Ankita Agarwal | An inspiring story of UPSC Rank 2

Ankita Agarwal has grabbed 2nd position in UPSC results this year. The UPSC CSE result has been announced on Monday, 30 May 2022. The results left everyone in a surprised as well as proud state as the top three rank holders are all girls. In fact; the top ten performers comprise five girls and five boys. The UPSC CSE 2021 air 2 is Ankita Agarwal. Let us know more about this soon-to-be IAS officer.

Ankita Agarwal Early Life

Ankita Agarwal came to this world in 1997 in Kolkata, West Bengal. Ankita’s father is a Kolkata-based businessman. Her father migrated to Kolkata from Bihar after her birth. She completed her early/basic education in West Bengal itself. She did her graduation from st. stephens college of Delhi University in 2017 with economics honors. After completing her graduation she worked at Dalberg for one year which is a development consultancy firm. She quit the job in 2018 and that is when she started preparing for the civil services. It took her three years to achieve an all-India rank of 2.

Ankita Journey to UPSC

According to Ankita, when she entered college; her career goal was not very clear to her. She thought of doing a corporate job but in the final year of college, she decided to do something little more meaningful with her life. After college, she worked in the private sector for a year to understand where she should go in the development sector. But she was more interested in development economics and one gets a lot of chances to work related to it in IAS service. Also, Ankita wanted to work on a grassroots level. So, in 2018, she started preparing for the civil services.

Ankita’s Challenges

Ankita did her graduation with economics honors from Saint Stephen’s College of Delhi University, as people say the ultimate course from the ultimate college. It’s been a trend for economics honors students from St Stephen’s College to opt for corporate sector jobs rather than civil services. Ankita herself believes that overall the pull of civil services has been reduced in Saint Stephen’s College so it was a challenge in itself to be a civil service aspirant after graduating with the ultimate course from the ultimate college(as people say it).

More about Ankita’s journey

In 2019, Ankita first attempted for UPSC she got qualified in IRS and got an all-India rank of 239. Afterward, she decided to try once more for a better rank as she said she didn’t get much time for the preparations on the first attempt. Next, in her second attempt, again she was not satisfied with her rank so she appear for the third time in the exam in 2021 and cracked it with all India rank 2. Ankita said she is fully satisfied with her rank and she has no greed for air one.

Ankita’s Subjects and Preference in UPSC 2021

Ankita’s optional subjects were political science and international issues.

Talking about her post preferences, her first preference was IAS and her second preference was IPS.

Distractions and Motivations during Ankita’s Preparation

Ankita quit all social media platforms since she found them very distracting. She considers friends as an important factor during the preparation. According to her, if you have the right kind of friends, they will be in your support. They will know your requirement for space for studying. They respect your time and they will be on your side whenever you need them.

Ankita’s Message for Aspirants

Ankita says that your why should be very clear because that gives you the motivation on your tough days.

Consistency and self-motivation are the most important factors during UPSC preparation.

Future Plans

Ankita said in an interview that she would like to work for women empowerment, primary health care, and school education sectors.

Life lessons from Ankita Agarwal

It’s very much clear from Ankita’s story that-

• Success comes to those who patiently work towards it.
• Trust your journey with a positive mindset.
• You can achieve anything with a clear vision.
• Don’t let others’ success rush you, be patient as everybody has a different timeline.

Also read-Vikrant Massey | Story of Dreams of a middle-class boy

Where is from Ankita Agarwal UPSC?

Ankita Agarwal belongs to West Bengal.

What is the age of Ankita Agarwal UPSC topper?

as of 2022, Ankita is 25 years old.