2022-01-19 15:24:55
A Note on Coaching Institutes (I guess much awaited also )
Firstly -- Coachings are not at all absolutely necessary as most of the things are available online and you just need to follow the standard books/resources (you can refer my booklist also).
But still, for the ones who want to know about coachings --
Online vs. Offline -- Generally Offline is preferred but given the Covid times, online is also fine.
1.
Vajiram and Ravi -- NOT Recommended as most of the good teachers have moved out of it. Its study material is mostly useless, except Geography by Shiv Arpit sir.
2.
Vision IAS -- BEST source for all type of reading material. Its monthly magazine is the best among all. Its value addition material is also quite good.
3.
NextIAS -- its the new Vajiram as most the good teachers have moved in here. Best suited for Online coaching and OFFLINE also
4.
Shankar -- Not recommended
5.
Byju -- totally worthless to give any penny to it.
6.
Unacademy -- no need to buy any paid course. Its not recommended for CSE. You can refer to some old FREE videos though....but DON'T give any money to it.
7.
Telegram Channels -- NONE is recommended. They just flood you with content and confuse you out.
8.
Drishti IAS -- good for Hindi Medium. Its free online articles is also good.
9.
CivilsDaily -- Its free online articles are good. "Burning Issues" series is good for mains.
10.
SunyaIAS -- mixed review. Personally I haven't read.
11.
ForumIAS -- decent reviews. No personal experience about their teaching. Test series is fantastic
12.
Raus IAS -- NOT Recommended at all. Wastage of money.
13.
Insights IAS — NOT recommended at all — neither Prelims nor Mains test series. Prelims test series is quite vague and depressing. DON'T follow Insights Secure ... very low Return on Investment.
Prelims Test Series (NO NEED to buy them. ORN market has all of it and they deliver it at home also)
1. Vision IAS -- complete series + Abhyaas (too good)
2. Forum IAS -- at least the Full Length Tests + Simulator
3. Shankar IAS -- only the Environment sectional tests
4. Raus IAS -- maybe some of full tests
Mains Test Series (
Buy 1 and get another friend to buy another and then you can exchange the QCAB so that you can attempt both) Generally I'll recommend to BUY any mains test series only after you qualify the prelims, till then just practise from the freely available papers and the model answers + Toppers' test copies for comparison
1.
Vision IAS (Only Full Tests) + Abhyaas Mains (good score is above 95, if you are crossing 100...great!!)
2.
Forum IAS (Only Full Tests) + Simulator just before Mains (good score is above 90, they're generally tough on marking...cross 100 is like Godlike)
3.
Vision IAS Essay Tests OR Forum IAS -- do any one (5 tests ie. 10 essays) (good score is above 120)
4.
Lukmaan IAS for GS IV only (generally liberal marking) (good score is above 105)
PS. All of the above analysis is totally based on my personal opinion and biases. Totally unfiltered.
PPS. Yes I also believed the same way that all toppers say don't attend any coachings while they themselves do attend one... but now being on the other side of the table, I can say with some authority that yes I had attended Vajiram Coaching BUT it was NOT AT ALL worth to spend around 2 lakh rupees for what they have provided. Its not at all worth it. They advance with very slow pace and were hardly able to complete the syllabus before prelims, leave alone any serious prep. for Mains. So this is my defence. Don't waste money. Rest its your discretion, being an adult.
17.6K viewsDivyanshu Nigam, edited 12:24
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