Inspiring IAS Topper Story of Alankrita Pandey

Imagine having to take anti-depressants and attend anger management sessions to deal with a personal crisis while preparing for the IAS Exams.

IAS topper Alankrita Pandey did just that. And, she also became successful in her first attempt. Pandey secured a good rank of 85 in the UPSC 2015 in her very first attempt.

We bring you the UPSC success story of Alankrita Pandey in a series of civil services success stories.

IAS Topper Story – Alankrita Pandey Background

• Alankrita Pandey is from a middle-class family from Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh.
• She completed her software engineering from the prestigious MNIIT – Allahabad and started working for an IT company in tech-city Bangalore.
• Two years before the 2015 exams, she went through a personal crisis and in order to overcome it, she had to rely on anti-depressants. She also underwent anger management sessions.
• Apart from that, she had to be constantly counselled by her family and friends.
• Pandey, who had intended to write the IAS exam prelims in January 2014, could not even take the exam because of the turmoil. The aggravated situation continued till October 2014 after which things took a turn for the better.
• Alankrita decided to take things seriously and put up a paper on her wall that said, “I want a 2-digit AIR in CSE-2015”.
• According to her, her life changed then and there. She had already achieved her goal in her mind, now she only had to achieve it physically.

UPSC Topper Strategy

• Pandey’s regimen consisted of 8 hours of studies per day.
• She would start her day at 6:00 AM and would start her studies only after jogging and Yoga.
• Whenever she felt bogged down by the situation, she would write on a piece of paper why she started out IAS preparation in the first place. This would melt all her doubts and fear away. She would also talk to her friends and parents whose unflinching support came to her aid in the IAS pursuit.
• Alankrita planned her preparation first at the macro-level and then at the micro-level breaking it down to topic-wise and then hour-wise scheduling also.
• She completed the entire IAS mains syllabus by May 2015.
• She focused on reading one book 4 – 5 times rather than reading 4 – 5 books for a single subject. Get a list of the required list of UPSC books at the linked article.
• Newspapers were the mainstay for her UPSC preparation.

You can stay abreast of the daily news by following our daily current affairs features.

• She also relied on the internet for information and strategy.
• She never shunned social media sites although she warns against becoming addicted to them. She says that networking and connecting with people is an important part of an IAS officer’s job.
• Her optional subject was Public Administration. To know more about the public administration optional, click on the linked article.

Facts about Alankrita Pandey Facts

A few facts about IAS Officer Alankrita Pandey are highlighted below:

1. Rank: 85
2. CSE: 2015
3. Optional Subject: Public Administration
4. Attempt: First
5. Education: B.Tech

For more UPSC related preparation materials and articles, visit the links given in the table below:

Related Links