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(Success Story) UPSC 2021 TOPPER, AIR-20 Arpit Chauhan’s Winning Strategy for Cracking IAS Exams

Arpit Chauhan has secured the 20th rank in the UPSC Civil Services Examination, 2021. He is a native of Uttarakhand. He gave his first attempt in 2019 but failed in prelims. In 2020, he secured an AIR 297 rank in his second attempt. He was selected for the Indian Defence Account Service. Finally in 2021, he cracked the UPSC exam with All India Rank 20th. During an interview by India Today he said, “Somewhere in the seven or eighth grade, he knew that he have to appear for the UPSC exam in the future. He started exploring the pattern of exam when he entered the engineering college for his graduation. In the last year of his graduation, he started preparing for the UPSC exam ".

EDUCATIONAL BACKGROUND AND HIS UPSC JOURNEY

He did his schooling from Kashipur, a city in his district. He completed his B.Tech in Mechanical Engineering from Govind Ballabh Pant University of Agriculture and Technology, Uttarakhand. He started his preparation for the Civil Services Examination. He didn't join any coaching and just focused on self study. After his graduation he gave his first attempt but didn't qualify. He chose PSIR as his optional subject. After learning from the mistakes that he made in the first attempt, worked on it and he got 297th rank in his second attempt. Finally, he secured the All India Rank 20th in his third attempt and his childhood dream to become an IAS officer has turned into a reality.

ARPIT CHAUHAN'S UPSC PREPARATION STRATEGY

BE SELECTIVE WHILE CHOOSING THE STUDY MATERIALS

There is an abundance of study material available in the market and Online also. It is very difficult to cover the content of lots of resources in a limited time period. He advised the aspirants, they must keep in mind that it is better to stick to specific resources and revise their content more rather than referring to too many books. Study material should be a wise mix of textbooks, NCERT books, one standard book of each subject, online sources, newspaper notes, PYQS and one current affairs magazine. You need to finish your syllabus, not all the books. Most important be consistent and disciplined towards your preparation.

OPTIONAL STRATEGY

He chose PSIR as his optional subject because it overlaps with GS mains paper 2 and most importantly, his interest in it. He didn't take any coaching. He just solely relies on the books and other materials which are available in the market and Online. He followed the IGNOU PSIR material and some important books. He also followed Subhra Ranjan's PSIR handwritten notes. Apart from that he read the newspaper regularly. He also focused on notes making, solving PYQS and most important frequent revision.

HOW TO DO REVISION IN AN EFFECTIVE MANNER?

Arpit said, revision is the key in UPSC exam. He suggested trying to keep revisions every Sunday or at least once in 15 days. This will help you revise the topics quickly and keep you boosted with the right energy. If you end up thinking you will finish the entire syllabus first and then start with revision this will never work. Do the multiple revisions as much as you can.

At last, Arpit advised the aspirants to do the mock tests regularly, solve the PYQS and as much revision as you can. Just focus on your goal and don’t get discouraged if you don’t succeed. Again prepare for the exam with full enthusiasm.