Hi, I am Dhananjay Singh Yadav. I got Rank 95 in UPSC CSE 2018. This was my first attempt. My optional was Political Science and International Relations (PSIR). I took the civil services exam to get into Indian Foreign Service.
I graduated from Shri Ram College of Commerce with a Bachelor of Commerce (Hons.) in 2014. I worked for 3 years with Reckitt Benckiser, a British consumer goods company, in sales and marketing. I worked there till June 2017 and quit to prepare for Civil Services Exam 2018.
I decided to prepare from home, utilising the abundant resources available online. In this journey, blogs and articles of people who took this exam before me were immensely helpful. Advice of people who could clear this exam, or not, both were important in helping me figure out my plan of action. I am putting together the pieces of my 22 months of preparation here, hoping someone somewhere finds this of use.
A word to the wise: There’s no one definite approach to this exam, everyone has to find their own method in this madness. This also means no can “guide” you. Somebody else’s strategy might not work for you. You will have to assess your own strengths and weaknesses, and as heartless as it may sound, figure your way out on your own. You cannot clear by hoping to be spoon fed. There’s significant trial and error involved, and whoever’s strategy you might be reading can only detail their own.
I have cleared this exam but not suddenly gained insights that people who didn’t make it are not privy to. I do not know what worked for me. I would have been as clueless about my strategy being right or wrong if I hadn’t cleared. All I can do is detail out everything I did during this prep.
Ernest Hemingway – “It is better to be lucky. But I would rather be exact. Then when luck comes you are ready.”
Knowing the unpredictability of this journey, I believed that hard work will make me luckier. Beyond that is intricacies of working of the cosmos. Maybe the babaji who accosted my mother many moons ago for Rs. 100, with an unsolicited prophesy that her son will become adhikaari, really set things in motion.
x
The name of this blog – English, Agastya – comes from the novel “English, August” by Upamanyu Chatterjee. Inception of the idea of taking civil services exam took place with my reading of the said novel in 2016.
My mark sheet for both prelims and mains is attached here. I have talked about DAF here.
Comment here or reach out to me on Twitter for any doubt that you might have. I might take weeks to reply but I try my best to reply to relevant questions that I have not covered here already for things other than the exam.
UPDATE 8/Aug/20: Next week I leave for Taiwan for next 2 years to learn Chinese. I will not have the time to respond to comments here (I type this out while taking a break from my inspection of expiry date of an unhealthy number of packets of poha that just got delivered). It’s also the right time to let the more worthy 2020 batch take over and share their experiences.
Someone let me talk on the camera for more than 5 minutes, and this was the result: https://youtu.be/8IcvfKRxqUY
If you have recently heard of the UPSC CSE and are wondering what this exam is all about and Wikipedia hasn’t helped, I have written a short note here.
English, Agastya 
sir, I can’t express how much this blog has helped me, preparing for this exam along with college is hectic, but then there comes some motivators like u whose little efforts of motivation in any form is keeping me alive to study and struggle a little more everyday. Thank u Sir
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Sir, will it be helpful if I make prelims specific notes of spectrum?
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Do whatever you think is necessary 🙂
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Sir…. did you refer any books other than Shubhra Ranjan notes for optional?
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Only one: Does the Elephant Dance but then there innumerable articles from the internet
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Hi I am from Karhal I suppose that u know this place currently studying in dps mrd Delhi.
I opt for commerce without math currently I am in class 12th .
I want to become an IAS
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Best of luck, you still have time than to worry about this exam. Have fun in college 🙂
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Sir i am confused about fulfilling demand of q .
There was a q in 2017 how has development of global capitalism changed nature of socialist and developing societies?
I read Shubhra mam note on this topic but I m unable to frame answer though we all know it generally but how to write it in political science’ language? And how can I develop such thinking process?
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I am not sure of the question but from PSIR perspective it might be a question on world systems theory / core-periphery theory? No other way to but to read it enough number of times so that it strikes you quickly.
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Sir, 1) will it be possible for u to share snapshots/pics of all PSIR sticky notes as posted on wall in ur blog??
2) also i often get confused using multiple resources in PSIR, is Shubra mam notes & test sufficient alone?
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1. Sorry this is not possible anymore, I never took pictures of it
2. I found the notes sufficient for everything except Paper 2 Part B
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4. Too many compliments too little space, thanks!CDS Coaching Institute In Chandigarh
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Hi! Sir this is sunny ,I’m preparing for upsc 2020 ,sir prelim is on 31st may ,right now its August, and I’m preparing optional psir from shubhra mams notes can I complete it within 2 month still Sept so further I can prepare for gs subject ,I’m preparing without coaching
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You can if you devote 4-5 hours a day without fail. You’ll need great discipline and momentum to do this.
But you should also keep revising it till the end of year and possibly start answer writing for it in Dec.
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How did you make notes out of daily current affairs quiz available on different platforms? I mean how did you put information that is relevant to you in your notes? For ex. There’s one question related to CITES and one related to UN and you found something relevant in them.So would you put that info in your mains notes(CITES in GS3 and UN one in GS2) or make separate notes for these kind of facts related to pre? and if you would put them in pre notes than would you revise those facts before mains as these might help in answer writing ?
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CITES would go in GS3. If there’s an important UN body that goes in GS2. If any of these don’t warrant a mains notes, then it goes in prelims specific notebook rather than GS2/GS3 notes. No revision of prelims specific notebook before mains.
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Sunny absolutely yes, move on
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aren’t you on reddit?
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First time I am hearing of this website /s
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Hello sir,
I am preparing for upsc. My schooling was done in Hindi medium and graduation in English medium. Now, I dont have fluency in neither english nor Hindi. I saw the result of hindi medium students which is very less and material is also available in Hindi. I am thinking to write in English this exam.
Please guide me, How should I improve my english language skills be it writing, Reading, Thinking.
Thank you
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Try consuming all your media in English. Be it newspaper, books, movies or television. Have a circle of friends where you can practise speaking without judgment.
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Hii bhaiya.. I have a quite a number of issues here. I am in third year BCOM, St Xavier’s college Kolkata. Now my issues- We are struggling financially so much that house rent is due for past 2 months.
My health is not keeping up. I never had any bad habits, took proper diet etc. But I am struggling with gastric problems. I have lost 6kgs in a year. Personality sucks.
My college marks are 61 till semester four. I want to appear for prelims 2020. Joined prelims test series by borrowing from friend. Confused whether to go for placement and hence devote my time to college exams or devote to UPSC. 60 is the threshold for sitting in placement and there is no surety that I will get a job. My only fear is of I do not get a job, my family won’t be able to sustain. I see my mother ailing with her leg pain because we cannot afford regular physiotherapy.I give tuitions and earn about 5k a month to pay my expenses… What to do?
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Please try and get a job. Family comes first.
Even if you go for CSE 2020, you won’t be earning till Sep-2021. You must be 20/21 years old; you can take CSE anytime in future also after sorting out your family situation.
There are always people who beat insurmountable odds to clear this exam, maybe your story will inspire others one day.
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Sir, as per your “History” ncert notes are concerned can you please help me how do I categorise your NOTES to study only from PRELIMS point of view.. I mean for example the 11th ncert will only be helpful to cover mains syllabus….
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I don’t understand. Categorising notes to study from prelims point of view?
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I mean if I study only your history ncert notes just for prelims will it be sufficient..for prelims history syllabus..?
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Sir, I mean Are your history ncert notes enough to cover the history prelims syllabus ..?
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Enough? Who knows ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
You will have to decide that yourself.
If you just study from my notes, I doubt you will remember much because a lot of context is missing. It’s better that you read them along with NCERTs once to ensure you get the flow of the notes.
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Can you please tell me how did you integrate prelims and mains studies?
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I don’t think I integrated. I studied mainly for prelims, then switched to full fledged mains prep.
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Sir I read the newspaper daily but too lazy to make notes out of it….What should I do in this case?….Can I substitute newspaper note making with monthly magazines?
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1. Read newspaper 2. Make daily notes of CA instead of monthly.
Depending on monthly will make you forget a lot of things.
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Sir, As you holy prepare from home, which difficulties you faced during general studies preparation?
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That’s a vague question, do you want to know something specific?
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Hi, can you share a copy of your mock test (paper 1 and/or 3) here? Is that possible? 😊
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All of them are under Mains tab, Answer Copies sub-heading
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Sir did u studied Advent of Europeans wala part in modern history …
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As I didn’t find ques on this topic in the notes of spectrum shared by u ..
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see notes section, he has replied to same comment there
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I think I did it from TN state board history primarily. Went through Spectrum first few chapters couple of times each before prelims and mains.
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Sir Like You i have some interest towards geography and International relations some more . I opted to choose PSIR . Is Subraranjan mam notes and CA is enough for PSIR total or i need extra sources..And one more can you give me the link of the Notes of the subrarangan mam?
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I found them to be sufficient. Current affairs for PSIR I did on my own (notes are attached under Optional tab).
Her website has the link for postal correspondence, once you sign up (that was the case in 2018)
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SIR THANKS FOR SHARING ALL THIS 😊
VERY HELPFUL BLOG ❤
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Hello Sir. For pre specific notes did you make notes only from daily current or from rstv, mindmaps, editorials, daily quiz and secure also!?
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Not from – RSTV, mindmaps, editorials, secure.
Yes from – daily current affairs, daily quiz, whatever else caught my attention
My CA notes were not pre specific, the only distinction I made was for one line trivia which didn’t warrant to be included into my otherwise detailed notes.
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Sir, i am a adent follower of all your post and your recent vedio with unacademy was great! Sir I just wanted to know that i recently opted for insights test series for veterans but I am a fresher! I am having a hard time to match upto the mark like finishing the syllabus and then revise & then giving the test and scoring not well enough. I am thinking of changing it to fresher so is it a good idea?
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If you’re a beginner they have recommended textbook wise series, correct?
In my year, there was only 1 test series so I wouldn’t know what differences are there between the two, but go with Insights’ recommendation for a fresher.
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Sir did you note down notes of daily quiz of insights & forum also?
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Only if it was some pertinent information or point.
You’ll have to learn to ignore a lot of (trivial) things 🙂
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Sir what according to you is the perfiect time of completeling the whole syllabus for fresher for the first time with NCERT + Core resources only?
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NCERTs + current affairs + standard books (max 5 of them).
All of these can be done in 8 months, easily, with weekly and monthly revisions. Edit: if you’re very diligent, you can also put in 15-20 hours towards optional as well every week.
Add/subtract months depending on your reading speed, what books you finally read, etc.
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Hello Sir. As the tests provided by insights textbook testseries covers questions not only from NCERT’s but also from external sources about the same topics which are in the NCERT’s. So, how did you covered these kind of questions?
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Test series would cover a lot of things from god knows where. Test series is not a gospel and you will have to ignore (ofc at your own peril) certain things from there as well 🙂
Do not worry a lot about external sources, pick your FEW sources and learn to live with it. Get better at arriving at an answer by eliminating options or using peripheral knowledge.
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Thanks a lot sir.
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hellow sir ,,this is uday from delhi …2019 was my 1st attempt and i m not going to clear prelims this time but gone through basic books very well , so can u please advice me wether to go for mains test series or prelims test series ( if covering mains syllabus by myself) …. and which test series is good for main…
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Many good test series for mains are out there, take your pick and live with all its imperfections. I can only vouch for Insights, which I do recommend.
Prelims test series and mains test series have VERY DIFFERENT purposes and ideally you should take both. You need different skill set for clearing different stages.
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Sir, I am writing answers for PSIR but how to get them evaluated? I am preparing for 2020 so will join test series only after prelims.
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Unless you can a find a peer review group (I wouldn’t have bothered tbh), do self evaluation. Get hold of toppers answers booklet. Attempt questions from static part of PSIR, see how closely you’re mirroring the model answers.
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sir, when I clicked your quora link on this page, it led to some other site(my antivirus denied the access to site,saying it was phishing site).thought i would tell u so
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How often did you revise these notes of NCERTs and how many times in total? Kindly share your revision strategy in general. Or in a few lines here please.
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First reading of NCERTs, I made the notes. Thereafter I revised the notes maybe 5-6 times in all before prelims.
Once selectively before mains.
My general revision strategy is there under Prelims/Mains tabs. Anything specific you want to know?
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Apart from the revision done closer to prelims, where did you fit in revisions within your 3+3+3 hrs schedule July 2017-Dec 2017? As in once you were done with a week’s syllabus, note making, test and started with the next week’s schedule, where/how did you revise previous week’s notes?
Also, how long did it take for you to finish one NCERT book? Trying to evaluate my pace vs pace required.
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I also mentioned I could never follow it 🙂
I was most consistent with CA and static. Optional was sacrificed. I would generally revise the week’s syllabus on Sat/Sun before taking the test.
I followed the test series schedule to quite an extent in the beginning. I took whatever the time they had prescribed, I didn’t hurry. I increased my pace by Dec/Jan, when I also picked up standard books and read them faster (e.g., Laxmikant 7 chapters a week).
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Sir, i have joined the test series of insights for prelims and following the same strategy for current affairs as you have shared but i have a doubt regarding the note making of current affairs. Whether to rely on insights monthly booklet for CA or to make notes on daily basis. Pls share your approach.
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I prefer daily basis. Helps in retaining information more efficiently down the road better than a monthly blitzkrieg.
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Sir I’m persuing B.tech and I’m a 2 year student , sir i want to know what should be the first step towards preparation or being a beginner, new to all the things related to this exams , sir please help me to get through it I’ll be really very thankful to you
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1. Develop a reading habit in college. Start reading The Hindu/Indian Express daily. Read acclaimed fiction/non fiction.
2. If you want to take the exam right after graduating in 4th year, might be a good idea to start preparing at the beginning of 3rd year.
3. I have detailed everything else – how to go about the exam itself – in this blog.
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Hi Sir,
Ideally how many months to be taken for completing all basic ncerts(6-12) with notes making apart from daily optional and CA. I am slow reader as it take time to visualize things while studying. Also I have taken Insights 2020 test series, but unable to complete mentioned syllabus before test, it keeps piling up n I get less mark due to non completion of some parts. Plss guide me what should I do.
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Static portion (NCERTs + standard books) can be covered properly in 7-8 months easily, along with CA + 2-3 hours optional a day. If you’re determined, can do in 6 months or less. Again depends on how intensively you go through them.
Insights really breaks it down week wise, and there might be a few tough weeks in the middle but largely I found their schedule to be pretty relaxed. You should look into your time management.
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Sir in which sequence should I started covering PSIR. Should I start from paper 1 first or paper 2 first.
Sir please reply to my answer.
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Paper 1, western political thinkers, starting from Plato and Aristotle.
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Sir,
How did you cover the pre sepoy mutiny part of modern Indian History?
Did you read bipan chandra selectively or from cover to cover?
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I read only Spectrum from chapter 3 onwards. Pre-sepoy mutiny is also covered briefly in TN state history class 11.
It’s low yield so best not to obsess over it.
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Sir….is Shubhra ma’am’s correspondence notes enough to crack the optional?…plz do reply
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I found them to be sufficient. You should have an aptitude to understand abstract ideas quickly. It can be bothersome if you don’t understand, say, basic philosophy.
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Sir, Which one is better: insights prelims test series or IASbaba ilp
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I have never seen any of Baba’s ILP mocks so cannot comment on it.
I would have stuck with Insights for my second attempt if I had to take it again.
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Sir ,
When uncertainty creeps in we tend to become dormant . Some of us who tread this journey leave wonderful opportunities to pursue our passion but sometimes life knocks you down .Though it is tough to get back up, we do , because our dreams mean something to us .
But to give our best , our minds have to be trained to forget about this factor of luck playing a role ….what was your strategy to fight those moments of darkness when you felt luck indeed may play a role and detaching yourself from results. How to not think about something you work so hard for.
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I was in the process of writing a post on it, now added under Motivation tab
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Sir, Thank you for your notes. Can we please have the excel sheet you made for Law commission reports also?I was trying to find the recommendations in your notes, but could not find them.
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It was a bare bone two column excel sheet just to remember the Law Commission report number so that my answers can stand out.
The recommendations/details of such reports were in my GS-2 notes, pdf of which is attached under GS-2 section.
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Please check your Quora account.
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Sir, during your preparation did you analysed previous years PSIR optional papers , if yes then around how many years back..question papers.
Secondly, Did you went with any specific way to read ncerts ..and did you make notes out of it.. and how did you retain those informations which you read..
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1. I only when through the last 3 years’ paper to see how UPSC was framing questions. Didn’t solve them as I didn’t have time.
2. I read them as I would normally read anything else, and wrote down whatever I felt was important from exam perspective (have attached notes everywhere). There’s only one way of retaining information: revision.
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Sir which sequence should I adopt for PSIR, should I study thinkers first then paper 1 part B or should I go for Paper 2 then Paper 1 ?
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I followed the sequence in which madam’s notes were marked. Book 1 begins with western political thinkers.
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Sir, its Priyank, I just read all your answer and it really clear much of my doubt but I do have some questions
1. what did you do with newspaper like did you just read it and no notes or anything OR take notes and relate it to the context of the syllabus then make notes like WHY/WHERE/WAY FORWARD/PROS/CONS?
2. this one is kind of different like when you read about a completely new topic then what are the bunch of question that came to your mind?
3. what did you do with montly CA compilation?
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1. No notes from the newspaper. Read it like my father would read it. I made notes out of daily current affairs of Insights (they do the why/where/analysis etc) and cut it down to what I thought was relevant.
2. I have a habit of googling a lot. If a bunch of questions come to my mind, I’d include whatever I think is important (it might not be actually).
3. Since I followed daily current affairs, I didn’t need to go through monthly compilations or any other material for current affairs.
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thank u fr ur reply , one more question that how u followed insights daily quiz related to current affairs bcoz questions are not related to current affairs of present day ….
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2-3 questions out of 5 are related usually. Even for not related one, it’s good practice to start making informed guesses. That’s how you’ll build a knack for getting more of unknown questions right than wrong in actual prelims.
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Thanks for your swift response. If you could elaborate the strategy to balance both please
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I have detailed mine under Mains tab. Generally, I divided my day equally between optional and GS. I was revising more of optional but doing answer writing for only GS. This way I could eventually balance out the two. You will have to devise a strategy for yourself, given your strength and weaknesses. Someone else’s might not work for you.
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Thank you Sir.
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Did you follow the same current affairs notes that you have shared both for pre n mains
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More or less, yes.
1. I had to add a new perspective (along the line of questioning seen in mains) in certain areas but the basic notes remained the same.
2. Added a lot of notes which weren’t of use during prelims (such as disaster management, infrastructure, etc.)
3. Skipped revising a lot of stuff which was not useful after prelims
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Hi Sir, This is Rajashree . First of all sorry to bug you again with a long query. But I need some suggestion. For my note making I am referring your OneNotes. However I am in dilemma how to make current affairs note.In newspaper m mainly focusing on editorial n columns for optional(Socio) as m not comfortable with note making from news paper . However I cover news related to syllabus n then in evening I cover Insights daily n vision monthly. So I am confused whether I should make two sections of CA one for pre n other for mains as in mains we need to have background, then the news n way forward whereas in pre we need factual info related to the news. Ur genuine inputs will be really helpful .
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I rarely made notes out of newspaper; even if a topic attracted my attention I would google rather than stick with the newspaper.
Stick with one section for current affairs (for the entirety of CSE), include factual information which can be useful for any stage of this exam.
Add another section for trivia which is not useful for anything else but prelims.
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first of all congrats , sir i came to know abt u from insights , as after college i hv done 1 yr job n now resigned for upsc prep. i hv studied basic books n my question is that how u approached insights prelims ts as they are starting in july i hv enrolled in that bt not able to figure out how to approach as i hv only left 1.5 months for test series ..have u covered syllabus then gave test or go wid timetable ? how u covered syllabus as u also resigned around same tym from job .. sorry for a long question bt i need a suggestion …
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I went with the timetable. Insights prelims test series is meant for people beginning their prep. That means you do not need to have finished anything beforehand.
You might not see high marks (vs people who are on their second or more attempt) in beginning but should do well after 6-7 months of progressing with the syllabus and taking weekly tests.
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thank u sir fr ur suggestion
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one more question hd u covered arc reports n how u studied current affairs of insights as their monthly compilations are 150 + pages n it is not easy to remember for one year …focused only on pre related current affairs or mains also…
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1. I read this summary of ARC reports – https://1drv.ms/b/s!Ap1DARh0hNp6g16B0FUXe2OvPr_6
Did a cursory reading of it, except for 4th part which I read in detail for GS4
2. I used to cover current affairs daily (hence never had to use the monthly compilation). Preferred making own notes as yes, current affairs can get bulky otherwise. Insights CA is oriented well towards both prelims and mains, didn’t need to make a distinction.
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okay so no need to go for monthly compilation if we make our own notes? also will this one notes compilation of ours made out of insights is enough or shud we cross chk missed topics in vision sir? pls kindly reply
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The monthly compilation is just all the daily current affairs of that month put together. I never checked Vision, not worth the effort even if in an unlikely case some low-level news might be missing.
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Okay😊😊😊
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thank u so much sir ur suggestions helping me a lot in heading towards ryt direction …n yes once again thank u fr arc reports …..
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Hi, I read all the sections and I want to know about NCERTs, Should I read it in soft copy of Hard copy . How you did that ? I think soft copy would be good for notes making.
What’s your call ?
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I prefer physical version of books still. So I had ordered NCERTs. But there were many NCERTs that I read a soft copy of (TN state board history, science, art and culture).
It’s kind of immaterial at the end of day as you should read NCERTs only once anyway, rest revision should be from notes you make. So take hard copy or ebook whichever you are comfortable with.
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Thanks !
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Congratulations bhai
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Sir, I want to start with my preparation from PSIR optional, how do I start my preparation for the optional without going to coaching , can You share some resources and please give some tips for optional .. I am in 2nd year of my college and pursuing my bachelors in political science…
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I have detailed everything under Optional tab. Anything specific you want to ask?
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Sir as I will be preparing for 2021, how will I manage the current affairs sections from PSIR optional Since they will get outdated….
secondly sir, what different approach do PSIR optional requires as compared to GS (especially GS 2)
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1. You should not even worry about current affairs from GS/PSIR perspective till at least 2020. Just develop a reading habit.
1a. You can make own notes for current affairs section. I had done that, my notes are under Optional tab.
1b. If you purchase the correspondence course, current affairs notes will be uploaded on the Drive (is my understanding, I never checked)
2. More in-depth knowledge is required to present opinion/analysis. The opinion/analysis should be not yours (ideally), but of renowned scholars. There is less scope of winging an answer here than GS.
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Thank you, sir.🙂
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Hello sir, I congratulate you for achieving rank 95 in UPSC. And as I have got to know about you I am elated that you belong to mainpuri because even i belong to there( kusmara to be specific; if you know it :).
Sir even i am willing to take PSIR as the optional, and I have mam’s 2017 notes but i would be appearing in 2021, so is there a chance of them getting outdated as they were given to me one of my seniors. So should i purchase new one from ma’ams’ postal correspondence course of the old ones will suffice?
And secondly, I am not wanting to follow multiple sources for psir so did u face any problems duirng course of your study of PSIR becuase of not reffering to standard books or ma’ams’ notes were sufficient.
Last one, I am seriously doubtful about wthere shouls i start reading the current affairs compliation of visio or insights from now or should I start next year i.e. One year before my prelims. One of the last year topper suggested that two years worth of current affairs are required.
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1. Paper I is static so I doubt there will be new addition to them. Paper II notes will definitely need an update. You can do it on your own if you are willing (I did it anyway as my notes were from June 2018 for Oct 2018 exams, a lot can happen in 3 months, such as Trump-Kim summit)
2. Madam’s notes are sufficient, but you will need to google anything that you might have trouble understanding. I didn’t do any other source other than what I mentioned under Optional tab.
3. I did 15 months (Jan 2017- mid Apr 2018). Current affairs news gets repeated a lot, I’d have never done 2 full years.
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Thank you so much. Hope you a great career ahead :).
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I have also decided to opt PSIR as my optional for 2020.
So should I go for Subhra Ranjan Mam’s notes from her website Or buy the pirated version available in the market.
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GS-4 ethics concepts will guide you best on what to do here 😊
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Thanks again Sir for the reply. For last 3 days I was confused with book lists whether to follow blindly the sources given in Insights 2020 test series or to decide my own sources. But today I met Mr Vinay (Director of Insights). He advised me to follow the time table, book lists blindly and diligently. So now I have got rid of all the confusion and dilemma.Except that I will follow 2-3 additional source like Spectrum , Mrunal Eco videos n geo videos(Instead of GC leongh) …:)
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Great that your dilemma has been resolved. Insights is great, with all its imperfections.
PS: Never follow anything blindly 🙂
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sir would u plz elaborate strategy for psir optional …is it necessary to take coaching ?or one can complete itself and only subraranjan maam notes is sufficient for thz
2nd Q that i would like to ask is ..test series kb join krni chye mains k liye jse m 2020 ka attempt dugi tho m abi mains ki test series join kru vo fruitful rhegi ya only aft my prelims..
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1. Read the notes first. Search for them online or borrow them for a week. If you have trouble grasping the main concepts and ideas, do consider coaching. I could understand them easily (disclaimer: have been an avid reader since middle school) so didn’t bother with coaching and completed the notes myself, along with adding own notes (see Optional tab).
2. The question you need to ask yourself is: how good have you been at answer writing in general (school+college)? If you’re not confident, start writing answers sometime this year itself, there are actually many free initiatives out there on prep websites with peer review. There are also test series (plural) which make you write both pre and post prelims.
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thnks sir rply krne k liye nd thnks sir apne notes share krne k liye mne ek br books ki reading kr li thi but smj ni aa rha tha ki notes kse bnau ..sbi seniors bol dete h shrt notes bnao but ye smj ni aa rha tha shrt notes me kya skip kru or kya add ..ur notes help me to understand wt is relevant ..
thnks again nd may god bless u sir
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Hey, congratulations. Can you tell about how you coped with procrastination and lack of motivation to study same things day after day? I have just given my UG final exams and have been preparing for about 2-3 months having read basic books once, I struggle more than I thought I would to remain motivated and revise all of them again. This week was exceptionally unproductive. I’m somehow caught up in a cycle of procrastinating and then being frustrated about not putting enough effort later. Can you relate? Any advice would be appreciated. Please ignore if it appears BS 😂
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Rule #2 of CSE prep: learn to enjoy the monotony, of your daily schedule and the reading material.
a) Having said that, of course I hated it as well. But I forced myself to study on most days. Trick is to reward yourself for studying every x hours (I’d study 3 hours, watch something for 1-2 hours)
b) Ensure you have a long term schedule, divided up weekly (thankfully my test series gave me that). That ensures you stay on track and complete weekly targets despite proscrastinating inclinations.
3. Give yourself a break every now and then. Till at least 3 months before the prelims, I’d take the weekend off twice a month. I lived my “normal” life without getting frustated about not studying. Even “demotivated/procrastinating/being unproductive” should be a part of your schedule.
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Ah yes, I will follow the test schedule from May as well. Insights has come up with 2 different plans (ncert based and subject wise) this time and I’m kinda confused which one to opt.
Probably doing both optional and static books is going to help with the mundaneness. Thanks.
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Thank you sir for the reply.
I am appearing for 2020 and a fresher. I will be doing my optional from May onward and targeting to complete by Sept. So the coming few months my focus ll be on Optional and current affairs. So I was thinking of not covering all the Ncerts like civics 6-12 except class 11, similarly not all the history books as I will be doing TN and Spectrum.
Because I am worried about revision.Studying so much what if I cant revise the same in time.This question worrying me for quite sometime. I am also a slow reader .So it takes a lot of time to complete the whole book. So what ll you suggest in this?
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1. I would not recommend completing neglecting the static portion. Plan a 3-3-3 hour schedule for current affairs, static and optional for the rest of the year. Of course, take a break or study less whenever your mind tells you to.
2. If there was no stage called the prelims, everyone could have ignored the class 6-10 NCERTs. However, given the kind of questions UPSC has been asking in prelims, it becomes rather important for those trivial facts which might not be there in class 11-12 books. I ignored some NCERTs such as world history (class 9th & 10th history), and civics (class 11 political theory, I think). If you have seen my notes: If I didn’t make notes of any NCERT, it means I didn’t read it.
3. Read NCERTs only once, make notes, revise the notes. I read through NCERTs only once and never looked at them again. If you read all the NCERTs over and over again, it’s a waste of time IMO. That time should be spent on standard books.
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Can you suggest how to start preparing for mains after prelims 2019 Should I directly start with optional and give more time to it in initial months or balance both throughout in those 3 months gap? What would be a rational choice according to you Sir?
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Balance both throughout. If I look back, I could clear mains cut off by a decent margin by not neglecting any paper.
What you can do is devote more hours in the day to optional if you feel the need. Never let GS out of sight (as this year scores will tell you).
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Sir , I was going through your world history notes in detail. I have relied on Class 9th n 10th old ncerts (Arjun Dev).Your notes exactly in sync with these books. However ,@ many places I found some extra information Like Germany armistice , Schlieffen plan etc. Could you pls let me know what are the sources for these extra info..I have vision world history material and Contemporary world history ncert part 1. Should i go through them also?? Pls suggest. Will you be able to share email id incase you dont visit this page to read the comments ?
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I have a habit of googling for extra information if I find anything interesting. I must have added it as through Wiki pages or something while reading the main material. Do not fret much about multiple sources. Stick to only one. I haven’t read Vision or NCERT world history for that matter so cannot comment on its efficacy.
I have the WordPress app on my phone, so I get notified easily 🙂 You can also message me on Quora if you have a specific doubt.
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Hey! I am also pursuing B.com hons from DU , currently in 6th semester. I have also decided to go for psir but for last 5 months I am focusing just on prelims. I wanted to ask that is there any chance that I would be able to complete psir after prelims if I clear it this time?
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Yes, it is very much possible. I started PSIR two weeks after prelims.
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sir is it possible to cover huge syllabus of psir after prelims
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You will have to study A LOT but it’s not impossible. However, one should already be comfortable with understanding abstract ideas quickly.
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Wow a whole lot of respect to you for trying to reply to every comment, for being so eager to help out. I can see why you cracked the exam. Awesome!
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I had literally scrounged the internet for my doubts, so just passing that information along with my own experiences. Mera bhala hua tha aise hi, shayad kisi aur ka bhi ho jaye 🙂
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