Dr. Anshu Priya has secured the 16th rank in the UPSC Civil Services Examination, 2021. She is a native of Bihar. She belongs to the medical field but later she chose the Civil Services. In the first two attempts she didn't qualify the UPSC Exam, but in 2021, she cracked the UPSC examination with All India Rank 16 in her third attempt. During an interview she said, “Her motivation for joining the civil services is many folds. During her MBBS period, she had much rural visiting in which she had to go to the ground level and address people’s issues. She thought that there are so many things which can be done at the ground level, but it won’t be possible by only being a doctor. She decided to chose Civil Services.

EDUCATIONAL BACKGROUND AND HER UPSC JOURNEY

She completed her schooling in Bihar. After that she went to Kota for the Preparation of medical entrance examination. After qualifying the entrance exam, she took the admission in MBBS at AIIMS Patna. After her graduation she also worked as a Resident Doctor at AIIMS, Patna. After completing her residency, she started preparing for the UPSC Civil Services Examination. She chose Medical Science as her optional subject. In the first two attempts, she didn't even qualify the prelims exam. After that she moved to Delhi to get the idea of UPSC examination. She joined the coaching. When she didn’t qualify exam in her first attempt she decided to leave her job and focused only on the preparation. Finally in 2021, she cracked the UPSC exam with flying colours. 

ANSHU PRIYA'S UPSC PREPARATION STRATEGY

READING NEWSPAPER IS VERY IMPORTANT

Anshu advised the aspirants don't take the newspaper lightly. Newspapers are very important for the Civil Services Examination. She said aspirants can read the newspaper ‘The Hindu’ and the explanation page of ‘The Indian Express’. With newspaper follow one current affairs magazine. It will help you in mains examination. Anshu said, she used to read the newspaper digitally and took screenshots of most important articles. She revised those articles before Preliminary Examination. 

DON'T IGNORE THE PYQS

Anshu said before starting the preparation one should get hold of the two most important things that will help you in sailing through this examination. Those two things are the syllabus and the previous year question papers. The syllabus will draw the arena for you and the PYQs will help you draw the core area for your civil services preparation. Don't ignore it. She said practicing PYQS gives a sense of confidence. 

OPTIONAL STRATEGY FOR MEDICAL SCIENCE

As she chose Medical Science as her optional subject she said, many candidates have a question, is medical science a worth optional for medical student. Anshu said, she think it is. During an MBBS period, aspirants already read basic books. If they read basic books, they also don't require any coaching. With books she used to take help from the internet such as the WHO/ Medscape website etc. She also followed the some videos of Anand Sharma sir on YouTube in which he has discussed the keywords of medical science questions and how to approach them. She joined a test series also because paper in medical science is generally lengthy so practice a lot as much you can.

She used flow charts, diagrams in her answers. She advised the aspirants, they can collect all these flow charts and all from their basic books and compile at one place. Further she added, diagrams are very imp in Anatomy / Physio.

DON'T  UNDERESTIMATE THE IMPORTANCE OF CSAT PAPER

Anshu said; the CSAT Paper is very important, so don't underestimate it. UPSC CSAT is a qualifying paper Prelims Exam. However, it is important to score 66+ marks out of 200 to ensure selection in Prelims. In one of her attempts, she couldn't clear the CSAT Paper. She focused more on it by practicing many mock test papers.

At last, Anshu advised the aspirants that UPSC is a long journey, stay positive during the preparation phase. Just focus on your goal and keep struggling consistently.

Anshu wishes you all the best.

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