While many get stressed out and completely drained during the preparation stage of the highly prestigious UPSC Civil Services Examination, Ms Kanika Rathee, kept on hustling even after she was unable to clear prelims thrice. She went on to crack UPSC CSE 2021 with AIR 64 in her fourth attempt. Today, Indian Masterminds, brings her success story of determination and will-power that helped her reach her childhood dream.

BACKGROUND

A resident of Bahadurgarh, Haryana, Ms. Rathee has done her schooling from Bal Bharti school in Bahadurgarh. Further, she has completed her B.Sc. (Mathematics) from Kirori Mal College, Delhi University. Soon after her graduation, she started preparing for the UPSC CSE examination.  

He father is an Engineer and her mother Neelam Tripathi is a teacher in a private school. Ms. Rathee says that she always dreamt of becoming a civil servant. This was her fourth attempt where she managed to clear all the three stages with AIR 64. Her happiness knew no bounds after seeing her result.

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JOURNEY TO UPSC

Ms. Rathee started preparing for UPSC exam in the year 2015 but couldn’t clear the prelims exams in 2016 and 2017. “For continuous two years, when I wasn’t able to clear prelims, I was devasted, so I gave 2-3 other government job exams and I got a job in Ministry of Home Affairs, Patna where I worked there for 2 years,” she said.  

While working, she gave the exam in 2020 but once again couldn’t clear the prelims. Struggling both with her job and preparation, Ms. Rathee had to take a decision, so she resigned from her job and came back to Bahadurgarh and started preparing for the exam and this time whole-heartedly. 

“I took fourth attempt and fortunately, managed to clear the exam and made it to the final list with AIR 64,” she said. This was the first time that she cleared her mains examination.  

She says that her family always supported her decision which motivated her a lot. “My father always kept the relatives’ pressure to his end and never let all the societal pressure reach me,” she added.  

She took coaching for a period of 6-7 months in Karol Bagh, however, after that she started preparing on her own as for her there is no alternative to self-studies and no other guidance or motivation can beat it.

PREPARATION STARATEGY

While speaking about her preparation strategy, Ms. Rathee said that she used to study for 5-6 hours a day and considered revision as the basis of success. She says that aspirants should do a detailed analysis of the exam before starting preparing. 

Stressing on mock tests, Ms. Rathee says that aspirants should take mock tests as a source of content and not to think that these mock tests are very close to the UPSC final paper. “During my earlier preparations, I never took mock tests seriously and gave only 1-2 tests. However, learning from my mistakes, I enriched my notes with those mock tests and managed to clear the prelims exam in my final attempt,” she shared.

CLEAR THOUGHT & GOOD ANALYSIS

Further, she asks the aspirants to keep their sources limited, read current affairs, look after previous years question paper, make notes of optional subject as there are no fixed books for it and practice answer writing. “With a clear thought and a good analysis of this exam, an average student can also clear UPSC. Secondly, have a good command over your English or Hindi skills, in whichever language you want to give the exam as it will help in a long run,” she advises the aspirants.