(Success Story) UPSC 2020 TOPPER, Jagrati Awasthi (Rank-02) Strategy To Crack IAS Exam

UPSC Civil Services Examination 2020 results are out and the second place has been secured by Jagrati Awasthi from Madhya Pradesh. Like many other Civil Servants, Jagrati is an engineer from Maulana Azad National Institute of Technology (MANIT). She was working at Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd (BHEL) but quit her job to pursue her childhood dream of becoming a district collector and working towards social upliftment.

Never Give Up

Despite her lofty dreams, Jagrati's first attempt did not go as planned. However, that only strengthened her resolve. When the COVID pandemic hit, instead of feeling bewildered at the sudden change of her situation, Jagrati worked even harder in the time that the pandemic allowed students to have due to exam postponements. Looking around her and seeing so many people suffer only gave her more motivation to achieve her dreams and help those in need.

Jagrati Awasthi's Strategy

Jagrati swears by her 8-10-12-14 approach to preparing for UPSC. The idea is to strengthen your preparation by gradually increasing your study time and thus allowing your brain to process more information for a longer duration of time. She started by devoting 8 to 10 hours each day, gradually increasing it to 12 to 14 hours two months before the examination. And although this may sound daunting, the gradual process allowed her to do this with much more ease than expected.

IAS Notes Resources And Booklist

Jagrati stuck to the standard resources for her core preparation as follows –

Modern history - Spectrum
Ancient and Medieval History - NCERT Class 12 Our Past I and II
Art and Culture - Coaching notes + NCERT 11 and 12
Geography - NCERT 11 and 12
Environment - Shankar IAS
Polity - Laxmikant
Economics - NCERT Class 11 and 12 + Mrunal notes
Science and Tech - Current Affairs Sources
Current Affairs - The Hindu + Vision IAS Monthly Magazine

UPSC Prelims Strategy

The key to qualifying prelims as per Jagrati is to attempt as many mock tests as one can. Jagrati attempted several previous year's papers and took multiple test series, concentrated around the last two or three months before the prelims exam and it helped her understand how exactly to solve the multiple-choice challenge UPSC sets in the form of the preliminary exam. Jagrati emphasizes taking a few CSAT papers too as it can make or break your selection.

UPSC Mains Strategy

No matter how well-read and knowledgeable someone is, until and unless they can write cohesive answers, UPSC mains is impossible to crack. It is necessary to supplement your prelims knowledge with more facts and figures, and other related sources for mains and this, Jagrati chose to use Vision IAS's Mains 365 series as well as IAS Baba's TLP Series for Mains. This taught her how to write well-structured answers within the given timeframe and allowed her to score as well as she did.

IAS Interview Tips

The secret to a good interview performance is understanding how everything you read for UPSC prelims and Mains applies to the everyday world and the news of today. Jagrati recommends day to day vigilance to come across as the right candidate to the interview panel. Cracking UPSC allows you to touch and change many lives. Allow this thought to motivate you during this difficult journey.

Best of Luck.

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