Some more questions by the curious :)

Before I get down to answering some interesting CSE questions I found in my inbox, I want to say THANK YOU to all of you. This blog is getting way more love than it deserves :)

Also, I will be writing my last post on this blog on August 24, 2018 as I leave for LBSNAA, Mussoorie on August 25, 2018. I will also stop taking questions on my e-mail once I join the Foundation Course :( I really want to switch into IFS trainee mode this month and unfortunately, I will not be able to guide candidates from the academy. Hopefully, this blog has already covered a lot. I have written on topics ranging from prelims, mains, interview and optional preparation to generic emotional counselling and time management. However, if you still feel that there is something I haven’t written about and must do so, let me know.

Question 1: Why did you always want to be an IFS officer? And why did you pick IFS as your first preference?

Answer: I was bit by the Foreign Service bug at the age of 20. I took two classes — International Relations and South Asian Politics — during my 3rd year at Emory University which proved to be a turning point in my academic life. I was hooked. Homework never felt like homework for these classes. Time just flew by during lectures. I went beyond my call of duty and did all the extra readings. Got an A in both classes because I just loved putting in the work. That helped me realise that maybe IR is my passion. After changing my major to IR that year, I had two paths ahead of me — a career in journalism as a foreign reporter (since I was always good at writing and enjoyed travelling) or a career in the Foreign Service as a diplomat. The second option was just so much more fascinating and intriguing. Maybe there was also some subconscious conditioning at play since I’ve grown up seeing my parents work for the government. I honestly could never imagine myself in a corporate set-up. I wanted to work on issues concerning Indian citizens as opposed to clients or customers. Having interacted with my parents and their colleagues, I knew that the kind of job satisfaction that public servants get to experience is unparalleled.

The biggest reason for my decision to pick the IFS, as opposed to the IAS or the IPS, was my academic and intellectual interest in Indian foreign policy. Representing your country abroad is of course the unique charm of the Foreign Service. Again, I always saw myself working at a macro level in an embassy as opposed to a district. Positioning your country internationally is not only a stunning privilege but a mega-responsibility. In an increasingly globalised world, the two major goals of Indian foreign policy — security and prosperity — will be achieved in partnership with international actors.

On a personal front, I believe that the Foreign Service suits my temperament. You get to have your roots in India as half of your career is spent in Delhi at the Ministry of External Affairs. At the same time, you get to experience different cultures and countries. I love the idea of enjoying a relatively nomadic existence within the framework of a stable government job.

All these reasons made the IFS the most natural choice.

And for these reasons and more, you might want to look seriously at the IFS as your first preference :)

Question 2: I am very confused as to what to fill as my first preference,so if you could could shed some light on this, it would really help me get some clarity.

Answer: So the point here is to figure out a service that is in alignment with your unique personality traits, strengths and temperament so that you can make your best contribution to nation-building. Where can you do your best and happiest work? And then just go after the rank that gets you there.

The general trend is that for the top 4 (IFS, IAS, IPS, IRS(IT)) you have to be in the top 250. IFS this year has ended at 150 for general category.

Please don’t pick a service based on the social hype, public perception or so called “taur” of the service. A 35 year long commitment to a job isn’t a joke. There needs to be some basic aptitude and passion for the service you want to join.

Question 3: I feel very lonely at times. I do not want that lack of good company or mentorship comes in my way. What should I do?

Answer: Many candidates have cleared the exam without mentors. And it isn’t possible to go mentor-hunting. Really, it just happens or it doesn’t. But the best part is that you don’t need a mentor to clear CSE :)

Company is crucial for positive vibes. When you want to take a break, you should be able to go out for coffee. It’s mentally healthy to talk about something totally different with someone. It is not only rejuvenating but also makes one realise that there is a big awesome world outside our 4 walls of CSE preparation. Too much isolation can be mentally disorienting. You need to be in top shape to write this exam. And you need good friends and happy souls in your life. That doesn’t have to necessarily be people who are serious about studying for UPSC.

If it makes you feel any better, I was the only person writing the examination in my entire social circle so I was pretty much all alone. I didn’t have a study group. Also, my friends don’t live in Chandigarh. But I have amazing family in Chandigarh and they are the people I hung out with during my 3rd attempt. My bhua’s sons, basically. We would often go out for coffee or pizza or a long drive when I needed a break. My grandma lives with us at home and she and I would sit in the garden and drink tea at 5 pm together. I studied in my room upstairs so I would usually come downstairs to eat a snack with my parents after 2–3 hours of study. Also, MUSIC. That was my entertainment during Mains and that is how I dealt with loneliness. So if you think that studying all alone far away from civilisation is emotionally draining for you, find a place where you have positive human interaction on a daily basis.

So everyone’s circumstances are unique. You have to find your own network of loved ones to support you. They don’t have to be students writing the exam. They can be cousins, grandparents, well-wishers, mom and dad, even a pet! Also, I think it is important to be your own best friend. There is strength and serenity in solitude and we aspirants also need to embrace that emotion during preparation.

Question 4: The fact remains prelims can’t make you an IAS but can definitely stop you from becoming an IAS. Also the fact remains prelims is becoming increasingly arbitrary and unpredictable.Kindly suggest what course of action/strategy can one follow given your experience and understanding from failures.
Answer: Yes, you are right. The preliminary is horrible. As far as my revamped strategy for 3rd attempt goes, it’s up on this blog.

Other than that, the one thing I would recommend for prelims is that you must give adequate time to prelims. I gave myself 5 months solely for prelims-ratta and MCQ preparation. I really don’t think candidates can take cracking prelims for granted anymore. Depending on your level, make sure you get in atleast 4 revisions in only for prelims. And you have to revise multiple times because unfortunately prelims is a lot about mugging and remembering accurately on the D-day.

Other than that, I haven’t analysed this year’s paper but my guess is that in addition to the Vision IAS booklets for current affairs, do also consult an online source for possible MCQs. I don’t know the best source on this as I never consulted online sources :(

ALSO analyse this year’s paper and understand two things —

1) where are the questions coming from?

2) what kind of statement questions and topics are being repeated?

Also, prelims is a lot about how you tackle the paper in those 2 hours. Even if you see 15 questions in a row that you have never heard about, don’t have a meltdown. Take a deep breath and smile and with common sense, intelligence and intuition, understand the question and the options. Start eliminating. This skill comes by solving mock test papers.

For this, you really have to go into the preliminary with a ZEN mindset. These 2 hours don’t dictate who you are as a person or the trajectory of your life. Have faith in what you have studied. Take all the planning and execution stress in the months leading up the examination. But on the day of the exam, just CHILL OUT and have fun. Do your best!

Keep studying according to a plan till the last minute. I remember this year I was revising the acronyms of the tributaries of all the major rivers and some random economics stuff in the car outside my centre.
And really do push yourself to the limit according to a defined study plan one month before prelims. The last 3 weeks are damn crucial because that is really all you will concretely remember in the examination hall. All these things will surely help you optimise your marks.

Question 5: How the hell does one integrate mains and prelims preparation?

Answer: I never quite understood how to integrate Mains and Prelims preparation myself. Maybe other toppers have spoken about this in their videos. For me, the Mains and Prelims were very different in their scope, range and expectation. And so my mindset and preparation was very focussed on the next hurdle I had to clear. For example, for my third attempt, I focussed on Mains and Optional till December 2016 and Jan 2017 onwards, I only did pre-lims oriented study i.e. started looking at my books in an MCQ question format. I picked up Mains Answer Writing only after writing Prelims i.e. after June 2017. I figured that 4 months would be enough for me to hone my writing skills because I come from a humanities background so framing a decent answer is usually not an issue.

So I didn’t consciously integrate pre and mains preparation as such. In the beginning, I just read the newspaper and foundational books for conceptual clarity. And then I focussed on the next hurdle to be cleared.

Question 6: You told you prepared a set of probable questions on each topic of the syllabus. How does it work? Was your content from the newspapers?

Answer: My content was from the range of sources that I have mentioned in my booklist. For GS 1, my probable questions were mostly NCERT back questions. As GS 2 and GS 3 are dynamic in nature so here my content was primarily from Mains 365 and vision monthly booklets (May 2017-October 2017). For GS3, I made a list of questions from the budget, economic survey and India’s Economic Development (NCERT). Also, I had 10–15 points on EACH topic of the Mains syllabus so that I could at least write something on paper depending on the question asked.

Question 7: You’ve mentioned that you relied on vision’s current affairs magazines. You were also a reader of newspapers. I’m guessing you did not make notes from the newspaper. If one doesn’t take notes, how does one remember what one has read today, say, after 3 months? Did you fully rely on vision magazines for mains (esp. GS2 and 3)? I’m fully struck trying to formulate a strategy for current affairs from mains point of view.

Answer: Consolidated studying happened through the vision IAS current affair booklets. This is because they organise the information by subject and topic. Read the newspaper during your break time out of interest keeping an eye on the syllabus of UPSC. Don’t do newspaper reading without having memorised the UPSC syllabus because otherwise you will end up reading a lot of random stuff. If you find something terribly important for prelims, scribble it down in your prelims register. Don’t worry about mains because everything will be covered in Mains 365 and Vision.
Cut out important editorials on international relations in case your optional is PSIR. Other than that, don’t worry too much about making newspaper notes.

Since 2017 was my third attempt, I had a solid base of newspaper reading. Since I was at YIF, I just didn’t have the time to make newspaper notes. So i read the newspaper in the morning in the library before classes. I did my current affairs study through the vision booklets. I realised that more or less whatever i read in the newspaper is well covered in the vision booklets. I did multiple revisions of vision current affairs and that helped me remember the important issues.

Question 8: You mentioned that GS2 and GS3 Mains papers are mostly dynamic in nature. Do you think newspaper reading would suffice for issues pertaining to topics of these 2 papers? Or do other sources need to be followed?

Answer: Static sources need to be followed — like lakshmikanth or India’s Economic Development (NCERT). But it is primarily current affairs oriented so focus more on Current Affairs, especially the Budget and Economic Survey for GS 3.

Question 9: Post cse prelims ’18 question paper, do you think a change in some aspects of strategy is needed? I mean changes in strategy that are somewhat inclusive of the shift in the type of questions asked in cse ‘18.

Answer: I haven’t micro-analysed this year’s paper so I cannot guide you in detail. Maybe you can find some credible coaching people or other toppers talk about this. I personally feel that the only trend in CSE is that there is really no trend. You have to be prepared for anything and everything that they throw at you.

Some random advice: you simply cannot get the foundational questions wrong. Getting environmental studies or basic culture or lakshmikanth questions wrong is unforgivable. This does happen to a lot of people because of mental breakdowns in the examination hall, stress or carelessness. Since 50% of the paper each year is so damn random, you need the other 50% safe buffer in place. Get the predictable/foundational questions right. That comes with multiple revisions and some strategic study. What is strategic study? Previous year papers and lots of mock papers. And multiple revisions of current affairs and foundational books. Multiple revisions of answer solutions of mock papers. Over and over again.
I have probably read Lakshmikanth 12 times in the past 3 attempts. Point is not to scare you. My point is that you should be extremely patient with your learning and revisions. No overnight magic happens in CSE. Not even overmonth or overyear magic. You build up yourself slowly and steadily week by week, attempt by attempt. If not this attempt, you will clear the preliminary at some point.

Other than that, there is no disruptive change in strategy I would recommend.

Question 10: In insights article, you mention you were preparing for 2017 UPSC from 2016 and bought 32 prelims Test Series from Vision IAS, but finished only 18 Tests. So, did you attend Test Series only 2 months before the actual UPSC Prelims exam. Then from 2016 August till 2017 Feb, you did not attend any other test series? Then what did you prepare in this time?

Answer: Yes, I didn’t attend any test series from August 2016 to Feb 2017 because I was in Sonepat, Haryana at the Young India Fellowship. I bought all the test papers from the Rajinder Nagar Market 3 months before the prelims and solved them at my own leisure during breaktimes. Tried to understand why certain options were right or wrong. Starred important answer solutions for revisions later.
Till Dec 2016, I got my optional out of the way. Then I picked up prelims specific general studies study.

Question 11: Is it necessary to go through websites like pib, prs, idsa etc if one is doing vision current affairs.

Answer: I didn’t do it personally because I felt it was overkill.