From Board Topper To UPSC Topper: IAS Ananya Singh’s Journey Of Success At 22

Cracking the UPSC exam is not everyone's cup of team after all it is one of the toughest competitive exams in the world and needs rigorous preparation and unshakable determination. Some aspirants manage to clear the UPSC exam after three or four tries, but some candidates pass the exam on their first attempt and IAS Ananya Singh is one of them. Ananya Singh, a 22-year-old from Prayagraj, has achieved her dream of becoming an IAS officer. She aced the UPSC civil services exam, one of the toughest tests in the country, with only a year of preparation. She secured the 51st rank in the All India list.

Singh had a clear goal of joining the IAS since she was a kid. She started preparing for the UPSC exam in her final year of college. At first, she studied for 7-8 hours daily. Later, she reduced it to six hours. She also prepared for both the UPSC prelims and mains exams at the same time.

She shared her strategy after clearing the UPSC exam. She collected books according to the syllabus and made notes by hand. The notes had two benefits, she says — one, they were brief and clear, which helped a lot in learning and revising. Also, while writing notes, the answers get imprinted in the mind.

Singh has been an outstanding student throughout her life. She did her schooling from St Mary’s Convent School, Prayagraj. She scored 96 per cent marks in the 10th board exam and 98.25 per cent in the 12th. She topped her district from the CISCE board in both 10th and 12th. After finishing her school, Singh graduated in economics honors from Shri Ram College of Commerce, affiliated with Delhi University.

She appeared in the UPSC CSE of the year 2019 and got the 51st rank. Singh says that she could not believe her rank when she saw the result of the government exam. She had fulfilled her childhood ambition of becoming an IAS officer at just 22 years of age. IAS Ananya Singh is currently posted in the West Bengal cadre.