UPSC topper Shruti Sharma’s journey: Missed 1st number in the last exam and spoiled the interview in the second; came home and cried a lot

UPSC 2021 final result was declared on Monday. In which Shruti Sharma of Delhi topped. Shruti is born in Bijnor. Studied History from Delhi. 26-year-old Shruti was sure of passing the exam but she herself was surprised to get the top rank. Read Shruti Sharma’s exclusive interview for Dainik Bhaskar…

Question- Born in Bijnor, brought up in Delhi, Graduation from St. Stephen’s, PG from Delhi School of Economics and now top in the toughest exam of the country. How was this journey?

Shruti- Studied 10th to 12th from Sardar Patel School. Graduated from St Stephen’s College. was. He took admission in Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) for post graduation, but left JNU to take admission in Delhi School of Economics (DSE) to pursue a degree.

The syllabus is huge, but I never studied by counting the hours. The biggest challenge is to limit the study material. I only focused on my notes.

Question- Cracked the UPSC in the second attempt itself. Most of the people are not able to clear the pre even after 4-5 attempts. If you want to give 3 tips to clear UPSC, what would they be?
Shruti- Prelims has never been a strong point for me as its nature is changing. I myself was not sure both times that it would be clear. Its nature is also changing. There is no strategy for this. But keeping in mind the Syllabus, Basic Books, Previous Exam Papers and Revision, the more it will be helpful.

Question- You have been a student of History. What was your optional subject in UPSC? And what was the strategy for choosing him?
Shruti- Had taken admission in MA History, but could not complete the degree. Optional I chose History only because it is easy to prepare in the subject in which I am interested.

Question- When your pre was cleared and preparing for mains, then what was the routine, because many people have strange questions in their mind?
Shruti- Parents and friends are supportive. I got to study in good institutes. There are parents, brothers and grandmothers in the family, they always motivated. There was very little time between pre-mains, so the entire time was spent in study only. Took only those necessary breaks.

Question- You said the interview went very badly and you cried a lot. What was the toughest question you were asked in the interview? How was the rest of the experience?
Shruti- I had high expectations from the interview. I felt bad because there were many difficult factual questions for which I did not know the answers. Questions like Continuous Voice, Lord Mayo’s Assassination and the War of 1812 were asked. I kept thinking that for what I didn’t know, I honestly said I didn’t know the answer.

Question- How was the connection with social media, did it help in preparation or not?
Shruti- Social media is distracting at times, but I used to give limited time. Study material helped in groups. There is overloading material in digital and it should be avoided. Only useful things should be picked up. Digital content is also easily available.

Question- What was your plan B, if you could not clear UPSC in any attempt, what would you do?
Shruti- Plan B was to work in education or development only. I have a desire to work in the administrative field in UP itself.

Jamia University VC Najma Akhtar congratulated Shruti and her family members. Registrar along with Vice Chancellor Prof. Nazim Hussain Al Jafri, Director RCA Prof. Abid Hakim and PRO Ahmed Azim also reached Shruti’s house. She credits her success to Jamia Millia Islamia Residential Coaching Academy (RCA). Apart from Sharma, 23 other students have also cleared the civil services exam from Jamia RCA.