Nidhi Goyal, AIR-202 CSE-22 GS-3 107 Marks

Hi All,

This is the 11th Topper Journey & Strategy post from the Batch of 2023.

I have analyzed the data of 200 Toppers’ marksheets and numbers are telling as far as GS-3 scores are concerned (200/933 Marksheets):

Average Score: 84.20
Highest Score: 107 Marks
Lowest Score: 63 Marks
Score between 101-110: 5 Toppers
Score between 91-100: 40 Toppers
Score between 81-90: 92 Toppers
Score between 71-80: 50 Toppers
Score between 61-70: 13 Toppers

Therefore, GS-3 turned out to be toughest to score in Mains 2022. However, here we have the strategy followed by Nidhi Goyal, AIR-202 who scored 107 Marks in GS-3, perhaps the highest!

Introduction

I am Nidhi Goyal and I belong to Alwar district of Rajasthan. I have secured Rank 202 in CSE 2022. This was my fourth attempt, third mains, third interview. Last year I got Rank 298 and currently in Indian defense accounts service.

I have got 107 Marks in Gs-3 this year, probably the highest, so sharing my strategy for this paper.

You can contact Nidhi on her Instagram Profile and her Telegram ID: @nidhi2303

GS – 3 Strategy

Sources

• Indian economy – Mains 365 and vision VAM ( value added material )

• Government Budgeting – Budget summary and supplement it with generic points you have on that theme

• Agriculture – Mains 365 and notes of Rushikesh reddy sir (available on insights ias website)

• Infrastructure and investment models – Mains 365 and Google search

• S&T – Mains 365 + Google (Focus on applications of different technologies)

• Environment and Disaster management- Mains 365 + Shankar IAS

• Internal security – Mains 365 + Google

Join here for free UPSC guidance from Mudit Jain, IPS-15, IPS-16, IRS-18, Author of Decode CSAT, Decode Essay, Decode GS2, Decode Ethics 4.0 & Decode History Books

Ethics book referred by CSE 22 Toppers: AIR –76, 91, 176, 189, 249, 288, 297, 299, 326, 356, 476, 541, 611, 616, 700, 737, 739, 746 & others

History book referred by CSE 21 Toppers: AIR – 44, 212, 572, 653 & others

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Tips

○ GS 3 has a combination of dynamic and static portion.

○ Most important step is to analyze syllabus and PYQs. You will find that many topics are being directly asked in paper and often gets repeated every year. For e.g. Inclusive growth , food processing.

○ You should prepare 2-3 page notes for these topics and PYQs can be a good reference to see what subparts should be covered.

○ The above process should be followed for every topic mentioned in the syllabus.

○ Mains require more of width than depth so instead of explaining one point too much , focus should be on covering wide points by interlinking different subjects. For e.g. In Inclusive growth question, apart from economy angle, add societal (caste, gender), environmental (climate refugees), technological (technology replacing labour, under skilling > underemployed > less income) aspects as well.

○ For enrichment you can add flow charts, diagrams, maps and data points.

○ Even after lot of preparation, there will be questions where you will have not much idea and here comes your analytical skills. Try to cover wider points logically linking them with the knowledge you already have on that topic and other subjects as well.

GS-3 Mock Test Copy: Download Here

One sample answer of last year question to get an idea of answer writing approach (though may not exactly match with original answer):