Navita Kumari: A Working Professional's Journey to AIR-251 in CSE

Navita Kumari achieved an impressive All India Rank of 251 in CSE-22. Her journey to success was not without challenges, as she faced initial setbacks in the form of four unsuccessful attempts at clearing the Prelims. Undeterred, Navita persevered, and in her fifth attempt, she triumphed in the CSE-22. Her path to success was accompanied by a comprehensive strategy and valuable learnings in tackling the Prelims, Mains, and Sociology.

Introduction

Navita, for securing an impressive All India Rank of 251 in UPSC CSE 2022 with Sociology as your optional subject. You have an exceptional academic background, having completed chemical engineering from Harcourt Butler Technological University, Kanpur. Your dedication and hard work are evident from your successful 10-year stint in renowned companies like SHELL INDIA, CAIRN INDIA LTD, and TATA CHEMICALS LTD.

Despite a thriving career in your core field within the corporate sector, you decided to take a leap of faith in 2018 and pursue your destiny with civil services, seeking a deeper sense of contentment. Your determination has led you to remarkable achievements in the prestigious UPSC examination.

In my 5th attempt, I finally achieved success in the UPSC CSE, overcoming the challenges I faced in the previous attempts. The failures in the Prelims made me realize the importance of solving full-length mock papers, analyzing previous year’s questions, and not neglecting certain subjects like medieval and ancient history. Additionally, managing a full-time job alongside my preparation put immense time pressure on me. However, I rectified these areas of improvement, improved my time management, and successfully cleared the cut-off not only for civil services but also for the Forest service.

Prelims Strategy

DO’S

I have developed a thorough command over the static syllabus, particularly in History, Polity, Economy, Environment, and Geography. My consistent efforts have strengthened my subject knowledge, allowing me to excel in these areas and be well-prepared for the challenges of the examination.
To stay updated with current affairs, I focus on reading one newspaper (The Hindu/Indian Express) with in-depth analysis of relevant articles. Daily, I make it a point to solve MCQs based on current affairs to reinforce my understanding. At the end of each month, I revise by referring to a comprehensive monthly compilation, ensuring I stay well-prepared for the examination.
Solving mock papers from multiple institutes is highly crucial, and I recommend attempting more than 40 tests. These practice tests not only aid in learning the elimination trick but also make it easier to remember facts in the question-answer format, enhancing overall exam preparation.
I strongly advise solving at least 15 years of previous year question papers (PYQs). Additionally, it’s essential to delve deep into all the options provided in the questions, as they have the potential to be repeated in the current year’s examination. This thorough approach ensures comprehensive preparation and better performance in the exam.
Revise solutions of Mock test from standard books rather than simply referring to answer booklets.
Try to attempt at least 45 questions in CSAT , first identify easier ones and attempt maximum from Maths & reasoning as they have higher accuracy.

DONT’S

Don’t refer multiple resources , rather have limited resources and revise multiple times.
Don’t ignore CSAT , attempt practice test in time bound manner.
Don’t leave any subject as there might be easiest question from that particular subject.

Prelims Booklist

Polity: Laxmikant
Modern History: Spectrum
Art and Culture: Nitin Singhania (selective chapters) , Fine Arts NCERT
Ancient and Medieval: Old NCERT
Science and Technology: IAS Next Study Materials, VISION IAS Material, BYJUs prelims Q/A series
Environment: IAS NEXT, Shankar and PMFIAS
Economy: Sudhanshu Mishra Lectures on IAS Next, Nitin Singhania, Mrunal sir lectures on Unacademy
Geography: NCERT, GC LEONG (Selective chapters)

Mains Strategy

Mains examination is the most significant stage that assures one’s selection. At this stage not only knowledge is tested but how articulative and analytical one can be in writing answers is gauged.

Hereby I am mentioning few tricks that helped me to score 441 marks in GS :-

Start every answer with basic definition , facts , figures , ranking etc quoted by some report or committee.
Address main demand of the question in the body of answer and in short also mention some other fringe information (e.g. – challenges , opportunities etc)
Try to make conclusion solution oriented with way forward.
Write answers in bullet points , use flow charts , cyclic diagrams etc to have better visibility.
Attempt all questions, even those on which you have feeble knowledge.
Use quotes , renowned personality sayings etc for ethics paper.
Don’t compartmentalize syllabus , do cross linking across all the papers.
Give Mock tests ,at least two for each GS in a time bound manner.
Make short /crisp notes on keywords for ready reference , also use newspaper current affairs articles extensively. It will do extra value addition.
Try solving 3-4 questions daily after prelims and give at least one test every week.
Solve previous year questions as they might get repeated.

GS2 (How I scored 127?)

GS 2 mainly covers Polity ,IR and Governance. And for each of these subjects I prepared by referring to following resources:-

Polity :- Laxmikant was the only book that I read for both prelims and mains. Try to use article nos. wherever possible, mention. For value addition I referred vision IAS material and made my own notes from daily newspaper. Newspaper gives ample examples which can set apart your answers from others.
Governance :- I read only Vision IAS material and 2nd ARC report ( summary only). Also use ethics paper content here as well.
IR :- Used Mains 365 extensively and done value addition by making crisp notes from Sansad TV (Diplomatic dispatch) and FIRSTPOST(Vantage).

Mains Booklist

For Mains I referred standard books of prelims only along with Vision IAS value addition notes and Vision Mains 365.
For Ethics – also referred solved model answers of Forum IAS and Vision IAS test series.
Also referred to IAS NEXT Mains Test series videos in which subject wise important questions were discussed.

Sociology Strategy

Sociology is a highly scoring optional that offers benefits in GS1 and Essays as well. Previous year questions played a crucial role, particularly in paper 1, as they tend to reappear in some form. Enriching answers with quotes from thinkers, current affairs examples, village studies, etc., can earn additional marks. Using flow charts can also enhance the representation of answers. Unlike GS answers that require breadth, the optional subject demands a certain level of depth in responses.