bahut kuch padh lia, 5 saal pahle ek rank 2 (venky wala) said "I just read The Hindu and nothing else"

Manish sharma tha woh I rem had just started by upsc prep.Bahut bada feku nikla since I thought itna easy hai

btw there is lot one can gain from his videos at youtube ( just have a look) , he does play with his own rules and that works for him ( i would say he is gifted)

The word gifted often undermines the hard-work they have put in their youth, while we were still busy exploring youth.
They are extremely hard working and diligent.

true. but that doesnt mean we cant take away some good things from him . his videos are very diff then what other toppers would tell ( raw , friendly , direct)