This is Anjali Thakur here. I secured AIR 43 in CSE 2023 and this was my 3rd attempt and 2nd selection. I have benefitted from these blogs and thus sharing mine too so that the aspirant community can avail of some learnings from my journey.
I’m from Surat. I’ve done all my education there only including UPSC preparation. I started my journey in 2019 when I enrolled myself in Career First IAS Academy, an institute in Surat only. I availed the basic guidance from there and then lockdown was announced and I utilized that time for self-study.
I graduated in 2021 and gave my 1st attempt then only. However, couldn’t make it to the Final list. Again in 2022, I gave my second attempt but missed the final list by 8 marks (952 marks). Fortunately, I got IP&TAFS service through the reserve list in my second attempt! And then in my 3rd attempt in 2023, I’m finally out of this vicious cycle of nation’s prestigious examination.
Prelims
The basic strategy was to give as many mocks as I could.
The most important thing is to analyse those mocks and identify your mistakes.
Give more weightage to static ( current affairs is vast…it never ends)
Revision of prelims mock test papers before actual prelims examination.
I improved in mains from 760 (2021), 780 (2022) to 845 (2023) and this improvement helped me to get my name listed in the holy pdf. These are the learnings:
Answer writing is a very important part of this phase.
Take PYQs, write answers to those questions and then Google it and add points and fodders there only. I used to do that. And revise it before your actual main examination.
Write in points and add charts, maps, facts and examples wherever possible. This is very important. (Did that, especially in my 2023 mains).
Targeted approach should be there. Invest more time on Ethics and Essays as they have high RoI and on optional subjects because it’s the backbone of your final mark sheet.
Identify your strengths and weaknesses. For instance, I knew I could score well in GS2 but GS3 was my weak point.
Collect fodder lines, statements made by important personalities, examples and facts from the paper.
Write tests and get them evaluated.
Some good test papers from which I have benefitted are the Forum IAS test papers and Vision’s Abhyas test series. I wrote some tests for the Forum IAS and Next IAS.
Refer to Topper’s answer copies to get an idea of the writing style. I used to do it during my main examination preparation. I also used to jot down their points and use them in my mock test papers and real examination answers.
I prepared it by myself and improved my score gradually from 244 (2021), 256 (2022) to 280 ( 2023). Some Pointers:
I learnt a lot of things from the test series at IAS Gurukul and Triumph IAS
PYQs are important as many questions are repeated every year.
I used the Sunya IAS sociology PYQ answers solution. It helped me get new examples and fodder points.
Don’t go for any free test series or program for optional. They will waste your time.
While writing answers try to relate your static topics with current events and relevance.
You can make a separate sheet for revising thinker’s name and their theories on society before mains.
Learn some famous works and papers of thinkers given in syllabus to quote them in your answer.
Interview
It is an integrated preparation and you can’t enhance your personality in just 1 or 2 months.
So reading newspapers, watching debates, exposure and interactions with someone having good communication skills will help you polish your personality!
Give mock interviews and there you’ll get confidence.
Some mocks which were useful during my interview preparation were of Samkalp, Chahal Academy, Vajirao and Reddy, and Chanakya Mandal.
Abstract Learnings
Mental health – do meditation daily. It will calm your mind and help to cope with setbacks if any.
Sacrifices- make little sacrifices and dedicate yourself to them for a year.
Discipline and consistency – for better discipline, I used to do yoga and that helped me ensure better physical and mental health.
Pain today Pride Tomorrow.
Give yourself incentives i.e. take breaks, gift yourself something you like whenever you achieve your daily/weekly/ monthly targets.
Spend some time with your friends and family in order to keep yourself motivated.
Things might seem easy and sparkling when you see selected candidates but trust me every success has its own story of failures and setbacks. Just don’t burden yourself if you’re not getting the desired results. Just keep yourself motivated and do your 100 more important per cent. Rest is destiny!
I am fortunate to get this rank. I’m thankful to my supportive parents, siblings, friends and mentors for their trust in me. Though the journey was full of ups and downs but believe me every setbacks and sacrifices seems worth it eventually.
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