Many try their luck in UPSC Civil Services Examination, but only a few clears the tough examination. And they do so with consistent hard work and patience, never losing focus on their goal. There are some who flounder on the way, who fail in their attempts, but, nevertheless, they still don’t give up till they reach their destination. They learn from their mistakes, analyse what went wrong, and makes the next attempt with better preparation and greater determination.
Indian Masterminds brings to you the success story of a girl who similarly took lessons from her mistakes, rather than join coaching institutes to learn from them, and cleared UPSC CSE examination in her second attempt without any outside help.
BACKGROUND
Hailing from Jamshedpur, IAS officer Saloni Verma was brought up in Delhi. She bagged AIR 70 in her second attempt without ever taking help from any coaching institute. She completed her graduation from Hindu College, Delhi University in English Literature.
FIRST ATTEMPT
She made her first attempt at UPSC CSE in her third year of graduation. But her preparation was not a focused one. In her own words, someday she used to study while the other days she used to hangout with her college mates. Apart from this, she wasn’t really aiming for the ultimate goal. She just wanted to test the waters by clearing prelims and then focus on the other phases in the later stage.
This kind of half-hearted approach towards her preparation stopped her from clearing the exam in her first attempt in 2018.
SECOND ATTEMPT
However, Ms. Verma took this failure in a positive way and started analysing what went wrong, what were her weakest areas. In this way, she learnt a lot about the preparation, how to improve it and where to make the improvements. She realised all her faults and mistakes and changed herself to become more focused and disciplined towards her goal.
This time she set two goals, the first one was to dedicate herself to her studies and the second was to see the larger picture for her future. This approach worked as she cleared the UPSC CSE exam her second attempt with AIR 70.
PREPARATION STRATEGY
For her second attempt, Ms. Verma prepared for her prelims and mains exam together. She covered all the topics of the syllabus. Apart from this, she also practiced test series and attempted mock tests frequently. She was determined to crack the exam the second time and prepared in the best possible way on ger own without the help of any coaching institute.
HER TAKE ON COACHING
According to her, one does not need to be a part of any coaching institute to clear UPSC exam. She had told media soon after her success: “You can join coaching if you don’t get the right guidance, but success will come only through hard work, self-study and determination.”
ADVICE TO ASPIRANTS
Ms. Verma advises young aspirants to not stick to any particular preparation strategy, instead they should follow different preparation methods which are suitable for them. She feels this is going to help them in the long run.
She said, “I wasn’t sure whether I would clear the prelims or not and was having doubts. But still, I prepared for the optional subject, ethics and a few more topics because these topics are going to be the same next year as well.”
Her words of advice and approach towards the exam can be a guiding light for those aspirants who are preparing for CSE on their own. She is also of the opinion that it doesn’t matter if one fails, one can always give another attempt. What is important is self-belief and to have faith in oneself, and things will automatically get easier.
