| Name | Rahul Gupta |
| Rank in CSE 2015 | 306 |
| Total Attempts in CSE | 02 |
| Optional Subject | Chemistry |
| Medium | English |
Education
| Class 10 percentage of marks | 87% |
| Class 12Percentage of marks | 87% |
| Graduation: College and marks | IIT Delhi 7.8 CGPA |
| Post graduation: College and marks | IIT Delhi 8.4 CGPA |
| Any other course | N/A |
What Could I do for Better Rank
IAS Score: What were the basic mantras of your success?
Rahul Gupta: Keep it simple. Eat -> Study -> Sleep -> Repeat
Simplify syllabus, notes, answer writing, content, and personality.
IAS Score: What were your strategies for the lengthy syllabus of General Studies for both Prelims and Mains?
Rahul Gupta: For Prelims: Understand past year trend of questions. They want basic understanding of everything. Ask questions like what, why, how when for every topics.
Mains: study like prelims but special focus on clarifying the knowledge.
IAS Score: Did you integrate your Prelims or Mains preparation or was it separate in the changing scenario?
Rahul Gupta: Before prelims, I studied the part of syllabus that is common in prelims and mains from both perspectives as explained in previous questions. But I made notes for at least half of GS syllabus after prelims.
GS Preparation for Prelims (Summary)
| Study material / Guidance | Test series solutions Vision |
| Basic Books | Spectrum, M.I.H., lakshmikant, Geo NCERT, Shankar for environment. |
| Current Affairs | Newspaper, The Hindu, vision CA |
GS Mains Preparation (Summary)
| Paper | Study Material/Guidance | Current Issues Source | Answer Writing Practice |
| GS Paper 1 | Plassey to partition , Nitin Singhaniya, Mrunal Geography, Vision Hand notes | Newspaper, Vision CA Magazine | Vision & Synergy Test Series |
| GS Paper 2 | Do basics, newspaper issues, 12th ARC, Shubhra Ranjan IR | Do | |
| GS Paper 3 | Eco survey, mrunal, internal security book | Do | |
| GS Paper 4 | Vajiram Notes |
Optional Subject Preparation (Summary)
| Study material / Guidance | |
| Basic Books | Prui Sharma Pathania, K. L. Kapoor, Relevant tutorials material |
| Current Affairs | |
| Answer Writing | Test Series at DIAS |
| Any other |
IAS Score: How did your prepare for essay.
Rahul Gupta: GS Score Test Series + Work previous years essay. For guidance Puneet sulari blog and topper answer script.
IAS Score: Did you adopted any specific strategy for GS Paper 4?
Rahul Gupta: Improved understanding of content by asking basic questions.
IAS Score: What were the sources of information for general reading? How did you come to know that which sources of reading materials are standard?
Rahul Gupta: I referred standard sources mostly. Quality of content can be judged by applying WH words (What, why, when, how) test. If a source answer these, then it’s good.
IAS Score: What is your advice on notes-making for other aspirants?
Rahul Gupta: Make them as crisp as possible. Neat, structured. They will help memorize the content. Do not leave it till the end.
IAS Score: How did you manage your time during the preparation?
Rahul Gupta: I studied 12 hrs a day. I used to have weekly target before beginning my studies in the memory. I used to make time table describing what I will be studying or what time during the day.
IAS Score: What was your style (paragraph or point format) of writing in the exam? How was it distinct from the general writing style? How did you develop this writing style?
Rahul Gupta: I wrote in point format with suitable headings, underlining important points. It came natural to me. I improved it with practice.
IAS Score: So much focus is being given to Test Series, both for Prelims and Mains, in your opinion how useful are they, in the course of a preparation process? Which Test Series did you join and how useful did you find it to be?
Rahul Gupta: Test series a barometer of your hard work. Very necessary in such competitive exam. They also help in time management. I joined vision and synergy for GS mains, GS Score for essay, DIAS for chemistry.
IAS Score: Civil Services Exam process is quite strenuous. It requires long hours of constant study. How did you maintain your tempo and what did you do to break the monotony of preparation?
Rahul Gupta: Achievement of target and improvement of marks kept me moving. You have to constantly remind yourself why you are studying. To keep up the pace I used to talk to my friends during breaks. I used to jog in the evening to keep me fresh.
IAS Score: The trend suggests that professionals or working people are more successful in this exam. Does this exam prove difficult for Humanities and Social Science background candidates?
Rahul Gupta: I think professional and working people may get better marks in the interview because they can manage time better.
But there is nothing to suggest that this exam proves difficult for humanities and social science candidates. Exam requires common sense and answer writing skills. Which can be developed by anyone?
IAS Score: Given the recent boom in online initiatives to support an aspirant, which were the platforms that you find useful enough during your course of preparation? Please list the sites.
Rahul Gupta:
IAS Score: What is your advice to the candidates who is still in the process of preparing for this examination?
Rahul Gupta: Hard work, persistence, motivation are basic necessity. Focus on parts where you can secure more i.e. optional, essay and ethics. Don’t underestimate answer writing and presentation.
Your Mark sheet
| Paper | Marks |
| Prelims | 119+157 |
| Essay (Paper 1) | 126 |
| GS 1 (Paper 2) | 93 |
| GS 2 (Paper 3) | 73 |
| GS 3 (Paper 4) | 93 |
| GS 4 (Paper 5) | 83 |
| Optional 1 (Paper 6) | 113 |
| Optional 2 (Paper 7) | 123 |
| Written Total | 704 |
| Personality Test | 193 |
| Total Score | 897 |
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