He cracked the UPSC Mains code | Ayan Jain (AIR 16 in 2023 and AIR 87 in 2022)
Summary
TLDRIn this insightful video, Ayan, a successful UPSC candidate, shares his journey and strategies for cracking the Mains exam. He contrasts his second and third attempts, highlighting his shift to a quantity-over-quality approach in answering questions and emphasizing time management. Ayan also discusses the importance of concise, organized notes, regular revision, and using topper copies for content extraction. He stresses the need for persistence, efficient time management, and mental resilience during the preparation process. Ayan's practical tips and personal experiences offer valuable guidance for future aspirants.
Takeaways
- π Ayan improved his Mains score significantly from the second to the third attempt, highlighting the importance of learning from previous experiences.
- π In his GS preparation, Ayan emphasized 'quantity over quality', writing numerous points and examples for each answer to ensure comprehensive coverage.
- β° Ayan's time management strategy involved allocating specific minutes to each question, ensuring all questions were answered within the allotted time.
- π He incorporated value addition such as SDGs, landmark judgments, and best practices into his answers to distinguish his responses from others.
- π Ayan stressed the importance of revision, especially through writing answers and using topic-wise notes to reinforce learning.
- π He used topper copies as a source of content and to understand the question-answer format, which helped in formulating concise and relevant points.
- π Ayan created micro-notes for easy reference and quick revision, focusing on conciseness and usability over comprehensiveness.
- π§ββοΈ Mental preparation was crucial for Ayan, who managed self-doubt and anxiety by staying in touch with peers and reminding himself of his preparation.
- π¨βπ« Ayan's clear exposition and communication skills are highlighted as a superpower that would be beneficial in any career, including as an educator or service officer.
- π Despite a lower score in GS this year, Ayan attributes the difference to writing style and rigorousness, suggesting continuous improvement is key.
- π‘ Ayan's approach to dealing with 'waste' such as tiredness and distractions was through ruthless prioritization and endurance, accepting that not all problems need to be solved but managed.
Q & A
What was Ayan's rank in the Civil Services Examination (CSE) 2023?
-Ayan ranked 16 in the CSE 2023.
What was Ayan's rank in his second attempt at the CSE?
-In his second attempt, Ayan had a rank of 87.
How did Ayan's marks in the essay paper change between his second and third attempt?
-Ayan's marks in the essay paper were below average, 104 in his second attempt and 111 in his third attempt.
What was Ayan's strategy for General Studies (GS) preparation in the Mains exam?
-Ayan's strategy for GS preparation was to focus on quantity over quality, writing a large number of points with many examples, and adding value with current affairs, landmark judgments, best practices, and SDGs.
How did Ayan approach the time management during the GS exam?
-Ayan managed his time by dividing it proportionally for every question, giving around seven minutes for every 10 markers and around 10 minutes for every 15 markers.
What was Ayan's approach to revision for GS preparation?
-Ayan focused on revision by making topic-wise notes and revising them multiple times. He also used topper copies as a source of content and organized his notes in a point-form manner for better usability.
How did Ayan improve his score in the Maths optional paper between his second and third attempt?
-Ayan improved his score in the Maths optional paper by 68 marks, going from 103 marks in the second attempt to a score of 171 in the third attempt.
What advice did Ayan receive from his seniors regarding the GS exam?
-Ayan was advised by his seniors that one cannot mess up GS as it is very different from prelims and that persistence is key during the exam.
How did Ayan manage mental pressure and self-doubt during his preparation?
-Ayan managed mental pressure and self-doubt by staying in touch with friends who were also preparing for the exam, enduring doubts rather than trying to overcome them, and reminding himself of his extensive preparation.
What was Ayan's score in the interview in his first attempt?
-Ayan scored 187 in the interview in his first attempt.
How did Ayan deal with the 'waste' or negative byproducts of his high-efficiency mental and physical systems during preparation?
-Ayan dealt with the negative byproducts by ruthlessly prioritizing, anticipating future tiredness, boredom, and distractions, and managing doubts by enduring them and staying strong.
Outlines
π Reflecting on Exam Strategies and Improvements
The speaker, Ayan, discusses his journey through two attempts at a competitive exam, highlighting the significant improvement from his second to third attempt. He emphasizes the importance of clarity of thought and mindset. Ayan shares his marks distribution, particularly pointing out the drastic improvement in his Math optional paper. He outlines his strategy for General Studies (GS), focusing on quantity over quality in writing answers and incorporating value addition like current affairs, best practices, and SDGs. His approach to answering GS3 and time management during the exam is also discussed.
π Time Management and Revision Techniques
Ayan delves into his time management strategy for the exam, allocating specific minutes per question type and maintaining a steady pace throughout the paper. He stresses the importance of completing the paper and covering every question. Ayan then shifts to his revision strategy, which involves writing a large number of answers and focusing on revision more than mock tests. He also discusses the importance of concise and organized notes, using topper copies as a source of content, and extracting points from various sources including tests and current affairs.
π Preparation and Organization of GS Notes
The speaker provides insights into his method of preparing for GS, focusing on micro topics and in-depth understanding. He details his note-making process, emphasizing the importance of concise, point-form notes for usability during the exam. Ayan also discusses the organization of his notes, using headings and subheadings to cover various aspects of topics. He highlights the value of topper copies for content extraction and the benefits of learning from them, including the point-form answers and the inclusion of value addition and examples.
π Value Addition and Exam Mindset
Ayan talks about the importance of value addition in the exam, such as incorporating ethics, best practices, and contemporary issues. He shares his strategy for GS geography, focusing on themes that repeat in the exam and identifying low-hanging fruits. The speaker also mentions his website, ay.com, as a resource for exam preparation. He discusses the importance of mindset in the Mains exam, emphasizing persistence and the ability to manage mental pressure during the exam.
π€― Managing Mental Pressure and Exam Experience
Ayan reflects on his experience with the Mains exam, particularly the mental pressure and how he managed it. He discusses the difference between his first and second attempts, noting the importance of persistence and the ability to write through pain. The speaker also talks about his learning from the Math optional paper and the importance of understanding the exam's nature. He advises on leveraging secondhand experience and reaching out to seniors for advice.
π§ββοΈ Dealing with Self-Doubt and Preparation Fatigue
The speaker shares his approach to dealing with self-doubt and the fatigue that comes with intense exam preparation. He talks about staying in touch with friends, enduring doubts rather than trying to overcome them, and the importance of self-affirmation. Ayan also discusses the anticipation of future tiredness and distractions, and the strategy of ruthless prioritization to manage these challenges.
π¨βπ« Final Thoughts on Interview Preparation and Teaching
In the final paragraph, Ayan discusses his preparation for the interview and his approach to it, despite it being dropped in the previous year. He reflects on the effort he put into preparing for the interview and the stress he experienced. The speaker also touches on the potential for a career in teaching, given his clear exposition and communication skills. The session concludes with thanks to Ayan for his insights and advice for future aspirants.
Mindmap
Keywords
π‘Clarity of thought
π‘Mains
π‘Marksheet
π‘GS (General Studies)
π‘Value addition
π‘Time management
π‘Revision
π‘Micro-notes
π‘Ethics
π‘Topper copies
π‘Mental pressure
Highlights
Ayan discusses his journey from scoring 87 in his second attempt to 16 in his third attempt in the CSC 2023 exam.
He shares his strategy for GS preparation, focusing on quantity over quality in terms of writing numerous points with examples.
Ayan emphasizes the importance of value addition in answers, such as mentioning landmark judgments, best practices, and SDGs.
He explains his time management approach during the exam, allocating specific minutes per question to ensure all questions are covered.
Ayan talks about the significance of revision, using answer writing as a central part of his revision process.
He mentions the use of topper copies for extracting content and learning from their writing style and points.
Ayan describes his method of creating concise, point-form micro-notes for easy reference and usage during the exam.
He explains the importance of organization in notes, using headings and subheadings for clarity.
Ayan shares his experience with handling mental pressure during the exam, focusing on persistence and maintaining a positive mindset.
He discusses the role of ethics in his exam preparation and how he managed to score higher in ethics in his second attempt.
Ayan talks about the importance of understanding the exam pattern and adapting one's preparation strategy accordingly.
He shares insights on dealing with self-doubt and anxiety during preparation, advocating for endurance and self-affirmation.
Ayan provides advice on how to manage distractions and maintain focus during the intense preparation period.
He reflects on his interview preparation, discussing the effort he put into it and the mindset he adopted.
Ayan concludes by emphasizing the importance of a clear exposition and the ability to communicate thoughts effectively.
Transcripts
so uh welcome back we have Ayan with us
again a 16 CSC 2023 he gave us a
wonderful uh description
ofs how to maintain like you know
Clarity of thought
mindset and today we'll pick his brains
about what to do for
Mains right so hian welcome again thank
you so much sir even though this is the
same recording session so
but uh uh so this is something that I
said to Aon on uh the day of the
selection also that in a second attempt
he had a 87 and in his third attempt he
had a 16 so there is something that he
has clearly figured out how does Mains
work so Ayan can you break it down for
us ke you know what happened in your
second attempt what changed in your
third
attempt right sir so I think I'll
briefly talk about my marksheet itself
both years I had average orow can share
the marksheets also we'll show them on
screen definitely sir I do that both
years in essay I had around below
average marks itself 104 and 111 maths
optional May last year I had only 243
marks paper 2 May it was abysmally low
score much below my expectations only
103 marks this time I had in uh in math
option I had 31 marks and basically 68
marks Improvement paper two so that I
think I've covered on other platforms
itself but the good thing has been that
both years I have had a very good score
in Gs last year 463 is 450 so I think
I'll talk mostly about GS itself I think
figure out and so sir talking about
GS number one I think I can divide it
into two parts number one is
exam how did I prepare for it so exam my
basic strategy was quantity over quality
I used to write a huge number of points
and many examples I did not worry too
much about the quality of points now one
reason for this is that because optional
intensive to I have had to focus more on
things which were easy to I think easy
to build upon but not requiring too much
understanding even right now I can admit
that
understanding especially current affairs
topics but number of points I would like
to sort of uh take up an example and uh
go from there like for example GS3 2023
there was a question how does e
technology help farmers in production
and marketing of agricultural produce
explain so how would you attempt this
question how many points would you WR
break it down for us so number of points
I used to always write for 10 markers I
wrote around 12 to 15 points and for 15
markers I wrote around 22 to 25 points
sometimes even more again syllabus
topics like e governance I think GS2 e
question I wrote more than 15 points in
that 10 marker itself let me just get
the E governance all question in
discussion over here so I think here
itself I should give a disclaimer that
naturally when I'm saying 15 points to
S but again my Approach of quantity over
quality simple
points and naturally they have to be
aligned to the question they cannot be
repetitive also but as long as they are
valid points I think it
counts that was the I worked on that
even though my points used to be simple
and sometimes generic also but
examples the other thing the second part
about my approaching the exam was a lot
of value addition committees Landmark
judgments best practices sdgs
articles mention my aim was to write one
at least one value Edition in intro and
conclusion of every answer
okay but I used to try to just force it
even if it's not very much relevant
there but
top
sayban data 35 urbanization of world
B um let's say sdg sdg 11 is again I
sustainable cities urbanization question
conclusion this can help us achieve
sdg1 sdg1 sustainable cities S2
responsible
consumption examiner just by seeing
these can will probably get the
impression that this student has done
something more than the average person
so deserves slightly more marks this is
Again Naturally my guess but mer work
huge number of points and lot of value
addition and
examples exam again
white spaces left naturally handwriting
size played a big role in that but the
other thing that played a big role in
this is my time management
strategy proportionally divide for every
question so for every 10 marker I used
to give around seven minutes and every
15 Mar I gave around 10
minutes what happens is sometimes we
start start at our fullest speed
but realiz it's only in the last one
hour
weiz but if you're looking if you're
managing every single question to
throughout speed maintain I think
there's a quotation also that if you
manage your daily goals then your yearly
goals get finished on those
lines following this time management
strategy will ensure that you're
completing a paper you're covering every
question so whatever suits the person as
per their experience of mock test again
experience how many
not too many sir Mains for GS I focused
a lot more on revision I think timeline
October 20121 after not clearing my
first prelims that is the time where I
did most of my answer where I did a lot
of answer writing I centered my revision
around answer writing itself programs
join but
it's Forum Forum awf join and GS SC CSC
qualifier so what I noticed is that
Improvement but when I adopted this
strategy of topicwise notes point
for in fact if I may then I think people
can refer to my copies of forum is is
before this
strategy compared to that if people look
at my vision copies to even last year ke
copies not even this year clear
Improvement especially in the number of
points
strength of having good enough writing
speed for me revision is making more
sense than mock tests I think last year
between my prelims and Mains I gave two
mock tests for
GS c22 I gave three
mock test and practice but GS it was
from my experience that I realized that
for me rision seems to work better but
again I think disclaimer that for
everyone it's different a lot of people
prefer to write more mock test and
Improvement should
give now I
think about the second part of my GS
strategy how to prepare for it basic
number one thing was that
staer for Mains I did very much
compromise on current affairs because
math
option
sta GS 2
and syllabus is divided into micro
topics her topic in depth again like I
mention
agure e techology Farmers clearly
mention marketing clearly storage
transport and questions every year I
think there is a question on inclusive
growth and it's very well there in the
syllabus marketing storage transport I
think every year there has been a
question coming at least
last
topics I would note down at least 15 to
20 points now
points approach of
Dimensions
marke what are the issues in
Agricultural Marketing what are the
potentials Of Agricultural Marketing
what is the way forward with respect to
this but Dimensions broadly same let's
say about information
information can be an issue information
provide is a way forward and information
is also a potential of marketing yeah
price Discovery again this is a
potential of marketing
price
then have to Simply modify that point
very very marginally
replicate the more important part was
revising these notes a good number of
points good number of times five six
times at
least again the thing that I learned
from experience sort of
the thickness of your notes how many
pages so yes
exactly they werey I
think layer of notes what I called micro
notes purose something again I learned
from experience Point form and because
what I realized is that
bu especially between PRS
and usability is the most important
thing bulky notes even comprehensive
notes is not of much value unless you're
able to use those notes in your actual
exam so that is not a very good idea
for that usability conciseness is key
and point is very important third thing
is being organized recently someone
asked me a doubt that current affairs
and
static answ my answer
was should be well organized and point
form like the sort of larger notes
organization let's say for example GS3
how are they organized
so as
such marke storage transport e
technology PDS different headings
combined PDF and I think total Pages
because point for point point is just
taking one line
paragraph because this is this was my
second layer
of it's impossible and
again what I was talking about that over
time and
toer even though I'm telling you that
the notes are just 20 pages
but so I think this reminds me of a very
important aspect of my main sprep which
I should mention right now itself is
topper copies Toppers ke copies
not at all only to analyze how they're
writing but for extracting content
ethics ethics I had 127 marks last year
and 138 marks this year
sh to some extent literally value
Edition I used to not
down I would not it down and
actual same goes
for to topper copies S I used to look at
them as another source of content
multiple advantages
number one is that it's in question
answer format not only question answer
format but question
answer prelims this may not work this
works because simar Tye
questions because of
question second thing is
Toppers they are in point form they very
easy to replicate third thing is that
already
to over the years value addition
examples
points basically I'm avoiding
[Music]
Reinventing toies again you were talking
about last week for prelims
last gs1 I think was
one because history and geography
clearly and they are very big
topics is
cop I think I'll mention some other
Toppers also musan maam then
ethics
sh but for
GS and one more thing is looking at the
copies of recent Toppers is helpful
contemporary Affairs question
so topper copies help me a lot even as I
was talking about my notes I think
comprehensiv as I mentioned to you
is thing was from my previous notes
itself my points extract number two is
from topper copies number three is from
solution PDFs of tests so whether I have
given the test or
not specific current affairs I would
skip
that in fact the reason why I mentioned
education social justice and
all but every year one question is
coming from education or health of
social justice
clearly some what you can call some Bas
material
now specifically if I talk about GS
geography
Ando not
micro the good thing is py themes repeat
ocean circulation air pressure Arctic
and tactic World War I World War
I this was what you can call the low
hanging fruits of these
topics digital I'm working on
Shing
definitely
and on that note I think I have
something for you I think that that'll
be did I share your domain with
you I think
so I
think I think that's a great thing
definitely what I can simply share is
ay.com and you can find things over
there huh
yes yes sir and sir I think last aspect
is about value addition to Value
addition again one thing I did probably
differently from other
toban
35% best
pril again one thing I will reinforce is
usil so essentially your ruthless
prioritization is also visible over here
where you have taken the best of every
sort ofce
all of this is getting collated at one
single location which are your
micronotes yes and once you have made
these sorts of Micron notes so then
again this is an absolutely wonderful
resource you have content for every
answer then that becomes the other skill
you have the raw material then raw
material translate that's on
you pretty solid and domain that
is.in not.com because.com was taken so
I'll share that with you again and uh I
think you can share your notes over
there so the idea here is Mains is also
sort of very rigorous PRS exam PR
mindset is important but Mains mindset
is much much much more important so what
do you think and like how did you manage
yourself in that first time when you
were giving Mains in your second attempt
though obviously it's a new experience
so there you cannot Bank
on uh like in your second attempt when
you're giving Mains so that's your first
experience of mains right so just
prelims you were saying the experience
helped you a
lot you did not have a lot of experience
in your first Mains of that sort right
to how did you manage that mental
pressure because obviously 463 use
scored in Gs though you didn't seem to
manage it well
sir one good thing about GS means is
that one thing that I think my senior
told me is that you cannot mess up
GS this is very different from
prelims it can completely throw you
off even in my first M I did not feel
Panic as such
but by the time it came to GS I I don't
think I felt Panic first second maths
may definitely Panic again this is the
kind of subjects where Panic usually
happens C prelims even interview those
are the papan mindset is more important
M GS Panic important is persistence
number one
because but you have to write another
paper
literally but you just have to write I
remember
even but point is even through that pain
you just have to write because it's only
about those three
hours and during those three
hours number one for hand pain secondly
because continu time crunch 3 hours are
very less for all those 50 pages even 55
for ethics continuously
sper again what help me for that as I
mentioned earlier is my time management
strategy of per
question continuously Sprint mode
activated I think that allowed me to
write to my fullest
potential I could have done better in
those three hours but I definitely but
in those three hours I think I was able
to bring out my best
GS I think last year worked for me but
this year I got a lower score but again
overall gsma in those three hours having
persistence is more important than being
C math option I think the biggest
learning was that
again but this year I told myself
I thought paper one went much better
than last year but same marks 140 and
142 paper two last
year but year there's a difference of 68
or 69 66 marks yeah but I think there is
a more a difference of writing style and
rigorousness again these are things that
I've covered in math talk
separately but definitely mindset which
understanding what I did is I talk to
some
seniors
but one valuable advice I
got you were able to do your
best so I think these are a few things
that you can reach out to your seniors
or friends basic experience mang even
when I when you don't have firstand
experience secondhand experience also
helps to some extent okay so again I
would repeat this only
pressure I
think this is also you've given
a and which is one of the reasons why I
would highly highly recommend that you
share your notes because I think it will
help a lot of people C
already which I think future aspirants
can keep adding to and you know moving
on from there as they see fit so what
did you do for interview
finally interview is drop last year so
last year 187 and this year I did a lot
of things for interviews but I was proud
of how much effort I put into interview
but is 160i despite the fact that is
average be much higher so I don't know
if what I did was right or not probably
one thing that my teachers used to also
tell me is that this this year I was
more stressed about the interview
probably I took it a bit too seriously
and Sh exam
Hall that he's too stressed or too
serious sobly
again then I don't think I should talk
too much about it so like uh in between
all of this how did you just say like
think of any system any system when it
is functioning even if it is functioning
almost perfectly uh
produces
waste so given the fact that you're
running your mental systems and your
physical systems at such high efficiency
how did you deal with that waste
like how did you deal with all of those
things while preparing for
Ms so I think was very clear to me
before and itself that
tiredness prior again that ruthless
prioritization was an anticipation of
the future tiredness boredom
distractions
everything prior what I would tell
myself that
talking about doubts
self-doubt one thing I did is I used to
stay in touch with a few friends from my
college who were giving the
exam I was not in Was preparing from my
home second I left WhatsApp also
complely but staying in touch with a few
friends was good so I think doubts that
is a good thing but definitely doubts I
think it's to some extent it's also
about enduring those doubts rather than
trying to overcome it I think there is a
famous quote also that not all problems
have to be solved some have to be
managed so extent being prepared for
such doubts and staying strong it's a
matter of staying strong for those last
one or two weeks near the
exam irres how the exam has gone but
exam definitely anxiety self out so
repeatedly I think we staying strong and
telling yourself reminding yourself that
youve prepared extensively you are ready
for it and that everyone is facing these
doubts I think these things help a
lot I think that's a pretty solid idea
self
affirmation and I think uh rest Ayan has
pretty much summed it up very nice ly by
himself I don't need to add anything to
it uh have you ever considered a career
in
teaching no sir not yet
sir but like even in service even as an
i officer you will be required to teach
a number of things to a number of people
because uh I think you'll do well in
service at least on that front in that
regard because you have a very clear
Exposition which is rare but uh which is
super power when you go out into the
world that's what you realize for the
first time keep able you know this clear
thinking and clear being able to
communicate what you're
thinking so I think we'll end this
highly informative session for Mains
here and uh thank you all for watching
if you haven't if you're preparing for
2025 or some other exam you can check
out ayan's previous video which was uh
on prelims and the tips that people can
follow there book
list I'm sure will share
in you'll find the link to that in this
video description so again thank you aan
for your time it was wonderful talking
to you thank you so much sir
[Music]
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