Rishabh Hans (AIR-586, CSE-21) Prelims Strategy

Hi All,

Rishabh Hans secured AIR-586 in CSE-21 i.e. in his 3rd attempt. Also, this was his 1st Mains so you can say that his Prelims strategy is battle hardened. Following is his Prelims strategy:

I am Rishabh Hans from Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh. I recently cleared Civil Services Examination 2021 with AIR 586. This was my 3^rd attempt, 1^st Mains and 1^st Interview. I also managed to clear IFoS cut off as well.

You can contact Rishabh at his Instagram Profile.

Firstly, I would like to thank Mudit Jain Sir for giving me this platform for sharing my CSE strategy with fellow aspirants.

My debacle at prelims stage:

I started my CSE journey in 2019 and was not able to clear prelims twice, in 2019 and 2020. It became a big hurdle for me. In my 2^nd attempt, I solved a lot mock tests. But, still it did not reaped results for me. Later, I came to know about the importance of Previous Year Questions in prelims stage. Like all the beginners I underrated the importance of PYQs heavily. And, I changed my strategy of prelims that was centring around PYQs.

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Strategy:

My five pronged strategy for prelims:

Basic books -> 3-4 times reading of basic books. Laxmikant for polity, Spectrum for Modern History, Tamil Nadu Board NCERT for Ancient and Medieval, ShankarIAS and PT 365 for Environment, NCERT of 11^th and 12^th for Geography, Mrunal Sir’s notes for economy, Orient Black Swan Atlas for Mapwork.
Previous Year Questions -> Analysing PYQ from year 2011 to 2020. Extracting all the themes and focus areas from PYQs. Reading those areas from basic books in depth with clarity. For instance, Vijaynagar empire, Parliament, Fundamental Rights, etc. Repeatedly solving PYQ and trying to find the how UPSC sets the options. What I understood from PYQ is that UPSC wants us to think from a logical perspective to deduce answers. I used to discuss each and every PYQ with one of my friend on how to deduce the answer which logical way and limited knowledge. I also enrolled in EdSaarthi Platform by Varun Jain sir. He helped me in analysing PYQs in such a manner.
Mock Tests -> I used it for three things majorly. Firstly, whatever deduction techniques I acquired from PYQ, I used to apply it on Mock Test questions. Secondly, any new information, fact, current affairs if I face in mock tests, then I note in down in my separate Mock test notebook. And I used to revise that note book 2-3 times before prelims. Thirdly, to practice the way of attempting the paper.
Newspaper and Current Affairs -> I used to read Indian Express. While reading newspaper from prelims perspective, my focus was mainly on facts and figures, news article directly or indirectly related to any theme of PYQ, etc. I did not made notes of newspaper. In addition to it, I followed VisionIAS monthly Magazine/PT365 and StudyIQ videos.
Use of Google and Youtube -> I used to google or youtube any new topic that I encounter in mock tests, newspaper as well as while analysing PYQ. For instance, there was a PYQ on mitochondrial disease, I researched about that topic on google. Later, I found a question on similar theme (Three parent baby) in 2021 prelims.

Lastly, just 10 days before the prelims, my to do list was:

To solve PYQs of last 10 years 2-3 times. Here, the idea is revise the logical way of thinking behind the questions and not just solving MCQs. This used to bring me in prelims mode.
To revise my mock test short notes that contained any new facts, figures and current affair topics.
To revise basic books and thematic areas identified from PYQs
To eat healthy and keeping my calm.

On the day of Exam:

Eating chocolate’s 45-40 minutes before the exam. This will bring nervousness and anxiety a little down.
Paper solving strategy -> I used solve paper in two rounds. In first round, I used to do questions that I am sure off. The OMR filling is done after every 25^th question. In second round I solve those questions where I am in doubt between two or three options. (Practice your paper solving strategy beforehand in mocks)

Very soon, I will come up with my Mains Strategy.

You can contact Rishabh at his Instagram Profile.

All the best!

Other CSE 21 Topper Strategies:

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