- Candidate Profile
- Education
- Introduction
- Electronic Vs Paper material
- Tempo and style
- Prelims (CSAT) General studies
- Prelims (CSAT) Aptitude
- Prelim accuracy
- Mains: Compulsory language paper
- Mains: Essay
- General Studies (Mains) paper 1
- General studies (Mains) paper 2
- General studies (Mains) Paper 3
- General Studies 4: Ethics, Integrity, aptitude
- Mains answer-writing?
- Public Administration Optional Subject
- Before the interview
- During the interview
- CSE-2013 Marksheet
- Career Backup
- Insecurity about profile
- Wisdom
Candidate Profile
Name | Nima Arora |
Rank in CSE-2013 | 50 |
Roll No. | 85294 |
Age | 25 |
Total attempts in CSE | 2 |
Optional Subject | Pub. Ad. |
Medium chosen for Mains answers | English |
Schooling medium | English |
College medium | English |
Home town/city | New Delhi |
Work-experience if any | Nil |
Details of other competitive exams, including success/failures |
|
Details of coaching, mock tests, postal material for any competitive exam (if used) |
* Could not qualify prelims in my I attempt
|
service preference #1, 2 and 3 | IAS, IPS, IRS |
state cadre preference (top3) | Rajasthan, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh |
Education
fill the details here | |
% in class 10 | 93.2 |
% in class 12 | 87.2 |
Schooling (Medium) | English |
Graduation course and % | B.Tech (CSE) 86.02 |
Name of college, city, passing out year | MSIT, Indrapratha University, Delhi 2011 |
Post-graduation | M.A. Public Administration IGNOU (Gold Medalist) |
Any other professional courses | Nil |
Hobbies & Extra curricular | Playing Badminton, Teaching (have experience with an NGO) |
Introduction
Q. Tell us something about yourself, your family, when and why did you enter in this field of competitive exams?
I belong to a middle class family with liberal parents. Have been staying in Delhi for the past 25 years. I have 2 elder sisters and no one in government sector. It was a very new venture for me. It was during the end of third year of my college while discussing with my friend I decided to try for civil services. Being risky, I sat for every other gov paper which in turn boosted my confidence level especially during the phase after failing in prelims 2012.
Electronic Vs Paper material
Q. In recent times, there is spur in electronic material- blogs, sites, pdfs, RSS-feeds. Many aspirants feel bogged down by this information overload. So, how much do you rely on electronic material and how much on the paper material (Books, newspapers)? If possible narrate a typical day in your studylife. What is your style of preparation.
I guess with changing times and move towards e-services, Internet is acting as an important resource for collecting information. I relied on electronic material more than the theoretical static books. The following are the sites I used to visit –
- Mrunal.org (I have read all economics articles written by you 2009 onwards.. first to last)
- InsightsOnIndia ā I used to write, practice and read the style of answer writing there.
- Orkut and Forumias (It is a good informal platform for discussions)
- Did not like pib. Instead I made notes from newspaper (TOI) and frontline. Did not pile up magazines. Only wrote down imp pointers/issues.
- As mentioned earlier, I had enrolled myself with the online module of GKT. It helped me save time as pdfs were delivered on each topic specified in the syllabus. Used to read it once and highlight the imp issues only for future reference.
Regarding notes, I would suggest everyone to learn the habit of reading more and writing less. It is not necessary to prepare notes on every topic. I hardly made any notes except some current affairs that would enrich my answers in the mains exam and notes on IR.
My style of preparation ā Do not count the number of hours you study. Quality matters. Even if you are able to devote only 4 hours per day, it is sufficient iff and only if you understand what CSE demands. More than knowledge, it is the way you express and present your answers. If one feels that this trait is lacking, focus more on answer writing and evaluate it yourself or from friends.
Tempo and style
Q. People know what books and syllabus points are to be prepared. But most of them lack consistency in their preparation. So, how do you keep study momentum going on? How do you fight against the mood swings and distractions?
I had many ups and downs during my preparation. But unlike others, I was very active with my college friends. Though they were not preparing with me, talking to them eased my tension to a great extent.
Q. What went wrong in your previous attempt? What changes did you make in this current attempt?
I was under-confident. This was the biggest reason why I failed in prelims. I got 206 and cutoff was 209. Later, I tried taking other government exams and gained the lost confidence.
Prelims (CSAT) General studies
Topic | strategy/booklist/comment |
History Ancient | Almost Left (some printed notes I referred but overall I am very bad at history) |
History Medieval | Again not a high scoring area. Almost left. |
History Modern (Freedom Struggle) | Spectrum + NCERT + Bipin Chandra (selected) |
Culture society | Srirams Notes |
Polity (theory + current) | Lakshmikanth/ Srirams Polity Notes |
Economy (theory + current) | Srirams Notes |
Science (theory + current) | Did not deal specifically |
Environment (theory + current) | GKT modules |
geography physical | NCERT XI XII + GC Leong + coaching notes on Climate (hand written) |
geography India | NCERT |
geography world | NCERT |
other national/international current affairs | Newspaper+frontline+ GKT modules |
Schemes, Policy & Filler Stuff | GKT |
Prelims (CSAT) Aptitude
Topic | strategy / booklist |
Maths | R S Agarwal + sample mock papers |
reasoning | R S Agarwal + sample mock papers |
comprehension | Rcprep.com and previous year papers + mocks |
Decision Making | Nil |
Q. Any observation / comments / tips about GS Aptitude 2013 paper.
Be prepared for anything. The paper may have more Comprehensions or more maths. Just prepare yourself for the worst. I have succumbed to failure once so am aware of the necessity of having grip of maths, reasoning and English.
Prelim accuracy
Q1. Did you attend any āmock testsā? do you think theyāre necessary for success?
Yes, I had enrolled to GKToday for prelims test series on GS paper 1. It helped me this time.
Q2. Approximate no. of attempted answers vs. correct answers. in CSAT-2013
attempted Q. | correct Q. (Expected) | official score | |
GS | 85 | 55 ( not able to recall accurately) | 88 |
aptitude | 78 | 64 (not able to recall accurately) | 160 |
total | 249 |
Mains: Compulsory language paper
Compulsory language paper | Your preparation strategy / booklist? |
English paper | Previous Year Papers |
your regional language | Hindi (Previous Year Papers) |
Q2.other observations / tips / comments on the length / difficulty level of compulsory language papers in CSE-2013
Did not face any difficulty
Mains: Essay
Q1. How did you prepare for the essay paper?
I did not try/practice any essay before Mains. I did refer InsightsOnIndia to understand the pointers one needs to keep in mind while writing an essay. One should try and have holistic approach wherein all dimensions ā history, geography, economics, sociology and psychology should be included in seperate paragraphs.
Q2. Which essay did you write? What key points did you include in it?
Be the change you want to see in others (Gandhi)
To make my essay unique, I started off with a story in the beginning. It was a small one page conversation between mother and child. One should make sure that the beginning and the conclusion should be very catchy.
General Studies (Mains) paper 1
Topic | How did you prepare? |
culture | Almost left this portion |
Indian history | NCERT + Spectrum |
world history | Stardust notes (pdf version) from forumias |
post-independence India | GKT material |
Indian society | Newspapers (current events) + GKT |
role of women, poverty etc. | GKT |
globalization on Indian society | GKT |
communalism, regionalism, secularism | GKT |
world geo physical | NCERT |
resource distribution | NCERT + Mrunal +learnt drawing maps of India, World in 20 secs for marking of resources |
factors for industrial location | Geography Instt. Notes (CBT ect) + Mrunal |
earthquake tsunami etc | NCERT + Newspape |
impact on flora-fauna | Nil |
General studies (Mains) paper 2
Topic | How Did You Prepare? |
Indian Constitution, devolution, dispute redressal etc. | Srirams Polity Notes |
comparing Constitution with world | GKT |
parliament, state Legislatures | Srirams Polity Notes |
executive-judiciary | Srirams Polity Notes |
ministries departments | India Year Book |
pressure group, informal asso. | Pub Ad Optional; no specific material needed |
Representation of peopleās act | Internet ppts |
various bodies: Constitutional, statutory.. | Lakshmikanth |
NGO, SHG etc | Pub Ad Optional + Yojana |
welfare schemes, bodies | GKT |
social sector, health, edu, HRD | India Year Book |
governance, transparency, accountability | Pub Ad Optional |
e-governance | Pub Ad Optional |
role of civil service | Pub Ad Optional |
India & neighbors | Used to make current affiairs based notes on IR + Map of India with border countries |
bilateral/global grouping | Internet. Had a seperate register for IR. Crisp, ready to read material. |
effect of foreign country policies on Indian interest | Nil |
diaspora | Last year Questions |
international bodies- structure mandate | Made 6-7 pages on International Institutions. |
General studies (Mains) Paper 3
Topic | How Did You Prepare? |
Indian economy, resource mobilization | Srirams Eco Notes + Mrunal articles on economy from the start. I was zero in economics but this blog helped me become an aware citizen. |
inclusive growth | No specifc preparation (Budget may suffice) |
budgeting | Pub Ad Notes on budget types |
major crops, irrigation | Mrunal articles |
agro produce ā storage, marketing | Mrunal articles |
e-technology for famers | Yojana |
farm subsidies, MSP | Mrunal articles + GKT |
PDS, buffer, food security | Mrunal articles |
technology mission | Nil |
animal rearing economics | Mrunal articles |
food processing | GKT |
land reforms | Mrunal articles |
liberalization | Nil |
infra | Mrunal articles |
investment models | Nil |
science-tech day to day life | Newspapers (did not spend much time on S&T) |
Indian achievements in sci-tech | Nil |
awareness in IT, space, biotech, nano, IPR | Newspapers |
environmental impact assessment | Just read the basics from government websites + from monthly competition conducted by mrunal |
Disaster Management | Ignou Material (pub ad) + GKT |
non state actors, internal security | GKT + Internet |
internal security ā role of media, social networking site | Nil |
cyber security | Internet |
money laundering | Nil |
borderĀ Management | MHA website ( a pdf on border management) |
organized crime, terrorism | GKT |
security agencies- structure mandate | India Year Book + GKT |
General Studies 4: Ethics, Integrity, aptitude
- For GS Paper IV, IĀ referred GKT modules (around 100 pages) to understand the basic concepts. Along with that, I referred Ignou material on egyankosh and NIOS material available online. I had joined Synergy test series which helped me collecting notes on around 20 philosophers from the questions. Added to it, I tried to answer some case study based questions on InsightsOnIndia by the pseudo-name Dusky. It helped me a lot in understanding where I needed improvement.
- Suggestion: I believe in the upcoming Mains Examination, the difficulty level of this paper would increase. There were no direct questions on philosophers this time but the aspirants should prepare themselves for such questions.
- For my approach for the case study based questions, I may try to give a sketch here.
- From the question, highlight the situation where you need to respond. Understand the facts available and then in point format write down the options you have (1,2,3,4). Then for each option (course of action), analyse the advantage and disadvantage. For most of the questions I attempted, option 4 was very idealistic but option 3 ā pragmatic and doable. Option 1 and 2 were against one’s ethical stand. Thus, on properly weighing, I chose the third option as my final course of action.
Mains answer-writing?
Q. How was your experience with the āfixed spaceā answer sheet?
I was happy with the change of mains pattern this year. It discourages rote learning and is more logical to attempt. The fixed space available is plenty and does not get completed mostly because of the time constraints. I remember that I wrote at max complete 2 pages for every answer for the sake of completing the paper rather than wasting time on introduction and conclusion (Except GS paper 1 which came as a shocker to everyone. Attempted all Geography questions in that paper but left almost 70 marks history questions).
Q. Did you write answers in bullet points or in paragraphs? Some players (who cleared mains and got interview call letter) were claiming that they wrote entire paper in bullet points, so it doesnāt matterā¦.whether examiner is asking āexamine, comment, discuss or xyzāā¦.simply write in bullets and points.
I tried to write more in point format because of the time constraints. For the questions which according to me were vague, I tried to write in paragraphs.
Q. Did you follow the āintroduction-body-conclusionā format? because some mains-qualified candidates claim they simply wrote the points they could recall within the time, instead of bothering with proper introduction and conclusion.
No, I did not follow that format in-toto. Definitely, the starting 5 questions, I tried to write in proper segments, but later on, I switched to points in most cases.
Q. In GS papers, Since UPSC came with those 100 and 200 words questions. What was your approach in the exam??
- GS I : Attempted full Questions 15 to 25. Then came to the start (my history is weak) and tried completing as many questions I can (Total attempt: 180)
- GS II : Attempted full paper (Polity and IR are my favourite subjects). Did not find any problem but at max wrote 2 pages for each question
- GS III : Attempted 210 marks paper. Left those questions for which I had no clue at all. Could not bluff those
- GS IV: Attempted full paper
As of now, I am not sure as to how well this approach worked. But in the end, I was satisfied.
Q5. Did you use highlighters / sketchpens in your answers?
No. Only Blue Butterflow Pen.
Q6. Did you draw any diagram in any paper? (e.g. in GS1 Geography)
Yes. Map of India for Shale reserves; Climate based questions I approached with the help of diagrams.
Q7. If yes, Did you draw diagrams with pencil or pen?
Pen
Q8. Did you use ruler to draw the lines in diagram? Or did you just make it by hand?
No. Free hand.
Q9. You wrote the answer in blue pen or black pen?
Blue Pen
Public Administration Optional Subject
Q1. First the essential book/resource list and strategy
Vajiram Notes on Public Administration (paper 1 and 2) ā These the the basics needed to understand the subject. In my opinion, it may also suffice the demand of the examination if one reads religiously. I had joined coaching for pub ad, so did not find any difficulty reading the hand written class notes.
- Mohit Bhattacharya
- Arora and goyal
- Super50 by Shubra Saxena
- 2nd ARC Report
- Yojana.
Though I have done MA in Pub Ad from IGNOU and the material given is also very good to read, I did not have time to go through that during the exam days.
Q2. How much of internet-research / current affairs is necessary for this optional? OR can one simply rely on the books and be done with this subject?
One may simply rely on books but for recent examples, current affairs and yojana can be beneficial.
Q3. How many months did it take to finish the core optional syllabus?
3 months approximately
Q4. How many days/ weeks before the exam, you started answer writing practice?
It is continuous as I had joined test series and did some practice at home as well.
Q5. Do you maintain self-notes for revision of optional? In which format- electronic or paper?
Did not prepare many notes. It was only for current affairs and IR + some issues with which I had difficulty. Otherwise, I had kept one folder at my desktop which had all the pdfs I wanted to read before examination.
Q6. Your observation about the difficultly level of 2013 mains vs previous papers.
I think that with the current pattern, the papers are easier to approach if one is analytical and not a crammer. We must understand the concept rather than learning it.
Q7.How much did you skip OR couldnāt answer properly, in the optional paper?
optional paper | Couldnāt finish __ mark. + comments on any weird questions |
Paper I | 10 marks (did not know) |
paper II | 10 marks (did not know) |
Q8. would you advice any interested party (new player) to pick this optional? Nowadays wind seems to be flowing towards sociology and political science. Some senior players advice new players not to pick them given the scaling and odd questions. Whatās your take on this?
Take up the optional subject which you find interesting. Rest leave everything to God.
Before the interview
Q1. How did you prepare for the interview? Particularly college graduation subjects related questions?
Seriously read the newspapers every day and prepared around 100 questions based on my DAF. Added to it, tried to be slow while conversing so that I do not stammer and speak out right words. Tried to be calm while answering. As I had completed MA in 2013, I knew I had to prepare the practical application of Pub Ad in detail.
Q2. Did you attend any mock interviews by coaching classes? How were they similar / different than official interview? Do you believe it is necessary to attend such mock interviews?
I had joined a Telegram group for Interview Mentoring started by a senior IAS Officer. It really helped me in understanding how one may answer the questions being raised. We were guided by many civil servants in that group. It was a very interactive experience.
Also, I attended mock interviews by Samkalp and Vajiram. They were helpful in giving me confidence while speaking.
Q3. What did you wear?
A simple sky blue colored cotton Sari.
Q4. Where did you stay for the interview? (Hotel / friendās home ā¦) and what books/material did you bring for the ārevision before interviewā?
As I reside in Delhi, I stayed at my home which is around 20 mins away from UPSC.
During the interview
Q1. Who was the chairman of you interview board?
Mr. Vinay Mittal
Q2. How long was the interview?
Around 35 mins
Q3. Why do you want to join civil service?
Civil Service provides me the platform to work for the society with legal authority.
Q4. Please narrate your entire interview- what questions did they ask and what did you reply and other pleasant or uncomfortable experiences during the interview.
I will try and write in detail about my interview experience soon. Right now, I only have the sets of questions raised by the panel members. These are as follows:
Questions were all related to DAF and my subsequent answers. Board was very cordial and it was a comfortable session.
Chairman: Why a shift from engg to Pub ad? (I told that it was in 4th year that I decided to go for civil services) Was it a planned decision? (Yes.. and then I added about my gold medal) What is public administration? (state and society work in tandem to achieve societal goals) More questions on community involvement, constitutional mandate regarding community models (PRIs and ULBs), How to make it effective (I included ICT, creating awareness and efficient communication here), more talks on how to get the people involved. Questions based on teaching and my volunteering in Bal Sahyog. Do you still teach and whom?
M1: How to improve health facilities in urban area say Delhi? Sewage treatment? How polio is spread (instead of faecal matter I said Foetus.. then corrected myself) Difference between IPV and OPV? A few more questions were there.. I answered them.
M2 (lady): You talked of sustainable development. What is it? (I told that there is a difference between need and greed.. Gave example of air conditioners we use and how the energy can be saved there) Any other example from Delhi? (I could not think of any.. I said I can recall SEWA model from Gujarat and explained SHGs and people participation) But there are many loopholes in that model, are you aware of that? (No ma’am)
M3: (I did not give appropriate answers to his questions) Questions on Lokpal, CBI, CVC ( I said CVC heads CBI and that was wrong) Questions on Badminton and lack of sports in our country (Answered these but overall was not satisfied) M4: You talked about people being happy and content, can you name the country which focuses on happiness index? (Bhutan) What can India learn from it? (Environmental protection, added Kerala Model and how tree plantation per person a day is important for future sustainability) Delhi Nirbhaya case and present situation? How as the head of police in district you would have handled it? (Talked about raising women force) Do you know the state where women police are more? (No Sir) I guess it is Tamil Nadu.. Another member added Kerala too. I thanked both of them.
Then in the end, Chairman asked me one final question. You talked about RWAs in Bhagidari Model but you see people are less concerned to get involved and we blame the authorities. Can you suggest me a way to solve the problem? (Yes Sir. The simplest and cost effective way – Ethical Hoardings stating what a resident should do as an aware citizen)
Interview Over. I thanked everyone. I was satisfied when I moved out and was happy how the last question ended.
Q5. Was your interview on the expected lines of what you had prepared or did they ask you totally unexpected questions?Ā Was it a stress interview, did they ask any uncomfortable questions? If yes, how did you handle it?
My interview was totally based on my DAF and the answers I gave. So it was not a stress interview. The panel members were very cordial. I was cheerful, pleasant and composed.
Q6. Any side details about technicalities like āmake sure you bring xyz document or do xyz thing, or youāll face problemā?
Everything is mentioned in that call letter. Nothing to worry.
Q7. Any word of wisdom / observations about medical checkup?
Nothing to be afraid of. It is a normal routine check up. Those with eye nos. should come up with prescription on that day.
CSE-2013 Marksheet
Essay | 130 |
GS1 | 55 |
GS2 | 67 |
GS3 | 88 |
GS4 | 112 |
Pub.Ad Paper 1 | 110 |
Pub.Ad Paper 2 | 86 |
Written Total | 648 |
Interview | 206 |
Final total | 854 |
Rank | 50 |
Mrunal : three digit score in any paper of Public Administration equals *RESPECT*.
Career Backup
Q1. If you were not selected, what was your career backup plan?
Since it was my second attempt, I would have definitely joined a government job and tried to take another attempt while working.
Q2. when were you going to āexecuteā that backup plan?
Just after this attempt. I was already exhausted.
Insecurity about profile
Q. Many candidates prepare sincerely but constantly live under fear about āprofile insecurityā. Iām not from a big college, Iām not from English medium, and I donāt have work-experience. What if they ask some stressful questions in the interview about this? Did you suffer from such insecurities? What is your message to these candidates?
It was because of my lack of confidence in myself that I was not able to qualify prelims exam in 2012. I tried to overcome this by appearing in many other exams. It really helped me in this attempt.
Wisdom
Q. Through this struggle and success, what have your learned? What is the wisdom of life and competition? What is Your message to the new aspirants?
Learning ā Nishkaam Karma (Do your best, do not await results)
Wisdom ā Enjoy life. Be sincere not serious.
Message to new aspirants ā Work on your dreams but do not get attached to them. Becoming an IAS is not the end of the world, many other opportunities knock our doors. One should welcome those as well.
Q. You are well aware of the sacred rule – the last question must be about self-marketing. So, Did you use Mrunal.org for your preparation and if yes, how did it help you?Ā And you can even reply āNoā. Iāll still publish your answer without tempering, unlike those competitive magazines.
Yes. Your site has helped me immensely. I have subscribed to it and am a regular visitor. Youāre are doing a wonderful job.
Mrunal: Thanks a lot Ms. Nima for your sharing your journey and success with us. We wish you the best for your service allocation and state cadre allocation. Keep in touch.
hi mrunal,
is it possible for us to see copy of mains essay written in exam by these selected candidates..
@ nima arora
Mam, for case studies in GS IV, is it necessary to write down the facts and alternative actions possible in our answers & then choose the best option or we can directly write the best thought action without mentioning the various facts and alternatives?
Respected mam my heartiest congratulations and best wishes for your future .
Mam I m in very big dilemma ,I actually cleared bank po exam for which allotment will be given in April 2015 .I started preparing for upsc from Jan 2015 , mam kindly tell will it be a wise idea to join this bank po job because I already running out of time because of late starting ?
Please give your valuable suggestion.
My friend , as a bank employee I will suggest u not to join the bank po job untill and unless u have financial restrictions as it will be very difficult to prepare altogether
My friend…
if you are seriously preparing for civil services….then PO job is not for U… as it spends more working schedule..if you have also cleared Clerk exam then go for it..as it is only front staff/low responsibility job which would help u to augment your upsc preparation…….GOOD LUCK……
Mam, I am already in a Govt. Job and also not in position to leave it. But I also wish to prepare for civil service and cracking it accordingly. So Kindly suggest me to prepare for C S, continuing in job.
Iam pursuing my b tech final year in CSE department so, is there any chance for me to do post graduation in pubilc administration
What is your Message? Search before asking questions & confine discussions to exams r
elated matter only.
congratulation to all aspirants who cleared exam
i also want to preparation for civil services
but present i am studying ssc preparation
suggest me after it what i do?
mam. m from yavatmal…aap ne us din mast gidence kiya…
Hi Mam….. What was your percentage in Ignou MA Public administration that fetch you gold medal?
Mam can we prepare upsc and ssc simulteneously …
Mam I salute you, your are super apne distance learning se top 50rank laye main aapse bhut motivate hua ,thank u mam