Prelims

With 2% selection rate (~10k/500k appearing), prelims is rightly considered the most dreaded stage of this examination. I, personally, consider prelims to be a different exam altogether; it’s a mere coincidence the syllabus for prelims and mains is the same. The approach for reading anything from prelims perspective is a sea change when reading it from mains/interview perspective. This is not a feeling I have developed after clearing this exam, I have always considered prelims to be the final boss of this game which is ironically the first one we have to battle.

Let me divide the prelims prep largely under three pillars: current affairs, static, mocks. I’ll additionally cover what I did 3 months before prelims and CSAT.

Note: DO NOT feel underprepared or over-prepared if you have done things differently. Some people clear without taking a single mock for prelims or never having made any notes. All you need is dollops of confidence: continue with your strategy if you think it’s working for you and be confident when you walk into the exam hall. Everyone has their own approach towards this examination, this was my method in this madness.

I have detailed newspaper reading, sources and reading material under General Studies tab. Please refer to that if you plan to read through this.

Current affairs

After a bit of trial and error lasting over a month, I settled on the following routine every morning:
(a) Bare-bones reading of The Hindu (July 2017 onwards)
(b) Daily notemaking from Insights daily current affairs (covered from January 2017 onwards)
(c) Daily quiz on Insights and ForumIAS (July 2017 onwards)
I did these three things until mid-April 2018. This ensured I was on top of current affairs the entire time, had concise notes topic wise, and had developed a strong knack for informed guessing.

Static

Since I had become a daily visitor to Insights for topper articles, I saw their schedule for prelims test series that they were starting in mid-July 2017. It was complete with weekly targets from July 2017 to the prelims day 3rd June 2018. I subscribed to it as I felt it was a better plan than I had made on my own. Additionally, I would be taking a mock almost every Sunday, revising the syllabus along the way (twice, as there would be a revision test after 3-4 mocks). I didn’t follow the timetable to the T and made adjustments wherever necessary.

  1. I covered the following new NCERTs (all as per Insights book list) –
    • History, Geography and Polity: class 6-12. Skipped a few – notes not made for those
    • TN state board history: class 11-12, till medieval – to get a linear timeline, which is missing in new history NCERTs
    • Economics – class 11-12
    • Art and Culture – class 11
    • Science – class 6-8 + selective class 11-12
    • Also googled and added notes wherever I felt the need
  2. I skipped certain standard books that were part of the reading list – World History NCERTs, India’s Struggle for Independence, and GC Leong
    I instead covered Arjun Dev for World History, substituted Spectrum instead of India’s Struggle for Independence, and added Shankar for Environment in place of covering GC Leong. Again I was determined to keep my sources few and revisions many.
    (tl;dr followed only 4 standard books – Ramesh Singh, Spectrum, Laxmikant, Shankar)
  3. I made short notes of all the NCERTs I mentioned in (1) when I did the first reading so I don’t have to keep going back to them. This meant my subsequent revisions were faster. I kept all the information that I felt could be asked in prelims. All the notes for NCERTs are shared under approriate General Studies section.

Maps: Like most aspirants, I maintained maps for some crucial information such as rivers, endangered species, Ramsar sites, mountain ranges etc. Here’s how mine looked liked for National Parks and Tiger Reserves. Make your own by spending some hours on it. I took almost half a day, googling each of these sites individually. Two revisions of two hours each, and there’s little chance of getting a Pakhui/Pakke tiger reserve type of question wrong.
Related opinion on maps/national parks here: https://qr.ae/pNKkJj

All my notes can also be found here in the online notebook, I have also attached pdf of NCERT notes under relevant subtopics in General Studies tab.
The online link will be slow, as the notebook is cloud synced and probably a couple of hundred of MBs. Read here for a better understanding of how my notes are categorised.

Mocks

Since I skipped certain books that Insights had prescribed and went faster than the demand of certain weeks, it allowed me to get ahead of Insights’ schedule. I aimed to finish the syllabus by late February itself, giving me almost 3 months of revisions before prelims. This meant I was not 100% punctual with the Sunday mocks as I was covering different topics than what weekly test was covering. However I caught up with all of them by mid-April (I must have taken 11-12 mocks on consecutive days) once my syllabus.and one revision was complete.

However, know this: no amount of reading and revising will help you if you do not play this game by UPSC’s rule. And UPSC has but one rule for prelims: unpredictability. To counter the unpredictability I decide to focus on these three aspects:

  1. Getting good at informed guessing
  2. Improving my number of attempts (if 1 and 2 work together, then accuracy automatically improves)
  3. Handling pressure / weird or difficult papers

Mocks were the backbone of my preparation for the D-day. Without the help of mocks, I would not have been able to realise the sweet spot of the number of attempts I need to consistently cross a 105+ threshold.

Over the course of 30+ tests (and daily quizzes), I also got significantly better at informed guessing. I started off the mocks by marking only answers where I was reasonably sure of the answer. However, within six months I had pushed my attempts to ~90, which also pushed up my scores.
I would eventually make a tactical mistake and go for overkill at actual prelims instead of what I had internalised, but was still confident of a 110 after the exam.

I was never active on the discussion forum of Insights prelims test series portal (heck I made a Disqus account only after clearing; I can easily be lured into comment wars and hence decided to not give myself that option) but read the comments with great interest. I would agree with the majority view there:

  • Questions are sometimes marked wrong or explanation is incorrect
  • Unnecessarily high difficulty levels/very weird questions sometimes
  • Often Insights does not stick with the syllabus, which frustrates the test takers

Of these, I usually got frustrated with the first point, especially when it would drag down my score below my tolerance levels. I would, however, begrudgingly agree with Insights’ test making strategy partially on the second point, and completely on the third point. UPSC is not going to stick with the syllabus nor it is going to ask easy questions. The sooner you get used to it, despite seeing some low scores, the better. I saw scores as low as 68 in the first few months but never went below 105 or top 10-12% of test takers (my thresholds) after I had completed the syllabus by February end.

I tried being as punctual with mocks as possible. I must have been on track about 80% of times until I decided to go deviate from their schedule to finish the syllabus by February end (this meant I was maybe two months behind mocks). I ended up catching up with the test series in April when I took a mock every single day for 11-12 days. This also meant by revision and test syllabus were not in sync. However, I didn’t let that bother me much because I would face something similar on 3rd June 2018. I was not in the habit of revising my mocks (which is otherwise recommended) and had deferred them to a pre-prelims revision blitz.

Note on mock scores: people with a consistent 120+ in mocks may not clear. People with consistent 80s may clear. Do not have unrealistic expectations from any test series. Its purpose is to prepare you for the D-day and not guarantee the score you will get or x number of questions. Try to achieve a level of consistency (number of attempts/accuracy) and work upwards. 

3 month plan before prelims

I wrapped up my syllabus for the first time by late February. I had completed all the basic books and followed current affairs (as I outlined above) till this point. I was doing alright in mocks but was behind 2 months (from what I remember).

I aimed to finish two rounds of revision and catch up with mocks by mid-April. I largely succeeded in this by speed reading areas where I was comfortable (geography, economy, current affairs), and reading every line where I was weak (culture, environment).

For the last 45 days, I wanted an in-depth reading without rushing through any area and still finish the revision 5-6 days before prelims. This is what my day usually looked like (I had stopped reading the newspaper by now):

  • IASBaba 60 day static quiz (I didn’t do the Insights one as I felt the need to diversify, and in the last month I was doing 2 days quiz in one to cover up). I used to write answers in a notebook and add any worthwhile points on the same page. This is what it looked like (image). I revised it a couple of days before prelims and on the way to the centre.
  • Revising my own current affairs note (I would aim for 3-4 days for one broad topic I had created)
  • Revising static portion (I would say aim to finish, say, Laxmikant in 6-7 days, Shankar in 6 days, Spectrum in 5 days, Geography NCERT in 5, and so on)
  • Revise Insights mocks I had taken so far. I started from the very first one, I would end up spending ~3 hours every night before sleeping. I added any information that I felt I needed to retain in another page I had created (ended up creating at least 1000 points, still got Sthanakvasi question wrong <facepalm>). I had revised these points in the last week. This is what it looked like (pdf).
  • By end of April, we had reached full syllabus tests (FLT). I do not remember now if Insights had kept CSAT test along with every FLT but I did a CSAT mock along with every FLT (I took past years’ UPSC CSAT as well). Every Sunday, I would take FLT at 10 am to noon and CSAT from 3-5 pm. I would generally not schedule anything else on that and have a relaxed evening. I also took printouts of OMR sheets and did the FLT+CSAT by filling up the bubbles along with marking on the computer.
  • On a related note, I was also catching up with new episodes of Westworld and Silicon Valley in between all this. Manage your time well. Aag ka dariya toh hai yeh exam, lekin doobne ki jaroorat nahi hai.

CSAT

I had taken a couple of half-hearted attempts at CAT right out of college. Quant is my Achilles’ Heel; otherwise, I am reasonably good at verbal and reasoning. I scored 85-95 in all of the mocks at Insights.

Initially, I was not concerned as I was crossing 70 but closer to prelims I got worried. Hence, I took out past 3 years’ UPSC prelims CSAT and solved them on FLT days. I easily touched 150 as quant was so much easier than in the mocks. I stopped worrying about it after that.

Before you panic due to marks in mocks, do past years’ CSAT. Then zero in on your weak area. Read more and practice more (I am sure there’s some great CSAT material out there), there’s no other way here.

Things you already know, but a reminder

  • Know your number of attempts and accuracy (mocks!!!). You might be capable of 56/56 correct or 64/88 correct, both give equal score. You need to find out what your accuracy level is. Either get accuracy right or increase number of attempts with at least 50% accuracy. You have to get 3 questions wrong and 1 right to remain score neutral (60/60 correct or 61/64 correct, again both give same score)
  • Do not read anything new in last month. Understand things you already know better. You are not going to know most questions in the paper, internalise that feeling.
  • You are going to need nerves of steel on the day of the exam. All your hard work is for naught if you panic in the exam hall.
  • Do not make wild guesses in the exam (or even in the mocks).
  • Revise, revise, revise, revise, and when you’re about to quit, one last revision.

Gentle reminder: DO NOT feel underprepared/over-prepared if you have done things differently. Some people clear without taking a single mock for prelims or never having made any notes. All you need is dollops of confidence: continue with your strategy and be confident when you walk into the exam hall.

I got 112.67 in first paper (GS) and 144.18 in second paper (CSAT). I had marked 95 questions in first paper, which I didn’t intend to do. I realised later I marked more than I had practised for and knew then that some of my “informed” guess were just hunches (mainly history questions where I was between 2 options). Out of those 95, I got 66 right and 29 wrong.

108 thoughts on “Prelims”

  1. shrustichinnamalla's avatarshrustichinnamalla

    I am presently, in TYBA, so, in your opinion, should i begin my prep now in full fledged manner or wait for grad to get done and get into the thing although, the possibility of not getting through gives me sleepless nights, several times, Kya Kare?
    ThankYou.

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  3. Nupur Sen's avatarNupur Sen

    I am unable to integrate the preparation for pre and mains. Can you give and example how you did it in the initial months. Like how was notemaking different for prelims and mains on the same topic?

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    1. dhananjaysy's avatardhananjaysy Post author

      I don’t think I integrated it. I was prelims focused first and then shifted focus towards mains after prelims. Note making is different in the sense you don’t have to clearly remember what happened in x year or y is the exact amount allowed under that scheme. You move away from trivial facts to larger picture of constructive analysis of events/schemes/whatever

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  4. Arun's avatarArun

    Hi Dhanahjay,
    Regarding the daily practice questions on Insights website, can you recall by any chance what used to be your usual score? Were you consistent? If yes, how many months did it take you to get there?
    P.S. I have been giving them and by score ranges between 40% to 80%. Quite worried with this band difference.

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    1. dhananjaysy's avatardhananjaysy Post author

      1. 0-5 I have seen all. But mostly 3s
      2. Even two months before prelims I would get 2s, don’t stress on daily quiz. Full length tests is where the real game is

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  5. Unknown's avatarAnonymous

    Could you elaborate on how you went about preparing for Art & Culture (for Prelims and Mains) and what sources you used? Thanks!

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  6. Unknown's avatarAnonymous

    What was your approach for Art & Culture for Prelims? The material seems vast and pretty disjointed, making it tougher to memorise.

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  7. sic mundus's avatarsic mundus

    What were you specifically doing for mains preparation from July 2017- Feb 2018 apart from making notes? Is it advisable to start answer writing practice for mains during that time?

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    1. dhananjaysy's avatardhananjaysy Post author

      “What we know is a drop, what we don’t know is an ocean”

      I did nothing specific for mains, because honestly I simply did not know/remember enough to do answer writing in first 6-8 months. If you are confident, go ahead (but have low expectations from yourself tbh, many people go down this road every year only to demotivate themselves when they can’t write a good answer with barely any knowledge base). Also, I was reasonably confident of my answer writing because my handwriting isn’t terrible and I have been winging answers with some knowledge throughout college so I didn’t sweat much.

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    1. dhananjaysy's avatardhananjaysy Post author

      1. Think I just answered it
      2. For mains, you need to know the broad idea of why something happened and a qualitative analysis/understanding of it. For prelims, you need to remember small details such as name of newspapers and their founders, year in which x thing happened etc

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  11. Unknown's avatarAnonymous

    “people with a consistent 120+ in mocks may not clear. People with consistent 80s may clear.”
    these words are so motivating since i am constantly getting in 80ss from 3 mocks!
    thank you so much sir . will follow your 3 months plan !

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  12. Harvir's avatarHarvir

    A Big Thanks for sharing your strategy.
    Just one query:
    As I followed the strategy of newspaper reading and making notes out of insights daily current affairs, I realized it took me 3 hours just for this activity ( a red flag).
    Could you please tell me:
    1) how much time should it take and
    2) what areas might possibly be eating up the time ( formatting the notes? Over analysis? Bad compilation speed?)

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    1. dhananjaysy's avatardhananjaysy Post author

      1. 3 hours is about alright given we are in the middle of a v active news cycle. During slow news cycles it can be as less as 1.5 hours. Don’t worry about this too much tbh
      2. Reading unnecessary news, over analysis while making notes can eat time but THIS IS NORMAL. Formatting notes and compilation speed shouldn’t take much time

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      1. ASPIRANT2020's avatarASPIRANT2020

        THANKS SIR FOR CLEARING MY DOUBT.
        ONE MORE QUERY…..I HAVE SOLVED AROUND 20 SECTIONAL TESTS. FOR THE REMAINING FULL LENGTH TESTS, INSTEAD OF SOLVING THEM, I M PLANNING TO DIRECTLY SEE THE CORRECT ANSWER AND THEN TRY TO UNDERSTAND WHY THAT PARTICULAR OPTION IS CORRECT ANSWER. WILL YOU ADVICE FOLLOWING THIS APPROACH?

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          1. ASPIRANT2020's avatarASPIRANT2020

            1. I m sincerely sorry for that sir.
            2. Oh ok. I had already done this for 3 full length tests. Then, now i shall solve the remaining ones. Thanks alot sir for replying to my query.

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    1. dhananjaysy's avatardhananjaysy Post author

      I have mentioned it –
      1. Almost 7-8 months to complete the whole syllabus once (not counting the mini revisions along the way)
      2. Answer writing practice began two weeks after prelims, full length mocks two months before mains

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    1. dhananjaysy's avatardhananjaysy Post author

      Depends on the official document size. In my year, Econ Survey was pretty short so I could read it. If it was 500 pages long, would have preferred a summary. Like for budget I would always go for a summary.

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  16. Nivesh's avatarNivesh

    Sir in 2017 Prelims this question was asked.How do we approach these type of questions?

    Which of the following is geographically closest to Great Nicobar ?

    (a) Sumatra

    (b) Borneo

    (c) Sri Lanka

    (d) Java

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    1. dhananjaysy's avatardhananjaysy Post author

      Need to generally be good with maps. If you are, this is an easy question. If you are deducing: Nicobar is south of Andamans and the southern most point of India (general known trivia). Sri Lanka is nowhere close to Nicobar. Indonesia is closest to Nicobar and Sumatra is the answer (also this is a tsunami 2004 revelation when people found out Sumatra is so close to Indira Point which is in Great Nicobar). Java and Borneo are way off and this you would know if you know the world map.

      However in an overall paper, such questions would be considered tough so pointless to chase them by mugging up every island off the world map. Edit: doesn’t mean that you can’t figure out a way to cover it https://brilliantmaps.com/largest-islands/

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  19. vikas's avatarvikas

    Hello
    Have you left writing on this BLOG
    22 months of studies you have mentioned
    You started your studies in June of the previous year of the prelim(you mentioned this too) which makes 12 months to prelims+4 months to Mains =16 months ONLY
    Can you throw some light on as how the duration was calculated?
    thank you

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  20. Unknown's avatarAnonymous

    Hi, I read that you updated your OneDrive notes according to Mains syllabus. Will it be possible for you to recall and tell here, how the categories were for Prelims? This will help me loads for filing my notes. Thank you.

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      1. Bennet's avatarBennet

        I am REALLY confused about history. Can you please specify which all ncerts you skipped and with what source did you replace it with. Also, you didn’t read any other book for Geo? Is only NCERT sufficient?

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        1. dhananjaysy's avatardhananjaysy Post author

          You will remain really confused if you continue to think history as a monolithic subject. (1) Ancient history/art and culture, (2) modern history and freedom struggle (3) post independence (4) world history – these are major subdivision and each have their sources

          1. NCERTs skipped – whatever I didn’t make notes of. Class 9 and 11 are world history so skipped and did Arjun Dev (from here https://mrunal.org/world-history AD is basically late 1980s NCERTs) instead because world history isn’t part of prelims syllabus so no need to go line by line from new NCERTs. Rest is TN class 11 and 12 (selective) and Spectrum and notes as I have mentioned under GS1

          2. Get this: NOTHING will ever feel sufficient for any part of UPSC syllabus. Pick as minimal a source as you can and stick with it (with Geography NCERT class 9 and 11 you will have google a lot of things for better understanding)

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    1. dhananjaysy's avatardhananjaysy Post author

      Insights made this distinction in for prelims 2019 test series. I believe they recommend one for freshers and the other for people who have given at least one prelim already

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  23. T's avatarT

    sir, can you suggest how to improve accuracy in prelims?
    [getting around 55 correct, 35 incorrect in test series(if I attempt 90)]

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    1. dhananjaysy's avatardhananjaysy Post author

      Questions attempted is decent, you need to focus on where are you getting 35 wrong? Which section – history, geography, economy, current affairs? Try to minimise negative marking by getting the easy (wrong) ones right

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      1. T's avatarT

        Thanks for replying:-). I found out why questions were wrong–in silly mistakes(did not read question carefully), some economy topics, national parks,etc.Now I will revise these parts more and be more careful.

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  25. Unknown's avatarAnonymous

    Hii Sir,
    1. As uh said uhr preparation involved immense googling, was that even when uh read Hindu? even as uh did not prepare notes from Hindu or uh googled things only while making notes from Insights CA?
    2. Since there is ocean of information on Google, some frequent websites uh used for supplementing your Insights CA? How did uh limit yourself into that no. of links uh visited? Some plan or tactics at that level?

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    1. dhananjaysy's avatardhananjaysy Post author

      1. Mostly while preparing notes from Insights CA, but I google anything that has my curiosity.
      2. No particular website, whatever credible website is in top search. No limit on links, I have wasted countless hours reading unnecessary things 🙂

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  26. Unknown's avatarAnonymous

    Hii Sir, when uh say i moved ahead of insights schedule to finish syllabus, does that mean uh quit having insights weekly tests for 2 months? And then got back to them and solved those 2 months arrear tests in one go , after uh have finished syllabus? And by which month did uh deviate from insights schedule, exactly if uh remember?

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    1. dhananjaysy's avatardhananjaysy Post author

      1. Yeah I quit taking weekly test. I don’t remember exactly but early January to mid March is the time period I skipped the tests. 2. Yes solved arrears tests in one go, but I could catch up only by mid April.

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  27. pragya's avatarpragya

    Hello Sir, could you please share the link for the question bank made by you of Laxmikanth.
    Thamks in advance. 🙂

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  28. Unknown's avatarAnonymous

    Good Evening Sir
    Congratulations on your success and all the best for your Diplomatic Journey 🙂
    Sir i am interested to know about your 8 month time table.
    Like if you prepared prelims oriented for the first 8 months then how much time on what subject etc..
    thank you sir

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  29. Unknown's avatarAnonymous

    sir, I read your answer on quora on maps on tiger reserves ,national parks.
    1.Can you please elaborate,on what topics we should prepare maps(apart from topic mentioned here on blog)
    2.how to go about rivers particularly their tributaries?I mean do we have remember each tributary?
    Thank you 🙂

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    1. dhananjaysy's avatardhananjaysy Post author

      1. On whichever topic you feel you need one. I had one for dances and tribes of India because I could visually place them on a map for better recall.

      2. Not each tributary, I covered 4-5 of all major rivers

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  30. Aditya V's avatarAditya V

    Hello Sir, I’m a student from Bangalore. I feel bad for myself to say I do not understand Hindi, I’m getting difficult to understand Mrunal Economy Videos. Also I’m an engineer so it’s getting tough to understand the basic concepts as such. I have covered History, Polity and a certain amount of Geography, and have just started economy.

    Is it alright to study NCERT and Sanjiv Verma / Sriram IAS notes ? Would be very helpful if you reply to it. Thank you sir.

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    1. dhananjaysy's avatardhananjaysy Post author

      I didn’t find Mrunal Economy videos very useful from exam perspective tbh (good for understanding but making notes out of those is a pain). I did NCERTs + Ramesh Singh + Current Affairs and found that to be sufficient.
      I haven’t done the sources you have mentioned but had heard positive things about Sriram IAS notes.

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  32. Tamanna's avatarTamanna

    Sir, how did you actually marked answers in the exam hall, I mean
    Did you do questions in three rounds, as almost everyone says , (first round – ticking you r definitely sure of, second round 50:50, third round informed guessing)?
    Or any other?

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    1. dhananjaysy's avatardhananjaysy Post author

      I would do these three rounds with an intention to mark 85-90 questions, with approx time taken:
      1. Definitely sure + easy informed choices (~50-55 questions). 60 minutes, mark with pencil
      2. Difficult informed choice (~30 questions) + double check round 1 questions. 40-45 minutes, mark with pen
      3. Last 15-20 minutes, go through the rest of the questions, usually would end up marking 5-10 odd more.

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  33. Unknown's avatarAmit Dugar

    from the beginning of the preparation which test series is better? Insights or vision and in insights the textbook based approach or subject wise approach? Also you prepared for 22 months….so are 11 months sufficient to crack this exam for a working professional without coaching
    ? Thanks in advance

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    1. dhananjaysy's avatardhananjaysy Post author

      I haven’t seen Vision so cannot compare. In Insights, during my year there was only one, so again have no idea. But if you are on your first attempt, textbook wise would make more sense.

      11 months before prelims is a sufficient time frame. Read Rank 37 (2015) strategy, linked in this blog itself, who did it while working and without coaching.

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  34. Samsara's avatarSamsara

    Hi there.
    My apologies for this wordy comment.

    One has read your strategy and most of your replies. A quick perusal of your notes reveals that you compiled both Mains and Prelims worthy current affairs (CA) in a single note subject-wise. All my doubts pertain to CA and the logistical nightmare it turned into before Prelims this year.
    1. Are these really your notes in “entirety”? How did you manage to compress 15 months worth of CA into a rather small selection of topics/events? (eg., your Economics notebook comprises 106 points in all. Maybe that was your strong suit, but the others too!)
    2. How did you compile solutions to the daily quiz you solved? (subject-wise/month-wise, digital/physical, separately/within the attached notes)
    3. How did you file solutions to static questions you got wrong throughout your preparation, say for polity ?
    4. Were notes of Insights’ test papers made separately?

    A wee bit about my preparation, in the hopes that i find concrete advice:
    I did not make it this time (prelims). I compile notes using Evernote much like yourself, except that they are filed under similar heads dealing only with Mains (syllabi topics, any burning issues not falling directly under a given head).
    I created a separate master notebook for prelims. Thereunder i created 18 sections (science, bodies, art etc). Any random research done, quiz solved, test paper mistakes, static polity questions gotten wrong were added here. Little did i realise, my notes, though conceptualised well, would become so hard to revise. Ocean full of information indeed.
    Segregation between Prelims and Mains was made because one finds oneself engaging in far more note-taking for Prelims than for Mains. Perhaps, also in anticipation of anxiety that needs management before Mains, with only the most relevant notes.
    As i created a new notebook titled “Prelims 2020” the other day, i found myself utterly skeptical. This time i planned to make one single document for test papers, quiz and all else with no segregation. This, even as old notes ask me for an arduous revision.
    Is this “no-segregation” strategy something you’d recommend. How can this be managed?
    I have more questions, but i can’t risk you falling asleep. Haha
    Heartiest congratulations!
    You’re gentlemanly.

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    1. dhananjaysy's avatardhananjaysy Post author

      After you asked in entirety, I went and checked if I forgot to merge any other notebook that I had created in the end. I did miss out one section, now added in the online notebook under GS-2 titled ‘Last Minute’. It’s not much, only 40 odd points, mostly repetitive.

      1. Yes, these are my notes in entirety. The key is to learn to ignore a lot of trivial news (even from Insights haha) and cut it down to size to keep only relevant points in notes. You’d also notice that a lot of news is recycled across months, that’s what also makes monthly compilations seem HUGE vs someone’s notes. Economics might be only 106 points but it does contain ALL the newsworthy items 🙂
      2. I added them to my notes under the relevant section and heading. Didn’t create any separate page for it.
      3. Again added them to notes (NCERTs/books) IFF I found them worthy. (Daily quiz mostly had current affairs, added directly to notes or filed under Prelims -> Trivia. I only did IASBaba static 60-day thing before prelims, for which I made a separate notebook, I have mentioned it in the main write up).
      4. Yes, Insights prelims test series revision points were noted separately. Filed under Prelims section titled ‘Insights revision’.

      Consider note-making to be also an art that you have to master.
      a. Prepare everything Mains syllabus wise (basically no segregation), file relevant things. You will also to be SUPER CAREFUL about what you decide to add to your notes (usually 80% of Insights daily current affairs would be useful in a given week), which also means risking regret down the line if you miss something important. However, imho no need to chase those last 10 difficult/obscure questions in prelims.
      b. Certain sections such as science and tech, will end up having lots of trivia. Strike it out when revising after prelims (I did that) so that you know what is important for mains.
      c. Maintain a separate page for one line trivia, sourced from daily current affairs or quiz.
      d. Maintain another for all test questions gotten wrong.

      To sum up: make notes in a way that make complete sense to YOU. If you think you’re doing it wrong, you probably need to think it through again. If I were to do this again, I would end up doing exactly what I did because I was/am still very comfortable with my notes (best organising I did was for GS-3 -> Environment, should have done it for all sections), and thus, could recall a lot of it in exam hall.

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      1. Unknown's avatarSamsara

        Thank you for taking the time, both for going back to check your notes and for typing a reply.
        A last quick question. Not having cleared prelims twice, should one still carry on and hope to make it?
        (I should answer this for myself, I am aware. Preparing by myself, i wonder who ask. Have read your motivation tab. )

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  35. Aditi's avatarAditi

    I went through all your notes. I have some queries:
    a. How did you make CA notes from newspaper and CA magazine despite not reading basic books in the first go for a topic related to polity, geography, economy etc? Should one make notes from day one even if s/he has not gone through the reading of basic books?
    b. Can you give your suggestions for a 7-month plan from July to January for GS+Optional preparation? Are 4 months enough for dedicated prelims preparation?
    c. Did you go beyond what was there in CA magazine and newspaper for notes on any particular topic?
    d. Do you recommend taking Insights Prelims 2020 plan? How would that benefit a beginner?

    Thank you.

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    1. dhananjaysy's avatardhananjaysy Post author

      1. I did not make CA notes from newspaper/magazine. I followed daily current affairs and made notes out of it. A lot of things don’t make sense in the beginning, the interlinking of CA with static happens over time. I got that comfort only after 7-8 months AFTER I was done with the syllabus for the first time. So yes, make notes from day one even if you haven’t gone through basic books.
      2. Pick any prelims test series schedule. Skip a few books (your call on what to do, I have written about what I did), and finish the GS syllabus in 7 months by going faster than what they prescribe. Possible with a decent amount of hard work. I did my optional after prelims so really not the best person to ask for GS+optional time frame. No one knows what is enough for dedicated prelims preparation 🙂 I was dedicated to only clearing prelims.
      3. I have a tendency to google a lot actually. I would supplement almost everything with my own quick googling.
      4. I would recommend taking a test series for sure, which one you take is up to you. Having said that, I would have subscribed to Insights again if I were to write 2020. You will have a schedule in place, you will be tested on things you have read week after week, but MOST IMPORTANTLY you will get used to getting tricked or stumped with so many questions that you would end up abusing the paper setters. Better to internalise the feeling of solving weird questions beforehand so that actual prelims paper doesn’t faze you vs your competition.

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  36. Unknown's avatarAnonymous

    hii , how did u do those tables at the end of spectrum? I mean i understood the question approach of yours but that tables(appendix part of spectrum) scares me the most.Every body say they do last part,but how?did u rote learn it (like we did mathematics tables when we were kids) or revised them multiple times? or any other? I am thinking of making flashcards to learn, may be it will work

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    1. dhananjaysy's avatardhananjaysy Post author

      Haha a combination of all that you have said.
      Revise multiple times, you’ll remember some. Rote learn a few with the help of mnemonics or something. I never used flash cards though.

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  37. Unknown's avatarAnonymous

    how did u make notes of ncert? i mean copy pasting important lines from ncert ( which would be far apart) very time consuming or did u type manaully?

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    1. dhananjaysy's avatardhananjaysy Post author

      Typed manually for physical copy of NCERTs (majority).
      Copy pasted important lines for a few pdf books which I couldn’t find a hard copy of.
      It is time consuming, but rewarding as you really end up covering all bases. Also the reason I have put all my NCERT notes here hoping it will help someone else save time (provided it makes sense to them).

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        1. Ishu's avatarIshu

          Sir could you pls mention the name of the test series? I mean on insight there are a lot of sub category in the preliminary test soo which one you took??

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  38. riteshtheunknown's avatarriteshtheunknown

    What can be different topics to make notes of from newspaper? Like currenly i have made copy of environment in which i put all cyclones , etc , hear waves issues and another i have made for women issues where i do all women issues like unemployment, gender inequality etc … Is this correct way ? And what other topics can be ? I am beginner , so asking you. Sorry if it’s trivial question. Thanks

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    1. dhananjaysy's avatardhananjaysy Post author

      See my online OneNote under Notes tab. I had divided topics under various GS syllabus headings and used to file it under them.
      But overall, yes you are in the right direction.

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  39. Ritesh Arora's avatarRitesh Arora

    Hello, i have some dount regarding map questions for UPSC. What exactly is to be done regarding with maps. i mean for example say we remember which national park is in which state using pneumonics, do i have to know exact location of that park in the map too? and also do i have to know about details of that park like area, and others ? also please tell me about maps of the other countries, what do i have to do in them ? and also about maps odf things like river. PLEASE MAKE A POST ABOUT MAPS FOR UPSC or let me know in reply here. I am beginner, it will be very helpful for me. Thanks

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    1. dhananjaysy's avatardhananjaysy Post author

      1. There are different ways people go about it. I have outlined what I did on this very page. In general, I would recommend (a) finalise your booklist/reading material/sources (b) start a test series, this will cover both current affairs and static (c) pick your optional and start an early reading so that you know what you are dealing with

      2. You can do whatever you want 🙂 I thought I would be more comfortable and confident if I read the newspaper daily, and also cover Insights (Vision in your case) daily current affairs.

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      1. riteshtheunknown's avatarriteshtheunknown

        I am to give paper in 2021. Can you tell me how should i go with static part , as far as i understand i can see you say ncert, laxmi, shankar, spectrum, Ramesh. Is this sufficient?? and how many hours needed daily to get through first attempt

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        1. dhananjaysy's avatardhananjaysy Post author

          1. I have detailed my booklist for static. That’s all I did, turned out to be sufficient 🙂
          2. How many hours depends on the person, there’s no x-number-of-hours yardstick. Whatever gets you to complete your targets on a daily/weekly/monthly basis; that’s what is most important.
          3. If you find them useful, by all means. I blatantly added any notes shared by previous toppers if I found them pertinent (but this I did selectively and for low yield topics). I preferred making my own notes.
          If you wish to utilise my NCERT notes, read them along with your first textbook reading. If you find anything important that I missed, you could add that. This way you can familiarise yourself with the notes while covering NCERTs thoroughly. From then on, it’s revision of the notes again and again.

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  41. riteshtheunknown's avatarriteshtheunknown

    Hello,

    I would like to know how to start this preparation from scratch. What would one do for first three months of preparation? Also is reading newspaper a necessity, cannot we read daily current affairs from vision or insights websites ? How to make notes from them if they are necessary and also about what part to read

    Thanks

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  42. Hemant's avatarHemant

    Vision IAS montly magazine
    Insights India daily quiz
    Cursory reading of newspaper
    Would it be sufficient to follow above listed sources for CA?

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    1. dhananjaysy's avatardhananjaysy Post author

      I would recommend:
      1. Read the newspaper properly (topics/events keep getting repeated, will help you immensely in mains)
      2. Follow only one source for current affairs (make own notes/direct reading whichever makes you more confident)
      3. Daily quiz from two websites (ensures you get to different ways questions can be framed)

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