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Candidates appearing for UPSC IAS prelims exam must check the UPSC prelims tips and tricks by the UPSC IAS 2020 topper AIR 17 Sarthak Agrawal to crack the IAS 2021 exam. The important tips to clear UPSC prelims exam include consistent study hours, mock tests and other important aspects. According to the UPSC topper 2020 AIR 17 Sarthak Agrawal, ‘After turning the first few pages in my GS-1 Prelims paper, I felt grudgingly confident that my first attempt at UPSC isn’t going to work out. Some of those agriculture and environment questions might have been written in Latin for all I cared about.
I decided to hang in there and tentatively marked a few answers. My experience with mock tests was such that I could barely attempt more than 20-25 questions with 100% confidence so clearing the prelims anyway relied on more than intelligence for me. Instead, I was hoping to use common sense, and wishing that luck was on my side that day (I could have traded a kidney for a vial of Felix Felicis).
In the actual paper, I don’t think I cracked even twenty in the first go. There were a few simple questions towards the end, but the others were a pain. I persevered and tried to apply my mind to at least get some more right.
Also Read: UPSC 2020 Topper Interview Satyam Gandhi AIR 10
Eventually, as it turned out, I got enough. Here are some tips from my whirlwind experience at UPSC Prelims 2020:
I used plenty of intuition and “intelligent” guesswork to make my way around the UPSC IAS questions. Many have noted before that extreme options are unlikely to be the right ones – for example, in the question on Desert National Park in Prelims 2020, it might be a stretch to say it has no human habitation at all. Of all the elimination shortcuts, I find this one the most reliable. Other popular ones include being wary of ‘consistently increased/decreased’ type of options; noting that an exact number or statistic is possibly incorrect; or deducing something of value from the etymology of a noun. When you consider how hard it is to deliberately create a wrong answer, it may become easier to find broad patterns of your own.
During the UPSC IAS 2021 exam, while attempting agriculture and technology-related questions, it often pays to be liberal in your outlook. So, whenever a prompt or option included the word “can” or the phrase “is possible”, I felt more confident in marking it yes or going with all the above (“…Artificial Intelligence can effectively do which of the following?”). After all, who knows whether some crazy scientist somewhere is working on just the thing you are about to rule out for being too far-fetched?
One of the tricks to clear UPSC prelims are the freebies that are found near the end of the paper (“What is West Texas Intermediate a grade of?”). Many questions on polity in Prelims 2020 were also quite straightforward (“A parliamentary system of government is one in which…”). However, they were towards the latter half of my set. Make sure you skim the entire IAS question paper before starting off, lest you become dejected after finding a few hard questions upfront.
While my IAS prelims preparation, one risky strategy I adopted - and adopt this at your own peril - was to attempt lots of questions in the unfortunate instance when you are sure only about a small number. If you’re clearly below the cut-off, does it matter whether you score 60 or -60? My desperation compelled me to make an educated guess on the question related to Gupta dynasty towns, but it didn’t work. On others, like the one on finding the ruler behind an inscription propounding tolerance, it did.
Also Read: UPSC Topper Interview 2020- Radhika Gupta AIR 18
During the UPSC IAS prelims preparation, it’s ok to skip some syllabus. I ignored topics like geography and history (except modern history) because I only had 6-7 months to prepare. I focused my preparation solely on current affairs, but still managed to do decently.
I took 50+ mock tests before prelims, not scoring too highly in most of them (in the 70s, mostly). Just to pump up my confidence, I started doing UPSC IAS past year papers despite already having seen a few of their answers at some point. Naturally, I did well, which helped me fool myself and kept me in good spirits – “coaching institutes just don’t get what UPSC is asking for”, I thought. But on a deeper note, it’s true that the actual papers have a better mix of questions than what is offered by the coaching-wallahs.
I compared my answers against the internet the morning after the UPSC IAS (I was reluctant to check the same day because I thought I fell short thanks to my many “intelligent” guesses). I was getting 116/200. On comparing with the answer keys released by coaching institutes, this dropped by a few points, but I had enough to get my motor running for Mains. However, my actual score was only 102 - nearly 10 points lower than what I expected but also ten higher than the cut-off this year. I don’t think anyone has gotten the hang of UPSC’s marking yet, so it is best to keep one’s head down and start preparing for Mains even if you’re getting 80+ on some answer keys.
My background being quite mathematical, I didn’t prepare much for UPSC CSAT. Still, I’d suggest doing at least a couple of papers before entering the UPSC IAS exam hall. One minor challenge I faced was remaining focused despite “not performing very well” in the morning session. Another important factor while IAS prelims preparation was avoiding lethargy after returning to the centre after a three-hour break. However, I got a 180 in CSAT, which I am very pleased about.
I hadn’t written a single Mains answer until I cleared prelims– or even studied properly for Ethics, essays, or optional - so don’t worry too much if you haven’t either.
Finally, don’t be too disheartened if a few of your guesses fall flat during the UPSC IAS prelims 2021. That’s just the nature of the beast, unfortunately, so you shouldn’t necessarily consider it to be an indictment of your preparation.
Good luck!
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Hello!
IRAS (Indian Railway Accounts Service) officers can be posted in both cities and rural areas since Indian Railways has offices and operations nationwide. They typically work in divisional offices, zonal offices, workshops, and production units. Transfers do happen but are usually not very frequent and depend on government policies and organizational needs.
Hope this helps!
To become an IAS officer, you must clear the Civil Services Examination (CSE) conducted by the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC), and then undergo training at the Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration (LBSNAA). While any bachelor's degree is acceptable, choosing a degree that aligns with the UPSC syllabus, particularly in humanities and social sciences, can be advantageous.
UPSC Civil Services Examination (CSE):
This is the primary exam for becoming an IAS officer, involving three stages: Preliminary, Main, and Personality Test (Interview).
Any Bachelor's Degree:
A graduate degree from a recognized university is the basic requirement to be eligible for the CSE.
Beneficial Degrees:
Degrees in humanities and social sciences, such as Bachelor of Arts (BA), can be helpful due to the syllabus overlap with subjects like History, Political Science, Sociology, and Economics.
Optional Subject:
You can choose an optional subject in the Mains exam, and a BA degree can provide a wide range of options.
Hope it helps!!
Hello!!
That's a great goal—and your background as a research scholar can actually be a big asset in preparing for the UPSC Civil Services Exam (CSE), which is the path to becoming an IAS officer.
Step-by-Step Guide to Become an IAS Officer:
1. Understand the Exam Structure
The UPSC CSE has three stages:
Prelims: Objective (GS Paper + CSAT)
Mains: Descriptive (9 papers)
Interview: Personality Test
2. Check Eligibility
Age: 21 to 32 (for General category)
Degree: Any graduate degree (you already qualify)
3. Choose Your Optional Subject
Choose something you’re comfortable with (can be from your research field if it's available).
Popular optionals: Sociology, Geography, PSIR, Anthropology, etc.
4. Build a Study Plan
Since you're a research scholar, time management is key.
Daily 4–6 hours of focused study can work if you're consistent.
Focus on:
NCERTs (6th–12th)
Standard books (like Laxmikanth for Polity, Spectrum for History)
Current Affairs (The Hindu, Indian Express, or PIB + Monthly compilations)
5. Join a Test Series (Optional but Helpful)
For Prelims and Mains: to build speed, writing skills, and clarity.
6. Practice Answer Writing
Mains is all about articulation. Practice with previous year questions and mock tests.
7. Appear for the Exam
Notification comes out around February.
Prelims is in May/June, Mains in September, and Interview early next year.
How to Align This With Your Research Schedule:
Create a realistic time-table that includes 2–3 hours on weekdays, and more on weekends.
Use your research experience for deeper understanding and essay writing.
If your goal is to become an IAS officer, choose a degree that supports UPSC preparation and also provides a good backup:
BA in Political Science, History, Geography, or Economics is ideal for IAS.
BSc or BCom is fine too, but you'll need to study humanities separately for UPSC.
For backup, pick a subject with good job prospects like BBA or Computer Science.
KCET is required only if you're planning professional courses like Engineering or Agriculture. It's not needed for BA or general degrees.
Hello aspirant,
For becoming IAS , you have to first complete your graduation from any background from any recognised university or college. If you are in your final year, then also you are eligible. After that you have to give an entrance exam name UPSC . If you will clear this exam then according to your marks you may get the IAS position.
To know about UPSC entrance exam, kindly go through the given link:
https://competition.careers360.com/exams/upsc-cse
All the best!!
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