How to choose best online IAS coaching for fresher?

Posted on : 20 November, 2021 18:32

About me

This is Shriyash. K.S. I am a mechanical engineer. I am preparing for civil services for a couple of years and have written two UPSC CSE mains and have given one Interview which led me to Rank 710 in UPSC CSE-2020. As an aspirant, I had various confusions with respect to the selection of IAS coaching centres and online IAS coaching classes. I had to try out various institutes which wasted my time and money. I am here to guide the IAS aspirants which can help them to select the best online IAS coaching class and not be misguided by fake online advertisements.

About online IAS classes

In the age of Covid-19, there has been a huge demand for online classes due to the inability of aspirants to attend offline classes in big metro cities like Delhi, Chennai or Bengaluru.

The rise in demand has also led the various business entities to start their own online coaching classes for IAS aspirants, which has diluted the quality of preparation due to the entry of various unqualified lecturers into the IAS coaching market.

I have personally seen a large number of inexperienced mentors/lecturers on various social media platforms like telegram/Facebook/Instagram/Youtube who run their own channel least bothered about the selection of IAS aspirants but on the sole motive of earning profits.

Hence, we must be very careful to not fall into the traps of these Digital marketing companies portraying few institutes as the Best IAS coaching centres or Best online coaching centres as these are paid promotions.

How to choose the best online IAS coaching

Online IAS coaching is a favourite option with a considerably huge number of IAS aspirants. Most of them feel confused when it comes to choosing the suitable one. The UPSC syllabus is quite vast. Clearing the IAS exam requires the hardest and the smartest of the preparations by the aspirants.

So the online coaching for IAS opted for by any of the IAS aspirants should encompass all the positive features to enable the candidates clear the Civil Services exam successfully.

Here are a few tips to remember while choosing the suitable online IAS coaching:

Look for sample videos: It is better to opt for the IAS online coaching after viewing some of the free online video classes to make sure of the quality of the classes beforehand. The sample videos might be present on YouTube or on the IAS coaching websites. I have given the YouTube link of an institute below which I found was very useful for my preparation.
Look for the updated video classes: It is better to opt for the IAS online coaching that provides you with the facility of updated video classes. Make sure that the online IAS coaching centres provide you with the facility of attending both Live and Recorded classes. Doing so would allow you to take the advantage of attending the same lecture as the one that is being attended currently by the regular classroom programme students at offline classes.
Eminent and experienced faculty teaching online: It is advisable to opt for the online IAS coaching centres where an eminent and experienced faculty has been teaching online. The faculty who are known to have a thorough knowledge of the subject and has been teaching the IAS aspirants successfully for at least 10 years or more are likely to coach the aspirants equipping them successfully to clear the exam with a rank higher than the competitors.
Look for online doubt clearing sessions: Make sure that the online IAS coaching classes allocate a separate time for doubt clearances. The institutes that just coach students without clearing their doubts is just a wastage of the student’s time and money.
Periodic tests to be available: Look for the online live classes that will offer periodic tests and revisions within the class. There are very few online IAS coaching centres that offer periodic oral tests and revisions. The one institute that is known for frequent oral/written tests with multiple revisions is Aspire IAS.
Online classes must encompass current affairs: The knowledge of current affairs is extremely important while preparing for the IAS exam. Look for the online classes that offer Newspaper classes. Daily Newspapers like The Hindu and Indian Express are the best sources for current affairs. Make sure that these newspapers are read within the classes rather than just giving xerox notes with the gist of the newspapers.
Look for technical and customer support: The team of the online coaching institution should be professional and helpful. If the team is professional, the aspirants are more likely to get the support required technically as well by various means including calls etc., so that all their problems, whenever there are any of varying types, are attended to at the earliest possible.
Look for personal guidance: Few online IAS coaching centres provide personal mentorship programs for constant support for the aspirants till their Interviews. I have personally enrolled in the Saarthi mentorship program of Aspire IAS where Shri. Ankit Kumar sir guided me till I cleared the final level of UPSC CSE-2020.
Individual attention to answer writing skills: It is best to choose the online coaching that pays individual attention to the answer writing skills of all the candidates.
Look for module wise classes: Aspirants can enrol themselves in a few subjects first so that the quality of the classes can be assessed rather than joining the whole course. Look out for individual courses like Newspaper module/Mapping module/Geography module/Polity crash course, etc.