And miles to go before I sleep....

Below is the link to the revision notes I prepared for my mathematics optional. This should give one a decent idea of what I tried to include in them based on my understanding on what is important. I have tried to keep them error-free as much as possible. In any case, apologies in advance for any inadvertent errors which may have crept in them. Wish you all the best ! Link for the notes : https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=10PIodhIta9X9li61d_ggqYmecXdgtySG P.S. : The notes of numerical methods are far from satisfactory and one should refrain from relying completely on them. Also attached below is one of my answer scripts of a mock test I had given last year. This should be sufficient to enable one to understand the answer writing aspect of this optional. Be mindful of the fact that there are a few errors in the correction. Link for the answer copy : https://drive.google.com/open?id=1m_whrnny-175ALk6yYYKBn35WixFdWzl

Paper 2 (updated with chapter details) Points to ponder :  The syllabus of Paper 2 of Mathematics is slightly tricky when compared to Paper 1, especially due to presence of topics like Algebra and Fluid Dynamics. A general trend in recent times has been the mixing of questions of different topics in all the optional questions. This means that one has to have some degree of acquaintance with all the topics of the paper. For those not very conversant with fluid dynamics, it would pay more to focus more on Algebra and Real Analysis so as to avoid having to select two optional questions from Section II of this paper. I adopted this strategy, having more or less pre-decided to prefer selecting two questions from section 1, giving more emphasis on modern algebra and real analysis. This did not work for me in CSE-2016 though, as questions out of CSE syllabus were asked then - this is also a reason why a basic coverage of all the topics is essential. I had tried to

Paper 1  (updated with chapter details) Points to ponder :  The syllabus of Paper 1 of Mathematics is easier to tackle as compared to Paper 2.  Topics like Linear Algebra, Vector Analysis, ODE are easier to handle while others like Statics and Dynamics, Analytic Geometry require a greater degree of practise and effort. So, one can plan accordingly while preparing the topics. The main issue in this paper is that of accuracy, as a lot of questions of Paper 1 require calculations which are prone to errors.  There have been instances in the exam where I had to skip the optional questions of my favoured topics like statics-dynamics, calculus and opt for questions on analytic geometry (which I always felt I was not good at), hence a decent practise of all the topics is desirable in this paper. One should try to select familiar questions in the exam as far as possible. This reduces the chances of having to switch questions midway (I paid a price for switching a question

·    What to expect from this optional Mathematics as an optional of CSE has been doing well off-late, if we look at the higher end of the spectrum of marks obtained by candidates.  But at the same time I feel most of the candidates opting for this optional are not aware of the effort required for obtaining such high marks. If we set aside a few exceptional candidates, one would find that the top scorers of Mathematics (including myself) generally require multiple attempts at this exam before managing such high scores.  This is not merely a coincidence in my opinion, and is probably a result of the numerous challenges this optional poses for a newcomer. A few challenges which one may encounter during the course of studying this optional are : Vast syllabus which may require 6-8 months of dedicated preparation Some topics like Algebra, Fluid are difficult to master satisfactorily Huge time investment in Mathematics which can end up affecting one's GS preparation

  In this post,  I will try to give a narrative of how I went about preparing for Mathematics across my 2 attempts at this exam. I will try to give as much perspective as I can recall.  If any questions regarding my journey still remain unanswered kindly ask them in the comments section below, and I will try to answer them the best I can. The Story of my 1st Attempt (CSE 2016) :   About 2 months before the prelims, after which I totally focussed on prelims, I had solved the standard textbooks once for about 80% of the syllabus (not covered fluid, ring theory of algebra, numerical methods, frenet's formula, Laplace, boundary value problems and a few other residual topics). Soon after prelims I realised that I was unable to recall the even the basic stuff and so I decided to prepare 5-6 notebooks containing various important problems (both from the text books and previous years compilations) and formulas. This took me around 2 months to complete, during which I