Search results for: “”

The time after you have written your Mains and are awaiting the results is a very disturbing one. Sometimes you feel like you should gear up for interview and still on other times you feel like brushing up the standard textbook in the case of you not sailing through Mains and writing the Prelims again.

The condition still worsens when we breed negativity by thinking too much about the results. We become anxious and frustrated. We are unable to focus on studies.

All this is pretty normal so be happy if you have such symptoms because it certifies your normalcy!

Having discussed the situation, let us now see what needs to be done in this duration.

• Keep reading newspapers. Current affairs is one section that will help you immensely in interview preparation. And God forbid, if you do not sail through Mains, Current Affairs will come handy for your preparation for Prelims
• Be busy. This is easier said than done. An idle mind is a devil’s workshop. If you keep lazing around moving from couch to bed, you will keep brooding about results. This is the worst thing to do. You will only impact your results adversely by breeding pessimism. You can also indulge in some daily chores that you have been otherwise escaping due to a busy schedule. Buying groceries would make your mother equally happy.
• Workout. Yes, you read it right. Most of us during UPSC Preparation tend to become a couch potato. And rightly so. The rigour of the exam is such that you are forced to be glued to your study table and chair. This obviously takes a toll on your fitness level. So use this relatively relaxed phase to shed those extra pounds. This will help you in your interview as you will look more presentable in suits/sarees minus the bulging tummy!
• Build your CV. You can choose to work for a start-up or an NGO as an intern or full time that interests you. Not only will this boost your confidence but also give pointers for your interview. In interview a very favourite Question of the board is, “what are you doing now?”. If you mention being engaged to some organisation, it can leave a lasting impression. You can then predict your interview and hence score great marks!
• Avoid social media overdose. Most of us stay away from our social networks until Mains. But once we write that last word of our Paper II optional, our virtual self becomes prominent to the level of almost spamming! Forums become alive with speculation about cut offs, result date, etc. All this is good but only in moderation. Too much of it will always keep you on the edge and lead to anxiety.
• Build up on your hobby. When filling the DAF, hobby forms an important component. And assuming that you filled a genuine hobby, it would be fun to develop on your existing interest. This will help you unwind and also come handy in the interview stage. Just an hour a day can help.

The time after Mains and before results is a golden one. One may think it to be a carefree one but it can prove to be quite determining to your selection. Be positive in this phase, take a vacation, unwind but in a limited quantity. Too much of “instagramming” will distract you. And believe me being rejected at interview stage is the last thing an aspirant wants.

All the best for results!

This is a guest post by Ms Ila Tripathi (Rank 51, 2016).

You can follow her blog at https://iasjourneyandbeyond.net/2017/11/17/after-mains-before-results-what-to-do/

Civilsdaily’s Flagship Test Series Batch 4 starts on 10th February – Click to Register

---

Since Civilsdaily’s Newscards and articles have always been bullish on current affairs, 2017 Prelims current affairs heavy paper was a cakewalk for most of our students.

But that should not be the only reason why you should join us for IAS 2018 Prep.

What benefitted our students the most were our well defined conceptual questions and our heavy focus on making them solve those questions with smart hack techniques (Tikdams). 

---

---

This year, we have set up a dedicated academic team to focus on the nitty gritties of the UPSC Exam Space

• You would have seen the heavy initiatives – Target Mains – GS Questions with DNA Model Answers which is already running on the portal every day
• The 3 tier test series has been made so that Beginners to IAS Prep get a separate treatment which helps them evolve their test-taking skills to the Advanced level guys after the first 6 tests
• All 32 tests are 100 mark papers which focus on one particular section only

Our team consists of members who’ve qualified prelims many times with ease and are well-versed with the changing patterns of UPSC. They have also been instrumental in creating test series for top notch institutes and are aware of the deficiencies in them. We have put together a program that is fine and balanced and increases your chances to get through. 

#1. Focus on concepts 

Be assured that our questions will cover ALL core concepts that are an absolute must. Do not neglect your static course at the cost of current affairs preparation. We are going to make sure you stay on top of everything.

#2. Intelligent questions over Difficult ones

Some coaching institutes/ Test Series take immense pride in framing questions that test very advanced and alien concepts which are hard to find in the reference book.

Such questions are irrelevant and have a negative impact on a student’s preparation, especially the ones who are just starting out. A relatively low score makes a student go hunting for difficult questions and ends up wasting time he would’ve spent perfecting his base concepts. 

Here’s an example of such question – 

Consider the following statements : 

1. Ventricular systole of heart increases the ventricular pressure causing the closure of semilunar valves, producing the second heart sound called dub.

2. Ventricular diastole of the heart decreases the ventricular pressure causing the closure of the right and left atrioventricular valve providing first heart sound called lubb.

which of the statements given above is/are correct?

a) 1 only

b) 2 only

c) both 1 and 2

d) neither 1 nor 2.

Good luck wracking your head against a wall if you think such questions are going to pave way for success!

We believe that you should be thorough with the base & reference books + Newspapers and should be able to attempt difficult questions from here.

The Intelligent questions should be such that they make you think of tikdams and smart hacks to solve for. That’s the sure shot way of confidence building. You will come out of our FLTs and write in comments about how you hacked through some of our questions – and feel empowered because the options were framed in a way to help you do that!

#3. Not engaging in vague nitpicking 

Amateur test series have all sorts of questions made from insignificant lines of reference books/ ncerts. Moreover, they are framed in such a manner that its difficult to infer what they actually mean if one has not read those exact sentences.

Consider one such vague question –

The juvenile justice care & protection bill 2014 has been passed by both the houses of the parliament, seek to bring the following changes 

1. To lower culpability as an adult from 18 to 16 years

2. To amend the Juvenile Justice Care and Protection Act 2000 suitably

3. To implement the recommendations of JS Verma Committee on criminal law reforms. 

Now, many would find statement 2 to be correct. But the catch here is the JJ C&P Act is not an amendment but a replacement of the JJ C& P Act 2000. And that is what this question maker wanted to test you on.

This is a badly structured question. This comes neither in the ambit of smart testing nor in the ambit of tikdams. We don’t think UPSC sets illogical traps like these and neither do we plan to do so. 

Make sure that every question counts

---

We are spending a lot of time framing questions so that you understand the requirement and attempt accordingly.

We have separated static tests (basic and advanced) from current affairs tests so you know your weak points individually and can go back and hone them. No point giving ~20 CA questions with 80 Static questions. It is all about FOCUS!

Our explanations would have sufficient amounts of tikdams to help you develop that knack of problem-solving which is going to help you prepare for any kind of exam pattern.

In case, you wish to give sample test – Attempt them here

Join in today

Link to the Flagship Course – Click here to Join

If you have any questions, feel free to contact us. Mail us at hello@civilsdaily.com or call at 08823831311