I failed in my first 4 Prelims because I ignored... | Akanchha Singh AIR 44, UPSC CSE 2023

In this enlightening episode, we have with us Akanchha Singh, who secured All India Rank 44 in the UPSC Civil Services Exam 2023 on her 5th attempt. Akanksha shares her comprehensive preparation strategy, from meticulously starting mains preparation well before prelims to balancing a full-time academic job. She also discusses the mental and emotional aspects of preparing for such a demanding exam, emphasizing the importance of self-care and maintaining a healthy mindset. Tune in to gain valuable insights fromAkanchha’s journey and her advice for future aspirants.
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00:00 Intro
00:45 About Akanchha singh
01:25 Akanchha never missed a mock test.
05:00 When did she start her preparation?
06:42 Why different did she do in her 5th attempt?
09:03 How to tackle new pattern of UPSC Prelims
10:33 Jo humare hath me hai usi pe or dalna chayiye
12:40 Mindset during the 5th attempt: PYQs zindabad
14:10 How should you analyze PYQ's for Prelims?
16:07 PYQ's for Mains?
17:27 How to break a mains question?
20:19 Note making for Mains
22:42 Managing job and UPSC
24:53 Motivation to continue preparing for UPSC
26:06 Is doing BA, MA, M.Phil worth it?
27:58 How to prepare for Geography optional
29:20 Tips for students taking geography optional
33:10 Why did she choose UPSCprep.com?
34:58 Experience of interview
37:00 How helpful was your experience of teaching?
38:00 Simplifying Essays
40:20 Advice to someone preparing for prelims 2024
41:42 Should you make notes for Prelims?
42:55 What would she recommend to working candidates?
44:12 Mental & Physical health
46:25 Having a relationship while preparation
48:47 Dealing with uncertain future
50:20 Something for the aspirants
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UPSC Civil Services Exam is one of the most prestigious exams in the country. It has three parts, the Prelims exam, the Main exam and the Personality test, which you need to clear in order to become an IAS or IPS officer. All other Group A services of the Government of India recruit people through the UPSC Civil services exam itself and because of this, there is a lot of competition in this exam. Hence, your UPSC preparation should be strategic, informed and well planned.
Your UPSC preparation should not be based on blind adherence to any program. Rather you should give a thought about how your are preparing. The best way to go forward is to study the blogs and tips given by previous year toppers about how to go about UPSC CSE for all three stages of UPSC Prelims, UPSC Mains and the Personality test also known as the UPSC Interview, and then make your UPSC preparation strategy accordingly.
Doing static subjects like polity, economy, environment, geography and history for your UPSC preparation is a solid bet to increase your chances of clearing this exam. But this must all be supplemented by current affairs for best effect.
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[@Marathisahitybama5907]

She is such a gem! Everything she told is with practicality and honesty Must watch - who r thinking to leave the job. Bcz what she told is 100% true. It's very stressful when you r not employed. It bothers a lot. Plz don't leave job for UPSC especially if u not from too wealthy family. Thank u sir. U asked just perfect questions.

[@Abhishek_Edits_18]

00:02 Changed focus from failure to learning 02:24 Regular practice of answer writing helped me clear Prelims 07:32 Consistently attempting mock tests and increasing knowledge base helped in achieving a high score. 09:42 Key to success is to be fearless and confident in your journey 14:01 Focus on analyzing each option for UPSC prelims strategy 16:29 Addressing the question correctly is crucial for UPSC preparation 20:36 Importance of making notes for UPSC Mains prep 22:36 Balancing full-time job with UPSC preparation 26:27 Professional degrees are better than conventional degrees 28:30 Recommended books for Geography Optional and exam preparation. 32:19 The importance of good answer writing for scoring high in Geography optional 34:11 Preparing for UPSC interview and managing time effectively 38:06 Approaching essay topics with a game-like perspective can be effective 40:07 Tips for latecomers and beginners for UPSC CSE 2024 Prelims 44:01 Managing mental health and emotions is critical during UPSC journey. 45:53 Physical health is important for productivity 49:54 Understanding the difference between being alone and lonely is crucial for the journey of UPSC preparation 00:00 Ignoring current affairs led to failure in prelims Crafted by Merlin AI.

[@anirudhcr7427]

for leaving the job depends from scenario to scenario and person to person if doing the job is making you less serious about your preparation because every month x amount is being credited to your bank account it makes you chill and also some people don't have the background related to arts subject so they need time to grasp and prepare optional so in that case you can take a gap from a job for 2 yrs and should give your attempt wholeheartedly because it increases your chances.

[@Winner_1111]

Great help

[@DNR408]

Very very helpful please continue such Sir thank you so much. Very Insightful from Mam!

[@AryanKumar-wn7qd]

Thanks sir... Is video se bhut fayda mila

[@pradipkumar9088]

excellent conversation gives us many hints what to do as IAS/ UPSC asoirants . thanks a lot sir.

[@Pragya_453]

the way sir asks question is really engaging and helpful

[@Banita37]

Thank you sir

[@ArnoldBumstead-zz4xj]

She is professor of my college

[@Herorajatsharma]

Which Colllege

[@ArnoldBumstead-zz4xj]

SS memorial college Ranchi kanke

[@Prepwithsid]

Really?

[@ArnoldBumstead-zz4xj]

@@Prepwithsid ya bro she teaches geography

[@rutomeds]

That's cool homie, I hope she's doing well. Congrats to her for the success! I hope you learn a lot of things from her too. Wish you luck

[@ArnoldBumstead-zz4xj]

She is professor in SS memorial college ranchi

[@dheerajsingh5035]

Wow❤ Kitna accha bolti hai🥰

[@VISHALYADAV-zk6ri]

Thanks Mr yadav sir

[@rachanamodak6372]

45:49 IMPORTANT health

[@anandakhanda1720]

Mera story exact same hai apke sath🙏🙏

[@rupsikhakalita2810]

Thank you for the interview. It is really inspirng. This yr I m giving my 3rd attempt. I m also working as an asst. prof at a govt. clg. I did my masters from JNU. Like she said I was also in the misconception that I will clear upsc pre easily as I cleared JNU entrance, UGC NET in very first attempt. But reality is different. Since a few months I was very confused regarding my dcsn of joining my job. But thanks to this interview, I m more sure that I took the right dcsn by taking the job. Thank you ma'am and thank you sir for this interview

[@ZoldicsDiaries]

Professor job is not stressful

[@rupsikhakalita2810]

Ya comparatively less stressful but imagine when u have to go on lok sabha election duty and then the clg has NAAC peer team visit and u are given many new responsibilities. So sometimes it gets stressful. And when we see full time aspirants we feel guilt for not being able to give maximum time for prep

[@yuktachauhan2241]

Helpful session.

[@Dsyednavaz]

Hi bhaiya iam navaz tell about weekend coaching classes for engineering students pls bhaiya iam unable to understand the terms and iam at worst of vocabulary I learn 10 pages in 15 days by understanding all words with the help of dictionary I just need how to improve the vocabulary of English pls bhaiya

[@124_vishaltaware8]

Pleases make detailed video of upsc cbi ldce examination ,very less information has on internet

[@superyoutube2944]

21:53 sources

[@user-pp3im6hf1d]

19:44 answer writing ✍️

[@mr.rachetphilanthrophist601]

She should've said more about that france question, their secularism is devorce between State and religion or negative kind of secularism, which manifests clearly through their leste laws. But we rather follow An principled distance approach, state will not interervene to invade your privacy of conscience, worship but their is a semi permeable membrane between state and Religion where any excess in one sphere will get attention of state to take action both ways positively, negatively both. Some scholars criticised that brand of secularism taking e.g. hajj subsidy, lands granted by waqf boards are outside government regulatory insight. France can learn sardharmsambhaav ideal of secularism (as said by Atal bihari bajpeyee ji) from india. So, she should've said some points. You are IAS officer you must be very well versed with All ideals entrenched in Our constitution reflected by Our preamble. But we should'nt expect that kind of knowledge from someone who cleared by making notes of some coaching module(drishti). You should read good books of indian and foreign authors, Read SC judgements, newspapers(The hindu preferably, or Hindustan times or Indian express). This is very surpirsing people who chose shortcut getting such star rank. Good interview, but always ask basic question from those ias toppers, not to embarass them, but for others to get to know that they are just machines who memorised good. These toppers are perfect mediocres. This exams Favours mediocrity, a perfect mediocrity.

[@keshavraj6420]

Sir in just passed my 12th and wanna prepare for UPSC, what should i do plzz guide me

[@DeviSuni502]

Sir, I have a doubt that 2023 UPSC result was declared on 16 April 2024 And for year 2024 UPSC registrations are from 14 Feb - 6 Mar, 2024 Sir, what if 2023 candidate failed after getting results and want to apply for next year i.e., 2024 when he/she has to apply? Because registration was already completed before getting results. Does one have to apply in 2024 even he/she has completed writing Mains 2023 and before attending interview? Or should he/she has to wait till 2025?

[@abhinavpratapsingh2849]

Sir i'm in ba 2nd year and i am in confusion that whether i should start preparing from now onwards for upsc or should firstly complete LLB which is my second plan plz guide me sir

[@notrecognise2908]

go and first complete llb first .

[@user-pp3im6hf1d]

22:32 me too

[@chaoba262]

❤❤❤

[@joydeepdas4105]

Whats was her score in prelims

[@EvCarlo]

Sir , When will you launch the test series for 2025? When will launch the test series please inform us, through video. Thank you sir. For giving full knowledge without talking irrelevant talking. Thank you for everything.😊

[@user-pe1xw8kw3s]

How to enroll for mentorship program?

[@UPSCprepIAS]

Visit courses.upscprep.com

[@Nidhisingh-ho2hb]

Sir, pls upload 12 months plan for 2025 exam.

[@sheikhabuzar3602]

Yes sir 🙏

[@sheikhabuzar3602]

Yes sir 🙏

[@Polo-so4py]

Bhai saare yadav OBC se form bharte hain. Agar saare OBC gareeb hain to Creamy and non creamy ka concept hi galat hai. Sab gareeb hain kya.

[@atgc2370]

8:55 I completely disagree with her .One pair, Two pair questions has brought more uncertainty and luck factor in this exam..For example: if a candidate thinks that option 2 and 3 are incorrect and option 1 and 4 are correct but in reality option 2 and 3 are correct or option 2 and 4 are correct, then he/she will select - only two pairs option as their answer..Despite being wrong, they will be right and will get 2 full marks..Isn't this luck ? In a prelims where cut off went to 75 ( if i am not wrong ) one of the lowest in recent years, she attempted 95 questions..I genuinely believe that after failing in 4 prelims, she was banking on her luck by attempting more questions with random or educated guesswork and luckily it paid dividends.. Even the host was laughing and his sarcastic smile was saying the same when she said she attempted 95..She said she was not surprised/unmoved by the change in pattern when almost all toppers and people who gave the exam, even last year's Rank 1 holder Ishita kishore and senior officers were shocked to see the change in pattern terming it to be one of the most difficult prelims paper..It's amazing how after clearing the exam, people say anything just for appreciation..Some toppers even say they studied for 17-18 hours DAILY without even thinking that ignorant parents inspired by the toppers taking every word of the toppers to be true, force their children to study the said number of hours.. She was failing in normal prelims in recent years and Attempting above 90 questions in one of the most difficult prelims paper in recent years only points to the fact that she was heavily relying on her luck as she was fed up of banking on accuracy which landed her nowhere in her previous attempts.

[@ankitasaha_1]

I agree here. Anybody who appeared for upsc 23 prelims would know the horror felt during those 2-4 hours because of the sheer uncertainty of the chosen pattern of questions and randomness of the topics asked. Passing prelims somehow has become the norm, after that, mains you can focus on your practice and merit.

[@atgc2370]

@@ankitasaha_1 Definitely. Passing prelims has become the norm as the questions asked in mains are easy to moderate level..And in case you have checked 2023 mains paper, you would find that even without much knowledge, many questions are answerable.. 2023 Pre was difficult but mains was quite easy ( if you are a well prepared candidate)..Look at the marks of Rank 1 Aditya in both papers of pre - GS1 and CSAT, his marks are hovering around the 80's. And despite being an IIT graduate he didnt do quite well in csat. According to me, If you raise the bar in pre, then the bar in mains should also be raised for a just competition as you wouldn't want a person who rode his/her luck in pre to get an advantage in mains.

[@ankitasaha_1]

@@atgc2370 even I have felt the same. If they are raising the bar in prelims to this level, then such should also be done in mains. They are doing dirty in prelims I feel, purely a matter of luck and yes a lot of mental preparation. Reserved candidates have a definite edge over unreserved. And mains can still be handled with timed practice and thorough pyq revision. I had borderline marks this time but there's no way to be sure because they don't release the official answer keys asap! I also feel coaching institutes growing like weeds are an added issue in misguiding people. Institute owners are claiming they can solve these papers easily, where the last time they appeared for upsc was maybe 10-12 yrs ago when papers were widely different. It's a crass business going on in the name of this exam.

[@atgc2370]

@@ankitasaha_1 The very fact that every topper till date confessed that in prelims, nomatter how good your preparation is or nomatter how much you have studied ( 15- 20 hours ) , you will be able to attempt max 30-40 questions with 100% accuracy. The rest is all about educated guesswork where your are not 100% confident about the option you selected as your answer. You must have noticed that she said " even if I was confident of eliminating one option, I used to attempt that question." This can be suicidal as well because you are going to make educated guesswork on remaining 3 options and agree or not but you are banking on your luck. Some senior IAS officers also pointed that 10-12 questions in prelims are intentionally asked by upsc which are meant to be left as they will consume our time and it is very unlikely that anyone will be able to do them ( except for people who do random guesswork). The very fact that no one is certain about clearing pre but still they think positively and prepare for mains speaks volumes about the uncertainty of prelims but after writing mains, almost all the candidates get an idea of how much they must have scored and was it satisfactory or not. Besides this, i am of the opinion that the prelims result be declared before the mains exam instead of making students wait an entire year. I know it won't matter much for those who cleared it but those who failed by 1 marks or so, it would be very helpful as many students give up the exam after failing in pre thinking that it is not their cup of tea. Also, i remember while analyzing answers of toppers, I found it strange that many toppers were committing basic grammatical blunders and spelling errors in their answers ( written just before mains ) and besides this, the handwriting was horrible and despite that their answers sheet were idolized by the institutes where they have given the tests. When asked why citing the same, the institute replied " grammatical errors, handwriting and spelling mistakes are ignored by upsc until it is absolute. If the content is top class, such errors can be forgiven ". But tell me how can an answer with basic grammatical errors and spelling mistakes be a top class content ? In addition, if the handwriting is miserable, then it will certainly make the examiner struggle to read the answer. I always believed that there is some opaqueness in the way upsc scrutinizes the mains papers as students with even average level of answers with miserable handwriting fetching just 3-4 marks especially during a time when mains is just around the corner, performs exceptionally well in mains securing a rank under top 25..I am not discrediting them or questioning their selection but there is always a question as to how upsc checks the mains papers.. It is not just my own opinion but many people think the same.. Only if we could have a quick glance at the papers and the allocation of marks, there would had been some clarity..Nowadays, when negative news such as lack of transparency in recruitment process, bribery , nepotism or favoritism ( eg., politicians influencing state psc exam results to get their sons/daughters/relatives in the service - this is currently going on in many states..Imagine you are going to give the state psc interview and you heard a fellow candidate telling his friend that he will clear the exam because his father/uncle or aunt is this and that minister..You take it as some tall talks..In the interview, you can make out the examiners are intentionally asking you stupid, irrelevant and abstract questions just to waste time and laughing around) and after the final result, you find out that the candidate who was sure of clearing the exam does so..Infact, you find that Majority of those who cleared the exam have strong bureaucratic/political connections - this is a real life story ) and impersonation ( in Assam, an mla's daughter was to write the APSC mains but instead of her, someone else wrote the exam, she cleared the mains but when the handwriting was analysed, she was exposed ) featuring in every other government exams and considering the above mentioned factors, I just hope nothing overrides merit in upsc exam.

[@harishkumar-ob5fk]

Sir , can you kindly ask , in 2023 , how many sure shot questions Mam knew out of 95 questions she attempted

[@UPSCprepIAS]

Not more than 40.