IAS sisters: First Tina, now Ria Dabi cracks UPSC CSE exam in her first attempt! (Booster tips inside)

UPSC Civil Services Exam is tough. Not just because one needs to work hard but it requires perseverance and willpower to cover such a wide syllabus with utmost retention. Talking about its selection, as per the official statistics, 4,82,770 candidates appeared for the exam at the UPSC IAS prelims stage. In the UPSC IAS interview round, a total number of 2,053 appeared out of which 761 candidates qualified. So, it’s quite evident that the selection rate of UPSC CSE is low. Now, imagine amidst all the probabilities and statistics suggesting lesser chances of selection, two people from the same family became IAS officers! That’s the story of Ria Dabi.

Ria has secured AIR 15 in UPSC CSE 2020 exams. Earlier, her sister, Tina Dabi, secured AIR 1 in UPSC 2015 exam. 

Let’s see how Ria prepared for the exam and how did her sister help in her preparation journey. 

Ria’s success story

Ria Dabi, 23, is a political science graduate from Delhi University’s Lady Shri Ram College. She graduated in 2019 and after that started preparing for the UPSC CSE examination. Not to forget to mention that she is a fan of canvas paintings, Indian folk art, and Madhubani paintings.

Ria cracked the UPSC examination 2020 in her first attempt, like her sister, Tina. In her journey, her sister helped her with the basic concepts and suggested the study material as well. But, since her sister took the exam five years ago, certain things changed with time, so a lot of work had to be done by her on her own.

On a difficult journey, one needs someone’s support and guidance. For Ria, it was her mother, who acted as a constant source of inspiration. 

Now, let’s look at the preparation tips from Ria.

Booster tips for UPSC aspirants!

Ria has suggested some tips for aspiring UPSC candidates based on her experience and success. These tips are mentioned below:

Consistency

There’s no shortcut to success. Candidates need to understand this and work consistently as it’s the major factor in the preparation journey. Ria used to study for at least 8-10 hours daily, which could go up to 12-13 hours.

Avoid referring to multiple resources

Referring to many resources can cause confusion and excessive pressure on a candidate. She used to diligently follow some resources including:

• Current affairs magazine by Vision IAS
• The Hindu
• The Indian Express

Take breaks

It is necessary to find time for yourself amidst the preparation. Ria used to read fiction and do a lot of painting in her free time. This acted as a stress buster for her.

Better retention tips

For a better score, one needs to remember particular news. For that, Ria used to repeat the key points of an article loud so that the news gets ingrained in her mind. Also, she used to cut out prominent articles from the newspapers and paste them into her folder for revision purposes.

Finally, candidates can regularly follow these tips by the topper and ensure that they are consistent in their preparation. With consistency and dedication, anyone can ace the UPSC exam and feature in such articles just as Ria did!

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