Dear Aspirants,

How was your previous week's prep?

Do you feel satisfied with your efforts over the past seven days?

At the end of the day, it is only our efforts that we can control.

In today's post, I will share the second part of the response by a fellow aspirant who has written the Mains 2022 exam. He shares the challenges he faced and from it there are some important takeaways.

In case you missed reading Part -1, you can check it out here.

The Experience of Giving the Mains Exam

Now coming to the real exam. The essay went well as per my feelings as I was able to write a good intro in both and proceeded according to the demand of the topic. But when I came home I searched for the second essay on the internet which was You can't step in the same river twice. I got to know that this was a quote from a western philosopher and I interpreted it as "we can't do the same mistakes again." Therefore my whole essay was based on this interpretation, covering all dimensions. But the real meaning of the line came out to be We can't live the same life again. So, I am worried about my essay score.

Coming to GS1, History questions were of 75 marks and I can gauge that I have written those answers in optional level quality. But Geography questions (a subject I never prepared) dominated the paper. Though the topics were easy I can say barring one-two question, I wrote average answers in the rest, I am hating myself for doing mistakes in class 6-level questions like "Primary rocks". I read it a long time ago and mistakenly I wrote all the rock types there rather than primary. Society questions were difficult for everyone and went below average in the limited time.

In GS2 there was scope for those with PSIR or Public administration optional to have an edge over others. As some of the difficult questions were there like "governor and re-promulgation of ordinance wala question". On an overall basis, it went average for me.

GS3 was easy and barring 2 questions, I wrote most according to the demand of the question. But it was easy for everyone.

The GS4 paper was very lengthy. I couldn't use most of the quotes, and examples I gathered due to lack of time. I even left a question worth 20 marks. But it was difficult for everyone and everyone is saying the same, except a few aspirants.

Now coming to the Optional exam, I feel I have done justice with Paper 1, but due to lack of time and knowledge on sites, at least 5-6 sites couldn't be identified i.e 15-20 marks questions were left out. In Paper 2 they asked about some topics which we usually don't read in optional and I could not write even average answers on them. Here also I left one 10-mark question. Moreover, I was not satisfied with some of my answers in Paper 2 and I guess the examiner will not be impressed by them.

Hence here I am after leaving 50 marks questions (20 in ethics, 20+10 marks in the optional paper).

Link to the Original Message on Disqus Platform

If any other aspirant who has written the Mains is willing to share their journey, kindly ask them to reach out to me at [email protected]

Thank you Lost Soul, for sharing such a detailed note about your journey. My key takeaways are:

1. Don't take the Test Series scores too seriously. Consider the feedback and move on.

2. GS-1 - We need to revise the basics thoroughly for static topics. Especially for Geo, History and A&C

3. Essay - We need to practice philosophical topics/Quotes. In the main exam, we have to spend sufficient time understanding the selected topic.

4. GS-4 - Should practice active recall of Quotes and examples so we can use them in the exams. But as the paper was extremely long this time, not sure how else this can be achieved.

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Wishing you a productive and peaceful week ahead :)

Best Regards,

Satya