As UPSC Civil Services Exam Date Nears, IAS Topper Shares Vital Tips On How To Successfully Clear It

The date for UPSC Civil Services 2019’s prelims examination is nearing and to help lakhs of aspirants, IAS topper who successfully cleared the examination with an all India rank of 93 in 2017 has decided to share vital tips.

In an interview to The Better India, Garg said that along with thoroughly testing the aspirants’ knowledge the Civil Services examination also tests his or her competence, confidence and perseverance.

He stressed that in case of working professionals, time management is vital and it includes fully utilising weekends and other holidays to cover the entire week’s syllabus.

As Garg was working during his preparation, he used to make it a point to study at least 4 to 5 hours per day. This meant he studied for over two hours in the morning and at least for one hour after returning from work. On weekends he studied for more than 10 hours each day.

He had referred to the NCERT books to crack topics like History, Geography, Science, Environment and Polity. He also laid out other resources he used in the interview.

He also referred to notes by former IAS toppers and YouTube lectures and internet research during his preparation.

Coming to the point of tackling essays, Garg said that the best strategy is to refer to essays written by previous year exam toppers and attempting at least two essays per week on your own.