Becoming an IAS officer is a dream of millions in India but have you ever heard that an IPS officer turn into an IAS? Read this article that serves as a wiki of Garima Agarwal, the IPS officer who became an IAS officer!
Garima Agarwal’s current posting is of an IAS officer in the government of Telangana.
Garima Agarwal Wiki
Garima was born on 28th December 1991 and is going to turn 29 years old this coming year. She hails from a town called Khargone in the state of Madhya Pradesh.
She has an older sister who is currently in Indian Postal Services. Her name is Preeti Agarwal, had cleared the exam in 2013. Garima’s husband too is a civil service officer. He is currently an Indian Revenue Service officer posted in Delhi.
Garima has written the exam multiple times. She had cleared to become an IPS officer but then decided to change midway through and wrote the exam again. Garima Agarwal had gotten an all India rank of 40 this time around!
In her previous attempt, she had gotten an all India rank of 241! She has graduated from IIIT-Hyderabad and had also gone to the US for one year in an exchange student program. Her schooling was completely done in Hindi Medium in the town of Khargone!
Marksheet
Garima Agarwal has written the exam more than one time and here are the mark sheets of two years, one where she got rank of 241 and one where she had a rank of 40.
| Event | Marks in 2017 | Marks in 2018 |
| Mains Exam | 840 | 849 |
| Interview Marks | 190 | 193 |
| Total Marks | 1030 | 1042 |
| All India Rank | 241 | 40 |
| Posting | IPS | IAS |
Her mark sheet proves one thing, 12 marks make a lot of difference. Within one year of time, she climbed up 200 spots in rank just by scoring 12 additional marks. This implies that every little mark is very important and can play a major role in the rank one can obtain. Garima Agarwal and her marks show that dedication is very important along with hard work.
Optional Subject
Garima Agarwal’s optional subject for both the attempts was philosophy. She preferred philosophy as a subject and believed that it was one of her strengths.
Students should look to choose an optional subject, which they have a liking for and preferably are strong in the subject.
Choosing the correct optional is very important and is not something that should be postponed.
Strategy
Her strategy for the exam was mainly relating to a timetable. Her timetable contained daily goals, weekly goals and even monthly goals.
She used to create a new timetable for every month with new goals for each subject and would also work down the sources she would use.
In her first attempt she used more sources but soon she realised it is not about the number of sources but more about revision. She laid heavy emphasis on the revision of a single source as it would help her to study better.
Reading for the exam should not be divided into mains and prelims. Look to study for the exam as a whole and one month before the prelims look to work only on prelims.
Take tests. Taking tests will help you to understand your weaknesses and then you can work on them. Studying so much is tough and forgetting some aspects is very common, so once you know what you have forgotten, you can look to read that part. Preferable solve 2 to 3 papers every day before your prelims exam.
Also Read: Best Way of Writing UPSC Essays
Revision
Revision is very important. Everyday revision is preferable and looks to solve more questions. If your friends are writing the exam, sit with them and discuss questions with them. Group discussion will help you not only to learn more but also know your strength and weaknesses.
Revising often is the necessity for both exams. The syllabus for both the exams are huge and can be very tiring. So keep a certain time slot of revising every day, so that you do not forget whatever you learned that day.
Take revision tests often for both mains and prelims. Try dedicating your weekdays for this whilst preparing for mains.
Also Read: The Inspiring Biography of IPS Mohita Sharma
Conclusion
Clearing the UPSC is an amazing feat and becoming an IPS officer or even IAS officer is very tough, but there is Garima Agarwal who has done it.
She was an IPS aspirant but soon realised that she would prefer the job of an IAS officer. She wrote the exam twice. Once she had a rank of 241 and the next time a rank of just 40! That sure is an amazing accolade.
She shares out a few strategies in order to help students get better marks. Make sure to go through them!
