Hi everyone,
Few of the people who cleared CSE 2018 have prepared Answer Key for today’s examination for your reference. Their intention is to provide you with authentic solutions so that you do not waste time searching keys from various institutes.
You can find the set wise keys here:
https://bit.ly/2WKW8sk

Do not spend too much time contemplating what ifs. Enjoy the next couple of days and then get into Mains groove.

Thanks!

Also please fill this form according to your expected score from the above keys.
It will help in deciding the cutoff and reduce speculations.

https://forms.gle/QcyCMQAVT2snNws99

Follow this link for some pointers to my preparation strategy:
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/6d6e96q0pb4s7iu/AACAeRxZNrYa76Ih5DP0sa0qa?dl=0

I have added "Prep 101" slides - talking about my UPSC timeline and few basic questions which I have been encountering.
I will add similar notes on Mains booklist, Mains answer writing and relevance of test series, Maths strategy ASAP

Hi everyone,

UPSC CSE 2019 Stage I -- The Prelims is done for you. Now ball is in the UPSC's court to give out the results.

Most of you would have referred various Answer Keys and calculated your expected scores. Institutes would have started giving out their "expert" cutoff predictions.
Some of you might feel dejected after a poor performance. Some of you ecstatic after doing well. Some would be nervous as your score lies in that "zone of uncertainty".
However, few things are certain.

1. NO ONE has any clue of exact cutoff. Beware of fear-mongers.
2. The deed is done. No one can change Prelims performance. So no point dwelling into it.
3. The result won't come out for next 30-40 days.
4. Mains are 1 week earlier as compared to 2018.
5. Competition is cut throat.

This phase starting from today till the date results are out is one of the most important ones. It can make or break your Mains. You control what you will do in this phase and beyond it. Whatever be your performance, please do not waste time speculating Prelims now. It is a futile exercise which will not add anything to your preparation. Start gearing up ASAP and be ready for the final dash when the results are out.

Next 30-40 days goal should be to:

1. Fill any gaps you had left in optional.
2. Revise optional and make very short notes for Last minute revision.
3. Get into the rhythm of Answer Writing as you would have not done it for last 2.5-3 months. You can devote 1 hour daily.
4. Start reading newspapers again and make notes. They will help you later. Elections are over, so more relevant / non-political news will also appear. Be vigilant.
5. Those who have been making notes online or those who have slow writing speed, switch to offline note making and more writing. Get that speed up by practicing.

Once you do this much you are in a good position come the result day. Subsequent strategy will depend on your selection. But remember one thing. The 3-4 months preparation for Mains never goes waste. Instead it is the best opportunity to prepare and people have highest efficiency and output during this time period.

I would have said this after 4-5 days gap had the situation been similar to last year. But this year you have 1 week less to prepare for mains. Thus the time to refresh is also less. I didn't pick up any book for 1 week post Prelims 2018. You have little less luxury (specially the 1st timers). So dust off your post-prelims blues quickly and get ready for the exciting journey that is the "Mains Preparation".

I will write about Mains test series soon.

Also, please do not ask me about difficulty level of Prelims or expected cutoff. I have not had a thorough look at the question paper and am no expert predicting all these useless numbers which people spread just to have something to talk about. Ruthlessness and being indifferent towards what happened yesterday is the key. It might sound a little impractical and difficult to do, but if you can manage it half the battle is won.

Nothing can change what you filled in the OMR yesterday, but what you will write in that 1st Essay paper in Mains is completely in your hands now.

Refresh yourself for a couple of days and then get back at it. Mugstrong! 👍

My Booklist for Mains:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/sm50t0qmjiwtekh/Booklist.pdf?dl=0
Strong emphasis on keeping the resources limited. Then only would you be able to revise regularly. Otherwise you won't be able to recall anything and your memory will overflow.

[Mathematics Optional]

:

Follow this for my Maths revision notes:

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/rgf66xv9cmsym0j/AACDCRR7UJ_e2dsmDULEr-9Qa?dl=0

They are referenced from IMS coaching study material.

I will add remainder of topics and write a detailed strategy soon.

UPSC CSE is a mystery for many. Aspirants seek guidance from various sources on internet.

CS 2019 Batch has started an initiative to provide all their strategies, notes, tips etc at a single place and demystify this process for you.

You do not have to worry about scanning various websites to read different toppers’ strategies.

http://demystifycse.in is a one stop destination to access all the material relevant for you - be it booklist, answer sheet, motivation, optional strategy, notes and so on.

We will try to share as much information as possible.

Thank you!

Hi everyone,
I have written two posts on Mathematics optional on demystifycse.in
I have tried to put in as many dimensions as possible. Hopefully they will be of some help to you.

These are the links:
Overview of Maths as an optional:
http://demystifycse.in/mathematics-as-an-optional-kanishak-kataria-rank-1/

Topicwise tips:
http://demystifycse.in/topic-wise-syllabus-coverage-in-maths-optional-kanishak-kataria-rank-1/

Thanks and best of luck!
👍🏻

All my Mathematics revision notes have been uploaded on https://www.dropbox.com/sh/rgf66xv9cmsym0j/AACDCRR7UJ_e2dsmDULEr-9Qa?dl=0

They are reference from IMS notes and include theorems, tricks, important examples and anything which I felt was important from examination point of view.

All of these notes were written during my 2nd revision - 1 month duration just after Prelims (10th June 2018 to 20th July 2018). If you have done 1 revision before Prelims, this step is very easy to follow.

Unless you have paucity of time (like working professionals), I would not recommend you to read directly from my notes. Writing them by yourself is very important for better retention. I myself followed Yogesh Kumbhejkar Sir's notes. But wrote everything by myself. I just cross referenced his notes to see if there was something important I had missed out on.

Hello everyone,
I have uploaded my *evaluated* Mains and Essay test series copies on my dropbox folder.
Link: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/px298yystx0779x/AABqiBXgasa0P5UMYguKXJc7a?dl=0

It was the 1st time I was attempting any test or essay, thus there is a lot of scope for improving all the answers. You can get a fair understanding of the level of my answers, my general habits while writing plus the quality of evaluation done.

I benefitted a lot from last year toppers' copies. I analysed their styles and tried to adopt them as per my comfort level. I didn't believe in reinventing the wheel given the paucity of time I had. If some of you are in similar situation, you can look at my answer copies and learn from it. If you do not like anything, just discard it. Ultimately, you have to write as per your own style.

I will soon come up with a detailed post on "Utility of test series".

Best of luck!

https://indianexpress.com/article/explained/poverty-social-development-per-capita-income-narendra-modi-gdp-5609326/

An old article from Indian Express. Quite good from Mains perspective.

Essay
----------
Strategy by Nivedita S B (AIR 303). She scored one of the highest in Essay this year. (Score: 148)
http://demystifycse.in/essay-strategy-nivedita-s-balaraddiyavar-air-303-cse-2018/#more-788

UPSC Mathematics Resource Material:

IMS 2015 Test Series:

https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=0B02P0b7U7zOhaThteUx6VmdtYjg

IMS 2016 Test Series:

https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=0B02P0b7U7zOhN2M0OWd4Ynp0RVE

IMS 2017 Test Series:

https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=0B02P0b7U7zOhUjlyeXU2T3h2bDg

IMS 2018 Test Series:

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/njorjy9f3s6w4uv/AADpeKoCxTzeFi_9whPWmJi3a?dl=0

Previous Year Solutions:

https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=1iU2g_mJKROlX0pPx_VHJlIhVnzDyUsny

Hi,
I have shared my thoughts on Utility of Test Series, specially from the perspective of first attempt.

Many of you will be thinking about joining test series right now. It is imperative that you utilise it in the right manner otherwise it is a wastage of both time and money.

My key takeaways are - do not get carried away by the evaluations. Maintain a stable head and keep calm and confidence.

I hope it will be beneficial for you.

http://demystifycse.in/utility-of-mains-test-series-a-first-attempter-perspective-by-kanishak-kataria-rank-1/

PDF version of the article

http://demystifycse.in/link-for-some-useful-toppers-copies/

A compilation of various topper copies. Might be helpful to get an insight into answer writing and how it needs to be approached.

Sharing few answer writing tips here:

1. Writing full 150/250 words is a recipe for disaster. It is impossible to attempt all the questions if you try to adhere to these limits religiously.
Finish your answer in 135 words for 10 pointers and 220-225 words for 15 pointers.
👆 tip by Varun Reddy

2. Introduction shouldn’t be more than 10% of your answer. Write 1/2 lines at the maximum. Some possible approaches are
• using some quote
• defining the concept being discussed (pretty useful in GS4)
• quoting stats and figures (easy way in any answer for GS2 and GS3)

3. Conclusion can be just a single line. But don’t leave it. It provides a sense of closure to your answer. Also be optimistic and forward looking in the conclusion

4. Use data smartly. Don’t fret over using it in answers excessively. Excess of anything looks bad. It is difficult to remember stats , specially for first timers. With revision and practice you will automatically start remembering and recalling them as and when needed.
In my test series copies I was asked to quote stats but I didn’t remember them at that time. It was only as the Mains approached that I was able to do it.

The reason why people use data is to provide a rationale basis to their arguments.
For example: suppose in an answer on Digital India you write
A) “digital penetration in India has increased”
B) “digital penetration in India has increased (200mn Whatsapp users - XYZ report)”

Clearly statement B looks better than A.
Also, look at how the data is mentioned along with the source in a couple of words. No need to write full sentences like “As the XYZ report recently mentioned there are 200 million whatsapp users in India”. These are just filler words which eat your time and word limit without adding too much value.

Prepare a cheat sheet of stats ready for quick revision. You can keep updating it. I am also sharing my Evernote statistics note for reference. For better retention do this exercise yourself and use latest figures.

5. Similarly for reports and committees. Just write a recommendation and in bracket mention the committee name (like ARC).

6. Although not necessary, diagrams, flow charts etc do help to some extent. If creativity is not your forte, don’t do it. If you can think and present using them, it can certainly provide you some edge. They also help you write more in less words.
Diagrams are specially needed for geography answers.

7. Ensure neat presentation. It makes the examiner’s task of evaluating the answer much easy.

8. Underline keywords. It helps catch the eye.

9. Bullet vs paragraph; blue vs black; ball point vs gel pen is again person specific. Do what you like!

10. In questions with “critically analyse” directive, first criticise and then give the positives. It ends your answer on a good note.

11. Always split the questions in multiple sub parts and write on them sequentially. It will streamline both your thoughts and your answer.

12. In 250 word limit questions without subparts, please judge by yourself and add one or two aspects to provide closure to the answer (and also fill up the words!)
Writing 250 word answer for a topic you don’t know is very challenging for sure!

For eg. if the question says “what has been the impact of green revolution in India? (250 words)”

Here you can’t just go on writing on the impact for 250 words! Provide some sort of structure by also mentioning briefly what is green revolution and why it was undertaken. But 75-80% of the answer should talk about it’s impact.

13. As mentioned in test series post, quality in individual answers and quantity of questions attempted overall is important.

Will add more as and when I remember.