TEST COPIES & STRATEGY - ESSAY

13. TEST COPIES & STRATEGY - ESSAY

I scored top percentile in my IIM Indore Entrance with Essay

Similarly, I had a 4.5/6 scale for GRE. So, maybe from the start, I was extremely confident of doing well in this paper.

But remember, Essay Ballgame in UPSC is totally different. Their expectation is not writing style but generalist thought process and crisp precision to arrive at a point.

My senior from IIM Indore told me to write one essay per week post Prelims result and get it evaluated by friends or family.

My scores :

128 in 1st attempt ( I wrote around 10 essays )

85 in 2nd attempt ( I wrote essays and got decent marks in mocks)

An ICLS batchmate saw some essays and told me they were bad. I did not want to believe that and result is another year of slogging. :/

MORAL: Please remember to take constructive criticism from Genuine People. They are telling you to improve and not to demean you.

3rd attempt : 116

First stage: denial that I could get a 85

Second Stage: Thinking it is probably just bad luck

Third Stage: Telling myself my strategy will be to get 450 in GS which my best friends outright quashed saying “ you need above average in all papers - do not believe in miracles to save you”.

Final Stage: Acceptance

I’m glad I took this opinion and decided to work hard. I wrote essays, sent it to a lot of people in services, got feedback and noted it down to worked upon.

Suggestions I took seriously were:

1. Reading some topper essays ( Vikram Grewal sir , Jagriti Awasthi Maam, Apurva Sinha Maam, Smriti Mishra Maam)

2. Making mind map of how they progressed in an essay (I’ll show some mind maps I made on their flow)

3. Took Edukemy course and he provided a framework of thought ( will be sharing that)

4. Wrote 7 essay FLTs : 2 Forum, 2 with Edukemy, 3 with Next IAS

5. I read a lot of books- this time I made notes out of some books that could be used in the paper- Quotes, Stories, Style of writing

6. My friend suggested I understand Sahithya IPS Ma’am’s essay style and how she puts her ideas across in a paper. This was really important for me as I re-read her essays 4-5 times. Sharing her blog link :

https://sahithyakasiraju.wordpress.com/2023/10/30/engaging-essays/comment-page-1/#comments

I’ll only upload the essay where I scored well. Rest were really below par. Hope this helps someone who is trying to improve!