UPSC Topper Success Story: Know Satya Sai Karthik preparation strategy who secured 103rd rank after failing prelims thrice

UPSC Topper Success Story:

While most aspirants get frustrated after failing in various stages of UPSC, Satya Sai Karthik from Hyderabad could not clear the prelims exam thrice. Despite this, Karthik believed in himself and kept working hard. Years of hard work paid off in the fourth attempt when Kartik secured All India 103 rank in UPSC Exam 2019. Fast in studies from the very beginning, Karthik had made up his mind to prepare for UPSC during his college days. Let us know how Karthik did his preparation.

Sai Karthik was fond of cricket:

Since childhood, Karthik was fond of playing cricket along with studies. After taking admission to the college, Sai Karthik represented his college in cricket at the university level. Sai Karthik has also played cricket in the Telangana State Under-19 team. Satya obtained an engineering degree in computer science from Gangaraju Gokaraju College, Hyderabad and after this, Karthik decided to pursue UPSC.

Satya Sai Karthik preparation strategy:

Karthik shares that before starting the preparation, he saw the UPSC syllabus and prepared the study material accordingly. After that, he focused on strengthening his base and also joined coaching for preparation and started his preparation. Karthik focused a lot on the practice of answer writing as he believes that answer writing plays an important role to crack UPSC and every candidate must practice it.

Karthik failed to clear Prelims in the first three attempts:

Karthik came to Delhi from Hyderabad to take coaching for UPSC prelims exam preparation, and he chose sociology as his optional subject, however, he got a chance to write the mains in the fourth attempt. In his first three attempts, Karthik could not even clear the prelims exam, but he continued to try and strengthen his preparation. Karthik says that he prepared under the same strategy and focused more on answer writing. The result of this was that when he cracked the prelims in the 2019 exam, and easily cleared the mains exam as well.

Karthik's advice for other UPSC aspirants:

Karthik advises the candidates to pay attention to their physical and mental health. According to Karthik, unless you are physically and mentally strong, you will not be able to give your best. So take time out and do workouts for at least half an hour a day. Karthik also used to give 15 to 20 minutes a day to meditation and breathing exercises. Kartik warns candidates to avoid any stress on the day of the exam or before the exam or else their performance may suffer. He also shares that one should identify their strengths and weaknesses and work on them. Be honest with yourself and don't lack in preparation.