UPSC Prelims Last 2 days strategy by Neha Byadwal IAS
As Prelims is almost here, I would like to share a few things that all the appearing candidates should keep in mind for these last 2 days.
[1] Go through the previous year questions to set your mind in the exam mode [2] It is not the time to give tests or revise the subjects extensively, it is time to relax your mind and just revise only those topics which you tend to forget [3] Revise the mistakes you made in your tests so that you don’t repeat them in the exam [4] Sleep well and eat well, they seem to be simple daily routine things but they can help you do wonders in the exam [5] Keep your documents ready a day before along with your pens [Take a black ballpoint pen] [6] Don’t panic when you see questions out of nowhere in the paper, just be calm and think carefully, but don’t spend too much time on such questions [7] Try to maximize your accuracy in the static portion rather than trying to chase after some obscure current/contemporary affair questions [8] And finally, have confidence in your hard work
I wish everyone a very good luck for tomorrow..just be confident and remember that nothing can take away your preparation not even the exam stress or lack of sleep…
Tomorrow is your day and you’ll seize it!
All the best everyone !!😁
UPSC Prelims 2022 Questions paper analysis by Neha Byadwal IAS
This year too paper seemed to be tough, UPSC ensured that questions can’t be approached using tricks and shortcuts. Understanding of concepts and practice with a diversity of questions might help in the exam.
Now that prelims is over, we can move forward. I’ll be using this post to share my own UPSC journey also so that you can learn from my mistakes.
A little insight into my background- My Name is Neha Byadwal. I belong to Jaipur, Rajasthan. I have done my schooling mostly in Jaipur. Through JEE I took B.S. Economics in IIT Kanpur. Eventually I also did M.S. in Economics from IIT Kanpur itself. I graduated in 2019, and then from Kanpur, I landed directly in Delhi, where most of the aspirants do end up :D. This was my second attempt, first attempt at Mains. I secured AIR 260.
My first prelims: I completed my classes in February 2020, just before our nation was put into the 24 days lockdown period. I came back home just before the lockdown. Amidst all the negativities during to the pandemic, my preparation was hit, I couldn’t complete a lot of things for the exam. So, I got anxious before the exam, and I panicked during the exam and as a result, I didn’t clear the exam.
Mistakes made during the first attempt: – Didn’t do the past year papers seriously – Didn’t revise my prelims tests – Didn’t practice time management – Went for quantity over quality in terms of the material – Separated Prelims and Mains preparation
My second Prelims: My strategy was simple, I would study for Mains, and give tests in between, like once in a week, and 1.5 months before the exam, I would give complete focus to Prelims.
Things that helped me this time- – I thoroughly went through the syllabus (which I didn’t do last time :P) – I did PYQs right from 2004, and through that I made my own boundaries to the syllabus – I used to give one test daily, and analyse my mistakes the same day, and after 3-4 days or sometimes on the weekend, I used to revise my tests which I gave during the week – I limited my sources and kept my faith in the material I read (which is very important, otherwise we keep on searching and reading new material) – Ultimately, the most important thing is confidence which I developed after giving a lot of tests
I hope some of these things can help you in shaping your own strategy. I’ll talk about my mains preparation and my optional preparation in separate posts. I’ll also be sharing my notes in a few days as I’m busy in a family function. If you want to ask specific questions related to the preparation, you can either email me on neha30official@gmail.com or you can message me on my Instagram id @neha_byadwal_ I will try to address all your queries here itself.
Hello everyone, it’s been a long time since I last posted here as I was a little busy. In this post, I’m sharing my sources for both Prelims and Mains.
Ancient History: Old NCERT by RS Sharma, Vajiram Yellow Book
Medieval History: Old NCERT by Satish Chandra, Vajiram Yellow Book
Culture: Art and Culture by Nitin Singhania, 11th New NCERT
Modern History: Spectrum
Geography: New 11th and 12th NCERTs, PMF IAS Notes (Selectively)
Economy: I didn’t do anything special as my optional was also economics, I did Economic Survey and Union Budget, and some topics from Sriram IAS Notes. You can refer to Indian Economy by Ramesh Singh, NCERTs of 11th and 12th
Environment: Shankar IAS Book
Science and Technology: Monthly Magazines + Newspaper.
Disaster Management: Vision Notes
Internal Security: Monthly Magazines + Newspaper
Ethics (GS-4): Lexicon, Vajiram Yellow Books
Current Affairs: Vision Monthly Magazines
As Prelims is now over, I would advise everyone to start their Mains preparation even if you are expecting to not clear Prelims this time as prelims preparation is a subset of Mains preparation. UPSC requires consistent efforts and sincerity. So, be your own motivation and put in your best efforts every day!!
Economics Optional Booklist by Neha Byadwal IAS
As many of you have been waiting for my Optional Sources, here we go!!
Paper 1 Sources: 1. Microeconomics: HL Ahuja’s ‘Advanced Economic Theory: Microeconomics’ 2. Macroeconomics: HL Ahuja’s ‘Macroeconomics Theory and Policy’, Froyen’s Macroeconomics 3. Money-Banking: HL Ahuja’s ‘Macroeconomics Theory and Policy’ 4. Public Finance: Public Finance by HL Bhatia, HL Ahuja’s ‘Macroeconomics Theory and Policy’, Public Finance in Theory and Practice by Musgrave and Musgrave (only to cover topics that are not covered in these two books) 5. International Economics: International Economics – Trade and Finance by Salvatore 6. Growth and Development: The Economics of Development and Planning – ML Jhingan, A.P. Thirlwall’s ‘Economics of Development’ (to cover topics not covered in Jhingan’s Book)
Paper 2 Sources: 1. For Post-Independent India: Uma Kapila’s Indian Economy 2. For Pre-Independent India: Tirthankar Roy’s ‘The Economic History of India: 1857-1947’ + some topics like land revenue systems from Modern History’s NCERT 3. Economic Survey and Union Budget 4. I followed Abhijeet Sinha Sir’s blog and Anurag Thakur Sir’s blog for their notes and strategies 5. I made notes on some of the topics which I’ll share on this channel itself.
I strictly followed these sources and revised and practiced a lot. In my next post, I’ll talk about my optional strategy as many of you asked.
Economics Optional Paper 1 strategy for UPSC CSE by Neha Byadwal IAS
Hello everyone, I hope you are all doing well. In this post, I’ll talk about my Optional Paper 1 strategy. As I have already mentioned my sources above, I only referred to these sources + some google searches for certain topics.
– Paper 1 is divided into 6 sub-subjects: Micro, Macro, Money-Banking, Public Finance, International Economics, and Growth & Development – I divided my preparation along these 6 subjects, for each subject my books were already defined and selected – I started with the basic reading of the books, without making any notes – I finished the 1st reading of all the Books of Paper 1 in 3-4 months – Then I looked for the Past year questions to see how much I can answer with the basic reading, then building up on that, I realised that there were many missing links in my preparation, with all these things in mind, I started the 2nd reading of the subjects – This time, I made notes of very specific topics + I referred to the toppers’ notes – I read and understood the models and theories very keenly until I was sure what they were about – I completed the 2nd reading in 1.5 months, then again, I attempted the past year papers, this time I could answer much more – This way I used to revise, then I used to solve the PYQs as they are the best source to prepare optional subject, nothing else can beat them!!
This was my basic strategy with respect to Paper 1. Keep revising and keep practicing the answer writing.
Additionally, there are a few important things that helped me gain those extra points: – Introduction and conclusion in every answer are a must – Proper labeling of the diagrams – If there is a possibility of any diagram, make sure to draw that in the paper – Write assumptions in the answers – Address different parts of the questions under different headlines
Economics Optional Paper 2 strategy for UPSC CSE by Neha Byadwal IAS
Good afternoon to all of you 😃. I hope everyone is well and in process of moving forward.
I have talked about my paper 1 strategy in the last post, today, let’s talk about what I did for paper 2. This paper haunted me more than anything. There is so much to cover and so much to remember which was not really my cup of tea. So, I’ll tell you what I did.
I started preparing Paper 2 by looking at the syllabus word by word to understand the number of topics to be covered. Then I took the past year papers to see how many topics are coming from the syllabus directly, how much is going beyond it, and how much beyond.
Then I started covering the syllabus topic wise gathering enough material on each topic to write a 250-words answer for the exam. I didn’t go beyond that because I couldn’t remember the data. My sources were limited as I have already mentioned. Additionally, I used to google search each topic and that way enough material was available to me + I used to refer to the toppers’ notes as they have covered the syllabus in an exhaustive manner.
After I was done with my 1st and 2nd reading, I started attempting tests, practicing writing answers is very very important to remember the material and to present the answer in limited words.
I would advise you all to make very concise notes for this paper and revise them regularly as this paper can be very scoring.
I’m attaching an evaluated test copy of Paper 2. Don’t get intimidated by the marks as I think I made a lot of mistakes in attempting the test, I stretched the answers a bit further which you all shouldn’t do. Analyze the test copy by yourself and ponder what changes you could have made to present a better answer. Unfortunately, I couldn’t find the test paper for this test.
Ethics Preparation Strategy by Neha Byadwal IAS
Good morning everyone😇 !!
I hope you are all well and keeping up with your schedules. Prelims result is going to be announced soon as per the speculations. I advise you to keep yourself calm and don’t get distracted by such speculations.
In this post, let’s talk about my Ethics Strategy.
I started my Ethics by going through Lexicon page by page to get an idea of the subject. But this book doesn’t cover everything required for the exam. So after reading this, I went through the yellow books of Vajiram to cover the rest of the syllabus.
I didn’t make notes except on very limited topics…you can make very small notes on each topic for quick revision before exam.
Some things that are must: – Whatever is mentioned in the syllabus, just remember the definitions of each and every word. Sometimes these definitions provide the best introduction. – collect quotes, Lexicon has quotes on its last pages, additionally any coaching notes also cover them – collect examples on each topic, from newspapers, your surroundings, or just google searching. They enrich your answer and get you bonus points. – practice writing answers, and also refer to toppers’ test copies
These are few things I did for Ethics, I’ll talk about my answer structure of Ethics in the next post.
I’m travelling these days, that’s why I’m unable to share my tests…but I’ll share my Ethics tests soon.
I’m reposting my contact details and putting a pin to this post.
How to choose Optional Subject by Neha Byadwal IAS
Good morning everyone!!
Since many of you asked me that how one should choose an optional subject?
There are many things that can be considered:
If you have a graduation in some subject, you can take that subject as your Optional
If you have a genuine interest in some subject
If you want to learn a new subject
You can choose a subject which might help you in your GS preparation as well
Let me tell you this, every optional has its own advantages and disadvantages, don’t choose what others think is right for you. If you put your best efforts, you can score very high in any optional. So, go with that subject which you enjoy reading, combine it with hard work, marks will automatically follow. Also, nobody can decide a subject for you, you are your own best judge.
How to select questions in the economics optional paper?
Hello everyone!!!
Its been a very long time since I wrote for you as I have been a little busy. I hope you are doing well and gearing up for Mains.
Today I’ll talk about how to select questions in the economics optional paper?
Paper 1 1. Don’t select the questions in which you have some idea for all the three questions 2. Select the questions where you are absolutely sure for 2 questions and partially sure for the 3rd question 3. I used to attempt the questions which I knew very few people would attempt because that gives you an edge over others in terms of newness 4. Select the questions where you can remember the assumptions and the related diagrams
Paper 2 1. Go for the questions where you have enough data, names of the economists and theories from paper 1 which you can give as an example 2. Try to avoid the GS type questions that appear in the paper 2 because everyone would be writing the same general points 3. Select the questions where you can reflect your economist side and give some specialised answer
This was my approach to selecting questions in the exam. Before attempting them, go through all the questions and carefully decide. I came up with my approach after trying out different strategies in the test series.
Don’t be afraid to try something different and being creative!!
While studying, have a look at the past year questions to see whether you understand the topic to answer the same in the exam.
