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NAME- | GUNJAN DWIVEDI |
RANK IN CSE-2018 | AIR-09 |
CLASS 10 | 93.5% |
CLASS-12 | 87.6% |
GRADUATION(POLITICAL SC),DU | B.A.(HONS) -71.5% |
NO OF ATTEMPTS IN CSE | 3 |
OPTIONAL SUBJECT | PSIR |
MEDIUM OF MAINS WRITING | ENGLISH |
MEDIUM OF INTERVIEW | ENGLISH |
AGE | 24 YEARS |
HOME TOWN/CITY | LUCKNOW(UP) |
Gunjan has been an intelligent student since beginning. She scored 93.5% marks in class 10 and 87.6% in class 12. She did her schooling from ICSE board. Later Gunjan graduated with 71.5% marks from Daulat Ram College, Delhi University. Her subject in college was Political Science which was also her Optional Paper in UPSC CSE.
Gunjan’s father was also a Civil Servant, a retired IPS officer. According to her statement“My father is a retired IPS officer; he was my childhood role model. My mother and brother made sure I stayed happy no matter what. My sister is placed as a Commercial Tax Officer in Saharanpur, UP.”
Gunjan was able to clear the Civil Services Exam in her 3rd attempt. In last two attempts she was not able to clear even preliminary exam. But it did not stop her to continue her preparation. She learnt from her mistakes and cleared the exam in 3rd attempt.
What she learned from her earlier 2 attempts was that she was not doing her preparation in an organised manner. As Gunjan says earlier she did not have any plans and also, she was not preparing notes and hence, was not able to revise the whole syllabus before Prelim’s exam. In her 3rd attempt she worked on her mistakes that helped her to clear the exam. She prepared daily, weekly and monthly targets and kept her schedule very realistic so that she can adhere to it.
She studied GS and Optional Papers mainly up to December. From Feb onwards she shifted her focus on prelims. Her target was to do at least five revisions of the whole subject before prelims for both static and current affairs. And by doing that she was ready with both facts and analysis. Facts she could cover due to multiple revisions and analyses got better with the process.
Ancient and Medieval History | Tamil Nadu class 11th history book ( she made notes and revised only them) Lucent (selected topics like IVC, Vedic period, Jainism and Buddhism) |
Modern History | A Brief history of modern India , Spectrum publication Class notes for period before 1857 My notes ( a few pointers of ncerts) |
Culture | An Introduction to Indian Art- class 11th ncert Nitin Singhania’s book Chapters related to culture in ancient and medieval history sources Coachingclass notes (selected topics like stone age, IVC ) |
Geography | Class 11th and 12th ncerts Geography of India, Periyar publication (selected topics like agriculture and minerals) Atlas (very important) |
Polity | Laxmikanth Coaching class notes (selected topics) |
Economy | Coaching notes, Economic Survey, Internet |
Environment | Shankar IAS book ( She made notes of this) |
General science+Government schemes& others | Coaching compilation ,online video |
Current Affairs | Coaching compilation, The Hindu ( She did not make notes),Yojna magazine(selective) |
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GS-1 | Indian Art and Culture(Same as prelims) | An Introduction to Indian Art- class 11th ncert Nitin Singhania’s book Chapters related to culture in ancient and medieval history sources Coachingclass notes (selected topics like stone age, IVC ) |
Modern Indian History(similar like prelims ) | A Brief history of modern India , Spectrum publication Class notes for period before 1857 My notes ( a few pointers of ncerts) | |
Post-Independence | Coaching material ( It is a summary of the NCERT on the same topic ) | |
World History | Theory of Civilisation – Arjun Dev Crash Course Videos on YouTube ( Revolutions , World Wars, Colonisation etc) | |
Indian Society | Newspaper (The Hindu) Coaching material | |
Geography- (same as prelims) | Class 11th and 12th ncerts Geography of India, Periyar publication (selected topics like minerals) Mrunal Videos ( to understand certain concepts like jet streams, monsoon, natural resources etc)Mrunal Videos ( For some concepts for example natural resources, monsoon , jet streams etc) ; NCERT class 11th and 12th Geography of India ; Periyar publication (selected topics like minerals) | |
GS-2 | Polity, Constitution (static) | Laxmikanth 2nd ARC Report (I jotted down the important points) |
Governance | 2nd ARC Report and Niti Aayog reports,current affairs | |
International Relations | Covered with PSIR(optional),current affairs(coaching compilation) | |
GS-3 | Economy | Coaching notes, Economic Survey and Monthly Compilation for Economy |
Environment and Ecology(same as prelims) | Shankar IAS book ( I made notes of this) coaching compilation on environment current | |
Disaster Management | Internet and Compilation available on internet | |
National Security | Coaching current affairs | |
GS-4 | Theory | Coaching class notes |
Moral Thinkers | internet + optional knowledge | |
Case studies | Online videos, topper’s copy |
Gunjan could not get enough time to practice essays. So, she only read topper’s mock test copies to get idea of essay writing skills. She read some 15 to 20 essays from topper’s copies to get an idea and to collect quotes.
She completed her graduation from Daulat Ram College, Delhi University. She pursued B.A. Honours in Political Science & International Relations. She was very much comfortable with her graduation subject and also had a basic understanding so she opted PSIR as her Optional subject. She highlighted important keywords and points and made short and crisp notes. She added important other points gathered from other sources into Shubhra Ranjan’s notes (to make her answer different from other candidates as most students only use Shubhra Ranjan’s notes). Thus, she analysed each and every topic of the syllabus and made notes on them.
Importance of test series-
In the success of UPSC CSE exam, answer writing plays a critical role. She was very serious with her test series. She attempted and analysed her test very earnestly. A Good test series provide a lot of benefits as follows:
DAF contained mainly your basic information hence interviewer can initiate a conversation with you. In achievement section you should mention only if you have any achievements otherwise you can leave it. Again, for hobby you can mention if you have any hobby.
Her Interview was mostly dominated by questions on IR, Ponzi scheme, Indian Economy, women Empowerment and Situational question and some Sanskrit words were also asked to explain. First 5 minutes she felt a little bit nervous but after that she became comfortable with members of interview panel. In this regard mock interview may be helpful for you to boost your confidence and experience the real time situations.
The main purpose of interview is to bring out your true personality.
There is no template for success, you need to learn from your mistakes, make your own path and keep trying until you succeed.
Don’t give up. Be honest with your preparation, have faith in yourself Follow your strategy, put in your hard work with 100% efforts,
Keep moving with full force and determination.