Rajeshwari Suve M

Rajeshwari appeared for the UPSC Civil Services Examination five times before securing AIR 2 in 2025. She also appeared for the Indian Forest Service Examination during this period. Her journey was one of constant improvement — each attempt taught her something new about the examination's demand and helped her refine her preparation strategy.

Rajeshwari chose Sociology as her optional subject. Despite her engineering background, she developed a deep interest in understanding social structures, institutions, and governance. She scored 293 marks in Sociology (150 in Paper 1, 143 in Paper 2) — one of the highest in the 2025 examination. Her advice to aspirants is to choose an optional based on interest and syllabus comfort rather than scoring trends alone.

1. Foundation First: Build strong conceptual clarity with NCERTs before moving to advanced sources.
2. Answer Writing Practice: Consistent answer writing was the key differentiator across her attempts.
3. Current Affairs Integration: Connect current events with static syllabus topics for multidimensional answers.
4. Revision Strategy: Multiple revisions of limited sources rather than covering too many books.
5. Mock Interviews: Participated in the Interview Guidance Programme to refine her DAF preparation and communication skills.

"Persistence is the key. The UPSC journey is long and demanding, but every attempt teaches you something valuable. Focus on improving 1% every day rather than aiming for perfection from day one."