Summary
Attempt: 1st IFS Mains
Preparation Time: 45 days for 2 new optionals
Study Material: K M Bhangar + Yaksh Chaudhary IAS Notes + PYQs
Test Series: None
Video Lectures: None
Background
I wrote my first IFS mains in 2022 with two new optionals - Geology and Forestry. ( My optional for CSE was Public Administration). With just 45 days for preparation, I at best had 20 days for Geology. Though the task to prepare two new optionals felt impossible at that time, it was made possible with the right strategy and planning.
I managed to score 743 in IFoS that would have easily landed me in Top 10 in IFS even with average Interview Marks. However, as CSE result was already out by then and I was sure about getting IAS with Rank 31, I opted out of IFS interviews to not waste any seat.
My styrategy was not focussed on just maximizing marks. Due to limited time I didn't have luxury of referring too many resources and it acted as a blessing in disguise.
Things that worked in my favour for Geology
1. Identifying low hanging fruits
Paper 1 A and Paper 2 B are the easiest portions in the syllabus. I focused on covering them in well than spending more time on difficult and technical portions like stratigraphy, palaeontology or petrography.
2. PYQs are the key
Reverse Engineering is what worked best for me and other seniors of mine. Instead of going from text to question, I went from Question to text - marking what portions to read and memorising them even before I understood them. This saved a lot of time by removing the clutter from the text books and notes and also helped me have a pre-drawn idea of what had to be written in each question without practicing them before hand.
3. Managing your Diagrams
In Geology you are as good as your diagrams. I practiced my diagrams more than I read the text. For all PYQs in the Last 15 years, I had a diagram prepared. This was also true for even topics like palaeontology where I was not very thorough with the text.
4. Less is More
There is no need to go in depth in any topic, sometimes even the definition, one keyword or a diagram can suffice. For repeated topics, I prepared short notes to keep it concise, again the important topics can be identified from PYQs.
For most topics I had prepared comparative charts and tables which were easy to read and memorize.
Please note - how the text in itself is very limited, and more focus is given on basic idea behind the topic.
5. Don’t be scared of doing what you do in a GS answer
While there is a lot of word of mouth that says that you have to be very specific and pinpointed, I never held myself back from writing the answers like CSE GS in IFS Mains. The structuring, the subparts are not just essential components of any answer,
they help you to generate points whenever the knowledge is limited.This also includes being generic in questions like NMP, Pollution and Hazards is better than getting the specific questions like mineralogy and petrography wrong. I always preferred writing the answers which I could be more comfortable than focusing on “Sounding smart and Knowledgable”. Your writing skills will help make up for the gaps in knowledge in IFS Mains.
Thats's all!
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