Hi All,
She came, she saw & she conquered. Aastha Singh is the youngest IAS officer of 2025 Batch (AFAIK). Following is her detailed journey and strategy that helped her clear UPSC CSE-24 at young age of 21 in her very 1st attempt!
A little bit about me-
Hi everyone, I am Aastha Singh. I secured AIR 61 in UPSC CSE 2024. I am 21 years old and this was my first attempt at the examination. I am a resident of Zirakpur, Punjab, however I did most of my schooling in Bhopal and Panchkula. I graduated in BA ( Hons.) Economics from the Shri Ram College of Commerce in 2023. I cleared the HPSC HCS examination in 2024 with AIR 31, and am currently undertraining as an Assistant Excise and Taxation Officer in the Haryana government.
You can contact her on Instagram.
Journey –
Ever since my school days, I was academically inclined. I had been a topper through and through ( with a slight exception of 10th grade, haha). But that didn’t translate into clarity about my career choice- I oscillated between becoming an astronaut to a scientist to a psychiatrist and everything in between. So the journey to deciding that I wanted to give this exam wasn’t so straightforward.
When i was little, my grandfather used to say- “ye collector banegi!”- almost every grandpa’s dream back in Eastern UP (my roots being from Jaunpur, Uttar Pradesh). So the CSE dream was in some way always there at the back of my mind. However, it wasn’t until my 12th boards ended, and I decided for sure this is what I wish to do, this is the career I’ve chosen for myself. I decided to do a degree in Economics, so that I could later comfortably choose economics as my optional for CSE. Fast forward 3 years of college life, most of it sacrificed at the altar of Covid, I graduated in June of 2023.
I moved back home to Zirakpur to prepare, as staying in Delhi, managing n number of variables on top of preparation felt far too overwhelming. I decided not to go for a foundation course because I had less than a year left till my first attempt to complete the entire sea of syllabus. I had a certain level of confidence that given I’m able to identify the right sources, I can finish the syllabus sooner than a full fledged course would allow. There began my UPSC CSE journey, full throttle.
Being from commerce background, I had not faced a competitive exam in my life and there was a fear of sorts regarding it. I didn’t want the CSE prelims to be my debut in this format of exam. I signed up for the HPSC HCS examination, not thinking much of it. I was able to crack the prelims, and then mains and the interview for HCS. CSE 2024 Prelims results were out by 1st July, 2024 and my HCS foundational course started by the first week of August as well. Throughout the month of august, I had very limited time to devote to mains preparation, only being able to do dedicated study of 6-7 hours. It was during this time, I realised the true importance of strategic smart work.
Then came the personality test stage. One of the most interesting and insightful three months of my life. Reading the newspaper for 4-5 hours everyday, and simply interacting with family and friends on issues of importance, spending time with myself and my thoughts- forming opinions, was how my interview preparation went.
Throughout the year-long preparation, I encountered many ups and downs like any other aspirant in this prodigal journey. Keeping consistent despite every variable going bonkers in life is what has enabled me to achieve this feat. As I share my strategy today with you, I would encourage you to only take what suits your already made strategy and leave the rest be. What worked for me, might not work for you- understanding and internalising the importance of making one’s own strategy cannot be underestimated in any case.
Download May 2024 to April 2025 Current Affairs:
Free Current Affairs Compilation for UPSC CSE Prelims 2025
CoachingI or not?/ delhi or home?
- Deciding on joining a coaching institute or not is a very personal decision, which one can only make by understanding their own strengths and weaknesses. I didn’t go for a full time coaching for GS because I believed I could cover the syllabus faster on my own account. Additionally, the plethora of stellar resources available online made self- preparation easier. However, I did enroll in optional coaching ( I took recorded lectures) because I knew I needed some extra help there.
To clarify- even though i didn’t go for a full-on foundation course, I took help from crash courses from coaching institutes from time to time.
- I decided to not go to ORN or Mukherjee nagar for preparation because I needed the comfort of home to do my best at this prep. I didn’t think I could fully devote myself to the preparation if I had to take care of my food, laundry, residence, and sanity all at once while studying- so I prepared from home. But there are many other factors which go into making this decision like- conducive atmosphere for study at home, resource availability in your home town, friends and support system, ease of living, financial situation, etc. So make this decision keeping in mind that most of your time goes into studying and the least is spent on peripheral issues.
PS- if you do decide to prepare from home- don’t develop a FOMO of not being in ORN/mukherjee nagar- digital connectivity and online material can be used so efficiently and fully that your preparation is as comprehensive as anyone else’s.
Daily schedule-
- Initial phase– Since I didn’t have a clearly streamlined course material with me, I had to spend quite some time shortlisting my resources before starting any subject. I did the same by speaking to aspirant friends (my college seniors), scrolling through YouTube and strategy blogs of toppers (full circle moment?)! Barring the days spent strategising, I tried devoting 8-10 hours everyday to studying.
I also made some lifestyle changes, in the form of transitioning from being a night owl during my college days to becoming a morning person now. I used to wake up at 7:30 AM, and would get to studying by 8:30 or 9 am. Rest of the day’s schedule was flexible.
Time division between GS and optional-
For the first three months, I put most of my time in covering my optional in its entirety. Out of the 10 hours, I would spend about 6-7 hours for optional and rest in covering one GS subject at a time. This way it would take me approximately 15 days on average to cover one GS subject.
- Prelims – This was the prime time of my preparation. I would put in 12 hours of study everyday from January 2024 to June 2024 (obviously, there would be days when I couldn’t study for that long or break days). I would also keep some Me- time aside to watch TV shows and spend time with family.
- Mains– As mentioned above- my mains preparation coincided with my HCS training as a result of which i couldn’t sit for long hours to study. For the month of july, I would study for about 8 hours everyday. This was reduced to 6 hours in the month of august once training started as I was engaged there for most part of my day. However, in the last 20 days before the exam, my leave was sanctioned and I could whole-heartedly study for 12-13 hours. Again, during this time as well, I kept time for my hobbies (private concerts for myself) and watching shows that calmed me.
- Personality test– This is a stage where the number of hours does not matter whatsoever, in my opinion. My day started with reading newspapers which took about 5 hours ( I read 2-3 newspapers everyday). Post which, I would do some research on a few hot topics, and prepare components of my DAF thoroughly. Rest of the day went by normally, doing chores and spending time with family when I wasn’t giving mocks. Evenings were dedicated to discussions with my uncle.
Various successful candidates of UPSC CSE-24 were part of Ethics/Essay Modules & Other Initiatives. Some of them, with their clickable feedback, are AIR-2, 28, 32, 35, 53, 54, 55, 57, 61, 72, 91, 119, 217, 219, 247, 256, 261, 287, 299, 328, 351, 450, 525, 579, 590, 728, 813, 871, 905 etc.
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My Books: Current Affairs Prelims 2025, Decode Ethics 2025 Mains, Decode Essay 2025 Mains & Decode CSAT
My Free Initiatives: Free Guidance, Free Current Affairs PDF, YouTube
Prelims strategy–
If you ask me, prelims was my most feared stage in this entire cycle. The sheer uncertainty and increasing unpredictability of prelims had created major confidence issues in me. So the mantra I followed for prelims was – control the controllables!
Hence i focused on-
- Mastering the static portion
- Following one source of current affairs
- Multiple revisions of static and current affairs – I did 3-4 revisions of the entire syllabus
- STICKING to one or two core sources rather than referring to multiple sources for each subject
- Following a schedule to keep my progress in check and check off subject-wise revision in a timely manner- I used Dr. shivin’s prelims planner
- Doing enough number of mocks so as to garner confidence and figure out your pattern of attempting the paper
- PYQs, PYQs and PYQs- I call this the holy grail of this examination, for both the prelims and mains stage. It is rightly pointed out that the only way to predict UPSC’s style of questioning is by an analysis of its own PYQs. I did all PYQs of the past 25 years at least thrice. That helped me understand a number of things-
⁃ The wording of statements helps in elimination- eg: extreme statements are often wrong.
⁃ The favourite areas of UPSC
⁃ What they’re looking for – emphasis is on analytical and in-depth understanding rather than mugged up facts!
⁃ And more than anything- the confidence that comes with being able to do PYQs is a huge boost to prelims prep.
MAY 2025 ONWARDS CURRENT AFFAIRS NOTES
Mindset in prelims/ how I went about it-
It being my first attempt, I knew I had to give prelims the right amount of time and energy it deserved. So I started prelims oriented preparation from the first week of January itself.
I was sure about one thing, that FOMO of new material coming in everyday in the market close to the prelims is a recipe for disaster. So at the onset i clearly outlined my sources for each subject and went for multiple revisions of the same. As a result, by the time prelims came, I was so confident in my static that even with questions I wasn’t 100% sure about, I could intelligently guess the correct answer.
Number of mocks- As i’m sure several toppers before me have said, the number of mocks is very subjective to each person. Till the time you-
- Figure out the range of number of questions you want to attempt
- Minimise your negatives
- Comfortably complete the paper on time with enough time to fleetingly review your answers
- Find a flow in which you wish to attempt the paper- could be subject-wise (eg: polity first, then geography, economy and so on) or from beginning or end of the paper (personally this is how i went about it).
- You somewhat feel confident and satisfied with your paper-solving strategy.
Ps: scores of mocks shouldn’t be overemphasised at, although don’t undervalue them as well. If you’re consistently scoring low, spend time analysing your weaknesses and put conscious effort to improve them.
Mains strategy–
Time was not on my side when it came to Mains 2024. But there were a lot of other things that made mains preparation doable despite the hurdles.
- I had made mains oriented notes for some subjects up until December ( before prelims oriented prep) which made things easier once mains came up. I also referred extensively to notes from my friends for subjects I had left untouched.
- I focussed more on creating a data bank, which I could use across papers. So I made 3-4 page databanks for each paper (GS-1, GS-2, GS-3) containing important data points, committees, quotations and schemes. For GS-4, I made a similar document containing important keywords, examples, definitions (following Mudit Sir’s strategy!).
- Test series- As far as test series are concerned, I didn’t enrol in any. I simply didn’t have the time for the same. So I focussed on PYQ answer writing for each subject as much as I can, and analyse the answers on my own. For tests, I wrote 1 test each for each GS paper and had my friends review it for me! That helped me identify the weak points ( I struggled with crisp introductions and conclusions) and in the remaining days I just focused on improving them.
- Essay- I don’t consider myself capable enough to share a strategy on essay, as I wrote just 1 essay throughout my preparation. Again, I seeked help from my friend’s notes on fodder for essays in the form of anecdotes, quotes, philosophies, etc. In addition to this, I used Mudit Sir’s structures for essay-writing in the main examination.
Sources
- Prelims relevant subjects
| Subject | Sources |
| Polity | 1. Laxmikant for polity 2. NCERT for class XI & XII 3. Magna Carta by Atish Mathur (for mains) |
| Ancient and Medieval History | 1. Poonam Dahiya’s Ancient and Medieval History 2. New NCERTs of class XI & XII 3. Lucent GK’s ancient history portion |
| Modern History | 1. Mahipal Singh Rathore’s YouTube videos for MH 2. Spectrum |
| Art and culture | 1. Nitin Singhania’s art and Culture |
| Geography | 1. Class XI and XII NCERTs 2. GC Leong biomes chapters 3. PMF IAS Physical Geography (majorly for mains) 4. Mapping- Sudarshan Gujjar’s continent-wise mapping and places in news videos |
| Economy | 1. Vivek Singh’s Indian Economy |
| Science and Tech | 1. Shivin Chaudhary’s videos on YouTube |
| Environment | 1. Shivin Chaudhary’s videos on YouTube 2. Species PDF by PMF IAS |
| Current Affairs | 1. Monthly magazines of Vision IAS 2. PT365 of Vision IAS |
- Mains relevant subjects
| Society | Dr. Shivin Chaudhary’s notes |
| World History | 1. Dr. Shivin Chaudhary’s notes 2. Mahipal Singh Rathore’s videos on StudyIQ YT channel |
| Governance | Prahaar of PWOnlyIAS |
| Social issues | No specific source, relied on current affairs and GS knowledge from other subjects |
| Ethics | Mudit Jain sir’s course |
| Essay | Mudit Jain sir’s course |
| Current Affairs | Mains365 and PT365 by Vision IAS |
Optional strategy- ECONOMICS (Paper 1: 131; Paper 2: 133)
I chose Economics as my optional as my graduation was in the subject. It was still not a straightforward choice for me because of the various myths associated with the subject not being scoring, too vast and the paucity of resources (this myth stands corrected). However, I had the right guidance at the right time and found a course that catered to my needs for the subject and so I went for it.
- In the initial months of my preparation, maximum focus was laid at finishing my optional syllabus. I had enrolled in coaching for the same. I took recorded lectures from Rohit Sehrawat Sir (Genuine IAS) and relied completely on it for my optional. It took me 3.5 months to finish one reading of the syllabus, both Paper 1 and 2 combined. ( few topics were left untouched which i got to post prelims result).
- While covering the syllabus for the first time itself, I wrote the answers to all PYQs ( not in a time bound manner), just to see if I understood the topic in its entirety. This helped me later when I was revising my optional during Mains as I could just read the answers of PYQs and holistically revise the subject matter through them.
- Paper 1 : Paper 1 was comparatively harder for me as there are several complex economic models and terminology requiring in-depth understanding therefore i spent a larger amount of my time towards paper 1. I used to watch video lectures, then read class notes and then make my own notes for a topic, with relevant graphs, followed by PYQs. Closer to mains, I made a second set of very very concise notes containing just definitions and graphs, which I would revise a day or hours before the exam.
- Paper 2: Preparation for Paper-2 was quite interesting. I followed the same Videos-> Notes-> self notes mantra here. On top of this, closer to mains, I made a database of important statistics, data points, growth rates and also important economists and their observations related to each topic. Eg: Ashok gulati in agricultural reforms
- Test series: I joined the test series of Rohit Sehrawat sir itself. In the months leading up to mains, I used to do topic wise daily answer writing (4-5 questions each day). Post which, I did 3 tests each for Paper 1 and Paper 2. Few days before the exam, I would revise these tests as well.
Note Making:
PRELIMS–
Frankly, one of the most difficult decisions to make in this preparation. As a general rule of thumb, one must not make notes in the first reading of a subject. Going one level deeper, as per my personal experience, note making for prelims isnt per say necessary. Most of the sources such as Laxmikant, NCERTs for geography, etc. need to be read cover to cover, so usually notes become redundant.
What I do advise is to make notes purely for the parts that are difficult to grasp for you. For example, I especially struggled with the committees for appointment of members/ chairmans for various statutory bodies in polity. So I made a cheat sheet for the same. Additionally I used such cheat sheets and flowcharts for history, COPs in environment and so on.
MAINS–
Note-making goes a long way in Mains. The notes I made for GS-1, 2 and 3 back in 2023 also helped me greatly in the weeks before mains. So making paper-wise notes is advisable. You must atleast have 1-2 pages of notes on each topic mentioned in the syllabus and topics reflecting in PYQs.
Current Affairs notes?
I personally do not find notes on current affairs useful for the prelims and mains stage. Monthly magazines and year-long compilations that you’re referring to should suffice, given you do multiple revisions of them. However for the interview stage, having short notes on hot topics at the time can prove immensely helpful in preparing a multi-dimensional opinion/answer.
My final two cents on this preparation!
There is never going to be a level playing field for everyone in this examination. People face multiple personal, professional, economic, societal ordeals throughout this preparation which are very personal to them. A lot of us might not be able to afford quality coaching or the luxury of staying in Delhi. All this can seem like a disability in your prep, but IT IS ALL ABOUT MINDSET. Make the most of what you have- exploit digitally available resources to the fullest, free resources, guidance from fellow aspirants and trust me, that should do the trick.
Throughout this preparation, there is an all-pervasive fear of failure. And let’s be honest, failure is a more likely outcome than success in this examination. But, that shouldn’t deter us from giving our best to this, giving all we have to crack this exam once and for all. If two years ago, someone asked me if I think I will crack this exam in my first attempt, I would laugh it off. But it happened. And if it can happen for me, it can happen for any of you! The only key- consistency, belief in yourself, and honest to god hard-work. Godspeed! You got this.
You can contact her on Instagram.
Various successful candidates of UPSC CSE-24 were part of Ethics/Essay Modules & Other Initiatives. Some of them, with their clickable feedback, are AIR-2, 28, 32, 35, 53, 54, 55, 57, 61, 72, 91, 119, 217, 219, 247, 256, 261, 287, 299, 328, 351, 450, 525, 579, 590, 728, 813, 871, 905 etc.
My 2026 Modules: Current Affairs 2026 Prelims + Mains, Ethics Classes, Ethics Test Series, Ethics Classes + Ethics Test Series, Essay Classes + Test Series, Ethics + Essay Bundle
Ethics Module 2025-26 Detailed Plan: 281 Pages, 776 Examples, 78 PYQs, 27 Applied Ethics Issues, 18 Answer Templates. Click Here to Download the Detailed Planner
My Books: Current Affairs Prelims 2025, Decode Ethics 2025 Mains, Decode Essay 2025 Mains & Decode CSAT
My Free Initiatives: Free Guidance, Free Current Affairs PDF, YouTube
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