In 2019, Roma Srivastava, the topper, had previously attempted the UPSC exam twice. She adopted a unique approach compared to others, relying extensively on YouTube for about 50 percent of her preparation. Today, let’s explore her distinctive preparation strategy.
When discussing the success story of IAS topper Roma Srivastava, many aspiring candidates often emphasize their need to completely disconnect from social media during their preparation. They typically delete their social media accounts to avoid wasting time. However, today we meet a candidate who attributes her success to an unconventional source of study: YouTube. She does not view studying from the internet as detrimental. Instead, whenever she encountered challenges or struggled to grasp a topic during her preparation, she consistently turned to YouTube for guidance and learning. Let’s delve into Roma Srivastava’s journey towards achieving success in the UPSC exams.
In a recent interview with Delhi Knowledge Track, Roma discussed her journey to success in the UPSC exams. She mentioned achieving success in 2019 on her fourth attempt. Previously, Roma had been selected twice in the UPSC CSE exams and was allocated services based on her rank. In 2017, she secured a position in the Indian Post and Telecommunication Service, which did not meet her aspirations. Subsequently, she reappeared in the exam in 2018 and was once again allocated to the IPS service based on her rank. Unsatisfied, Roma persisted and made another attempt. Finally, in the 2019 exam, Roma secured the 70th rank and was selected for the Indian Administrative Service (IAS). This marked her fourth attempt, with Roma consecutively being selected in three exams. Throughout her five to six years of preparation, Roma relied solely on self-study and did not take any coaching.
Preparation Insights – During her interview, Roma highlights the preliminary stage as the initial phase of the exam process. She emphasizes that the primary goal here is to achieve the cutoff marks since no merit is derived from this stage. Clearing this threshold is challenging due to the large number of candidates appearing each year. Roma advises aspiring candidates to focus on reading standard books and practicing extensively with test papers for the preliminary exam. According to her strategy, thorough completion of preparation should be followed by rigorous practice with numerous test papers. This approach not only helps in refining skills but also in identifying areas of weakness. Roma personally undertook approximately 50 to 60 mock tests prior to the preliminary exam.
Regarding the CSAT (Civil Services Aptitude Test), Roma, having an engineering and MBA background, did not require additional preparation. Her primary effort was focused on General Studies (GS). She curated a list of recommended books from online sources and reviewed previous years’ question papers to formulate her preparation strategy. Coming from a science background, Roma found certain aspects of the arts challenging, for which she extensively utilized YouTube tutorials. This practice persisted throughout her preparation journey.
Roma emphasizes the importance of planning ahead for the UPSC exam. She suggests that aspirants should aim to secure their place in the preliminary exam by preparing sufficiently beforehand. This proactive approach ensures that once the preliminary exam is completed, there is no delay in transitioning to mains preparation. Roma underscores her reliance on YouTube to clarify topics she found challenging, benefiting from lectures by experienced educators across various subjects. When in need of assistance, she turned to online resources and found websites and YouTube to be instrumental in her preparation, effectively serving as her coaching platform. Additionally, Roma mentions that due to time constraints, she refrained from reading physical newspapers. Instead, she opted for dedicated websites that provided comprehensive current affairs compilations, which she could listen to while multitasking, such as during meals, optimizing her study time. By maintaining a balanced approach to all subjects aligned with the UPSC syllabus and diligently practicing through numerous tests, Roma consistently cleared the exam.
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