With GS papers over now, many might be feeling good, happy, sa | Shubham Kumar: Strategy and Notes for UPSC(CSE)

With GS papers over now, many might be feeling good, happy, sad or fully drained and lots of other emotions. Even if papers were tough or easy, it was same for everyone. I will pen down my thoughts on question paper once mains is over

Remember CSE mains is marathon. So it is very IMPORTANT to utilise the next 5 days well for optional preparation.

Some general tips for optional preparation, which worked for me

1) I wrote optional mock tests in this 5 days break

The reason was
a) due to GS preparation we generally don’t write any optional test in last 20 days. So it gave me momentum
b) It helped me to revise quickly once (1st revision) and focus on important topics first

So last year on 12th Jan I wrote optional mock test. I just downloaded 2018 paper and gave test sitting in my room. I would suggest you to see questions of 2019 and 2017 (as you are writing 2021 paper, questions are more likely to get repeated every 2 and 4 yrs)

2) In this 5 days, try to revise your optional 3 times. (2.5days+1.5 days+1 day)

3) You can make separate 2-3 pages shorts notes which should include thinkers/best practices/ important formulas etc- can be revised just before optional paper

I learnt this lesson after my CSE 2019 mains. That time I was not able to study efficiently for initial 3 days of the 5 days break

Don’t waste time for next 2 days. Don’t analyse GS papers. Generally our efficiency is low for next 2 days. Try to put extra efforts for next 2-3 days. Start with most important topics

Best wishes !!