ANAND VARDHAN AIR 7, 2016

 

Anand started his preparation in his final year of graduation. He says one should start thinking about the way forward during graduation level.

Prelims, he says is the first and most important of all the stages of the examination mainly of 2 reasons:

1. The margins in prelims are extremely narrow and silly/small mistakes might also cost heavily and takes your one whole year.
2. Majority of the aspirants are eliminated at this stage so failing this leaves a huge dent on one’s confidence.

CSAT is also equally important although only qualifying in nature but very crucial and important so don’t underestimate it and don’t be over confident. Plz prepare for it and give due importance required as it has a purpose of inclusion in UPSC CSE paper.

One must create their own line of action for the exam meaning you want to attempt 70-80 questions or 90+ questions. I suggest do not invite negative marking by attempting them.

Mock tests are extremely extremely essential, it gives you the feel of the examination. All the books you had read will go waste if you haven’t practiced questions. They are eye-openers and help you identify that you need to read between the lines to get the extra mileage in the exam.

Don’t just attempt a mock analyse and strategize.

Mains:-

Mains determines everything and Mains = Answer Writing and answer writing is mains.

I was very comfortable with the English language, never had to prepare for Essay or compulsory papers but I still lost out of two mains. You know why? Because I wrote the answers directly in the mains examination and never before.     

One must practice answer writing piously otherwise all your efforts of 1 year will simply go waste as mains determines your final selection. I would like to summarize on 3 concrete points w.r.t. answer writing.

1. Structure of your answer: - No structure, no answer. Never leave out the conclusion you will loose more marks than you think.
2. Content: - More content, more marks, Fit in as much relevant content as you can but within word limit. Write fast. It’s not about filling pages but answers with more content and current orientation will definitely stand out.
3. Connect: - Try to interlink the syllabus and the facts in your answers, give a broader vision an overall scheme.