IFoS Rank 12 Neha Srivastava with her father before her Personality Test at Union Public Service Commission
Neha Srivastava has secured Rank 12 in the Indian Forest Service Examination 2015. She cracked IFoS in her first attempt. Hailing from Hazaribag in Jharkhand, Neha chose Zoology and Botany as her optionals.
Neha completed her B.Tech in Biotechnology from DY Patil, Mumbai
Neha is an avid ForumIAS members and joined the ForumIAS family two years ago. Presenting before you Neha’s success story.
First, tell us something about yourself!
I did my early schooling from RK Mission, so ‘Jiva is Shiva’ was impregnated in my mind when I was just 8. Since then I wanted to be a civil servant in a true sense.
For me there is just one universal truth- Law of karma. And this dictates my life a lot. Maybe this is why I am inclined to get into civil services where I can do ‘good karma’ in broadest manner possible.
Your medium of instruction in school,college and in the Mains Examination?
English
How did you get started for preparation for All India Services?
After my B.Tech, I wanted to get into some decent B-school, become financially independent before getting into civil services preparation. So I was already preparing for aptitude. Meanwhile my uncle who himself is a civil servant was guiding me for GS. I was motivated by him and I decided to drop my MBA plan. I started my full pledged preparation 6 months before prelims.
How did you tackle GS/GK Paper?
I was already preparing for aptitude during final semester as I was preparing for GRE, my plan was to go for civils after PG. But then I decided to give civil services at least one try. So I gave my first prelims in May 2013, I picked up the Hindu and NCERT books in Jan 2013. I was guided by my uncle who himself is a civil servant and has teaching experience of over 10 years. He taught me what not to study instead of what to study. And with his guidance I was able to clear CSP 2013. Also I am not a kind of person who can study for 10 hrs a day, follow a proper timetable.
As suggested by my mentor, I limited by booklist. And strategy was to read the same book again and again instead of reading different books on the same topic. And it paid off, it helped me to clear prelims in first attempt in very less time. So prelims exam is toughest stage yet it is conquerable with the right strategy.
How did you prepare Zoology Optional?
My major optional is zoology, many topics are similar to my graduations subject, but initially troubled me a lot. Being unconventional subject it is not very easy to gather the sources of studies. But I love this subject so I went for it. I have habit of notes making. Notes helped me to compile the topics together. It is a time consuming process but it ultimately helps a lot in revision especially for topics like economic zoology, genetics which can’t be covered using one book.
I have habit of note making and I make proper notes from 2-3 sources with coloured diagrams etc. it is a time consuming process however for me it is one time investment. Also, the topics are not available in one book. They are quite scattered especially in genetics for example if Mendel’s law is given well in Griffiths, cloning is explained well in TA brown. Because it is always easy for me to revise from notes written in my own handwriting. It is never possible to complete the syllabus and it is not wise too. My strategy was to complete one section of each paper. For example in paper 1 section B with ecology, ethology, economic zoology is easier to complete and is more scoring than section A I.e, taxonomy. And ultimately one need to attempt only 5 out of 8 questions.
How did you prepare Botany Optional?
My second optional was botany. It has many overlapping topics with zoology so I prepared them well. And for rest of the topics I went for selected studies like plant physiology which is easier than taxonomy. Biotechnology portion is scoring. IGNOU notes helped me a lot. My strategy for optional was to finish one section of each paper completely because ultimately we need to answer 5/8 questions.
Since you cleared IFoS, you would have pretty good marks in Prelims. What books/notes did you refer to for General Studies and CSAT?
I made my booklist and then decided no matter how tempting any new notes or book look, I am not going to buy them. Just 2-3 months before prelims when it became clear that CSAT will be qualifying, I locked my all books(to avoid traumatising myself unnecessarily) except those mentioned in my booklist.
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