useful advice from Supreet Gulati, AIR 2 in IAS exam this year

i used to call myself confused youth a few years ago. now, i am very confused and hardly youth!

note for civil service aspirants:

My marks:
GS 203 + 160
PHYSICS 208 + 170
EE 186 + 166
ESSAY 104
INTERVIEW 216

(1) i'm keeping a log of my daily clippings from the hindu at website www(dot)freewebs(dot)com(slash)civilcurrent . it should help the first timers in preparing for current affairs.

(2)please don't ask "how to crack this exam". i cannot offer anything more than study hard, get good guidance, believe in yourself and keep faith in god.

(3) my strategy for gs is put up at www.diasindia.com

please note: i did not go to dias for gs. i was enrolled with dias only for physics and interview. i agreed to put up startegy on their website as it would help more aspirants than i could reach personally. the coaching institute mentioned in economy section is sriram's. i attended sriram's mains batch at jia sarai during june-september 2007.

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

(a) gs: i have not attempted 40 marks. out of my attempt of 560, i didn't know anything about q.5 paper ii (2 * 15 marks) i.e. i played blind in that question, wrote hardly 140-160 words for q.4 paper ii instead of 250 words, was very dissatisfied with my answers to q.7(a) paper ii (impact of globalisation on state system) and q.7(a) paper i (regionalism)

(b) electrical engineering: my attempt is 410. that's the truth. i left questions worth 190 marks in ee paper.

(c) physics: by god's grace a good attempt finally. i should have a correct attempt of about 550-560, and flukes of about 20-25 marks over and above it.

(5) This is what i've attended:

(a) two years with my uncle dr. brijpal singh for gs/essay/interview (2nd and 3rd attempt)
(b) dias for physics and interview (during 4th attempt)
(c) sriram's for gs/interview (during 4th attempt)

i only read civil services chronicle magazine. if any other institute/magazine makes claim, please inform me which one and where did it advertise. i'm in a position from where i can follow it up and take them to task.

(6) coaching institutes are just a guide to preparation. don't depend on them solely. lots of individual effort is required in understanding needs of this paper and finding one's strengths. my preparation is much deeper than what coaching institutes taught me. one size fits all approach won't work.

(7) Some tips for EE optional:

Don't opt for it unless IES is your backup!! or you are already an IES topper. But don't drop it if you are already on your way ahead with it.

It is my weakest optional and hence I am not a good guide.

Circuits: A. Chakrabarti (Dhanpat Rai) Circuit Analysis and Synthesis covers the entire syllabus well.

Signals and Systems: I had Oppenheim and Willsky. The only thing missing was handling initial conditions in z-transform. Any Indian author book that chas this can be used as a supplement.

Power Electronics: PS Bhimbra is enough. Stick to syllabus, prepare notes for this topic. They'll be quite handy.

Machines: Nagrath-Kothari or Ashfaq Hussain is enough. I had Ashfaq.

EMTheory: Follow any standard book. K D Prasad is considered The Bible for this topic of the exam.

Communication(Analog/Digital):Whatever the book followed in college, supplemented by Singh/Sapre (TMH) should be enough.

Measurements: Sawhney is the only book. Solve IES EE papers for this topics. Questions are repeated.

Power System and Power System Protection: Ashfaq hussain and Wadhwa for Power Systems. Bardriram-Vishwakarma for PSP. Again IESpapers are a must.

Controls: Kuo is good even though I haven't read it. I read Nagrath-Gopal.

Digital Electronics: Any book that covers the syllabus.

Analog Electronics: I followed Boylestad though I wasn't happy with it. Sedra-Smith goes too much into depth that isn't needed for this exam. I also had Millman-Grabel.

Thanks to last year topper Mr. Revu for guiding me in this optional.