(Success Story) UPSC 2020 TOPPER, Mamta Yadav's (Rank-5) Strategy To Cracking UPSC CSE Every Time

The first one to become an Indian Administrative Officer(IAS) from the village of Basai, a small hamlet near Delhi, Mamta Yadav has done the unthinkable – she has cracked the prestigious UPSC Civil Services Examination in both her attempts. In her first attempt in 2019, she secured an all India rank of 556 and secured a position with the Indian Railways Personnel Services. She appeared for her 2nd attempt in 2020 while serving as an officer with the services. This time, she achieved her dream of becoming an IAS officer.

How Mamta Started Her Journey

Mamta is a graduate in Physics from Hindu College under Delhi University and thus from a core science background. To get a hang of the humanities subjects in the UPSC Civil Services examination, Mamta enrolled with Vajiram and Ravi soon after her graduation. However, she opted to cover her Physics optional on her own. In her second attempt, however, she decided to proceed with self-study. But she took test series mocks for both her prelims and mains examinations.

AIR-5 Mamta Yadav's Strategy

Mamta offers a few valuable steps that every aspirant, especially beginners, should follow to ensure they stand the best possible chance at cracking this exam.

Know the exam and steer clear of confusion – The internet is full of white noise and the people around you will all have different opinions. This can lead to confusion in a new aspirant. But one can navigate this by doing your research. Lookup a few topper's strategies and direction by popular institutes. Stick to the most popular and long-proven advice. For example, Mamta did not deviate from the standard books recommended by toppers and institutes alike such as Spectrum for History, Laxmikanth for Polity, NCERTs for Geography and Economics, Shankar IAS for the environment, etc.

The syllabus and previous year's questions are your guides – Follow the topics in the syllabus diligently. Solve at least all papers starting from 2013. One or two questions at the least are repeated each year. Besides, the previous year's questions allow you to understand how to study the material in the syllabus and what kind of knowledge UPSC expects you to have.
Solve as many UPSC mock tests as possible – Mamta advises aspirants to take as many mock tests as possible. This will allow you to understand your strengths and weaknesses and you will be able to further tailor your strategy as per your needs. Mamta believes one of the reasons for her lower rank in 2019 was her not taking enough mock tests, including those for essays and ethics papers. This is a mistake that she rectified in this attempt and the resultant success is out there for all to see.
Revision is key to cracking prelims – Multiple revisions are what allow an aspirant to cover that extra mile needed to crack the often unpredictable preliminary examination. Mamta recommends revising the static portion at least 5 to 6 times before the prelims exam and paying extra attention to related current affairs.