Laghima Tiwari IAS Biography, Age, UPSC Marksheet, Rank, Optional Subject, Preparation Strategy

Hi, I am Laghima Tiwari (AIR 19). I will be sharing my strategy, booklist and notes on this post.

I am receiving this question a lot. Hence, addressing it. I officially started my preparation in June 2021, just after my college ended. However, before that I have researched a lot about what should be my strategy, how to proceed further, which in my opinion can be a time consuming task.
I then gave my prelims in June 2022. Then, quite obviously I prepared during the 3.5 months between pre and mains. So, practically it amounts to 15.5 months.
I made a conscious decision of not appearing for CSE’ 21 prelims which took place in October’21. This is because I was not prepared back then, & I did not want to enter the cycle half-prepared. Many toppers across years have appeared for pre just after college, but due to lack of preparation could not clear it, & then they too have taken a drop year, reappeared for next cycle & have succeeded with flying colors.
My journey & timeline is somewhat similar to theirs, only difference is I did not appear for 2021 prelims, which makes 2022 as my first attempt.
Thank you

Notes read by Laghima Tiwari

A brief history of modern India (Spectrum)	Get Book
Indian Art and Culture by Nitin Singhania	Get Book
Certificate Physical & Human Geography by GC Leong	Get Book
Atlas Book	Get Book
Indian Polity by Laxmikanth	Get Book
Indian Economy Notes	Get Book
Shankar IAS Environment	Get Book
Internal Security and Disaster Management by Ashok	Get Book

Laghima Tiwari UPSC CSE Booklist

A brief history of modern India (Spectrum)	Get Book
Indian Art and Culture by Nitin Singhania	Get Book
Certificate Physical & Human Geography by GC Leong	Get Book
Atlas	Get Book
Indian Polity by Laxmikanth	Get Book
Indian Economy	Get Book
Shankar IAS Environment	Get Book
Internal Security and Disaster Management by Ashok	Get Book

Laghima Tiwari UPSC CSE BOOKLIST

My clarification on coachings –
Since many institutes are using my pictures and will continue doing so in future, I am writing this post.

ALSO READ Robert K. Merton | Sociology UPSC Notes

I have NOT taken CLASSROOM COACHING from any institute, neither for GS nor for optional. Though, I have taken Test series and Mock interviews at all the 3 stages.

My REASON for not joining classroom coaching –

GS – I did not feel the need as I had figured out what to read, how to read through toppers talk on Internet, plus my home is situated in Delhi itself but it takes around 2 hours to reach ORN, I could not spare so much travelling time every day and did not want to live in PG when my home was in the same city.
Optional – I was willing to take coaching for optional as I was advised that it requires greater depth. I even contacted few institutes, but either the course timing was not suiting me, whereas at some other places I received a rather dull response. So I decided I should prepare it on my own, ofc through help from internet.

My suggestion – If anyone feels the need of coaching, they should definitely go for it. For some people, it can do wonders, while others do not feel so much need. So decide accordingly based on your strengths and weaknesses. Even, if you are not taking coaching, my suggestion is to at least join some test series which will keep you in loop of preparation.

Continued..
TEST SERIES & MOCK INTERVIEWS I took