basic principles

Hello everyone.

I'm sure all of you must have started studying for mains. As promised I'll be sharing the basic principles I implemented for my mains preparation over here.

1. Syllabus completion and time allocation

You must read the syllabus and PYQs thoroughly and allocate time for topics accordingly. For example, agriculture in GS3 is 4 questions (50 marks total) and is as important as economy (50 marks) or even history (modern history almost never has 50 marks worth of questions).

This will make you realize that some topics are more important than others and you can use your time efficiently. Additionally you should also allocate enough time to answer writing and giving mock tests. A draft schedule has been shared in the previous post.

2. Answer writing

This is the single most important determinant of your marks in the mains examination. Please start practicing ASAP. Very often aspirants keep thinking that they will start practicing only after completing the syllabus properly, but that day never comes. Don't fall for this trap.

Answer writing has 3 benefits -

A. Better time management - You can practice doing 10 markers in 7 minutes and 15 markers in 11 minutes.

B. Better content recollection - As you start to write more you increase your ability to tap into the knowledge area of your brain and you can remember more information quickly. This helps you to write better answers at a faster rate.

C. Better presentation - A good answer does not only have good content, but is also presented beautifully. As this is a subjective examination, examiners will be more impressed by structured and well presented answers.

I personally used to write half a paper everyday - 5 x 10 markers and 5 x 15 markers. This would only take 1.5 hours and allows you to focus on your studies as well.

3. Balancing optional and GS

This is a very personal choice, and I would suggest that you tackle the paper in which you feel underconfident, first. For example, if you have done your optional well, then you start with ethics or agriculture and society etc. which are topics that you might not have covered properly during your prelims preparation. Similarly, if you have an optional such as maths, which requires immense practice, then you should tackle your optional first. Please remember that balancing both is very important. There are many examples of people with 300+ marks in optional, who did not clear mains, and many people with 420+ marks in GS who met with the same fate. 400 in GS + 260 in optional + 120 in essay is good enough for a top 100 rank and this can only be achieved if you have done all papers well.

4. Tips and tricks that worked for me

a. Short notes - I made short notes for GS and the optional papers which I would revise again and again. This helped me to memorize important information, especially for my optional.

b. Structures - I cannot overstate the importance of structures during preparation. Creating structures helps you to write better answers and have a structural mental model while thinking. For example in Art and culture you can have a basic structure of - architecture, paintings, literature (this can be further sub divided into religious, scientific, plays etc), sculptures and statues and their techniques (rock cut, marble, bronze casting etc), popular and local art. This structure can be used in all answers and it will also help you remember and recall properly. This works very well for society, art and culture, economy, international relations, internal security, science and technology and ethics.

c. Don't write for yourself, write for the examiner - You must realise that during the checking of the mains papers, examiners are under immense time stress and they have to check questions quickly. It is your job to make their job easier. Like anyone else in the world, a lot of examiners may not do their job as per the book ie. they might not read all the answers word to word, or may subconsciously cut your marks because your handwriting is bad or because your answer is a wall of text. So it is my humble request that you keep this in mind and make sure your answer is not only rich in content but also well written and well presented.

d. Confidence - I often felt underconfident during my mains preparation because of the vastness of the syllabus, the time crunch and the eternal dilemma of balancing studying and answer writing. It is very important to realize that EVERYONE feels this way. Even the very top rankers in the exam are very stressed about their mains result and final results. That is the nature of the exam and perhaps that is what they are testing. Give it your all and have faith in your preparation and I'm sure you'll do very well in the upcoming mains examination.

All the best to everyone!