UPSC Preparation: Does academic record matter in IAS selection?

Dr. Roman Saini discusses on the idea of academic record and its importance in selection to IAS

Unless you have some major hiccup (and I mean major like taking 6 years to finish a 3-4 year course) , there is only one answer. Nowhere in life in general and CSE interview in particular, does your academia matter.

Consider my example. I did my schooling from a decent enough school in Jaipur, am pretty good at articulating in English. I had received many awards, had well developed hobbies like playing guitar (which I also happen to have a degree in) and I did my graduation from one of the best medical schools in the country. I gave my interview for the civil services alongside my internship, with no gap between graduation and CSE. In short, I was going to the interview with almost perfect profile on the paper. Yet, getting only 154 marks despite giving a good interview is a testament to my theory.





On the other hand, there are infinite number of candidates who are from far flung areas of the country like north east, backward regions in  Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Orissa etc. who have done their graduation from very very low profile colleges and universities whose name does not ring a bell even to very learned people. These aspirants have done no job and gave like 5-6 attempts, not doing anything else and not being employed anywhere, simply  'wasting' precious years of their life. They had no command over English, no scholarships, no prizes etc. under their belt whatsoever. Still these guys managed to get 200+ marks in the interview.

So by these instances what I want to convey is this : your academic record does not matters in your interview, at all. It's only in your head. See if you have this psychological belief that you will not do good because after passing from college you have not done post-graduation or wasted 3 years in civil service preparation and if you feel ashamed and guilty over it, then the board will sense your weak point and this particular feeling creates a problem for you. If you are under confident about it, don’t want to talk about it then that’s what the board will bring up the most, hurting you, and your prospects of clearing the exam.

So please remember that it does not matter at all what your academic background is or if you can't make sense of V for Vendetta. As long as you are able to convey yourself in simple terms effectively and efficiently, it is more than sufficient for our purpose.

So, when confronted with such questions you should simply reply and with brutal honesty that CSE preparation is very tough and you have dedicated 3-4 years of your life to this cause. If you don't have any hobby tell them that you have to study so much that there literally is no time to do cultivate a hobby.

If you have not done graduation from a good college, just speak the truth that you couldn't do well in studies during 11th and 12th, consequently you didn't get into a good college and that’s what you are trying to rectify now.

Whatever you do, don't feel guilt over it. No one is perfect nor should you be. It is not only tolerable and acceptable rather appreciable. It proves we are very much human and have not turned into machines.