The son of a farmer from Barwani district in Madhya Pradesh, Sanchit Sharma, has been highly fascinated by administrative officers all his life. Even during his college days, his interest inclined towards civil services only, and finally, during the Covid-19 pandemic, the young boy decided to try his luck at UPSC Civil Services Examination and began his preparation for the same.
As the world lay in the chaos of the epidemic, Sanchit diverted his entire focus towards his preparation and at the age of just 23, cracked the toughest exam of the nation by securing AIR 92!
Indian Masterminds spoke with him to know more about his journey.
EDUCATION
An academically brilliant student, Sanchit scored 89% in his board exams and secured AIR 1885 in the IIT JEE Advanced examination which helped him in getting into one of the most prestigious colleges in India – IIT Delhi. He completed his B.Tech in Civil Engineering and did his Master’s from IIT as well.
SECOND ATTEMPT
Sanchit gave his first attempt at the UPSC CS Examination in 2021. He qualified for all the rounds except the interview round due to which his name couldn’t come in the final list. However, his family was happy and proud of him as he cracked the Prelims and the Mains in the first attempt itself, at the mere age of 22!
His parents’ happiness and pride motivated Sanchit to prepare once again and give his best this time, so he could clear the interview round as well. He chose Civil Engineering as his optional as he graduated in the same and was a good student of the subject.
CHANGE IN STRATEGY
Sanchit shared that he wasn’t very well aware of CSE when he gave his first attempt. After going through each stage of the examination, he gathered enough information on the kind of preparation that has to be done and the sort of answers that need to be written.
“Being able to give all three phases of the examination in my first attempt made my preparation journey for the second attempt, a tad bit easier. I changed my strategy accordingly and included lots of examples, data, and statistics in my answers, which helped me in clearing the exam,” he told Indian Masterminds.
Sanchit mostly self-studied for the examination and took the help of some coaching for mocks only. In his free time, he loves to mentor young school students and aspirants and guide them in their studies and UPSC preparation. He is also a good harmonium player!
FUTURE PLANS
As an IPS officer, Sanchit looks forward to working for the law and order of the country. He wishes to take on all social ills in society and bridge the gap between the public and police through good community policing.
He also has a message for the upcoming aspirants, in which he shares, “Consistency is the key. Give 10-12 hours of your time to your preparation and you would be able to achieve your goal even without the help of coaching.”
