Dr.Diksha Joshi(AIR-19 CSE2021)

On some days you could have no substantial news like 10th April here . This means that everyday u don’t have to make elaborate notes .

Q.If you could please share you interview strategy also: I have been trying to write this post for sometime now but couldn’t do it earlier coz of some other commitments. But now that the results for CSE mains 2023 is out, it is indeed a perfect time to start a full fledged interview preparation and hopefully this will help you to start admist the exhilaration and confusion post clearing mains. Layers of personality test: 1.DAF 2.CA 3.General aptitude 4.Overall Personality I will divide the post into parts so that there is more clarity: Current Affairs : For this you should read newspapers. Current affairs magazines are not relevant here. Ideally two newspapers should be read. I followed The Hindu and The Indian Express. I would also suggest to refer to some online news channels like BBC, HT, RSTV, Wion etc that will keep you updated with the latest developments just in case you miss something from the newspapers. For PT newspaper reading has to be more detailed and would require more time also. You must read the front page and the editorial section during this time. Other than this keep following all the other news that seems important like international events. Keep noting down the things that you read in brief n also revise it in a few days so that you remember. I made a separate notebook for it and would note down the highlights of the day in brief, you will also have to revise it else when you go for mocks or the final one you will only vaguely remember the news but will not be able to hit the demand of the question asked . I am also sharing some pages of those notes so as to give you more clarity about the same .

Can a first year medico should start their prepration for upsc?? I am posting it here coz a lot of people have this query . Some who are in MBBS and others who have just joined college. Just don’t do something coz it’s becoming a trend. Analyse n understand where you are currently and then think where you would want to go. Don’t be in a hurry to decide on such important things. Personally I think NO . Reason being that you have just come out of school and entered a completely new arena. All those who are in the later years of MBBS or have completed it will agree with me that 1st year is the most difficult year of the 4.5 years not only because of the nature of subjects like anatomy, physiology n biochemistry but also because you begin to learn new things and learn to adjust to a new world . So, it would be better that u first adjust to that n then think of something else. Also, if from 1st year itself you feel that UPSC is more appropriate for you than your MBBS degree then my friend you need to pause a little bit and think coz u can’t be so fickle minded that u have just started with something and without even understanding it fully, you want to leave it If so early u feel that UPSC was such a strong calling then u shouldn’t have joined the MBBS programme, but for now my advice would be that u focus on your college and do justice to it.

This is overall a good article to understand the issues of terrorism and cybersecurity ( GS 3) . In addition some information in it like Ram Pradhan committee, iron dome can be easily used in answers related to these topics . Moreover, the data points I have marked can be a good introduction for questions on cybersecurity/ cyber threats.

Wishing all of you and your families a very happy n prosperous Diwali 🪔💜

This is such a heartwarming piece of news. Instantly felt like I read something good in the newspaper after so long. Well sharing this for two reasons one it is inspirational for all of us in many aspects. Mr. Maloo whose story teaches us that if u fall, fight harder and return with the same spirit as before and the two polish mountaineers who displayed utmost humanity in helping someone without thinking about their own life or the risks involved. Apart from the personal inspiration the second reason to share is that u could use such examples in ethics or essay wrt to human values, humanity, attitude, emotional intelligence etc.(using such fresh examples from newspaper makes it more interesting for the examiner who I believe would by now be bored of the same examples that everyone uses) Ps: sorry I couldn’t take a better picture coz of the length of the article. Search online and u will find the full read which is more clear.

Q.Mam you took mentorship from smart work labs, please share🙏 about your experience (in brief). A. I have mentioned this earlier also but reiterating coz it was asked. My actual encounter with Smartwork labs (SWL) and Anupam sir happened after I failed my 2nd attempt at UPSC (though I knew sir even before that but never really sought his guidance for my preparation). As is very obvious I was very demotivated after my repeated failures at CSE, I still believe that it was the mentorship that I got at SWL that helped me get some sanity and stay connected to the CSE preparation and thus the success at the 2021 attempt. Programme enrolled: TCP which included comprehensive coverage of prelims, mains and interview. Things I liked about SWL: 1.Availability of one to one mentorship which helped me analyse my mistakes eg:in prelims , I learnt how to do guess work and also learnt that guessing is not bluffing, it is rather aligning your knowledge to find the best answer. This helped me increase the attempts of question in my prelims which I was lacking ( and many more things but this I thought was most useful for me ) 2.The comprehensive mains guidance : I cleared prelims at a time when we had only 2 months at hand to prepare for mains and for me it was a do or die situation as I couldn’t let go off the hard earned opportunity. The mains guidance in terms of what to study and what to leave in form of a weekly planner was really helpful for me. Guidance for all GS papers but I found Ethics guidance to be extremely sensible and useful and I credit my score to that. Fine tuning of my answers to an extent of making sure that my slightest mistakes like in terms of presentation or right introduction or conclusion was brought to my notice at the right time so, that I could rectify it. 3.Interview guidance : My first interview was really bad (it’s available online and many of u must have seen it, I don’t name it just to avoid the memory of embarrassment I felt that day). From a bad start to reaching 193 in interview was a tough job. Correcting my mannerism to presentation of answers, everything was fixed at SWL for me. 4.A place to study : The SWL centre at ORN was my library. Between November 2021 to January 2022, I would go there in the morning, occupy a small corner of the room or the balcony on the top floor and study there the whole day. Though I didn’t interact much with people who would come there coz it would break my concentration, I felt happy that I was surrounded with people and not trapped in the four walls of my PG room where I felt very depressed and lonely. 5.Some good friends: Despite my limited interaction, I still found some really good friends who were there with me in my toughest times, have seen me shed tears , have tolerated my anger and yet have stood with me through the arduous journey.

Session 1: https://youtu.be/WCcbRQeuTzI?si=ML-EnH3rEFT4l_Mo Session 2: https://youtu.be/kTuIdwYhYyQ?si=wYzIcEnJewzSePb4 Session 3: https://youtu.be/hiALjmUjRRI?si=Bt-PDqOCXUy3Kr_l These ones are ethics specific

https://youtu.be/qtGR2z3xdzw?si=_2eh2TiOUa3FBAWp From 5:34 min onwards. This is general AW applicable to all subjects.

Ma'am, if we are practicing MAINS PYQs for answer writing, then how can we self evaluat it? Is there any YouTube channel from where we can learn Answer Writing who are beginners , for example , understanding Demand of the Question, Structuring Answer, How to do brainstorming,etc It would be really helpful if you could guide us on this.... I don’t know about any particular channel coz I never used them. Maybe u can try and search them on ur own or if any other topper has recommended some that they have used then those could be explored based on ur needs. I am sharing the link of few videos that i think could be of some help . You can maybe pick up some skills from them related to general answer writing and ethics AW in particular . Would be helpful for beginners n those preparing PYQs

These are the two Ethics papers I could find in my device’s memory. Had written one more but I guess I didn’t save it. Both were written between 15th nov 2021 to 15th dec 2021. Had written just one ethics paper before that somewhere in 2020 and nothing thereafter.

These are doubts that I have often heard . If u find yourself in similar situation then maybe the answers help u with a direction: Q.Presently 27 years of old , 4 attempts overed, even though prelims not cleared. Jobless, but still my inner voice tells don't stop your preparation. As of my present situation, confusion were arising will I doing right or wrong ? ma'am can u please advise or give me some suggestions to it . will I proceed or quit from it ? A.If u have prepared seriously and given ur 100 percent then personally I don’t advise anyone to write more than 3 attempts or at least have a decent back up option. If u haven’t given 100 percent then it’s high time you start preparing rethink and either start preparing seriously or else look for alternatives if CSE preparation doesn’t interest you. Q. Mam, I'm in my 2nd year of graduation and don't have any achievements (except from good marks in 10th and 12th) and it haunts me that I don't have anything to fill in the extracurricular section in DAF-2 . How much will it affect the interview score? Should i put time to do extracurriculars? A. if u are preparing for prelims of May 2024 then u better study than focus on extra curricular. U can put any basic hobby in ECA . It is a far fetched thing for now , focus on the immediate target. However if u are planning to write later then maybe u could take some hobby and same goes if u have written mains n awaiting interview call

If any previous topper has also recommended some institute check whether the faculty who taught a particular subject is still a part.Don’t go just by name.Be very clear on what you want and ask them if they will provide u with the same before joining. Institutes that I used for my CSE 2021: 1.PRELIMS:Smartwork Labs IAS academy prelims diagnostic test series and Vision IAS only full length and CSAT test. 2.MAINS: Smartwork Labs IAS academy one to one mentorship programme (TCP) and Vision IAS mains test series only after I cleared prelims to not become used to one style of questions. (12 tests).Will talk about optional later. 3.Interview is mostly free will vary every year depending on what kind of panel members are they providing you with. Any other institute using my name was mostly interview guidance. Answering a query:What to do if already joined an institute? I don’t know what to say about this as you can’t really do anything about it if it is bad one☹️Probably look for some mentor who is available there who has some right strategy to offer and focus on self-study and choosing right resources.If needed join a different one for test series at least that will help with some direction.Hope this helps😊

Some common questions on coaching for UPSC-CSE prep: Is coaching necessary for UPSC-CSE ? The ultimate decision has to be one’s own. My opinion: After an arduous three year journey in the CSE (thankfully it ended well 🥹) and having personally attended coaching I have come to the following conclusion: 1.You actually do not need coaching(classroom programme) for CSE preparation reason being that there is adequate free resource available in the market eg:previous year topper videos, blogs, telegram channels on how to prepare and strategise so the strategy making part on how one should start, what and what not to read,sources and other DOs and DON’Ts are easily accessible. For absolute beginners irrespective of your background visit a few of these sources (watch or read at least 4-5 of them before you plan ur own one) and especially of people who have a similar background and similar strong and weak areas and this will easily help to plan and start.Once you have decided a plan stick to it with relevant changes only if needed. 2.Even for those who have failed in previous attempts revisit these sources to see what did u miss and what and how rank holders did things differently.Again pick and choose what suits you the best.Do not follow any one blindly.(Including me☺️) 3.For beginners most of the standard books are available in the market.Once you have finalised your resources start reading them on your own.( I have already listed the ones I followed for prelims).It is very natural and normal to not understand a few things in the beginning,for that type the name of the topic and add upsc to that and make a quick google or YouTube search.(eg: search non-cooperation movement upsc or What is CRR and SLR upsc).Read more from there and watch a few videos and you are good to go. From my personal experience I can say it is not possible that you will not understand anything the problem lies only in some topics depending on your strong and weak areas and this will help there. 4.Make a time-table and follow that.keep reading your subjects and in a span on 3-4 months(for beginners) u will realise that u r progressing and one way to assess progress in upsc prep is test series(I have already mentioned my prelims test) So why do these coachings exist and how do they help? 1.To provide you with a right mentor(because like me many of you might not know any one personally who has already cleared the exam before) who can help you with personalised guidance eg: help identify your strengths and weaknesses,analyse your mock test papers for prelims,improve your answer writing skills by extensive feedback on where to add flowcharts,where to make diagrams or how to improve overall answers and for interview with regard to mannerism,probable questions etc. How to use coaching institute? 1.For test series in prelims for All India test that helps you know your relative performance.(prelims one can still do without enrolling in any coaching if u have real financial crunch provided u analyse your mock papers well) 2.For mains wherein you actually need someone to check papers and provide you with a feedback and like prelims also for assessing the relative competition. 3.For at least 1-2 mock interviews to practice mannerism etc. What to look for before joining any institute? 1.Whether they provide mentorship or not.This means that is there a mentor who is available with them who can take one to one sessions with you to analyse your papers for prelims or mains and help realign strategy if needed.As there is no one size fits all approach so a personalised feedback is a must. eg: Some suggestion that probably works for me might not work for some other person even if we have same background,optional etc.So be mindful of this fact before joining any institute. 2.If u are enrolling in a classroom programme let’s say current affairs or some specific subject(as many run exclusive programmes for economy, sci n tech and environment,prelims crash course etc).Please see what faculty is present there.

Contd: 1 year of preparation and roughly 1 yr of exam,provided the luck favours you. And with my own experience I can say that a journey can never be complete without a guide. So, you will invariably need mentorship for this exam whether it is help you at the academic front or to support you during your emotional breakdowns. I think that I am here because I had that right mentorship at academic and emotional level when it was needed. The only important thing to keep in mind is to choose a right one so, that he/she help you become the best version of yourself.(Not like a topper but just a better you) 😊 Sorry for this extremely long read 🙈

Q. how to find the right mentor Please help in solving this dilemma. Post a detailed answer: Who is a mentor ?👨‍🏫👩‍🏫 “An experienced person who advises and helps somebody with less experience over a period of time”This is the definition that I got from the internet on who is a mentor. It is indeed an apt definition and almost gives us the answer to our problem statement “who is a right mentor for upsc prep”. So, let’s break up the terms in this definition to understand a right mentor. 1.An experienced person : Very often I have seen people seeking advice from someone who is practically like them. Eg: someone who has appeared for 3-4 prelims without qualifying even one becomes a so called mentor for any newbie. Or someone who has written 3-4 mains without clearing any becomes an answer writing expert and starts advising someone doing mains preparation. Now appearing for multiple prelims or mains definitely doesn’t make one an expert. Clearing it and moving on to next stage could be one of criteria to qualify as a mentor. So, does this mean that only candidates who have made to final list should qualify as mentor. The answer is NO. But what it actually means is that anyone you seek advice for your preparation should be at a stage higher than yours. So, if you are stuck at prelims , seek advise from someone who has at least cleared prelims with decent marks and similarly if you take AW advise from someone then that person should have at least cleared mains with decent marks to tell you the basics of AW. So, 1st criteria is sorted make only that person as your mentor who is experienced and at a level higher than yours. 2.Less experienced: this is clearly you the CSE aspirant in this case. 3.Advises or helps someone : Now this is an important one. Many people feel that a mentor is suppose to be with you 24*7*365 to guide you. While this would be an ideal situation but it is nearly impossible to find someone who fits in this criteria. So, it becomes important to understand what sort of help do you need from a mentor. Keeping the demand of the exam in mind you need to find someone who can be available as often as once a week or at least once in 15 days. Available to help you plan a schedule depending on your needs, available to help you analyse your prelims(MCQ) papers, identify what mistakes you are making, help you find out your weak areas and help you find that pattern in your mistake so, that you become capable of analysing your own papers and improving your performance. Available for reading at least 4-5 mains answers(don’t expect anyone to read 100 percent of ur answers except the copy checker) from a test and guide you on how you could make it better, where can you fetch that one extra mark that will help you clear the exam n get a desired rank. Basically someone who advises or guides you in a manner that you become self reliant and over a period of time by developing the analysis skills on your own would be a right mentor. 4.Over a period of time : This means that someone who is guiding you cannot change everyday. This is something that I have seen happen very often. As an aspirants on one day you idealise one person and then suddenly next day you start liking some other idea and follow that. This is the worst mistake one can make, changing the strategy every other day. As a doctor the analogy that comes to my mind for this situation is that of a patient who comes with an infection and is prescribed antibiotics. For 1st 2-3 days there is only a minor relief and symptoms persist so, if at that time you leave the antibiotics, you are bound to invite troubles for yourself. Similarly when you decide to take mentorship or guidance from someone then before you start be sure of that person/ place and once you have done the preliminary check of decent quality then trust the person/ team/ place. Don’t keep switching from place to place coz by doing that you will land up nowhere or maybe in a worse place than before. CSE preparation is often called as a journey and rightly so because it is a long cycle of min.