Abdullah Zahid (CSE-23 AIR-744) Comprehensive Strategy

Background

Hello everyone, I am Abdullah Zahid . I have qualified UPSC CSE 2023 with AIR 744 with Electrical Engineering as optional . I was born in small town —Afzalgarh, Bijnor(UP). My family shifted to Dehradun in 2007 so that we can get good education . I completed my Electrical Engineering from Jamia Millia Islamia in 2018. Then I worked in Siemens Ltd for one year and left job to solely focus on CSE preparation.

Journey

My UPSC journey is very unique correlating to V shaped recovery:

1st Attempt (2020): Reached interview stage and missed selection by few marks
2nd Attempt (2021): Couldn’t Qualify for Interview due to optional (204 marks)
3rd Attempt (2022): Failed Prelims
4th Attempt (2023): AIR 744

You can contact him on Instagram

I had faced challenges which all aspirants face like mental stress, anxiety and negativity due to various setbacks and downward graph (Interview—Mains—Pre fail). However, i had very good seniors and friends at Jamia RCA like Amir bhai, Mohibullah bhai (IPS), Saad bhai, Adnan, Uzair and many other friends who helped me in all aspects ranging from academics to non academic challenges specially at times of mental stress.

Further in this attempt, I was having viral fever during my GS3, GS4 Mains paper day and had to take intravenous injections at hospital during that 5 day break before optional for faster recover. Then just 2 weeks before my interview i had typhoid. These unavoidable circumstances almost crashed my hopes of qualifying but during such times, my family and friends supported and motivated me a lot. And with almighty grace I was able to secure rank this year. It signifies having quality seniors and friends play very crucial role in this beautiful yet challenging journey.

Timetable

I used to make rough timetable like 3 days for Society, 2 days for internal security etc. I used to achieve only 70% of what i had decided. But such targets used to push me to work even harder as i used to to study 7/8 hours per day (my upper limit).

Preparation with Job?

It depends upon the background and personal choice. I knew that i could do only one work at one time. So i left job and prepared solely for it. But many people ace this exam with job as well. So it ultimately depends upon personal choice.

Note Making or Not?

I was not not able to make organised notes in initial attempts. Gave 1st, 2nd and 3rd attempt without short notes because due to covid i had very small gap between my first 3 attempts and i was stuck in pre Mains interview cycle. But when i didn’t qualify prelims in 2022, i had made notes of almost everything via combining notes of Rushikesh Reddy Sir, Dipin Sir CA classes, ForumIAS MGP test series and other sources. Majorly i integrated these three sources for my GS1, GS2 and GS3. Also i had also used TARGET UPSC Mains notes for GS2 for some topics.

For GS4, I completely relied on Decode Ethics by Mudit Sir since my first attempt and it is a gem. I supplemented Decode Ethics with examples pdf of Sunya IAS.

Join here for free UPSC guidance from Mudit Jain, IPS-15, IPS-16, IRS-18, Author of Decode CSAT, Decode Essay, Decode GS2, Decode Ethics 4.0 & Decode History Books

Ethics book referred by CSE 22 Toppers: AIR –76, 91, 176, 189, 249, 288, 297, 299, 326, 356, 476, 541, 611, 616, 700, 737, 739, 746 & others

History book referred by CSE 21 Toppers: AIR – 44, 212, 572, 653 & others

Find PDFs of All Decode Series Books Here

Role of PYQs in Prelims-Mains

I believe it is the bible for UPSC CSE. I gave only 6 mock test for Prelims but relied heavily on PYQs for getting used to of UPSC language. Similarly for Mains 2023, i have given 6 full length test. But i had a very good answer writing peer group with Shaarif bhai and Farheen Zahid (AIR 241). We used to do around 4/5 PYQ everyday and used to discuss our answers with each other.

How to Attempt Prelims?

We need to identify the hard questions and try to attempt easy and moderate questions with 90% accuracy. For CSAT, i believe we need to have judicious mix of all sections. Can’t rely only on maths now.

Neither Let CSAT Ruin Your Prelims Nor Read 900+ Pages for 66 Marks! DECODE CSAT IN 280 PAGES!!

Answer Writing Strategy

During my initial years only in 2020, I had invested around 10-15 hours in understanding the approach of answer writing before writing first answer. Generally, every year, I used to relearn answer writing strategy and then attempt paper because as human beings we tend to forget. I had watched Mudit Jain sir videos on answer writing every year to rebuild foundation before starting my Answer writing practice for that year mains. His approach works every year. Further i was able to develop decent foundation for answer writing skill in 2020/2021 only because of Mudit Sir and India Bhai (Ashutosh Sir—Telegram based group). Ashutosh Sir helped me in learning how to smartly attempt unknown question and how to complete paper on time in my first attempt only. And these learning helped me in future attempts later on.

All the Best, Everyone!

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