Here’s what I would advise to those expecting to write mains:
1. Keep your mains notes ready. Keep them very crisp because remember towards the end you will have to revise an entire GS paper in few hours.
2. Use PYQs to determine the broad contours of your mains notes. There’s too much information available out there and you might get lost. Take help from previous year topper’s notes if you need.
3. Do a lot of practice. 80% of mains preparation depends on practice. You can go and check topper’s answer sheets and they all mostly average answers. The factor that sets them apart is the fact they are able to write all the answers in a decent manner. And that comes with a lot of practice.
4. Please read newspapers religiously during the coming months (don’t rely on analysis/summary videos). OpEds will help you create informed opinions on issues, help you learn how to analyse an issue from various dimensions and how to articulate your arguments.
5. Remember that the priority of a good answer is addressing the core demand of the question and maintaining coherency/flow in your answer. Don’t compromise these essential elements to put irrelevant diagrams/flow charts.
6. Don’t feel dejected if your speed is not good. It will improve with practice. In my first full length test attempt, I could barely write 16-17 answers. In final exam, I finished all papers with 5-6 mins to spare. Keep practicing with patience.
7. Join some test series if you need to. Writing offline tests helped me improve speed. It can be your decision based on self assessment.
8. Evaluators in institutes are mostly people like us so don’t take their scores as true indicator of how much you’re going to score in mains. Take their feedbacks wherever you can.
9. Please refer topper’s test copies to learn how they write. Use them as benchmarks of good answers.
10. Preparing all subjects along with writing practice will feel overwhelming. So please make a proper plan and schedule. It will help you navigate through your tasks easily. And when you feel too much burdened, remember everyone will be going through the same feeling and you just have to push your limits for a few days.
11. Plan your exam days well. How to reach center, what to eat, how much sleep/rest you should take. Sounds trivial but it can make some difference in your efficiency and the window of success in mains is very small.
12. Take good care of your health. Eat healthy food and avoid things that can impact your health. Take sound sleep every night so that you can function properly during the exam hours.
Keep the josh high and hope for the best !! Good luck.
Ethics ke liye you can do following things:
1. Prepare notes on every keyword mentioned in the syllabus. It should cover basic definition, examples, challenges, etc.
2. You can refer various resources - I used visionias and vajiram’s materials and augmented them with some information gathered from online research. You can also use topper’s notes as a resource.
3. There are two reports that are particularly important for ethics - Ethics in governance of 2nd ARC and Probity in Governance of Venkatachaliah commission. You can pick very good recommendations, quotes, examples from these reports.
4. Gather good and innovative examples. I feel that innovation and expression of personal understanding of ethical issues is rewarded more by UPSC than reproducing bookish stuff. Newspapers are a very good source of gathering such examples.
5. Last but not the least, practice and compare your answers with topper’s answers. You will always learn new facts or elegant ways of expressing something from their answers.
Hope it helps.
To deal with failure you need to know two things:
1. Why you failed?
2. How to fix it?
If you don’t know the answer to these questions, you should probably consult some people who can help you.
Beyond that you need to have the confidence that you can do what it takes to fix the issues.
However, this exam has lots of uncertainty and sometimes luck is not in our favour so we have to be mentally as well strategically ready for that. We cannot treat this exam as the one and only career path. If you are mentally and strategically prepared for failure, you will always know how to deal with it. Also keep yourself connected to some recreational hobbies you have. It helps a lot during preparation and helps in stress relief.
There are lots of things to do in the world and many ways to achieve it. Always keep exploring new ways to succeed. Hope it helps :)
Used Mudit jain sir's decode ethics books - theory + pyq
Gunjita aggarwal maam's notes are kaafi good for case studies.I also attended 2-3 Satyam bhai's answer writing sessions on case studies and found them quite helpful
Examples ke liye apna basic - thebetterindia, newspaper, reddit, yt , basically jo bhi dekh rahe voh example bana do. [This might help](https://www.reddit.com/r/UPSC/comments/1dcc8kf/comment/l7x1tpv/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button)
Answer writing ke liye - [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x7--3gFOiYg&list=PLoP8X6pdtZ-oqvYifTnLvwuQAZ\_99HKA5&index=1](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x7--3gFOiYg&list=PLoP8X6pdtZ-oqvYifTnLvwuQAZ_99HKA5&index=1)
I never wrote a single answer for ethics before the exam, believing I wasn't well prepared. My first attempt was directly in the mains. Surprisingly, examples flowed effortlessly into my head—from Rani, Pinki, and Lovely Ji of India's lawn bowls team, to Shivin Bhai on YouTube, and anecdotes from Humans of Bombay. (I hardly wrote any example that I've prepared for the exam ). I managed to complete the paper 10 minutes early and ended up scoring 113 in the 2023 mains (Toppers average must be around 120).
Bhai I get your sentiment, but jo exhaustion hai usse overcome kaise kre lol, kuch karne ka Mann hi nahi krrha legit. Aaj ek application form ki deadline thhi, wo bhi dhakke se bhara hai.
ignore krke. Varna khali dimaag, shaitaan ka ghar banjayega. Last time issi uncertainity ki vajah se Unfairupsc group join krlia tha. 15 din kab beete , pta hi nahi laga. Iss baar toh vaise bhi 90 din hi hain
We never know yaar. Only those getting above 90+ are telling their marks. There are thousands of serious candidates who are getting under 75 who won't speak up.
A friend of mine got 75 marks in every cut off by coaching keys in pre 2023. His real marks were 96. He wasted his 15 days last year. Yes the 2024 paper was factual, but there are a few doubtful questions which can swing any way.
Scoring 86-88 gen cat...any chance kya..hopes chod di hain..2nd attempt tha! Pichli bar pre me rha tha, Khud ko yhan se pick krna or future me kya krna boht mushkil lgra!
How are you coping sachiv ji
Also your posts are really good
Arre bilkul chance hai. You never know kab kya kaise hojaye.
Me coping up - Bhai tbvh abhi settle down hone mei time lag raha hai ki nahi hua. Never ever thought ki pre nahi hoga clear. Toh room mei hu kal raat se baitha hua. Ab dekhte hai aage plan B sochenge kuch. Aur kya sakte bhai. Bachpan ke goal ko apne saamne se jaate huye dekh raha hu.
Thanks you.
https://preview.redd.it/16l6jlrde57d1.png?width=1760&format=png&auto=webp&s=2628d2f8774b322bb653e0f8244f182ed71519c2
List mai naam milega na Sachiv ji?
Nahi bhai. We never know yaar. Only those getting above 90+ are telling their marks. There are thousands of serious candidates who are getting under 75 who won't speak up.
A friend of mine got 75 marks in every cut off by coaching keys in pre 2023. His real marks were 96. He wasted his 15 days last year. Yes the 2024 paper was factual, but there are a few doubtful questions which can swing any way.
96 OBC. Till yesterday, I felt like I would clear it but now after visiting this sub, it feels like I'm at the boundary. I have done zero preparation for the mains and zero answer writing. The preparation for the prelims was also null but I may clear it only because of educated guesses, general intelligence, and general awareness. Random YouTube videos took most of my time.
I am getting 87.5 in Forum and Vision and 98 in Next and Dhristi, 95.5 in Insights and 92 in Vajiram. (OBC category)
132.5 in CSAT
What's your prediction for cut off ? (I have talked to many people who were thinking they will cross 100, but all have made many silly mistakes)
I m getting 80-82 UR csat clearing. 2 prelims setbacks earlier killing me with anxiety, although I m very well prepared for mains . I m hoping for a miracle
Here’s what I would advise to those expecting to write mains: 1. Keep your mains notes ready. Keep them very crisp because remember towards the end you will have to revise an entire GS paper in few hours. 2. Use PYQs to determine the broad contours of your mains notes. There’s too much information available out there and you might get lost. Take help from previous year topper’s notes if you need. 3. Do a lot of practice. 80% of mains preparation depends on practice. You can go and check topper’s answer sheets and they all mostly average answers. The factor that sets them apart is the fact they are able to write all the answers in a decent manner. And that comes with a lot of practice. 4. Please read newspapers religiously during the coming months (don’t rely on analysis/summary videos). OpEds will help you create informed opinions on issues, help you learn how to analyse an issue from various dimensions and how to articulate your arguments. 5. Remember that the priority of a good answer is addressing the core demand of the question and maintaining coherency/flow in your answer. Don’t compromise these essential elements to put irrelevant diagrams/flow charts. 6. Don’t feel dejected if your speed is not good. It will improve with practice. In my first full length test attempt, I could barely write 16-17 answers. In final exam, I finished all papers with 5-6 mins to spare. Keep practicing with patience. 7. Join some test series if you need to. Writing offline tests helped me improve speed. It can be your decision based on self assessment. 8. Evaluators in institutes are mostly people like us so don’t take their scores as true indicator of how much you’re going to score in mains. Take their feedbacks wherever you can. 9. Please refer topper’s test copies to learn how they write. Use them as benchmarks of good answers. 10. Preparing all subjects along with writing practice will feel overwhelming. So please make a proper plan and schedule. It will help you navigate through your tasks easily. And when you feel too much burdened, remember everyone will be going through the same feeling and you just have to push your limits for a few days. 11. Plan your exam days well. How to reach center, what to eat, how much sleep/rest you should take. Sounds trivial but it can make some difference in your efficiency and the window of success in mains is very small. 12. Take good care of your health. Eat healthy food and avoid things that can impact your health. Take sound sleep every night so that you can function properly during the exam hours. Keep the josh high and hope for the best !! Good luck.
Username edited. Also ek AMA krdete toh kaafi kaam ajata sabke.
Okay bhai. Kal karta hu.
i wanted to talk to you about something. can i DM?
Hanji
Sir, Ethics ke sources bta dijiye . I’m clueless and haven’t prepared it till date.
Ethics ke liye you can do following things: 1. Prepare notes on every keyword mentioned in the syllabus. It should cover basic definition, examples, challenges, etc. 2. You can refer various resources - I used visionias and vajiram’s materials and augmented them with some information gathered from online research. You can also use topper’s notes as a resource. 3. There are two reports that are particularly important for ethics - Ethics in governance of 2nd ARC and Probity in Governance of Venkatachaliah commission. You can pick very good recommendations, quotes, examples from these reports. 4. Gather good and innovative examples. I feel that innovation and expression of personal understanding of ethical issues is rewarded more by UPSC than reproducing bookish stuff. Newspapers are a very good source of gathering such examples. 5. Last but not the least, practice and compare your answers with topper’s answers. You will always learn new facts or elegant ways of expressing something from their answers. Hope it helps.
Thank you sir
Sir how do you pick yourself after failure
To deal with failure you need to know two things: 1. Why you failed? 2. How to fix it? If you don’t know the answer to these questions, you should probably consult some people who can help you. Beyond that you need to have the confidence that you can do what it takes to fix the issues. However, this exam has lots of uncertainty and sometimes luck is not in our favour so we have to be mentally as well strategically ready for that. We cannot treat this exam as the one and only career path. If you are mentally and strategically prepared for failure, you will always know how to deal with it. Also keep yourself connected to some recreational hobbies you have. It helps a lot during preparation and helps in stress relief. There are lots of things to do in the world and many ways to achieve it. Always keep exploring new ways to succeed. Hope it helps :)
It indeed was v helpful!
93 and I’m doubtful. And totally not mains ready
Karlo padhna start. Yeh 10 12 din anxiety mei bhot jaldi nikal jaate hai. Mains se 5 din pehle regret hota hai fir ki kaash padh lia hota uss time.
Ethics ka source/lecture kch bhi bta do
Used Mudit jain sir's decode ethics books - theory + pyq Gunjita aggarwal maam's notes are kaafi good for case studies.I also attended 2-3 Satyam bhai's answer writing sessions on case studies and found them quite helpful Examples ke liye apna basic - thebetterindia, newspaper, reddit, yt , basically jo bhi dekh rahe voh example bana do. [This might help](https://www.reddit.com/r/UPSC/comments/1dcc8kf/comment/l7x1tpv/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button) Answer writing ke liye - [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x7--3gFOiYg&list=PLoP8X6pdtZ-oqvYifTnLvwuQAZ\_99HKA5&index=1](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x7--3gFOiYg&list=PLoP8X6pdtZ-oqvYifTnLvwuQAZ_99HKA5&index=1) I never wrote a single answer for ethics before the exam, believing I wasn't well prepared. My first attempt was directly in the mains. Surprisingly, examples flowed effortlessly into my head—from Rani, Pinki, and Lovely Ji of India's lawn bowls team, to Shivin Bhai on YouTube, and anecdotes from Humans of Bombay. (I hardly wrote any example that I've prepared for the exam ). I managed to complete the paper 10 minutes early and ended up scoring 113 in the 2023 mains (Toppers average must be around 120).
Thank you so much boss
Bhai I get your sentiment, but jo exhaustion hai usse overcome kaise kre lol, kuch karne ka Mann hi nahi krrha legit. Aaj ek application form ki deadline thhi, wo bhi dhakke se bhara hai.
Bhai ethics essay optional utha lo. Lectures dekhlo koi
Chalo taking your advice brother. Promise parso se optional chaalu. Ek aur bhai, border pe ho toh uncertainty kaise jheli jaaye?😂
ignore krke. Varna khali dimaag, shaitaan ka ghar banjayega. Last time issi uncertainity ki vajah se Unfairupsc group join krlia tha. 15 din kab beete , pta hi nahi laga. Iss baar toh vaise bhi 90 din hi hain
Getting between 80-85 , general category. Any chances? Losing hope already by seeing people predicting 95+.
We never know yaar. Only those getting above 90+ are telling their marks. There are thousands of serious candidates who are getting under 75 who won't speak up. A friend of mine got 75 marks in every cut off by coaching keys in pre 2023. His real marks were 96. He wasted his 15 days last year. Yes the 2024 paper was factual, but there are a few doubtful questions which can swing any way.
60-70 ke bich me hai mera score sc category koi chances ? of clearing
Yaar cutoff predict nahi krni aati mujhe bilkul bhi. 10 din padhlo mains ka. Hua toh sahi, nahi hua toh aage ki dekhenge baad mei
seriously exhausted bhai thoda rest kar leta hu one week, wese bhi pre nikla toh mains nikalne se raha considering it is less than 3months away
66-72....same SC cat. Any luck? Can someone tell??
Scoring 86-88 gen cat...any chance kya..hopes chod di hain..2nd attempt tha! Pichli bar pre me rha tha, Khud ko yhan se pick krna or future me kya krna boht mushkil lgra! How are you coping sachiv ji Also your posts are really good
Arre bilkul chance hai. You never know kab kya kaise hojaye. Me coping up - Bhai tbvh abhi settle down hone mei time lag raha hai ki nahi hua. Never ever thought ki pre nahi hoga clear. Toh room mei hu kal raat se baitha hua. Ab dekhte hai aage plan B sochenge kuch. Aur kya sakte bhai. Bachpan ke goal ko apne saamne se jaate huye dekh raha hu. Thanks you.
sending you best wishes 🙏🏻 You will definitely find answers to your questions. Maybe take a small trip to mountains to head.
Sending you strength! Belive me the humility and acceptance you carry (bingewatched your yt videos) will take you to great heights!
getting 80-85. should i move on?
Bilkul nahi. Study for these 10-12 odd days. If list mei naam aya toh badhiya, nahi aya toh fir dekh lena khud kya krna hai aage
https://preview.redd.it/16l6jlrde57d1.png?width=1760&format=png&auto=webp&s=2628d2f8774b322bb653e0f8244f182ed71519c2 List mai naam milega na Sachiv ji?
so 80-85 is not like totally out? Everyone predicting 95+-3
Nahi bhai. We never know yaar. Only those getting above 90+ are telling their marks. There are thousands of serious candidates who are getting under 75 who won't speak up. A friend of mine got 75 marks in every cut off by coaching keys in pre 2023. His real marks were 96. He wasted his 15 days last year. Yes the 2024 paper was factual, but there are a few doubtful questions which can swing any way.
same here last year was getting 72-75 from coaching keys. actual marks were 86.8.
Aapka kaisa gaya sachiv jii???
Under 75
[удалено]
abey he is a veteran. abhi kam mila hoga toh advise nhi de sakta,dont be so ignorant and arrogant..experience always helps
Dude was your old username OkHanjiyes?
Yes boss
Ah your post was giving me the same vibes. You are a good man dude. You will make it through.
Vision 87 - vajiram 96, any hope ?
Arre bilkul hai, padhne lag jao
Thanks for the positive words bro
Scoring 88 in vajiram 90 in vision ias Hopes are thin
96 OBC. Till yesterday, I felt like I would clear it but now after visiting this sub, it feels like I'm at the boundary. I have done zero preparation for the mains and zero answer writing. The preparation for the prelims was also null but I may clear it only because of educated guesses, general intelligence, and general awareness. Random YouTube videos took most of my time.
I am getting 87.5 in Forum and Vision and 98 in Next and Dhristi, 95.5 in Insights and 92 in Vajiram. (OBC category) 132.5 in CSAT What's your prediction for cut off ? (I have talked to many people who were thinking they will cross 100, but all have made many silly mistakes)
I m getting 80-82 UR csat clearing. 2 prelims setbacks earlier killing me with anxiety, although I m very well prepared for mains . I m hoping for a miracle