Hi,
We have entered the last month before prelims. It is important to remain calm and composed and not panic. The moment you start fearing elimination, your efficiency will drop sharply. Some important tips:

1. Now is the time to become mechanical in your paper solving strategy. Simulate as much as you can.
Some examples:
A) Increasing tolerance to heat given exam is in June.

B) If you are attempting in your room with attached toilet, you might have a tendency to have a quick toilet break. Remember it won't be the case in your examination hall!

C) I wasn't allowed a watch in the exam hall but my home simulations had prepared my mind and I could predict the amount of time that had elapsed. Be ready for any such eventuality.

2. Revision is the key now. Don't pick up new sources (unless it is some scheme compilation which you might have postponed till the last month).

Prelims revision is very strategic. You need to cram facts and figures for "some important/flagship" schemes. On the other hand, you need to merely glance over other topics. Best thing about prelims is that the answer is right in front of you. You only need to identify it. So even a vague idea might help you in eliminating few options.

3. Your revision time should reduce with each iteration. Revise the things you had marked in previous iteration, attempt a test and then identify the lacunaes in your preparation.
You can maintain a note of information which you feel would help in LMR.

4. You should be happy to commit mistakes in this month. Each mistake shows some flaw in your preparation. Start correcting them. More mistakes you make now means better prepared you are for 2nd June provided you are smart enough to identify and correct them and not lose confidence.

5. If you perform badly in test series, think that the world is conspiring against you to pull you down this month. On the D-Day everything will work out fine. UPSC is easier than some random institute's test paper. The Endgame is all about psychology.

6. You have sufficient information to crack prelims. Prelims is meant for elimination of those who are not serious for UPSC. If you have prepared with full diligence and hard work, you'll get your due.

7. Repeating what I said earlier: Improve accuracy first before increasing your number of attempts. You'll get false sense of security if you get guesses right in an easy paper and score high.
Speaking in statistical terms, your mean should be high while the variance is low!

Thanks.

PS: I'm travelling at the moment. Whenever I get time I'll share some more tips. Keep on mugging till then!

MUG STRONG! 💪
Best of luck! 👍

Hi,
Some of the "selected" students (IAS/IPS/IRS) have started the "Target UPSC" telegram channel to help out aspirants in their UPSC preparation.

Many people have utilised the channel constructively in the past. For eg. Shreyans Kumat (AIR 4).

There is lots of material by coachings which might act as noise around you and waste your crucial time. You need to pick the resources well and study smartly.

This initiative is a genuine effort by experienced people. I went through the channel few days ago and it has quite relevant information pieces which can be used as supplement to your regular sources, specially for those who are relying on random Telegram channels for guidance.

You can follow it here:
https://t.me/joinchat/AAAAAE-R-Tptvun0DgL6rQ

I would again say that build your own knowledge pool and then use these channels for anything which you might have missed. They should never be your primary source of knowledge.

Best of luck!

Shreyans had also mentioned about it on his Telegram channel.

Below are some Telegram groups/channel. You may find them relevant for your preparation.

I used to follow Target30UPSC for some current affairs updates (It also acted as a repository for a quick revision at the end)
https://t.me/Target30UPSC

Ethics and Essay group: (https://t.me/joinchat/FFk6wFNkLDxXEr-CPS-93w)

As the final countdown to #UPSCPrelims starts, please follow these important tips. Prelims is more about having confidence & maintaining calm. No matter what you have to keep a positive frame of mind in last 10 days. Don’t waste your energy in defeatist thoughts. #InItToWinIt

https://twitter.com/SudhaRamenIFS/status/1131274408989880320?s=20

Some important tips:

1. Correct your sleep cycle

2. Don't forget to practice UPSC PYQs

3. Revise, revise and revise. DO NOT pick up any new source. It would be better to go through mistakes you did in mocks.

4. Eat healthy food and take care of yourself.

5. If possible, avoid listening to lyrical music, specially 1-2 days before exam. Our brain has tendency to pick up some lyrics and we subconciously start singing/recalling it. This might affect your efficiency. If you use music for refreshing your mind, switch to instrumental.
This point is highly subjective. I had this issue so I completely switched to instrumental music during my preparation.

6. I am assuming that you have some analysis of your strong and weak topics. Appropriately devote next 7 days to those topics for revision.

7. If you are still giving mocks, I would recommend you to end on a high. If you feel extremely positive after giving a mock 5 days before prelims, stop then and there. You would not want to give another mock, which might be difficult and you end up performing poorly and get the confidence shattered.
Enter the examination hall feeling at the top of the world.

8. Finish all the formalities and prepare all the required documents/material for examination in advance to avoid end moment panic.

9. Now would be the worst time to predict anything regarding exam. Ignore all such thoughts and focus fully on your preparation. If you have worked with full dedication, you'll get positive result.

Stay confident and you'll nail it. 👊💪

Hello everyone,
With just a few days to go for the Prelims, I can only imagine what you’d be going through.
A lot of you might be fretting over whether you’d be able to recall what you’ve studied so far or you might be thinking of the times you may have utilised better.
These are classic symptoms of anxiety and nervousness and it’s perfectly natural. In fact, it’s a good sign but don’t let it overshadow the belief you should have in yourself.
You all have to write the paper with absolute ease and not think about the consequences at all.
Take my word for it, no matter how it goes, I am and will be super proud of each one of you and it is my absolute privilege to have taught every single of you.
Now, I’d like to mention to a few specifics -
1. Please check your admit cards and keep a few print outs handy. Read every instruction on the admit card.
2. Keep your identity cards and a few copies ready as well.
3. Make sure you carry enough stationery with you.
4. Carry a blade or a whitener but avoid using it as much as you can for corrections.
5. Smart watches are not allowed, please wear a normal analog watch.
6. Opaque clipboards and designed water bottles may not be permitted, be on the safer side and carry plain ones.
7. Do not glance through the GS paper in detail as soon as you get it, immediate impressions can get you off your game.
8. Please go through the CSAT paper once before starting, you would have a fair idea with the type of question distribution.
9. Do not discuss and evaluate your GS paper in between the break.
10. Do not eat something very heavy in the break and carry some fruits or homemade sandwiches as backup. Find a cool place to sit.
11. Carry medicines for a headache, stomach issues, and dehydration just in case.
12. Keep your calm and when in doubt, trust your gut and educational guessing powers. For example - the corpus of the national investment fund cannot be 1 lakh crore as it is too high a figure (even the income tax revenue isn’t that much)
13. Don’t leave the marking of your OMR sheet till the last. At the most, mark a batch of ten questions.
14. Fill in your details on the attendance sheet and OMR very carefully.

Above all, congratulations for your first step towards a magnificent career. Kill it , ace it, own it.

Am always a message away :)

Good luck ladies and gentlemen :)

Few last day tips

Don’t burnout yourself today.
Keep a clear and focused mind.
Sleep early, last night revision won’t help you much.

Every year we hear news of students not being allowed inside the test centre even if they are only a couple of minutes late.
We all know the level of rigidity UPSC has in conducting the examination. They do not allow “any” exceptions.

Onus lies upon you to reach the test centre in time. This is a factor which you “control”. Please do not commit any mistake here. Get to the centre at least 30-40 minutes in advance and calm yourself down. Last minute rush will impact your efficiency as well.

For those living in big cities, account for the traffic delays etc before leaving your home.

For those with big test centres which have multiple buildings/entrances, keep some extra buffer to find your seating arrangement and specific building/gate.

Finally, stay calm and you’ll crack it. Prelims is all about your mentality and you have a golden opportunity to prove how strong you are! 💪🏻

Beat of luck to all! 👍🏻

Please Read this.

1. If you don't get enough sleep tonight, tell your mind tomorrow morning that you had a good sleep.
2. Reach exam hall timely, what you read in last few hours rarely come in exam. Also, we all know the strictness of personnel at the examination centre.
3. Read the whole paper and mark sure shot questions in first 1 hour.
4. Don't loose concentration in the mid of examination, every second counts.
5. Have your water bottle with you, transparent ones are allowed in almost all centres.
6. Fill the OMR sheet carefully, ultimately that sheet is everything.
7. Read questions and options very very carefully. Pay special attention to things like amount/year/data/extreme words given in question.
8. If your table/chair is not comfortable, request the examiner to change it. If he is non-cooperative, dont argue. Give your best in whatever situation you are. Peace of mind is supreme.
9. Answers are before your eyes. Think like crazy in the exam hall. Connect things. Think of the most intelligent person you know and how he would have thought about the question.
10. Any of your life experience can help you, keep an open mind throughout.

Finally, more than knowledge, its a test of temperament. Don't loose your confidence, what come may.

Remember these amazing lines
'यही जज़्बा रहा तो,
मुश्किलों का हल भी निकलेगा,
जमीं बंज़र हुई तो क्या,
वही से जल भी निकलेगा।
ना मायूस हो,
ना घबरा मेरे साथी,
इन्हीं रातों के दामन से,
सुनहरा कल भी निकलेगा।

So keep your hopes high, and go for it with all your will power!
All the very best. May you perform above your own expectations. ✌️

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.