I want to share a few the details of my journey. This was my 4th attempt. I gave my 1st attempt in 2019. Cleared prelims, missed mains by 19 marks. Then for the next 2 attempts 2020 and 2021, I couldn’t clear prelims. I missed the Prelims cut off my 1 mark and 1.5 marks. Fortunately, this year I not only cleared cut off for CSE but for IFoS as well.
I have one of the highest marks in mains 868, one of the highest in optional 292. What worked for me is consistency and discipline. Give your best each day irrespective of what the circumstances are. Quoting Gourav Sir : “You win some, you lose some”.
I’ll try to post my notes, strategy soon so more people can benefit from things that worked for me!!
Pen used by Priyansha Garg IAS for Mains Answer Writing
Mains Preparation Strategy by Priyansha Garg IAS
In the next few posts I will try and give some insights about my mains strategy.
Some important information about test series and practice that was associated with mains answer writing : 1. I wrote two test series for GS and two for Optional. 2. Apart from that I constantly practiced PYQs for both GS and optional. 3. My golden rule for Mains is : “3hours, pen drop”. This rule allows you to complete the exam which according to me should have the highest priority while preparing for mains. 4. Keeping the syllabus in front keeps you away from divergence. 5. It was a lot of hard work and some amount of luck that helped me score 868 marks 6. I will try and share as many copies as possible so that the community can benefit from the fact that there is a correlation between the practise you do and the output you get.
PS: I used to keep my empty V5 for motivation and quantification. More about quantification in the next post.
Charts, Tables used by Priyansha Garg IAS
Quantification is one of the best ways to avoid deviation and analyse your preparation objectively. I used charts, tables and empty V5 pens to quantify my preparation.
For prelims: I recored all the tests I was attempting and kept a close tab on the data. Result : After failing prelims in 2020 and 2021 cleared IFoS cut off this time!!
For mains: I used my marks from 2019, a friend’s marks from 2020 (had watched his preparation closely and we shared the same optional) and Shruti Sharma Ma’am’s marks for 2021 . Goal : Increase marks by 200 in written for rank1 ; score 280+ in optional, 420+ in GS for Rank under 100. Result : increased written marks by 136; scored 456 in GS and 292 in optional. => Rank under 100!!! PS : With one v5 I generally completed 3 tests; the stock of empty pens made me proud of the written practice I had done.
I hope this idea is replicable and benefits those who will be writing Mains this year. ALL THE BEST!!
