First let me start by introducing myself. I am Ketan Ashok Ingole. In CSE 2023 I have secured an All India Rank 610. I come from Washim district in Maharashtra. I have completed my MBBS from GMC Aurangabad (Ch. Sambhajinagar) in 2021. It was after internship and during my bond completion that I started preparing for UPSC. I gave my 1st attempt in October 2021 while working as a Medical Officer at a rural PHC with Medical Science as Optional. Post that I realized that the exam is not as easy as it sound to be.
Hence I left my job and came to Delhi and joined GS foundation classes at Vajiram and Ravi in Nov 2021. During classes itself I gave my 2nd attempt and failed to clear it. During my 2nd attempt I had switched my Optional to Anthropology but hadn’t read it till prelims.
After taking a few days’ break I resumed studying. I made a clear plan of Completing ESSAY, ETHICS and Optional before starting preparation for prelims. During this time, I regularly read THE HINDU but never made notes out of them. But I jotted down examples that I thought were unique or could be used somewhere.
When to Start Preparation?
In my honest opinion, everyone has own timing and own challenges. But the ideal time is to give the exam after graduating and when the syllabus is completed at least once.
Timetable
It was pretty simple. My day was divided in 4 sessions. I stuck to single subject throughout the day.
1st session – 9 am till 1 pm
2nd session – 2 pm till 5 pm
3rd session – 5:30 pm till 8 pm
4th session – 9 pm till 10:30 pm
In 1st session I planned two things. A new subject or new topic and something to revise. In 2nd session it was newspaper and MCQ solving (GS/CSAT) or answer writing. In 3rd session & 4th session – again new topic.
For Mains, rather than notes focused more on formulating arguments that can be used anywhere. Collected data, examples, mnemonics etc and revised them just before exam.
Had not taken any classes for Anthropology. Used YouTube videos to understand tough parts. Took help of friends where I could not understand.
I referred to EMBER AND EMBER, UPADHAY AND GAYA FOR THEORIES, P NATH FOR PHYSICAL PART, D K BHATTACHARYA AND NARAYAN AMIT NOTES FOR ARCHEOLOGY. FOR PAPER 2 I COMPLETELY RELIED ON MANDAR PATKI SIR’S NOTES AND XAXA COMMITTEE REPORT. I ALSO REFERRED TO AKSHAT JAIN SIR’S AND VIVEK BHASME SIR’S TEXTBOOKS AND LAGHIMA TIWARI MAAM’S NOTES. Here also made Quick Revision notes for Paper 2
At all stages of preparation, the most important thing is PYQs. They give you the exact idea about the topics, depth of preparation and how to approach the answer. For prelims, I researched on all PYQs since 2015. Made notes on the paper itself. I also made a list of topics that were confusing for me and revised them repeteadly.
As for my revision strategy, I focused more on active recall. I wrote a lot during prelims and mains as well. I also mugged up certain things that I used to recall. In short, I revised daily and regularly. I made it a point to revise yesterday’s topics first thing in the morning to achieve retention better.
With that I also gave lot of OPEN mock tests. During the early part of prelims preparation, I attempted subject-wise tests of VISION and FORUM SFG. And later on, I attempted FLTs of nearly all institutes and gave almost all OPEN mock tests. However I always revised PYQs. I used to score between 70-90 in these tests and rarely scored above 100.
Answer Writing Strategy
The first and most important thing is to understand demand of the question. Underlining the keywords and understanding what the question is about is very important.
INTRO – Either definition of keywords if any or decoding the statement in simple and short sentence by either agreeing or disagreeing with it.
BODY – Used subheading by keywords from the question itself. Then giving arguments to support with evidence or example.
CONCLUSION – A short futuristic / forward looking statement with respect to demand of the question.
For answer writing, I focused more on addressing the demand rather than on content.
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)
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.
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.
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.
Hello, I am Rekulwar Shubham. I secured AIR 790 in UPSC CSE 2023. I come from Telangana. I did my graduation from IIT Guwahati in Civil Engineering. It was my 4th interview. Optional is PSIR.
First Attempt, First Interview: Though cleared Mains with good margin, I got very less marks (140) in interview. Missed the list by 12 marks. (In hindsight, it took me six years to bridge this gap of 12 marks).
In 2nd attempt, I couldn’t clear Mains.
In 3rd attempt, I went on to interview stage, but again fell short of marks in interview.
Later, I went back home (during Covid times), and appeared in two consecutive Mains. But could not clear Mains both the times.
Last year (CSE-22), I appeared in interview, but poor marks in PSIR, I missed the list again.
This year (CSE-23), finally, I found my name in the list.
Coaching
Foundational coaching at Vajiram did help me. My hand written notes at Vajiram are still my primary books of reference for basics of core subjects (Polity, Economy, Modern History, Geography and Art and Culture).
Later, during Mains I took, Dipin sir current affairs classes for last 2 years mains. For Ethics and Essay I took Peeyush sir lectures, which I believe helped me.
I cleared all the prelims I appeared. I’ll give the strategy in detail.
Firstly, your basics of core subjects shall be strong. No matter which Prelims paper you pick, this core will help you sail through 40% of the paper, some directly and some indirectly.
Second, role of PYQs. I solved 20 years prelims papers before starting the test series in my first attempt. This helps immensely to understand demand of UPSC and also prioritise topics/ themes for study. Solve them topics wise, not year wise. You can purchase any book available in market with solved prelims PYQs.
Third, current affairs. Pick any Prelims magazine and revise it at least three times. Once you do PYQs, prioritising current affairs becomes very easy.
Fourth, role of test series. Pick any institute’s complete test series package (I did Vision’s 35 test tests every time). Doing complete set is important because, the test series package is designed such that it helps you to finish entire syllabus and current affairs, along with proper revision.
Post-test, proper analysis is very important. Divide questions into 3 categories.
Those which you attempted correctly,
Those where you attempted incorrectly, and
Those where you have no idea. For this category, go back to original source material and revise it again. By this you can fill the gaps in your preparation.
Also, time management of the 2 hours in exam hall is very important. After first round of going through entire paper (which will take around 1 hour or so), bubble all the questions where you identified answers. After that, bubble each question individually.
Also, how many questions you are going to attempt decide by analysing your accuracy level in mock tests. Also, difficulty level of paper in actual prelims you should analyse and attempt accordingly. I use to attempt above 85-88, where question paper is not very tough, and 75-82 where question paper is very tough.
My scores in 4 interviews were 140, 145, 157 and 198.
In my first interview, my idea with respect to interview preparation was that it is not the test of knowledge and I don’t have to be thorough with the content. So, I was very ill prepared, and it reflected in my answers and hence in marks.
This year, I did my DAF properly, preparing topics in Q&A format.
Also, I used to have daily discussions on google meet in groups created by Study IQ. These discussions helped immensely in framing answers, structuring opinions and learnings from each other. Attended around 10 mocks, which also helped to analyze my preparedness.
How Shubham Dealt with Recurrent Failures?
Firstly, I was fortunate enough to have very supporting family. Then, as I was working as freelancer in the UPSC industry, that helped me to continue preparation for long.
And, I started reading books. I always had this interest in reading books, but I started doing it more regularly. This journey, perhaps I would have never sustained without the books I read. (You can find some of my readings and reviews on my Instagram or LinkedIn page).
Books ensured that I never lose faith in myself. Most importantly, I always believed that I am so close to clearing this exam. And throughout my failures, I know was growing as a person. I have seen the darkest phase, which was unbearable while it lasted. But once I sustained through it, I knew I could handle any failure, I can bear any setback.
The most important lesson I learnt was, as long as you link your happiness to outcome of this exam, or any external aspect for that matter, you will never be happy. Even if you clear the exam, you will be searching for that happiness. Happiness is a choice you make every day. This is the biggest lesson I learnt.
As I read books, there are many quotes which inspired me. I’ll add one such quote here.
“And once the storm is over, you won’t remember how you made it through, how you managed to survive. You won’t even be sure, whether the storm is really over. But one thing is certain. When you come out of the storm, you won’t be the same person who walked in. That’s what this storm’s all about.”
My name is Hardik Chandel. I have done my graduation in electronics and communications engineering from NIT Kurukshetra (2015-19). I did not join the job I got via college placements and started preparing full time for UPSC from 2019. Currently I am serving as a DANICS probationer, 2023 batch. CSE 2023 was my 4th attempt and I have secured an All India Rank of 304, expecting to join Indian Revenue Services. In this blog I would be sharing my journey of 4 prelims, 4 mains, 3 interviews and 2 selections.
The Journey
I took coaching for GS from Vision IAS in the final year of my college, to familiarize myself with the syllabus. It also helped me develop a base upon which I would build my entire preparation. Since I did not pick up my optional (PSIR) until I started full time prep, I decided not to join a job , aiming to clear the exam in the first attempt itself. I could not plan my optional preparation very well due to which I wasn’t able to practice answer writing. This was reflected in my mains where I wasn’t able to write answers of about 80 marks (gs+optional). Though i just cleared the mains cutoff, i wasn’t able to make it to the final list by 9 marks despite scoring 187 in my interview.
In my second attempt I misinterpreted an essay (hand that rocks the cradle), scoring a shocking 88 which led to a failed mains. I was bitterly disappointed as I never thought that the journey would become so long. With the support of friends and family, I pushed through. In my third attempt I tried to write more tests, and cleared the mains. However , the interview was quite random and factual . scoring 173 in the interview, I missed the final cutoff by 8 marks. At this point I was convinced that this exam requires more than just hard work, finally appreciating the meaning of the phrase that all stars should be aligned in order for you to crack this exam. By god’s grace, I found my name in the reserve list of CSE 22, getting DANICS as a service.
In my 4th attempt, I tried to enroll in a new test series (ForumIAS). The interview went well this time and I got 193 marks, leading to a rank of 304.
How and When to Start the Preparation
Depends on how much risk you are willing to take, what is your family’s economic situation and what is the opportunity cost in case you do not clear the exam in the first attempt itself. Some people do graduation keeping in mind the target of clearing civil services. Many like me get the drive to prepare for it during graduation. You can start from the basic NCERT’s, then gradually move to Laxmikant and Spectrum. Coaching should be taken or not is entirely a personal choice, though in my opinion, it makes things a bit easier.
Timetable
I am a morning person so I started my day early. You should be willing to push yourself everyday, at least in the initial attempts. In the preparation journey, motivation and experience become a zero-sum game. Therefore after a point of time, you need to rely on discipline rather than motivation. I ensured at least 6 hours of quality study in my first year of full time prep, taking it a notch higher when the exam was near. What makes a difference is how much effort you are willing to put in on days when you do not feel like studying.
Booklist
Prelims (In addition to vision class notes and pt 365)
Polity – Laxmikant
Economy – Class Notes
Modern History – Spectrum
Medieval and Art and Culture – NCERT (11th and 12th)
Mains – I supplemented vision notes with data from Shunya ias, current affairs from mains 365.
Optional – Bought class notes of Shubhra Ranjan Ias from Market and subsequently took a crash course from the same coaching after two readings. Utkarsh Dwivedi sir’s online notes on his blog were of a great help as well.
Note Making or Not
I tried it but it took a lot of time. So I used markers of different shades and highlighted the core material. My focus was on multiple readings from the same source. Attempting mock tests and UPSC PYQs helps you to get an idea regarding what is important and what is not. Many people try digital notes as well but for me it was more of a distraction.
Role of PYQs
UPSC often gives more importance to certain sections like tribal revolts, buddhism, Centre State relations etc. PYQs offer a peek into the examiner’s mindset. Many times, old questions are recycled into newer forms.
Revision Strategy
Due to paucity of time and wide variety of themes asked, the syllabus should be on your tips so that you can recall points in a very short span . reading from the same source multiple times builds a photographic memory, aiding recall. As far as subject wise revision is concerned, I preferred to study multiple subjects in a day to keep the study period a bit exciting. Though some people feel it is better to study the same subject in continuity.
I prefer attempting as many questions as possible. Exam pattern these days has become such that you are bound to make mistakes. You will have to take calculated risks. Make sure that you cover the static portion well and do not make many silly mistakes there. If you are able to eliminate two options, you must attempt that question. If you get more than half of them right, things would be in your favour. Before the first attempt, you can attempt 50+ subject wise and full length mocks, and keep a tab on what kind of mistakes you are making. Your focus should be on avoiding similar mistakes in the future .
Answer Writing Strategy
You can give at least two readings of your basic notes before you start answer writing. Initially, do not try to time your papers, just try to write decent answers. Go through topper answer copies and try to adapt a style which you find more suitable for you and has yielded good results in the past. Interlinking of answers, maps, diagrams, flowcharts can be incorporated to make your answers multidimensional.
Hi everyone, I am Dr. Ghulam Maya Din. I have qualified UPSC CSE 2023 with AIR 388. I did my graduation in MBBS from government medical College Jammu. During internship I decided to pursue my career in civil services.
Before that i hardly read any newspaper and have little interest in humanities subjects. With the help of toppers videos on YouTube, I started reading newspaper during my internship. This helped me to qualify the entrance exam of Hamdard study circle (HSC), Delhi. At HSC I find amazing seniors/mentors such as Dr Asrar Ahmed Kichloo (IRS), Adam Mohiuddin (IPoS), Dr Akram. Here I got the basic understanding of the structure and preparation framework for this exam.
Despite my hard work and sincere efforts, I couldn’t clear prelims in my first three attempts. The reason behind first two unsuccessful prelims outcome was not paying attention to PYQs and smart guessing, the third one was due to CSAT, missed by 0.8 Marks.
In my 4th attempt I cleared prelims and mains and reached interview stage. But I couldn’t find my name in the final PDF. Due to time mismanagement during mains exam, I couldn’t complete all the question papers.
Finally, with almighty grace, I qualified UPSC CSE 2023 with AIR 388.
How and When to Start Preparation?
In my opinion, graduation period is an ideal time for this exam preparation. During this time, inculcating the habit of daily newspaper reading (the Hindu/Indian express), NCERTs along with selection and preparation of OPTIONAL subject will be greatly helpful.
Timetable
Is a subjective thing, i tried to remain disciplined and consistent with my studies( woke up early and go to bed early) but a little flexibility is fine.
Preparation with Job?
This is the most challenging part of preparation as most people (seniors) in your workplace don’t empathize your situation. And you have to manage added responsibility of your job along with preparation. Outsourcing tasks to capable members of office team and utilizing spare time judiciously helped me to qualify CSE this year.
Prelims Books
Polity: 11th and 12th NCERTs + Laxmikanth+ explained section of Indian express/the Hindu
Economy: Mrunal sir notes+ economy editorials/explained section in the Hindu/Indian express
Ancient History: R S Sharma
Mediaeval: Only important chapters (Akbar adminstration, vijaynagar, bhakti sufi movement) from R S Sharma.
Modern: Spectrum
Culture: Fine art NCERT + Nitin Singhania (selected chapters)
Science and Technology: The Hindu science section plus any 365 compilation + YouTube
Environment: Shankar IAS + Down to earth YouTube + 365 compilation
Comprehension= regular newspaper reading will improve comprehension aptitude significantly and also practicing PYQs passages help one to familiarize with CSAT exam pattern.
Reasoning/quant = Edutap videos on YouTube for areas i was not comfortable.
Optional Strategy and Books
For medical science optional, graduation books along with making own crisp notes of High scoring but short subjects (derma, micro, biochemistry, paediatrics, radio, psychiatry) helped me to consolidate my vast optional subject. For my own notes, you can follow me on telegram.
Role of PYQs in Prelims-Mains
PYQs are the most important pillar in this exam preparation for both prelims and mains. Themes are often repeated with slight modification in language.
Revision Strategy
For Prelims: Through PYQs and own written notes, also focusing on recurring themes in prelims.
For Mains: Syllabus wise topic revision from own notes along with value addition from topper notes and newspaper, this makes both revision and updation less monotonous/boring.
How to Attempt Prelims?
GS: Identifying the hard questions and skipping them, smart guessing in moderate questions and avoiding silly mistakes in easy questions.
Hello everyone, I am Rimita Saha, hailing from North 24 Parganas, West Bengal. I have secured an AIR 566 in UPSC CSE 2023 with a score of 290 in optional. This was my 3rd mains and 1st interview.
After completing B.Tech in Electrical Engineering from NIT Durgapur in 2015, I decided to let go my PSU job and enrolled in M.tech in IIT Delhi. Thereafter, I worked as an Assistant Professor for a very brief period.
One year into the teaching job, the UPSC dream started waking me up again and I decided to quit everything to focus on my preparation. I managed to clear prelims in 2019, but mains did not happen. In 2020 and 2021, I could not clear the prelims. I had almost given up, but somehow kept going with my parents’ support. Things started working in my favor from 2022. Albeit I could not clear mains, CSE 2022 gave me a lot of confidence. It felt like I knew what to do and how to do that. It was really a tough decision to change the optional subject after these many years, but I took a leap of faith and changed my optional from Electrical Engineering to Anthropology.
People say “you get impatient as time progresses” but for me, it was the other way. Time made me realize the significance of perseverance and practice.
In 2023, every other day I was writing some mock exam; be it sectional or comprehensive, be it in a test center or with a model paper at my desk. In prelims 2023, I cleared the cut-off for Forest Service too. After prelims, I devoted almost 80% of my time for optional. Before prelims, I was able to complete the syllabus once but that was like a first read. After prelims, the actual answer- writing practices started and I literally spent two full months for Anthropology, with limited time spared for GS.
After mains, the interview preparation was done mostly through mock interviews and discussion with friends and seniors who have cleared earlier. Writing up the common HR questions and regular mocks with friends also helped me a lot.
How and When to Start Preparation
You should start preparing the moment you start considering UPSC as a career option. There might be dilemmas about career options, and it is very common to postpone preparation until you make up your mind “UPSC hi karna hain.” However, I would say, one should start making pro-UPSC habits if (s)he ever had even a little inclination towards civil service. Reading a newspaper daily, watching experts’ commentaries on current affairs in YouTube, and engaging in friendly discussions on socio-economic and political topics are not something that help one excel only in UPSC, but it enriches one as a learned human being. One may choose a different career path later, but these habits would help you in almost all professions. Coaching is helpful but not essential in today’s time when you have more than enough resources available in the internet.
Timetable
Rather than the duration or the timing, focus and the adherence to the plan are more important. Everyone has their own preferences, and one should plan accordingly. Make your timetable in such a way that it is suitable to your nature and yet gives you enough time to cover the syllabus, revise, and write a lots of mock tests. Speaking of myself, I usually spent a solid 6-8 hours outside reading newspapers and chitchatting with fellow aspirants. One month before prelims and in between prelims and mains, this increased to 10-12 hours outside mock exams, discussions, and newspaper reading.
Highlights Pre-Prelims
My maximum time before Prelims was devoted to mock tests here and there. I wrote almost all open mocks organized by every institute, barring a few. The tests really helped me analyse my preparation, gauge my accuracy and decide on the optimum number of questions I should attempt. Though it wasn’t fixed, however, I mostly confined my attempts to 86-90 questions. Another major portion of prelims preparation was PYQs. I solved last 15 years of PYQs with thorough analysis. This gave me confidence and helped me understand the demand of UPSC.
GS: Because of my new optional, I could hardly make out time for GS before Mains. I took guidance from Mudit Jain Sir’s answer writing strategies and wrote daily answers in OnlyIAS Srijan test series. This was the only time I studied and wrote GS answers.
Essay: I had scored 102 in my 2022 attempt. Therefore, I tried to analyse my mistakes. I referred the essay booklets of the previous successful candidates, and critically analysed my mistakes. I tried to understand their strategies and that helped me escalate my marks to 114 in 2023. Understanding the key demand of the topic, and few quotes and relevant anecdotes are the keys. •
Optional: I took up the Anthropology Advanced course in Next IAS, where the PYQs were discussed thoroughly. I enrolled for Answer writing in O2 IAS academy, where Akashdeep Sir was very patient with me, taught me the intricacies of answer writing and we together devised a strategy that worked for us. In any answer writing, understanding the demand of the question is important. We need to straightaway address the demand of the question without beating around the bush. Rigorous answer writing and analysing the feedbacks on the answer copies really helped me to increase my accuracy and relevance in my answers.
Highlights Post-Mains
During my interview preparation stage, I enrolled in few institutes for mocks. Though the questions during my actual interview were very different from the mocks, however, the mocks helped me shed off my hesitation, anxiety and nervousness. Additionally, I also practised one hour everyday with my friend over video call. That also helped me increase my confidence.
Hello Everyone. My name is Manav Jain. I belong to a small city named Guna in Madhya Pradesh. I have secured AIR 634 in UPSC CSE 2023 in my secondattempt. I have done my Bachelor of Arts from University of Delhi. My optional is Sociology. Through this blog I am going to share some pointers and a bit about my journey which I feel would be helpful for aspiring civil servants.
Journey
To any aspiring civil servant reading this, I would like to say that be sure that you want to enter this field. That you want to do this with your own will, because clearing this paper will require some sacrifices and you will require a driving force. I know it seems idealistic when I say that I wanted to become a civil servant to serve the society. It was in my childhood and I didn’t even know what an IAS was, but it was what my now late grandfather dreamt for me, and what stuck with me as I grew up. And even though I took PCM in 11th, to go for JEE, by the end of 11th I was clear that I wanted something more with life. So in 2017 after 12th, I went to Delhi University for my graduation. And though my preparation did not start till 2021, I was clear about what I wanted to do in my life. So the most important thing for me in this journey was a concrete vision of what I wanted for myself.
Guidance – A big challenge in preparation is lack of guidance. Before I started preparation properly in 2021, I only had a vague idea about what the paper was. I knew about some basic books, but I wasn’t aware about the importance of other subjects like Environment, or Science & Tech, of giving tests or PYQ practice, about mains specific subjects and optional. So as I was preparing by myself, taking help of experienced aspirants, my peers, topper talks etc was very important.
Resources – Another big issue today is the presence of multitudes of resources in the market today. What is important is deciding the resources once and sticking to them whether they are your class notes or something else. If you find some new good source, try to make it as value addition in your primary source.
Optional – During my first attempt, one of my mistakes was not being as prepared for the optional as I should have been, with scoring lower than expected in optional, missing the interview by 1 mark. So be prepared with multiple revisions and concise notes for final revisions with relevant thinkers, or examples etc (especially in optionals like sociology), and do answer writing.
Mental and Physical health – During preparation you might have to taketimeoff if your health isn’t good. Apart from physical, mental health is very important too. Tbh, I was in bad mental state in this attempt due to many things going on in my life. And it can happen with anyone in their life. There are gonna be ups and downs in your life. Try sharing problems you face with your family, friends and loved ones. It helped me a lot. Practice some hobby that can help you relax. And don’t ignore the importance of stress relief. Being in a good state of mind is very important in all stages of the exam.
When to Start Preparation?
I feel one should start preparation when they find the will and driving force to jump into it. I feel one can start preparation in college if they want, though they shouldn’t miss the chance for growth of personality that college life offers. I went in without a backup but it is the choice of aspirants what way they choose.
Timetable
I believe there should be flexibility in timetable. You should make goals that you want to achieve and work to achieve them. But monotony can be avoided by shuffling your timetable according to circumstances.
Strategy
Prelims GS – Multiple revisions of all subjects is a must. Giving tests regularly and analyzing them to understand your strengths, weaknesses and areas to work. And even if you score low in some tests, not getting demotivated with tests but using them as a learning lesson. Regularity in current affairs and their revisions is as important. Try to remain calm and try to attempt 90(+-5 ) which starts with mock tests.
CSAT – If you are not as confident in math and reasoning, then constantpractice is the only way. No need to attempt all questions as it is just a qualifying paper. Only attempt those questions which you are sure about. Attempting 50 – 55 questions is good in my opinion rather than taking unnecessary risks. And don’t take it lightly. And learn to avoid questions which are bound to waste time.
Mains GS- Most important thing is answerwritingpractice. Read topper’s answers to understand the basic structure and demand of questions. Make concise notes regarding data points, committee recommendations, examples etc for enrichment of your answers. Reading newspapers regularly is a must for mains during those three months. And try to understand the demand of questions which require practice. Practice ethics and essay as they have emerged as game changers in making or breaking your chances in list and your rank. And avoid mixing your optional with GS.
Optional – I have already briefly discussed optional. Apart from that you can refer to topper’s copies to practice answer writing, value addition. Also extensively use google, AI etc for value addition in optional.
Resources
Current Affairs ( Newspaper + Vision 365 for both prelims and mains)
Vajiram Class notes ( which I attended) as value addition
Newspaper for current examples
Tests
Prelims – Vision IAS + Forum IAS sectional and Multiple full length
Mains – Forum and Vision IAS for GS and Vision IAS for sociology
Give mocks and PYQs both. Try to do PYQs in start to understand pattern of UPSC, and at last to break the pattern of coaching mock tests
Some people do like to prepare alone and that’s okay. But I feel having good friends as your peers is very important. And even though I can not name them all, I am lucky to have them on my corner. Having group discussions, studying together, giving their notes and making notes especially for me when I couldn’t during mains, checking my answers, helping me maintain my sanity and so on. Similarly having support of my family was my good luck. Even when others doubted me, my parents had my back. So I am grateful for them which I feel is absolutely necessary.
At last I will just say that this preparation or any other exam for that matter feels like climbing Mt Everest. At first look it looks almost impossible because it is. This year the success rate was about 0.078%. But even when climbing Everest there are various camps that you have to reach before reaching the summit. And same is true for this exam. Divide your targets into smaller achievable goals. Don’t fear the failure but try to learn from them. Move forward with determination. And you may fail even after trying, but you will not certainly succeed if you don’t try. Thanks and all the best to everyone!!
My name is Shivansh Singh and I have done my graduation in Electrical Engineering from IIT Roorkee. I graduated in 2022 and worked as a software engineer in Bangalore for 6 months before leaving my job in January 2023 to prepare for CSE full time. CSE 2023 was my first attempt at this exam and I cleared it with AIR-164. My optional is Anthropology. I am grateful to Mudit sir for providing me this opportunity to share my overall approach towards the exam.
I started preparing for the exam in 2021 during the final year of college. The main hurdle in my preparation was identifying the right sources for each subject including my optional. I was also sceptical about leaving my corporate job and taking the leap of faith to prepare for UPSC full time. In my opinion one should consider leaving their job once they are comfortable with the syllabus of UPSC and have a good grasp on decent portion of syllabus. Till then utilise the free time after job (3-4 hours) and try to dedicate 9-10 hours on weekends for preparation.
It is a myth that any one coaching is a one stop solution for UPSC preparation. Once I identified the sources for all the GS subjects I struck to them and focused on their revision rather than going for new sources. I will list the source for all the subjects below that I referred for reference. I took online coaching from Vision IAS and for many GS subjects my go to material was my handwritten notes from the classes. The only standard books which I revised repeatedly were Laxmikant and Spectrum.
I prepared from home rather than going to Delhi. For me the constant psychological support of family was important. To break the monotony while preparing from home, one can go to nearby library or take a stroll in the park and make some friends outside UPSC preparation. Giving some time to your family, friends and hobbies is crucial to stay consistent while preparing for the exam and avoid burnout.
Prelims Strategy
CSAT: I did not prepare for CSAT and gave only a few mocks before appearing for the actual exam. But I would like to share my exam hall strategy for CSAT. Usually in GS paper of prelims we go with an aggressive mindset and tend to attempt 90+ questions. I myself attempted 94 questions. But the mistake that many candidates make is carrying the same mindset in CSAT. I attempted all the comprehension questions first and then attempted only those reasoning questions which I was comfortable with. In total I attempted 60 questions. One should first attempt all comprehension questions and target 23/27 questions to be correct. For reasoning, every year there are around 15 easy standard questions from reasoning and mathematics. One should develop the skill to identify those questions swiftly and attempt only those questions. 50-55 questions in my opinion are a good attempt in CSAT.
Broad Perspective: In every subject of GS, the target should be that one should be able to attempt all those questions correctly which majority of serious aspirants are attempting. One should not run behind those very difficult questions which no one is able to solve. The source must be selected carefully.
Modern History: I referred my class notes and spectrum (4 readings within 3 months before prelims). Spectrum is one stop solution for modern Indian history in prelims. Do not skip this subject if UPSC asks very less questions from this subject in a particular year (like 2023) because UPSC tries to balance out the weightage in the next year
Ancient and Medieval History + Art and Culture: This was my weakest subject among all the GS subjects. But nowadays this subject is also working as a kingmaker because its weightage is increasing year by year. I referred my coaching class notes for the subject.
Polity: This is the most scoring subject of prelims. I referred my class notes and Laxmikant for polity. Laxmikant is enough to cover polity followed by multiple revisions.
Geography: I solely relied on my class notes for geography + reverse learning from sectional mock tests (this holds true for other subjects as well)
Environment: For static portion I referred to Sudarshan Gurjar sir’s videos followed by PT365 of environment for current affairs. Current affairs must be covered only after studying the basic concepts (and not before)
Economics: Class notes for static portion + PT365 of economy
Science and Tech: For static portion I referred to my class notes followed by PT365
IR: I did not cover this subject from prelims perspective separately but one should study it separately before prelims as weightage of IR is increasing year by year. PT365 of IR would suffice.
I referred to PT365 of only 3 subjects – economy, science and tech, environment. But I would suggest reading PT of IR as well. These 4 PT must be revised at least 4 times before prelims so that all the information is at your fingertips.
Practice Tests: I attempted 35 mock tests of vision (including 10 sectional tests) for prelims. Reverse learning from the mock tests is very important in order to further improve the knowledge base. One can cut down on number of mock tests to be attempted but make sure to go through the solutions of all the mock tests.
PYQs are the most important source for prelims and should be given priority over coaching mock tests. PYQs from 2013 onwards must be solved 3-4 times in order to understand the pattern of questions asked in prelims. Moreover, many times options provided in questions become full fledged questions in subsequent prelims. So, one must prepare the topics on which the options are based.
Mains Strategy
Answer Writing: During my online coaching, I used to write one question after each class (provided by the coaching itself) and then submit it for evaluation. The idea here is to have a basic grasp on answer writing before prelims rather than emphasising too much on it at the cost of prelims preparation. I had done majority of answer writing between prelims and mains. During this period of 90-100 days, the target should be to attempt around 4-5 questions daily, work on feedback and improve a little day by day. I used to submit my answers at ConvertIAS (for GS as well as essay and optional) and found their evaluation quite useful to further improve the quality of my answers.
Test Series: I attempted vision ias and Edsarrthi test series.
Essay: I did not prepare any separate material for essay. I utilised the content from GS in essay. The classes by Mudit sir on various approaches to write essay were really helpful and I tried making broad structure of 4-5 previous year essay topics before going for full-fledged 10–11 page essay. In total I practiced 12 structures and 5 full length essays all from PYQs.
My approach for 1st essay – Covering various dimensions like historical, social, political, economic, environmental, ethical etc
For 2nd essay – I tried making broad headings (3-4) which covers various aspects of the essay topic and wrote around 3 pages under each heading. I learned this approach from Ishita mam’s mock test copy
GS 1: I used the same sources for history and geography as prelims. For Indian society, I made short notes from Vision value added material on Indian society
GS 2: I used the same sources for polity as prelims. I referred to mains 365 for IR and mains 365 of polity for covering current affairs. I relied on my class notes for governance and social justice.
GS 3: I used the same sources as prelims for economy and agriculture. For internal security and disaster management, I solely relied on Shivin sir’s classes and handouts on edsarrthi. I changed my approach for environment and S&T as they carry very high weightage in prelims (around 25 questions) but they have relatively less weightage in mains (3-4 questions). I referred to Shivin sir’s classes and made very short notes on environment and S&T.
GS 4: I solely relied on GS-4 module of edsarrthi for ethics. The classes by Varun Jain sir and handouts provided by him were my only sources. I prepared a list of examples and case studies separately from handouts and revised them repeatedly. I think completing the ethics paper on time with some unique examples and case studies can fetch good marks in GS-4.
Anthropology
I took Sosin mam’s online coaching along with my job in 2022. In my opinion no coaching can act as a one stop solution for anthropology. Coaching provides basic understanding of the subject but one should not over rely on coaching for content. To gather content, one can either refer to topper notes or prepare answers in intro body conclusion format from standard sources for previous 10 year questions. I referred to topper notes for my basic content.
I found Laghima Tiwari mam’s notes (available on her public channel on telegram) to be really helpful and her notes formed as my base material. I added on case studies and examples from 3 sources – my coaching class notes, Vivek Bhasme sir’s book and Dr DK Bhattacharya sir’s lecture videos on archeology available on Youtube. After this I focused on repeated revisions of the final material and tried to attempt the mock tests within time limit. Time management becomes more important in optional than GS because here we have to dedicate first 5-10 minutes to choose which 3 questions we will attempt. This decision is very important and one must consider the rough final score in the 50 marks question while choosing.
Interview Strategy
Interview preparation is relatively more unstructured as compared to prelims and mains because the earlier stages have set pattern and PYQs act as guiding light but for interview it is difficult to deduce a pattern based on interview transcripts.
From my personal experience I can say that in interview it does not matter how many questions you were or were not able to answer, what matters is how you answered the questions for which you knew the answer. I was unable to answer around 40% questions in interview and was quite sceptical about my performance in interview but ended up securing good marks in interview.
The most important part of interview preparation is preparing DAF. Most of the questions are centred around DAF and having thorough knowledge of all the entries in DAF including all the places mentioned is essential to answer the questions efficiently. Many of the questions in my interview were based on electrical engineering.
Apart from DAF, I used to read 3 newspapers daily between mains and interview. I used to thoroughly cover The Hindu and live mint and read only the explained page from Indian Express.
My Advice
UPSC is like a marathon and must be treated as such. It is very difficult to study for 13-14 hours daily. In my opinion 8-9 hours of dedicated study daily is sufficient to clear the exam. The number of hours can increase 2-3 months before prelims and in between prelims and mains. Do not get scared of changes in pattern or unconventional questions in the exam hall. The unconventional pattern is equally challenging for all the candidates. Trust your preparation, have faith in yourself and make sure to give your best effort in exam. Make sure to take a small break after mains to rejuvenate yourself. It is very important to enjoy the UPSC journey in order to sustain ourselves. I would be happy to connect with any aspirant personally to address any of their specific doubts.
Hello everyone. I am Vaibhav Rathore. I have cleared CSE-23 with AIR-717 in my 2nd attempt with Economics Optional. I had also cleared IES-23 with AIR-10. I did graduation in Mechanical Engineering from Bits Pilani Hyderabad Campus (2021 batch), Post Graduation (MSc) in Economics from IIT Delhi (2023 graduate).
I started CSE preparation during 1st year of MSc itself. This was my 2nd attempt and 1st Mains and Interview. I did not do coaching for GS, but took for Economics optional from NextIAS (Vibhas Jha sir) and balancing both Masters and CSE preparation was challenging due to time management.
When to Start Preparation?
It varies from person to person. Some prepare right after their graduation, while others prefer taking some work experience. I would suggest everyone to have a strong backup plan just in case things don’t work out. (Ex – Masters was backup for me)
Timetable
Timetable should be flexible, and focus should be on qualitative completion of syllabus rather than just no. of study hours.
I referred to class notes and made short notes out of it, and also included concepts from Mocks and PYQs, focussed on revision of these short notes, and answer writing.
Paper-1:
Focus should be on conceptual clarity.
Practice making graphs time and again, ensure a comprehensive understanding (including assumptions, model, criticisms, and empirical evidence) of relevant models, particularly in Macroeconomics, Microeconomics, International Economics, and Development Theory.
Work on numerical problems, especially those related to IS-LM and market structures.
Priority should be: Micro > Macro = International Eco = Development Eco > Money & Banking > Public finance.
Paper-2:
Connect theories from P1 (Ex. discuss the Lewis model while addressing the Agriculture to Industry transition).
Enhance answers with factual data, quotes from economists, and research findings. However, don’t use these in excess, and must be used to back a certain argument.
Questions from topics like Pre 1947 and 1947-91 are quite predictable, so prepare these topics thoroughly.
Approach trend-related questions cautiously, attempting them only when completely confident (if they are optional questions).
Keep a fact sheet and short notes handy by the time of Mains and revise it multiple times to enrich your answers.
In general, the choice of questions should be done wisely. Attempt numerical only if sure about it, otherwise it can backfire. Focus on paper completion and try to fill 2 pages for 10 markers, and atleast 2.5-3 pages for 15/20 markers.
Note making is important in my opinion. Because ultimately mains is going to be a written paper and self made notes helps a lot in that.
PYQs
PYQs analysis is quite important imo for both Prelims and Mains. It helps in understanding of trends and nature of questions UPSC asks. Also, some of the so called tricks could be decoded from PYQs for prelims (Although such tricks have become less relevant, but still they do work in some cases).
Answer Writing
For answer writing one can focus on writing PYQs. Certain online platforms do evaluate such answers and gives decent feedback. (I used ConvertIAS platform extensively, it was helpful).
General Advice
Focus on strengthening the core and strategic portion first, don’t give excessive time for CA.
Try to solve as many mocks as possible, and analyze the mistakes, rather than worrying about marks.
Hello Dear Aspirants! My name is Apoorv Balpande. I got AIR 546 in UPSC CSE 2023. Through this blog I would like to share my experience as an aspirant as well as provide guidance to you.
Brief about me: I am from Nagpur and I did my graduation in mechanical engineering. It was during my graduation that I decided to pursue civil services. It took me 5 attempts and 2 interviews to clear it due to some mistakes I did in my preparation.
Begin be analyzing what toppers strategy has been. Find common points in their strategy and follow these.
Prelims Strategy
In my Earlier attempts I got low marks in prelims and I was always on the edge and unsure of whether I would clear it. It was here that I took mentorship from V.V Patil sir of Digicate Ias institute. I have cleared prelims by over 25 marks since last 2 prelims including 2023 one which was very difficult. For prelims you must do 3 things:
1) Read basic books and revise them multiple times to consolidate your knowledge. I have given my booklist at late part of this blog
2) PYQ Analysis: See from where they are asking questions in each subject. This will narrow down you preparation to the core topics of UPSC. Here Disha Publication’s PYQ book can be beneficial. Also find patterns and logic through which options can be eliminated. This will take time but daily solving PYQs for 30 minutes will boost your prelims marks.
3) Test Series: This will help your time management aa well as give you extra information for prelims. I solved Digicate IAS tests (here pattern was as per UPSC Prelims) as well as those of Vision IAS.
Mains Strategy
1) Here most important thing to do is see how toppers have written answers. Especially those of AIR 1,2,3 . Copies of Shruti Sharma, Ishita Kishore Ma’am, etc. must be analyzed thoroughly. You must see what they are writing in introduction, mains as well as conclusion. See their vocabulary and their structuring of answers.
2) You can read notes of various toppers from their telegram channel. I read Rushikesh Reddy sir’s notes for my GS.
3) Answer Writing: The most important aspect of mains. I think it is important to regularly write answers and have them evaluated and receive feedback . This will lead to instant improvement in your answers. There are many institutions which provide such guidance. I joined answer writing course of V.V. Patil sir and his regular feedback has been essential for my good score in GS.
4) Tests: For mains you can join test series of any good institution. I joined Forum IAS as their papers are tough so my I did not face issues in solving tough questions in mains. In my last attempt I joined Vision IAS test series. But here one must take note to not take marks seriously. They give general marks to all candidates. Your answers may be good or bad but they will still give you average marks (90-100) in their tests. Just see their feedback and improve your performance and time management.
5) Value Addition: Draw maps, diagrams, Give examples from newspaper, articles, committee names, write data, stats, etc. This will boost your marks.
6) Optional: Mine was philosophy and I joined Enlite IAS academy. Here Mahesh Sir’s guidance, his mentoring as well as his regular feedback is the most important reason why I was able to score in philosophy. Enlite’s reading material is enough for scoring good marks in mains.
Current affairs- Daily The Hindu newspaper and Vision IAS monthly.
Mains:
GS- I mostly either did google search on mains topics and read from sites like Drishti IAS or I read Rushikesh Reddy sir’s and notes of some other toppers. For ethics I selectively read Shunya IAS notes. For IR and current affairs I read Mains 365 and examples from newspapers.
Mudit Jain Blog 