Satyam Gandhi, a resident of Samastipur, Bihar, is one of those rare UPSC aspirants who topped this exam at the very first attempt and that too by relying effectively on self-study. He is a pass out of Kendriya Vidyalaya, and did his BA (Hon.) in Political Science from Delhi University. Despite moving next to Rajaji Nagar, Delhi, in his final year of college, Satyam chose the location, not for easy access to coaching classes, but the variety of coaching and UPSC study material available in the area. In the end, his gamble paid off, and this 22-year-old is one of the youngest successful aspirants this year.

Starting Tips By Satyam Gandhi For Cracking UPSC Exam

Satyam maintains time management is key to being successful in this examination. Once you have familiarized yourself with the basics of the upsc exam, it is time to plan your goals and strategy. Satyam recommends studying 10 to 12 hours at least every day to ensure you do justice to this examination. He followed the basic books such as Spectrum for History, Laxmikanth for Polity, etc. What he did concentrate on were multiple revisions. And take as many tests as possible. And this is where the time management tricks come to play.

Time Management Tips

Due to Covid, Satyam did get a little more time than he anticipated, but towards the beginning, that did not affect his timetable. 

He divided his time broadly into 3 slots 

1. May 2019 to January 2020
2. February 2020 to October 2020
3. and then again October 2020 to January 2021.

During the first slot between May 2019 and January 2020, he studied the basic upsc books and revised them again and again, while making notes specific to mains preparation. Between February and October, Satyam did keep his revision strategy for upsc mains on the sides. But mainly concentrated on solving mock papers for prelims. This helped him ensure he did not fail at cracking the preliminary stage. Between October and January, his whole dedication went to mains again.

Daily Timetable

In the first three months, 9 hours of your daily time should be devoted to UPSC Prelim specific static study using standard sources. Devote the one hour outstanding to reading the daily news. For the next six months, 5 to 6 hours of your daily study time should now go into revising the same materials, both static and current. 4 hours should be dedicated to making mains specific notes following each topic mentioned in the syllabus. And then in the following 4 months, you will dedicate half your day to solving mock tests, and the other half analysing and revising prelims specific material.

Tips To Aspirants

Satyam warns aspirants that distractions are easily found in this day and age of social media. Aspirants must ensure they give up on such avenues for a year or two if they truly want to pursue their dream.

Best of Luck.

© IASEXAMPORTAL

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD UPSC TOPPERS NOTES

UPSC Exam Complete Study Materials

Dr Apala Mishra, a dental surgeon, joins the rank of a long list of medical professionals who have chosen civil services as their career. Apala has created quite the stir by scoring a whopping 215 out of 300 in the UPSC personality test/interview round, making her the top scorer in this last stage of the examination. 2020 was Apala's first time clearing prelims and she made it to the top of the list by securing an all India rank of 9. This was also her 3rd attempt; however, this is her first serious attempt as well.

Why Civil Services?

Apala decided on pursuing civil services in her final year of graduation. She says she chose this path once she realised the varied scope and wide opportunity that this career allows one to pursue, where they can impact a much larger section of society than they ever could as professionals in their respective field. Apala's choice of service is the Indian Foreign Service, which she chose so that she can represent our country's interests on a global platform.

How Dr Apala Mishra Topped UPSC CSE 2020

1. Science Students Are Not At A Disadvantage

As a STEM background student, Apala was initially intimidated by the number of humanities subjects she would have to deal with to be successful in this examination. But she soon realised that the strength of humanities subjects such as society, polity, international relations, etc. lies in the fact that they can be easily connected to real-life scenarios. Besides, as adults of a certain age, we can grasp any subject given we put enough time and effort into it.

2. Self Study Can Be Enough 

The next hurdle of course is grasping basic expertise over these subjects. Although guidance is a helpful tool, Apala truly believes that in the end, it is hard work and dedication that pays off. As a result, she is a believer in self-study. 

3. Conquering The Syllabus One Bit At A Time

Apala also realises how massive a goal cracking UPSC CSE is and how looking at the bigger picture in this scenario can be crippling. She recommends breaking UPSC Syllabus down into smaller weekly and monthly targets and celebrating with small breaks and activities one enjoys after achieving each of these goals. This will allow one to keep focussed and motivated, without losing hope.

4. Preparing For Prelims+Mains+Interview Together

Under no circumstances should an aspirant look at the three stages of the examination as separate when preparing. All information one needs for mains is relevant in both prelims and interviews. It is only a matter of perspective. Besides, there is not enough time gap between the three stages to allow for separate approaches. Another important part is answer writing – start with it as soon as you finish one section; do not wait till you are one with the whole syllabus.

Message For Aspirants

Apala has a fair warning to all aspirants that this examination takes a toll on everyone's mental health. 

So remember to take care and prioritise yourself.

Best of Luck.

© IASEXAMPORTAL

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD UPSC TOPPERS NOTES

UPSC Exam Complete Study Materials