Kshitij Gurbhele

This post will walk you through how I selected my optional for UPSC, resources for PSIR, its strategy ,answer writing, etc. Selecting the right Optional. UPSC has provided a list of 26 optional of which a candidate has to choose one. Often considered as kingmaker, optional determines your chances of getting into the list. THE THREE CHECKPOINTS FOR CHOOSING AN OPTIONAL IN THE ORDER OF IMPORTANCE -: Your interest Availability of Resources/Guidance Time required to complete the syllabus Overlap with GS Print the list of all available optional and eliminate the ones which do not qualify the above three checkpoints. You will now have very few optionals to select from, then rate all the left ones according to your interest>resources>time>overlap. This exercise will decide your optional in the most rational way. You can talk to some friends, see Toppers video/blog of that particular optional to better assess your choice. POLITICAL SCIENCE AND INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS. Coming from an e...

Hello, Lets discuss how to prepare for this exam that I often refer to as a MAZE. Most of the first timers will start their preparation, a year before the prelims hence the following post delves into my strategy to escape this maze that is full of confusion. Consider this as my 1 year roadmap and journey ahead. I highly suggest you to see multiple toppers' blog and videos and then finalize your own strategy for clearing this exam. Early Warmup. In my last semester I decided to start the prep immediately after graduation. I finalized the booklist during this period gave them an initial reading to become more familiar. This was also the time when I chose my optional i.e. PSIR. You must use these initial days to understand the exam and its demand, this includes analysis of syllabus, pyq, trends of prelims and mains. Entering the maze. I was totally clueless on what direction to choose, given the uncertainty about questions like "Which topic to be read first?", "Should I...