Sunday, August 24, 2008

Attempting the Mains Examination (Part I)

My attempt in mains exam: Here is the breakup which may surprise many:

(a) GS:
Paper I: I didn't know 10 two markers. I was very dissatisfied with my answers on Regionalism (30 marks) and Child Labour (30 marks). My score 203.

Paper II: Again, I didn't know 10 two markers. I didn't know anything about Q.5 (2 * 15 marks) i.e. i played blind in that question, wrote hardly 140-160 words for Q.4 of 250 words, was very dissatisfied with my answers to Q.7(a) paper ii (impact of globalisation on state system). My score 160.

(b) Electrical Engineering: My correct attempt is 410. 210 in Paper I and 200 in Paper II. My scores are 186 and 166 respectively.

(c) Physics: I have a correct attempt of about 550. I missed out about 25 marks in each paper. My score is 378 ( 208 + 170).

My experience with the exam is that no marks are rewarded for writing wrong or irrelevant stuff. Stick to what is asked and answer it very clearly. Organise the answer in a coherent manner.

The important thing is that if I read a topic, I am thorough with it. I make sure I'll put up among the best answers for topics that I read. That approach has worked for me.

Even last year (CSE 2006), I had 991 marks in Mains and my attempts were 420 in EE (score 298), 390-400 in Physics (score 270).

GS paper 2006 gave me excellent feedback. I'll share it.

GS I: I am weak in Social issues and National Movement was very tough that year. I stretched my attempt to 280 in GS Paper I even though I hardly knew about 200 marks. My score - 118.

GS II: I knew 230-240 marks and attempted them very well. I left 12 economy 2 markers!!, one 15 mark question and many 2 markers which I didn't know. Attempt of about 240-250. I scored 168.

This may or may not work for every one. But last year topper Mr. Muthyalaraju Revu had the same experience.

Here are the inputs from last year topper Mr. Muthyalaraju Revu regarding his attempt last year. I quote him:

"Most of the aspirants believe that they have to attempt more questions rather than concentrating on quality. I would like to share my experience as it may provide some help to future aspirants.

GS1: I do not know ten 2 markers. I attempted three 30 mark questions in last 25 minutes. My score is 173.

GS2: I attempted only four 2 markers in economy. I wrongly interpreted one 30 marks question and one 15 marks question. My score is 147.

Maths 1: I got answers for 278 marks. I got 179.

Maths 2: I got answers for 234 marks. I got 172.

Electrical 1: I attempted correctly for 253 marks. I scored 200.

Electrical 2: I attempted correctly for 245 marks. I scored 195. "

4 comments:

Prakash Rajpurohit said...

This post is very insightful.

your improvement between these two attempts is inspiring.

why is this that your marks in EE varies despite attempting similar in both the attempts. Is it because this time you were at the rightmost side of the spectrum in EE paper?

thanks

Supreet Singh Gulati said...

I don't know the answer to your question. Probably your thinking is correct. Marks are relative (normalised) and nobody did as well as, say, Mr. Revu last year. But, it's only a guess.

Maximumshine said...

sir i'm ravi shukla a civil services aspirent, with elctrical engineering and philosophy as optionals, your blog is very informative and i appreciate your work.
sir kindly if you can elaborate the strategies of REVU sir, the one you have mentioned in an article...

regards

ravi prakash shukla

varun said...

hello supreet

did u read spectrum's brief history of modern india or spectrum's comprehensive history of modern india.

is dd basu sufficient for polity or should i also go through wizard's polity.why did you read both