Hello everyone...
As you all know I have cleared UPSC CSE 2023 securing AIR 83.. Behind this success,there were a lot of failures and low points..
I would like to provide some insights to my fellow UPSC aspirants towards achieving your goals... I would here share everything I did in my 9 long years of UPSC journey... from booklist and strategy to emotional aspects.. everything to the best of my abilities...

So kindly make use of the channel.. help your friends and fellow aspirants.. let's all progress together 😊

BOOKLIST FOR PRELIMS

First I would like to emphasize the importance of NCERTS... For all the subjects of prelims.. kindly go through NCERTS from 6th-12th standard.. Not just read but build your foundation from NCERTS..

Once you are done with basic knowledge about a subject then only kindly move forward to advanced books... Without doing NCERTS going to advanced books will be time consuming in making the essential interlinkages and conceptual clarity.. So go step by step..

In my preparation I only relied upon the following books

Polity- NCERTS + lakshmikant

Ancient and medievel history - Class 11th textbook of Tamilnadu + our pasts NCERTS and themes NCERTS

Art and culture- NCERT + Nitin Singhania

Modern history - NCERTS+ Spectrum

Economy - NCERT (11th &12th) + Shankar Ganesh and Sriram IAS book

Geography - NCERT and current affairs oriented preparation from vision ias material

Environment -Shankar ias material+ current affairs from vision ias

Science and technology - entirely from vision ias material

CSAT - took help from YouTube videos mainly from channel called FEEL FREE TO LEARN+ RS Agarwal book..

Current affairs - Apart from daily reading Hindu newspaper, I used to watch news analysis of unacademy (earlier byjus) and also relied entirely on PT 365 for prelims..

There used to be many miscellaneous things to learn for which I relied on YouTube mostly.. eg. Mapping etc

This is all for prelims booklist..

PRELIMS STRATEGY

I dedicated 3 -3.5 months exclusively for prelims every time, where I do a minimum of 5 full revisions..

According to me, the entire prelims preparation should be focused on PYQs and solving mocks...

Give adequate time for studying the core concepts and revising the same..but you can never be satisfied with only studying..
So start giving mocks once you are done with the basics..

Don't be worried about the marks but be cautious of the mistakes you are making.. take note of the mistakes whether it is due to lack of conceptual clarity or silly ones.. the idea is to never repeat the same mistake twice...

I solved around 50 mocks (excluding sectional tests)
Utilised vision ias tests and also forum ias sfg program for sectional tests... Apart from these mandatory tests( in my view ), I also wrote tests from Shankar ias, insights ias, forum ias full length tests, gs score etc...

I did not join any specific test series (except vision abhyaas offline tests) rather used the online platforms like freeupscmaterials.com etc for tests..

For CSAT I had given around 20 full length tests, which includes PYQs.

Initially every alternate days I used to give my mocks... but as and when prelims exam neared i started giving mocks everyday..
More than just writing mocks, effective revision of it is the key...

Revising static subjects through mocks was like double win for me...

Howsoever knowledgeable you are, please give mocks... unless otherwise you will never know your strengths and weakness

FOR MAINS

I always started preparing for mains( after the first 3 prelims failures) and used to write answers extensively...

My optional subject was PSIR from 2018-19.. And i focused more on my optional subject, ethics and essay papers..

Booklist for mains- same as prelims+ vision ias material for every topic+ pt 365 magazine only for mains too..
For all the mains related subjects ( world history, society, governance, science and technology,internal security,ethics) I completely studied only from vision ias materials...

Apart from it, I did some value addition from current affairs.. especially for ethics, whatever good practices or examples i found in newspapers i utilised them in answer writing..

For my optional subject - entirely Shubra ranjan Mam's
only... haven't read any books for psir..one and only Mam's notes.. (same content of Psir was also used in gs2, ethics and essay too😝)

Every weekend I used to write essay and get them peer reviewed by my friends.. whatever quotes we come across or whatever topic we feel is significant we used to write essay on it.. it was like a good timepass and fun activity every weekend 😁

This is all I did for my mains...

I do a lot of brain storming and teaching so i never made any notes.. ( I really don't know how to take crisp notes).. note making never helped me..

Also, whatever resources I'm mentioning here are not any kind of promotional activity.... I genuinely studied only from them and so I'm mentioning it... you are free to study from anything..

The point is how you study and whether you have conceptual clarity or not rather than which resource it is from.. 😊

Whatever further doubts and clarifications can ask me .. to the best of my abilities I'll get them cleared😊

Guys feel free to send your queries... don't postpone it.. even if you think it's silly.. just pour your hearts out ( regarding preparation I mean)..

I really see a lot of aspirants looking forward to some kind of support either in the form of mentors or a peer group.. In the short term such external support may be feeling good but in the long term... i feel you develop a sort of dependence and fomo..

Also except a few dedicated mentors most of us( including myself) have some constraints too be it time constraints or work.. We may guide you but can never be a full-fledged support system.. in that case no body can be so..

I genuinely request all of you to get inputs from all of us, sit down with that information and chart your own course of action... At the end it's all your individual Midas touch that's going to make things Gold for you...

Even if such an external support system is always not available, don't be scared to continue your journey... As far as the prelims exam is concerned, there's not much need for mentors... only for mains and interview stages you will have to take help from someone... So do not worry...

You people are not ordinary.. you are all warriors... Trust your potential..trust your inner voice.. with or without support, you people will definitely crack through...

Not that people won't help... sometimes not everyone and everything can be on the same page.. that is all..

Hi all... As prelims is just a few days away, many of you will feel anxious and fearful of facing exams. Even though those emotions are natural and part of the process.. but in the last few days to exams, there should be ideally no place for such things..
Practice your mind to stay calm( i know it's difficult, but you have to) and do whatever possible to allay your negative emotions..

For all of you who have studied for a whole year, revised them multiple times and consistently giving mocks... you have come a long way and please don't let your self doubts and fears spoil all your hardwork. Keep in mind, the mock tests are meant to prepare you from all possible topics and so naturally most of the time mock tests will be on a difficult and different level compared to UPSC. So don't be worried that you are getting low marks in your mocks..

In the last few days, DO NOT STUDY ANYTHING NEW. What I mean is if you had left some syllabus( eg.medieval history ) please don't waste time in studying it new now... however if there are factual things to be memorized you can do so comfortably ...
The last few days ideally should be dedicated for revision.. revise whatever you have already studied and give a little extra to your weak areas.. Also on a daily basis you can revise the facts that are important..
Eg.national parks, river tributaries etc..

For those who are anxious about the exam and freshers who are still mentally unprepared to face the exam stress... please start giving mocks in the same timings as upsc.. both gs and CSAT... tune your mind from now on for the exam condition, such that the D day feels like just another mock...

Now a days upsc questions are very vast and unpredictable.. first have this thought ingrained in your mind.. prepare for the worst.. upsc question paper will always be unexpected.. but it will be doable...

UPSC prelims is 50-50.. 50% if it tests your knowledge the rest 50% will test your emotional intelligence... only if you are calm and composed you can read between the lines of UPSC question paper... So mental strength is all that matters at this point of time..

Even if you think a question is difficult, there will be a particular word or phrase which when logically eliminated, can lead to correct answer... I'm emphasizing more and more on calmness, because that is what will make or break your attempt..

So friends, try to cool your nerves.. have adequate time for rest.. and continuously do revise.. REVISION IS THE KEY..

Regarding GS.. revision should be done focusing on PYQs and core concepts now.. ideally in core concepts based questions, one cannot afford to make even a single mistake... so keep revising the core areas..

Regarding how to approach GS paper..the number of questions to attend etc.. this coming weekend there will be a session.. please make use of it.

Have a productive week guys... keep hustling... 😊

Hello all... Hope everyone is doing well... Before prelims I got a bit busy and that's y couldn't interact with you people much...I hope you all did your prelims well...

I'll try my best to answer all your queries related to mains or in general about UPSC... I have made discussion open for all of you guys..so kindly make use of the platform to learn as well as help others also to learn...

If you have any queries please feel free to discuss here...😊

Hello all.... Hope all are doing good...

Congratulations to all of those who cleared prelims this time... Keep hustling harder for mains.. many of you have asked for mains sessions... Will do it sooner...

To those who didn't get through this time... I can very well relate to all of your mindset... Pain, agony, humiliation from others, guilt, fear and what not... All kind of ill feelings will peak at this moment... But my personal advice is dont let all those ill feelings go into your head or heart... These feelings deter your progress, ruin your mental peace and strength, will make you weak and doubt your self worth... It is definitely a hard time, but its not the end of life... We have many more opportunities to learn and achieve...

Take a break.... Start journaling... If you make up your minds to give another attempt, start writing the mistakes you made in this attempt... Write what all emotions you went through on the day of prelims, while waiting for results and post results... This is the right time for understanding your true emotions, strengths and weakness... Only if we understand ourselves fully,we can move forward with confidence... So start journaling...

At this point of time, life will appear blank ... Mind automatically compares our lives with others... Make us think why we sacrificed so much for this... Lets go back to our comfort zone...this is waste of time like that and all .. but one piece of advice is... Even after all these thoughts, if your mind really craves for UPSC...thats where you belong... Dont get deterred by failure...dont get disheartened..

Dont stress yourself too much... Dont punish yourself by rotting in guilt... You are more than what you think you are....
Failures are something very personal..i completely get it... But you have to overcome all your ill feelings to come back stronger 💪...thats the only way... Not just for the sake of this exam...but for the rest of your life... What you did so far is itself a great thing...so be proud of your hardwork,your passion, your efforts etc...

Some suggestions to keep yourself motivated
-start a new hobby like going to gym, gardening etc..
-write a book..
- meet people who are less fortunate than you ...go visit an orphanage...this will teach what life truly is.... Exams are not the only life... Life has many more shades and colours... Unless you know them all you can never appreciate what you have...

I always had this in mind whenever i failed...
"FEAR has two meanings

Forget Everything And Run or
Face Everything And Rise... "

I always chose the second option... So do I expect all those at low points now...

Come back stronger 💪
The world needs stronger people like you all... You are the warriors... You are the future of the country... Everyone is counting upon you...🤍✨

Hey everyone. Toppers of UPSC CSE 2023 have come together to provide free handwritten notes and mentorship to aspirants. Here is the form to get access 👇👇👇

https://forms.gle/ucTsi7nQPND8cPZA7

Those who were asking for notes and guidance can make use of this platform...