u/MediumDragonfruit988

You must be losing your mind by now. That revision schedule you might have thought to follow. The updated current affairs still left to be revised. Essay value additions to be revised one final time. All of this is okay. Everyone has been there. And this is where you should not let it overtake your objectivity.

A few suggestions been in this cycle for 7 long years.

1. Have a fixed SOP for the days of the exam. Be laser focussed on just implementing your SOP and not getting distracted by some new questions, randomness like Purviya in 2023. [GS-1]
2. Write from first principles. Write obvious things which are relevant to what is being asked. There would only be a handful of questions where you would know the exact content. For the rest you would have to make up relevant arguments on your feet. So, remember relevant arguments over filling sheets.
3. I scored 416 in GS in 2023. [marksheet attached in my profile]. I skipped one ten marker in GS-1 [fjord], one fifteen marker in GS-2 [NATO], one ten marker [microorganisms in fuel] and one fifteen marker [unemployment measurement] in GS3 and one ten marker [quote-based question] in GS-4. Also, in other questions I skipped on introductions and conclusions if I couldn't find anything relevant to write. What I'm trying to argue is please focus on addressing the demand of the question and don't beat around the bush.
4. One hack that worked in case I was not able to come up with relevant arguments was that i left space for that subheading and moved to the next subheading. Once your mind is fresh and it comes back to the previous subheading it can come up with good points.
5. Don't try to do anything new on the day of the exam. Stick to the routine you have figured out via writing mocks.
6. Don't let the (assumed) performance of the previous exam impact the next paper you write. Each exam is a standalone and its your resilience to be able to treat them like that. Mains is like a test match irrespective of the previous session you get up with the fire in your belly and give your best. [India's Gaba win in Jan 2021]
7. The only parameter to judge your performance should be were you able to stick to the strategy you had decided upon before going for the exam.
8. Carry something to eat during the exam. I carried snickers it helps to regulate blood sugar keeping the energy levels intact through the exam.
9. Be prepared for the worst. During my final attempt, my desk with the first one right next to the window with sun shining bright over my desk. And in Delhi during mains it always has to rain. So, in the second paper it started raining with the window open. You can always request the invigilator and they are mostly helpful.
10. Focus on the first lot- Essay and 4 GS. There should be the current priority.
11. One last point, when this ends you would realize that this is the most rewarding phase of preparation. The sheer amount of madness and razor sharp focus you have right now will be very difficult to get into for any other target in life. It's been 2 years since I moved on and still haven't been able to find something as encompassing as the preparation was in terms of the attention it takes. So, make the most of it.

See you at the other end. All the best!

First of all, congratulations for clearing the first stage. This is the most unreasonable and unpredictable stage of the exam. Congratulations of having sailed past that.

I'm someone who appeared in multiple mains, went for interview in 2023, scored 415+ in GS(marksheet attached below).

In this post I would write about what you should ideally do for the next 50-60 days. I call it the first stage of mains preparation. Second stage would be about writing FLTs. Would write an article on that when the time comes.

1. I would practice answer writing daily without fail. I was part of Sachin Arora sir's initiative post prelims of daily 7 AM answer writing. I would do this in a timed manner to keep a check on the time.

2. Practice as many PYQ's as you can. I did this before prelims however. This helps you to identify what is the demand of the exam.

These are some screenshots of the PYQ's i was getting evaluated over time. I wrote almost all PYQ's going back till 2013.

These were before prelims 2023.

https://preview.redd.it/svf35jvkrf4h1.png?width=1616&format=png&auto=webp&s=ba874cd2df18aed754896907e1b310194c7deeab

https://preview.redd.it/4m1x5ivkrf4h1.png?width=1608&format=png&auto=webp&s=94e9aa3286a256c9afeda85df310018f9886a861

By December I had picked up pace of writing regularly.

https://preview.redd.it/xso1alvkrf4h1.png?width=1595&format=png&auto=webp&s=2e41912ea14b4d1ce13ab60b3a9eade975865d32

Screenshots from a coaching website which provides evaluation of answers.

3. Actively brainstorm ranker's copies. Identify rankers who have scored good in each paper and sit with their copies. Read the question and then try to roughly brainstorm, preferably by scribbling, what would you write in introduction, arguments in body etc. Once you have done this exercise only then read the rankers answers.

4. Prepare thinking hats and templates. Before you read this further realize that GS is- general studies- so anything you read you would feel like I knew this already, but when you start writing the answers yourself you freeze.

This is a classical problem called the unknown known. Things which you know but you don't know that you know them. I also refer to them as blindspots. I would want to talk about this more. These are points which are very obvious but you arent able to come up with them in the exam hall.

Attaching one such example.

Screenshot from some old notes I found.

This framework is for Emotional Intelligence. Any question on emotional intelligence would be around three pillars- regulating my own emotions and personal front, conflict resolution while dealing with my team and finally empathising with the citizens while delivering public services.

These types of frameworks help you to come up with well-rounded answers and also write relevant content.

5. I would want to talk more about PYQ's. The idea of doing PYQ's is to be able to have a very sharp understanding of what is being asked in the exam. I'm attaching a screenshot from the last answer writing mentorship cohort I took

The first column is the syllabus subheadings, the rest of the entries are PYQ's of GS-2.

This is the classification of syllabus as per under different subheadings used in the previous image.

I am done with my attempts at the exam. This is my 2023 marksheet.

Solid 416 in GS. Maths paper-2 should have been better. Still don't know what went wrong in Essay. Last time scored 126.

Now get to implementation of the plan you been brewing in your head. Feel free to ask doubts. Happy to be of help. All the best!