Dr. Aaditya Sharma- Rank 70 UPSC CSE 2022, strategy and guidance

Congratulations to every one who made it through Pre. This is just a chance to breathe, but not long. Make every day count, not every one gets a chance to write mains. Try and think of it as your last attempt and give it your all. Go through PYQs first, start writing answers even if you feel you don’t know the content enough (which could be most people) and try to note down examples, make templates, practice diagrams (make a lot of them), see topper copies. Check the answers yourself as well and don’t attach much weightage to mock academy marks (unless you’re scoring less than 60). Channelise your motivation and strength and write answers quicker. Work hard, in silence. Not the time to celebrate now. All the best. It’s your chance.

The weight of thoughts is indeed a real burden. You may not believe it, but you can feel lighter carrying a 10kg dumbbell, than ensconced by your thoughts. As I physically try to remove these burdens mentally, I agree it is a task for the enlightened. If you can free your mind, you really can extend the tendrils of your dendrites in multiple directions. Consider it like a growing plant trapped in a bottle, or a tree in a room- where will the branches grow? Have anxiety, but manage it. Think about work, but do it. Don’t carry the baggage around. Consider end case scenarios, what can happen? I know you’ll always think of the worst possible scenario first. But have faith in your capabilities. You’ll be alright.

Mains is over, hope you’ve counted and recounted your attempted questions and marks. It’s inevitable. If you’ve not done so, you’re a very select percentage of people (of which I wasn’t a part). But it’s time to bounce back to prep, start off with pre prep, read up current affairs, read the newspaper and write answers once a week. I know it’s a tough period to study, and your mind must be wandering towards your result. But trust me, clearing or not clearing mains will not change your prep in any manner. If you clear, good, you prepare for the interview, but you still need to study for the prelims again nonetheless. So let the result be, keep your head down, and keep studying. Those who didn’t give mains, it’s a good time to at least go through the questions once and get a feel as to where you are in the prep. Best wishes

All the best everyone for mains tomorrow. Give it your all, only a few get this opportunity, make the most of it. Don’t leave anything blank and use your creativity while writing the answers and try and interlink different subjects as much as you can. Start strong and keep your time measured. Stay strong, it’s going to be a grind. Best wishes.

All the best everyone for the final results! If you make it, be calm, the service has just yet begun. If you don’t make it, take a moment to think calmly and begin your prep for pre, taking the result in your stride. Be prepared for anything and everything and make sure to have gratitude inspite of the result, you have achieved a lot. Cheers 🔥

This is an essay I wrote before my mains Kindly take cues as to how to generate dimensions and use examples. Try and interlink the different dimensions subtly. Start with an anecdote. Fill all 12 pages. Use the PESTGEMH approach and make a flowchart utilising 15-20 mins before starting each essay. Make it diverse and interpret it in a logical way, not necessarily conventional.

Congrats and best wishes to everyone who can get through to mains. Remember it’s not every time you get to write mains, so give it your all! For those who couldn’t get through, don’t lose heart. Channelise your sadness into an anger to succeed. Irrespective of the result, start preparing for mains, cause the time period from July to Sept-Oct is most useful for mains, as after that the fear of Pre looms near. So keep your head down and keep at it!

This is not what many would be expecting. I would just cite two main reasons: Increasing unpredictability and tougher CSAT. Now it would require a bit more effort to calibrate the right amount of questions to attempt, and of course, a lot more effort towards CSAT. New aspirants should not take the decreasing cut off lightly but rather strive harder as the paper is getting tougher. But don’t think the cut off would fall further, there has also been history of cut offs increasing in the subsequent years and since people will start taking CSAT seriously from this year, so buckle up!

All the best for the result everyone 👍🏻 Irrespective of the result, be thankful that you reached where many could not, and it’s only a matter of luck at this time. And if you get through, be happy, but with a sense of responsibility, and don’t be upset if you don’t get the service of your choice. Rest I congratulate everyone for completing the whole cycle and wishing the best for everyone! 🔥

All the best for mains everyone, remember just give it your all, it’s not always we get to write mains. Be calm, composed, the topics tomorrow would be vague for everyone. Write on the topic you know the best and keep 10 minutes before each essay to brainstorm. Also, count the pages before you start, generally there are 12 pages for each essay. Keep it simple and impactful, use lots of examples. It’ll be great. Best of luck 😁

IFoS final result, congrats to everyone who cleared :)

Dr Rajesh Mohan sir, IPS 2021 batch and my senior from college is coming out with a comprehensive book on ethics. The book will be out for listing soon, and having scored immensely in GS-4 himself, I’m sure you can benefit from it. Rest you can join sir’s Telegram group- https://t.me/Rajesh_Mohan_IPS_AIR_102 to understand more. I’m attaching a few samples that sir has been kind enough to share with me, make use of them as well :)

This is a list of examples for ethics. Take cue from them both for GS4 and the beginning of the anecdote in essay.