(Success Story) UPSC 2022 TOPPER, AIR- 11: PARSANJEET KAUR SUCCESS STORY AND TIPS

Parsanjeet Kaur has secured the 11th rank in the UPSC Civil Services examination, 2022. She is a native of Jammu. During an interview by media she said, "she relied on self studies. She didn't attend any coaching. she said, consistency, hard work, time management, and motivational support of her family are her success catalysts".

Educational background

She had completed her schooling from Poonch and graduation from Government Degree College, Poonch. After that she pursued Masters from the University of Jammu. She chooses Zoology as her optional subject. She used to study 7 to 8 hours daily. During her preparation days firstly she focussed on the basic NCERT textbooks. She mentioned that nowadays, questions are coming from pictures and glossaries of new NCERT textbooks. So don't ignore NCERT books at any cost. After completing NCERT, she moved towards the standard textbooks. She also reads the newspapers diligently daily.

Her preparation strategy

Self study

Make a plan and stick to it. It is an integral part of self study. When you are going preparing by yourself, it is important to make a proper schedule and try to stick on it. Aspirants must take some time out to understand and plan their own strategy for the examination. While some pointers from toppers strategy might be useful, but this is an individual journey. So, each aspirant must embark on their own plan and strategy. Find books and resource material that you feel most comfortable using.

Practice more and more

Parsanjeet advised the aspirants before appearing in the actual exam; take mock practice examinations for both the prelims and the mains as much as you can. This will help you to develop confidence and expertise in appropriately structuring your responses.

After giving the mock tests, analyse yourself and find in which areas you are making mistakes.

Strategy for mains answer writing

She advised the aspirants to always try to make relevant flow-charts and diagrams in the answer. Always try to prepare a note on introduction and conclusions for topics that repeat often and static topics of UPSC exam syllabus. This will save a lot of time in the actual exam. Try to cover all the parts of the questions. Always remember if you are going to mention any data, you must mention the source of that data. Current affairs plays a very important role in mains answer writing. She used to interlink the topics of current affairs with static portions.

At last Parsanjeet advised the aspirants, despite there being so many aspirants appearing for the examination, the one thing you should stay away from is feeling the threat of competition. There will be moments of self-doubt come, but the key is to continue to study and stay focussed on the end goal.