7/12/2016

SathishIFS:IFoSCivilServicesdilemma...Dissolved,DecodednDecimated...(Part2)
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Sathish IFS
Wednesday,4March2015

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IFoSCivilServices
dilemma...Dissolved,
DecodednDecimated...
(Part2)

IFoSCivilServicesdilemma...Dissolved,DecodednDecimated...(Part2)
So,afterhavingdealtwiththenecessitytoapplyforIFoSalongwithCivilsduringprelims,letmegetintomystrategyin
crackingIFS.BeforeiproceedanyfurtherletmetellyoutheconditioniwasinwhenidecidedtogiveIFSmains.
IclearedIFSprelimscutoffs,mainsisgood2monthsaway
IalreadyhadindepthknowledgeofGeographyoptionalasthisismy3rdattemptatCivilsMains.
IabsolutelyhadnoideaofeitherAgricultureorGeology.
Ihadrelativelygoodfreetimeasileftjob(Veryimportantfactor)
Ihadenoughknowledgeaboutcurrenthappenings/majorissuesinNews.
IknewthatmajorityofthosewhoclearedIFScutoffswouldbeinsamesituationasmine.
The reason i am saying these things is because you might be at a different stage of preparation compared to me and
hencecancomparetheaboveparameterswithyours.
Ihadaveryclearstrategythatishouldn'toverdoIFSprepasthiswillhavedirectimpactonmyCivilsmains.Atthesame
time, i shouldn't ignore IFS mains as its relatively easier competitionwise as of now. Catch22.. Isn't it? Ultimately I
shouldn'tendupasJackofalltradesandremainingwithoutarankanywhere.Soihadtoplanverycarefullyaboutwhatto
studyandwhattoabsolutelyignoreforIFSmains.
If you are a genuine IFS aspirant, Prelims is the toughest thing to crack. Mains becomes little easy as the competition
dynamicshavetotallychanged.ButifyouareacivilsaspirantbutalsowannagiveashotatIFSmains,ushudgiveonly
thatmuchtimethatitdeserves.Youareaimingat1200seatsofCivilsandonly85seatsofIFS...Thatsimplymeans..your
timedivisiontobalanceshouldbelesserthaneven1:12ratio.i.e.,in13hours,logicallyyoushouldspareonly1hrforIFS
andnotmorethanthat,lesturcivilswilltakeahit.:)Iknowitsasillycalculation,butignorethisanduaregone..:D

TheFinalLap....tomyDream
Destination...LBSNAA...:)
EnteringtheJungles...Prefaceofmy
Junglebook...ItstimeforIFoS
Interview2014....
IFoSCivilServicesdilemma...
Dissolved,DecodednDecimated...
(Part1)

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So with this background, i decided to go through Syllabus of Agri n Geology, Old papers of last 3 4 years and most
importantly last year marksheets of toppers given in Mrunal. After some analysis i understood few facts from those
marklists.Theyare
Totop,allyouneedis~300/800in2optionalsand~250/600inEnglishnGK.
Thequestionsinoptionalsarestraightforwardandsometimesevenrepetitive.
IshouldmaximizemyscoreinEnglish/GKnInterview.
Optionals obviously are my weaklinks. I should ensure that in optionals i screw no paper. Average performance in
optionalsshouldgetmecloseto300/800inoptionals.
nThusistartedmyprep.......Hereismystrategyforallpapers

Submit

SeeallmyPastPosts
2016(1)
2015(12)
December2015(1)
July2015(2)
June2015(1)

GeneralEnglish:
Lastyearpapersarethekeyhere.Thisismystrengthareaandishouldexcelspectacularlyandscoreheavily.My
Civilsprepwouldbesufficienthere,butishouldtakeextracaretoexcelwheniwritethisexamonthatspecificday.Soi
was very conscious of doing my best in this paper. I wrote essay and report writing which account for half of the marks
almostinthemostimpressivemannerwhichicould.Grammerpartidintpreparespecifically.Hence,itsusualthingforall
whoareokwithfundamentalsofEnglish.Igot159/300inthispaperwhichisupposeisthetopmarkthisyearinthispaper.
SoforallyouNotSoGenuineIFSaspirants,thisistheStrengtharea.Nailitabsolutely.
GeneralStudies:
Againmystrengtharea.UPSCchangedIFSGSpaperpatternthisyearandgave24x12.5marksformatunlikelast
yearwhichhad1markers,8markersetc.,.PrettymuchsimilartoCivilsmainsGSpapers.Soagain,nosplpreprequired.
Unlikecivils,questionsherearestraight.TheyaskedexplainArabPalestineissue,ExplainDigitalIndiaProgrammesortof
questions which are way too straightforward. Hence do you best and finish the paper. UPSC screwed this paper in
markingthisyear.Lastyrtoppershadeven140/300marksinthispaper.Mytargetwas120minimum.Thisyeartopscore
itselfisaround103/300.Igot86whichisfineforme.Ifupscscrewsthemarking,everyotherpersonsuffers.HenceZero
sumgame.Soagain..Nailthispaper.:)
Agriculture1
This is your GS3 paper in Civil Services. Nothing special in it. Syllabuswise or Exam wise. So do your Ramesh
singh's,EconomicSurveys,12thPlandocs,Newspaper,DuttnSundaramsetc.,Nospecialprepneeded.Totallyintegrated
withyourCivilsMainsagain.SoNailthistoo....
Iattemptedaround180190inthispaperandstillmanagedonly75.A90sscorewouldhavebeengood,buthello...thisis
UPSC..:P

April2015(1)
March2015(3)
RunRajaRunnn...
WalkWalk...Walkin
thePark...
CAPF(ACs)2014
Marksheet
IFoSCivilServices
dilemma...Dissolved,
Decode...
February2015(4)
2014(2)
2013(4)
2010(7)

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Agriculture2
Nowthisisthetoughestofthemallforme.ThispaperispureBotanystuff.RememberCellTheory?Mitosis,Meoisis,
Reproduction, Osmosis, Photosynthesis, Calvin Cycle etc etc which u studied long long long back? This to me was the
weakestpaper.Butsoonafteraweek'sprepiabsolutelylovedthispaper.Ipreparedinaverylimitedwaychoosingtopic
whicharerepetitiveinpastpapersandalsointerestingforme.
Source i used here is only R.Gupta's Agriculture guide. There are better books like "Introduction to Agriculture" by
A.K.Vyas.ItisimportanttoreadsolvedanswersofR.Gupta'sbook.

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Oneproblemiswiththeterminology.Beinganonbotanystudentitwasverytoughfor34daystoevenpickthe
complicated technical terminology used in the book. I had to repeatedly read each line 3 4 times to understand what it
means.Inadditiontothisbook,IusedBiologyYoutube3Dvideos.Thesearejustexceptional.Iloadedthemonmymobile
andkeptonwatchingthemsomanytimes.Findthebelowlinkandwatchallrelatedvideosinthatbiologychannel.Youll
lovethemandthisbotanystuffinterestedmealot.:D

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=joZ1EsA5_NY
AnoteonAgriculturehere.IfoundAgritobeabetteroptionalinCivilstoo,ifu
areinterestedinit.UPSCstillaskingverystraightandfundamentalquestionsin
thisparticularOptionalandiwasreallyamazedevenat2014Civilsagripapers.
How on earth you screw optionals like PubAd, Geo n Psycho with irrational
questionpapersandstillgivecherriesinoptionalslikeAgri.Maybesomething
to do with popularity and all. But after all we need marks to become IAS.. No
one cares if its Agri or Pubad after you get selected.. So if any newbie is
readingthispost,isuggestgoingforAgrilikeoptionalsunlikePubAd.

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Iattemptedaround150inthispaperandgotadecent75.
So the sources are R.Gupta's book and Youtube channel for me. If you want indepth, Some guy in Mrunal's interviews
gave full book sources. You may go through them. But as i told earlier, you only have to give IFS that much that it
deserves.DontoverdothisandpickbooksonlyifuclearIFSprelimscutoffs.StudyingIFSoptionalsevenbeforeclearing
prelimsmakesnosensetome.Atleastforthenext34years,thislogicholdstrueaccordingtome.Movingon....

Geology1
Now Geology is again a popular optional. Usually
forthosewhodonthavecommonoptionalinCivils
andIFSmains,Geology+AgriorGeology+Forestry
is the combo. Agri+Forestry is not allowed by
UPSC.ThisyearGeologypaperswereverytough.
Paper1 was manageable to a certain extent, but
paper2 is out of the world. Geology1 itself had
questions from entire geology syllabus. In break, i
waswonderingwhatwouldtheyaskinpaper2as
theyalreadyaskedeverythinginpaper1itselfand
asexpectedpaper2bombed.:D

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SathishIITR
Sathishg

Anywayz, Geology1 has half of its syllabus totally

overlapping with Geography's Geomorphology. Infact you need to read
Geomorphology little indepth for Geology. The book i used for this is the
PhysicalGeographybySavindraSingh.Itsultimatesourceforit.(Forgiveme,i
neverreadNCERTsforCivils/IFS,ineverlikedthemsomehow,ifeelupscnow
crossedNCERTlevelslongback)

TheotherbookwhichcoversmajorityofsyllabusisofK.M.Bangar.Previouspapers,coupledwithBangar,SavindraSingh
andInternetshouldgiveyouenoughknowledegeinthispapertoattemptalmost170180unlessUPSCdecidestoscrew.I
attemptedaround140andgot68inthispaper.Adecentone.
Geology2

Well the lesser i say about this, the better. This paper was a disaster for everyone
thisyear.Asisaid,UPSCaskedwholesyllabusinpaper1itselfandthispaperwas
so tough that we just couldn't do anything in exam hall. I attempted around 100
marks,butiwasn'tsureofeven30marksinthispaper.Afterattempting100marks,i
myselffeltboredtowritemorecrap.So,thisalsohappensinupscandyoumustbe
prepared...halfofthetimeintheexamhall,allofuswerejustsleepingorlaughing
lookingateachother'sfaces.:D
UltimatelyUPSCupscaledmarksnmanygotverygoodmarks.Igot55inthispaper.
see..upscisnotalwaysavillian..Cutieupscalsoupscalesforusometimes...:)
SourcesforthispaperareagaininternetandBangar.Ilovethosesmallanthropods
called trilobites. There is a whole website dedicated to these trilobites. Read about
them. Compile some notes. A sure shot question every year on these NotSo
Beautifulbugs...:D
SothisfinishesmyIFSmainsjourney.Myaimwastoget550inmains(sureshotcall
for interview) and then score big in interview. As Geology2 was tougher, i was
expectingaround520530kindamarks.Igot518inmainsandaninterviewcall.
From here on... Rock that interview and you are an IFS officer... After getting into IFS, Clearing civils actually
becomesanoptionratherthananecessity.BeingGeology,GeographyandAgricultureguywithCSEnECEbackgrounds
in IIT (lol), i love IFS more than anyother service and im very excited in clearing it. Eventhough IAS remains dream for
many,ipersonallylovethejobprofileofIFSasiwillbemoreclosetonature.Sonow,IAS/IPSonlyifigetgoodcadren
all, else i am going into the jungles like an Aslan searching for my future... No more attempts at UPSC in near future....

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upphh..exasperated...
nthusmyJungleStoryBegins........:)

ohwait...SohowmanydaysintotoistudiedforthisIFSmainsexamspecifically?It'saround20days.
IreadbotanypartofAgriandsometougharea'sofGeologyfor5daysabout1nhalfmonthbeforeIFSmains(sothati
dontfeelthemnewwhenireadthemjusbeforemains)andtheleftthemandwentaheadwithmycivilsprep.Wheneveri
get bored of Geography or civils things, i opened Geology/Agri books or saw those youtube videos. n i studied about
10daysseriouslybeforeIFSmainsagainmixingitupwithcivilsprep.It'sallabouthowuprioritizeandthenrepriortizeand
againdothesame..UPSCprepmakesuslikeSelfcorrectingrobotsalways.Weneedtooutsmartupscandupscinturn
outsmartsus.ThedayuwinoverUPSC,ugetthattickettoenterLBSNAA,Mussorie..Cheers

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14comments:
kamal 4March2015at15:03
Wonderful!!,superjourney,awesomewriteupSathishSathishSathish:)
Reply

PiyushSingh 14March2015at04:22
Bro,afterreadingGupta'sguide,canwedevelopastrongbasicsforPaper2?IamnotfromAgribackgroundand
wanted to take it as my CSE optional. One more query, since you are not from Agriculture background, do you
thinkAgriculturecanbemanagedonselfstudybasisforCSE?Also,whattimeisrequiredtocompletethewhole
syllabus?Pleasehelpmeoutthiscrucialphaseofmypreparation.Iwillbegivingfirstattemptin2015.needsome
confidencetotakethisoptional.
Reply
Replies
Sathishg

14March2015at08:26

Hi,
R.Gupta'sbookisabasicbook.Itjustgivesuanidea.Youmaytry"IntrotoAgri"byA.K.Vyas.Pretty
goodbookcomparedtoR.Gupta.Umightbeinterestedinknowingthatihaven'ttakenanycoachingor
readanycoachingmaterialatanypointoftimeduringthecoarseofmyprep.Allididwasselfstudyand
that too from scratch for all the subjects including history, geo or agri. Hence, u can study any subject
fromscratchbyurself.Yes,itneedsproperplanningandstrategywhichuneedtodevelopurself.Lotsof
Guidanceisavailableonline.Foragri,thisonlineguidancemightbelittletough.Henceuneedtoanalyse
old papers, trends, areas to concentrate etc by urself. I find this to be a very straightforward optional
atleast till now. In addition, i think Evolution Institute in Delhi gives coaching for Agri and has some
materialsalso.Youmaytakehelp4thosematerials,butipreferstandardtextbookstothesematerials
anyday. As far as time to complete is concerned, its purely subjective. U should plan urself some time
tableandsticktothosetimelines.Optionalsaresovastthatwecanstudythemforyearstogether.But
wemustlimitourselvesto45daysto2months,whatevertheoptionalmightbe.Stillitdependsonhowu
planthings.IamcopypastingthebooklistthatwasgiveninMrunalforurnothersreference..
***********************************************************
OptionalSubject#1:Agriculture
Optional papers have become lengthier. Sometimes they increase number of subquestions. So, try to
attemptallquestions.Iwouldsaywritingaboveaverageanswersforallthequestionsisbetterthanthe
bestanswersforfewquestions.
BooklistforAgriculture
PlantBreedingPrinciplesandMethodsB.D.Singh
FundamentalsofGeneticsB.D.Singh
PlantPhysiologyV.K.Jain
IntroductorySoilScienceD.K.Das
EconomicsofFarmProductionandManagementV.T.RajuandD.V.S.Rao

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