Goldi Gupta, AIR-181 CSE-22 Journey, Prelims, Mains (GS-3 101 Marks)

Hi All,

This is the 28th Topper Journey & Strategy post from the Batch of 2023. Goldi Gupta cleared CSE-22 with AIR-181 and scored really well in Mains including 101 Marks in GS-3, wherein average score for even selected candidates is a paltry 83. Following is his detailed writeup covering his journey and strategies.

Introduction:

Hello Everyone, My name is Goldi Gupta, and i have secured Rank 181 in CSE 2022. This was my fifth attempt , i have qualified prelims four times and mains thrice in this journey. Evidently, my journey has been long, and has not been easy, and has had its own challenges. In this writeup i will try to touch most of the parts of this journey, this is gonna be long, bear with it please.

You can contact Goldi on his Instagram Profile and Telegram Channel

Regarding Coaching:

I did not take any classroom coaching, but extensively used mains test series from Forum ias MGP and other easily available test series from market. Taking classroom coaching, subject specific coaching or test series is a personal choice that one should make based on one’s own assessment of strength weakness and prep level.

Regarding Sources:

I used standard sources shared by previous toppers like Anudeep sir Akshat Jain sir Laxmikant for polity, Spectrum For History, Shankar for Environment, Nitin Sangwan sir Notes for Culture, Mrunal sir old videos and Sriram IAS material for economy, Rajtanil Ma’am videos for geography and ncert books.

Current Affairs Sources:

Focus here should be on minimizing sources i completely relied on PT 365 and Mains 365 for current affairs , used Indian express newspaper for mains related examples (Explained Page is a goldmine for mains)

Prelims Strategy:

My prelims score has ranged from 89 to 139 in 5 prelims. My prelims mantra has been multiple revisions of my static notes that i made very early in the preparation.

Analysis of PYQs helps a lot in Prelims – for example if they asked west coast ports previously then they can ask East coast port during ancient times , and in general ports name ( as seen in 2020 and 2022)

Along with this doing one test series helps in developing the right mindset and strategy. Based on the recent trends, i will suggest everyone to focus on knowledge enrichment and confidence. Choosing particular option is a matter of confidence it changes everything.

Controlling fear and self belief remains key to clearing prelims even in present uncertain times.

Mains Strategy:

I will write a seperate note on PSIR and Essay, this is about GS. My mains marks have improved from 365 in 2020 to 457 this year, and is a major factor in my selection. What i did is:

1- improved speed, and completed all papers

2 – used maps and started writing multiple perspectives in gs 1 which increased my score from 74 in 2020 to 110 this year

3 – in GS 2, focused on writing too many points with special focus on cases, committees (in Polity) qoutes (in Governance) and comments by famous personalities (in IR), this has helped in improving from 97 in 2020 to 128 in 2022

Join here for free guidance from Mudit Jain, IRS CSE-17 (IPS CSE-14 & 15), Author of Decode Civils – Philosophical Essay Writing, 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

Sample PDFs of Books: Decode Civils – Philosophical Essay Writing, Decode Ethics 4th Edition, Decode GS2 & Decode History

4- in GS 3, i have scored consistently above average marks in last three years ( 97, 94 ,101), here again writing a lot of points, using maps in agriculture and security questions, specifically addressing each part, using box to highlight stuff and use of committees and data points has helped a lot. For example evryone reads about Shanta Kumar committee but forgets to mention it in question that may not be directly related to FCI, but it can be used In storage MSG subsidies centre state issues, I focused on utilizing these small things. For example I faintly remembered Shailesh Nayak Committee on CRZ which is used in Coastal erosion issue and similarly Bibek debroy and Rakesh mohan for Railways. I think all these things helped in maintaining a good score.

5 – In GS4, I focus mostly on time management, using 90 minutes for case studies and 90 minutes exact for the 13 answers. Qouting real life examples helps a lot in scoring good in gs4, newspapers should be read thoroughly with this purpose in mind.

On Success, Failure and Luck I must mention here that this exam is very uncertain , sometimes even with all the hard work we are not able to get past the line , we can’t do anything about it. The only recourse that we have is to keep working hard , have faith in one’s ability and hard work , have faith in your Gods , the universe will find ways to reward the way it did for me.

Thank you for reading this and best wishes to all.