This article is written by Asif Sir.
How Ritika (AIR 55) and Abhishek (AIR 78) rewrote their UPSC story with 50 weeks of rigorous writing, relentless feedback, and structured preparation inside the AIM program. There’s something unique about aspirants who fail prelims and come back stronger — not just with marks, but with a mindset shift.
Ritika Chiplunkar (AIR 55) had faced the sting of a failed attempt. Prelims had knocked her down. CSAT was shaky. GS cut her off. But when AIM launched in June, just weeks after her setback, she didn’t retreat. She wrote. Every week. Without fail.
Abhishek Singh (AIR 78) had cleared prelims twice before. He had written mains. But with GS scores stuck in the 360s, he knew something had to change. He joined AIM not to restart, but to restructure — to bring clarity to a preparation that was drifting.
Writing Till It Became a Reflex
Over the course of a year, Ritika wrote nearly 52 tests. “Out of 54 weeks, I wrote in 50,” she recalls. “Every Sunday, it became a ritual. At some point, you stop writing for marks and start writing because it becomes a part of you.”
Abhishek wasn’t far behind. His earlier GS scores hovered around 370. This time, he scored 426 — a jump of over 60 marks.
What changed?
“We became like generative AI,” he says. “Earlier, I could only write what I remembered. Now, I could take any theme and create dimensions, structure, and interlinkages — almost like an AI trained on UPSC.”
Workbooks, Weekly Tests, and the Value of Repetition
AIM’s structure is demanding — five daily questions, a weekend test, and model solutions every week. But it’s not just about volume. It’s about consolidation.
“The workbooks became my go-to notes,” Ritika shares. “Everything was there — model introductions, conclusions, multi-dimensional approaches. For months, I didn’t refer to any other source.”
Abhishek says, “The workbooks covered even the PYQ-linked themes not directly mentioned in the syllabus. I revised them at least 10 times. They didn’t just support my prep — they became my prep.”
Discipline, Not Motivation, Wins This Game
“Some days I didn’t feel like studying,” Ritika admits. “But AIM doesn’t care about your mood. The questions are there. The deadlines are fixed. You either write or fall behind.”
Abhishek adds, “It’s like training a muscle. Initially, I couldn’t keep pace. But slowly, daily writing built stamina. By the end, I was completing full papers 60 seconds early. Not because I rushed — but because I was prepared.”
Painful Feedback, Real Growth
Neither sugarcoats the intensity.
“One of my test copies — Art & Culture — was marked as ‘really poor.’ That hurt. But it was necessary,” Ritika says. “That day, I rewired how I approached GS1.”
Abhishek agrees. “The lowest scores were the biggest triggers. After every bad paper, I worked 3x harder. We don’t need motivation — we need sharp feedback.”
Why AIM Isn’t for Everyone — And Why It Works for the Few Who Stick
Both toppers repeatedly emphasized: AIM is not a casual course.
“It’s not for those who are figuring out whether they want to write Mains,” Abhishek says. “If you’re not prepared to write 50 tests in a year, don’t join.”
Ritika adds, “In the beginning, you’ll see a lot of names on the result sheet. By the end, maybe half of it. The ones who stay till the end — they usually see their name in the final list.”
Managing the Rigour
Was it overwhelming?
“Yes,” both say.
“But the schedule made it manageable. Big subjects like Polity, Economy, Ethics, History were frontloaded. Smaller topics like Governance, Social Justice came later. By then, you’re already conditioned to write.”
Abhishek notes, “If I had planned the year myself, I would’ve overestimated what I can do in a week, and underestimated what I could achieve in a year. AIM’s calendar fixed that.”
When You Know You’ve Given It Everything
“This was my final attempt,” Abhishek says. “I had told myself — this is it. No going back. That mindset made me sit every day, no matter what.”
Ritika felt similarly. “I was only in my second attempt, but I was mentally done. And that clarity made me show up consistently.”
Neither speaks of “luck” as an excuse — but both acknowledge its role. “You can’t control the result. But you can control whether you’ve left any gaps. AIM made sure there were none.”
Final Takeaway: Write Till It Hurts — And Then Some More
“It’s a process,” Ritika concludes. “Not a feel-good program. It will demand more than you’re used to giving. But if you give in — fully — it changes how you think, write, revise, and reflect.”
Abhishek signs off with a quiet nod: “You may not be in control of the outcome. But you can always be in control of your effort. And AIM, if you do it right, make sure that effort is total.”
“We Didn’t Build a Program. We Built a Process.”
There’s a phrase I often say, “Having more time is often a bigger problem than having less time.” That’s where AIM was born — not in a conference room, but in the chaos of student preparation, in the cluttered desks of those who started strong but slowly lost steam.
The UPSC exam is not hard because it demands knowledge. It’s hard because it demands consistency — across 14 months, across stages, across subjects. And year after year, I saw students struggling not with content, but with control. They had books. They had motivation. But what they lacked was momentum.
Why We Built AIM
AIM wasn’t designed to be “just another test series.” It was built for those students who were already sincere — who had done the classes, finished the syllabus — but now needed direction, daily practice, and someone to hold them accountable.v It was built for those who didn’t want to “just write Mains,” but wanted to give a serious attempt they could be proud of.
And it was built around the kind of preparation I saw in real toppers — not the Instagram versions, but the ones who quietly made their own notes, wrote hundreds of answers, and worked like it was their last shot.
The DNA of AIM
Every feature of AIM came from observing what works:
- Toppers made their own notes — so we designed our assignments and workbooks around note making, not handouts.
- They wrote relentlessly — so we created a test ecosystem that demanded weekly submissions.
- They had someone to guide them — so every AIMer got a mentor who would call, correct, and if needed, confront.
This was never meant to be a feel-good program. In fact, it’s more like a “feel-bad-till-you-get-better” program. And we say that upfront — because AIM isn’t for everyone. It’s only for those willing to show up. Daily.
Year by Year: How AIM Evolved
In Year 1, we focused heavily on Mains. But by Year 2, we realised something crucial: you can’t help students in Mains if they don’t cross Prelims. So we restructured the program — now AIM is 50% Prelims, 50% Mains. The result? A record number of AIMers have qualified this year’s prelims. And we’re going to go after their Mains prep like our own success depends on it. Because in a way, it does.
This year, in Year 3, we introduced conceptual testing, added phases, built in breaks (yes, even a Diwali break!), and started early with Prelims.
What Makes AIM Different
AIM is not just a plan. It’s a process. It brings students into a daily rhythm — 5 questions a day, 5 days a week — and holds them to it.
For someone giving their second or third attempt, it helps sharpen what they already know. For a first-timer, it helps them build content from scratch. But both end up writing. Thinking. Revising. Again and again.
A student once told me, “Sir, I wrote so much in AIM, my fingers developed muscles.” Another said, “I’ve written so many answers, I feel like ChatGPT with better handwriting.”
That’s the spirit of AIM. Sweat till you simplify. Rewrite till it’s muscle memory.
Mentorship That Means Something
Our mentors aren’t just mentors — they’re sparring partners. They’ve pushed, scolded, motivated, and guided hundreds of students — some of whom have secured ranks. Sometimes a bit too passionately (yes, we’ve had to ask them to tone it down!). But every bit of feedback, every late-night call, every extra Zoom session comes from one belief: This is not a job. It’s a responsibility.
And the highest compliment we’ve received? “Sir, it feels like the AIM team wants this rank more than I do.”
Why There Are Only Two AIM Batches
We don’t run AIM batches every month. There’s a reason.
This program needs time to work. If you join too late, you’re set up to fail. That’s why we only take students in June and July. That’s it.
Because this isn’t a course to consume. It’s a lifestyle to commit to.
| Explore AIM Programs |
| Advanced Integrated Mentorship Program (AIM) [ 2025-26 ] |
| एडवांस्ड इंटीग्रेटेड मेंटरशिप (AIM) प्रोग्राम [ 2025-26 ] |
Behind AIM: A Crew That Cares and Commits
Behind the scenes of AIM is a team that doesn’t just run a program — they carry it like it’s their personal mission. These are not clock-in, clock-out professionals. They’re mentors who’ll push their students to work harder, content creators who obsess over every question’s relevance, evaluators who read every line like it matters — because to them, it does.
During interviews, we don’t just look for resumes; we look for attitude — people who treat a student’s success like their own. That’s why, when students say “it feels like the team wants my rank more than I do,” it’s not flattery. It’s a fact. The truth is, AIM isn’t just held together by a schedule. It’s held together by a team that shows up — every single day — with passion, pressure, and purpose.
What AIM is Not
We don’t cover Optional — and that’s intentional. Not because we don’t care, but because we don’t want to dilute our focus. We do GS. We do Essay. We do Prelims. We do Ethics. We do Interview prep. And we do it well.
Behind Every Rank, a Routine
Every year, we’ve seen students transform. From under confident to unstoppable. From unsure to top-100.
It’s not because of AIM. It’s because AIM gave them the structure to show up every day — and they did the work.
They cried. They doubted. They failed. And then they came back stronger. They didn’t just prepare. They progressed.
Because consistency is not a talent. It’s a choice.
Closing Thoughts
Ten years from now, when someone asks you, “When did you work the hardest in your life?” I hope you can say — “When I was in AIM.”
That’s what we built it for. Not to make students feel good. But to make them feel proud.
And if you’re joining — come prepared. Not just to write answers. But to rewrite your story.
— This article is written by Asif Sir.
