I am in Class 12 (Science Stream). I want to be an IAS officer but have social anxiety and stage fear. My English communication is also weak, though I read an English newspaper daily. How can I tackle this? Ramesh
Dear Ramesh,
You do not need to be an extroverted English orator to become an exceptional officer. You have ample time to fix the gaps. Reading an English newspaper daily is great. Your bottleneck, perhaps, is active English (speaking and writing). Start reading one editorial out loud daily. Watch English news analyses or speech clips. Listen to a sentence, pause it, and try to repeat it with the same intonation. This builds linguistic confidence. The UPSC Prelims and Mains test your ability to analyse complex data, maintain focus, and write thoughtful, structured answers.
Social anxiety and stage fear can be unlearned through gradual exposure. Start by talking to the teacher in a small class, participating in a four-person GD, giving a three-minute presentation to friends, and then presenting to the entire class. Shift the focus from ‘Me’ to the ‘Content’. Right now, focus on your Class 12 board exams. In college, join clubs, practise basic UPSC answer writing and take baby steps in public speaking. The UPSC Personality Test looks for honesty, administrative logic and integrity, not loud showmanship.
I am a Class 11 Bio-Maths student. I find the field of Earth, Environmental, and Sustainability Studies highly interesting. Which are the top institutes in India and abroad with a focus on research and teaching careers? What are theother career options? Lena
Dear Lena,
Environmental Science relies on mathematical modelling of climate systems, physical principles of fluid dynamics, chemical analysis of pollutants, and biological insights into ecosystems. Your combination of Biology and Maths is ideal. Since your goal is research and academia, target premier institutes that emphasise experimental design, field studies, and data analysis. In India, the gold standard is an integrated BS-MS or Bachelor of Science (Research) programme.
The Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru, offers a four-year B.Sc. (Research) programme with a major in Earth and Environmental Science. IISERs across Pune, Kolkata, Mohali, Bhopal, and Thiruvananthapuram have outstanding Earth and Climate Sciences departments. IIT Bombay offers an Interdisciplinary Programme in Climate Studies, while IIT Kharagpur has a five-year integrated M.Sc. in Applied Geology and Earth Sciences. JNU and BHU are strong options for postgraduate research.
If you aim to study abroad, consider Stanford, Columbia, and UC Berkeley in the U.S., Oxford and Cambridge in the U.K., ETH Zurich in Switzerland, and Wageningen University in the Netherlands.
High-demand niches in academics include Climate Modelling and Simulation, Biogeochemistry, Palaeoclimatology, and Satellite Remote Sensing and GIS. Alternative careers include corporate sustainability, think tanks, and international bodies such as UNEP, the World Bank, IPCC and WWF, and the green technology industry.
I am in the third year of medical college and under pressure to crack NEET-PG in the first attempt. I face problems with consistency and time-management. How can I overcome this? Shreeya
Dear Shreeya,
You are starting your focused preparation at the perfect time. You can now build your core clinical concepts without the hectic schedule of a final-year internship. Shift from a ‘time-based’ to a ‘task-based’ approach. Hospital schedules and exhaustion can break your schedule. So, use micro-targets. Commit to 20–30 high-yield MCQs and three video modules/textbook topics per day. Utilise ‘dead time’ and keep your Q-Bank app active.
Focus on mastering your third-year subjects while maintaining a baseline touch with previous years. Ophthalmology, ENT and Community Medicine (PSM) account for a significant chunk of the exam. Spend weekends revising Pathology, Pharmacology and Microbiology from second year.
Break the cycle of procrastination with mini-tests and mock exams. Solve 10–15 MCQs, followed by 45–50 minutes of Targeted Review. Bookmark, tag, and flag volatile facts for weekly review. Ignore the ‘Herd Noise’. Follow your path. Perfectionism is the enemy of consistency. It is better to do 20 high-quality MCQs than rush through 100 passively. Finally, a skipped day isn’t a failure. Reset and hit your daily minimum target the next morning.
I am in Class 10 and want to pursue Maths for higher studies. But I do not want to continue with Science subjects in Class 11 and 12. What else can I do so that I can study Maths later? Palash
Dear Palash,
There is a misconception that if you want to study higher-level Maths, you must choose Science. Maths is also deeply intertwined with Economics, Commerce, Data Science, and the Social Sciences.
After Class 10, you can choose Commerce or the Humanities and select Maths as an elective. Commerce and Maths open doors to finance, actuarial science and quantitative fields, while Humanities and Maths are useful for public policy, demographic research and economics.
CBSE offers Core Maths covering calculus, trigonometry and algebra, and Applied Maths focussed on business, economics, finance and data analysis. Check the eligibility criteria for your preferred degree before choosing. After Class 12, you can pursue degrees through CUET, including B.Sc./B.A. Mathematics, Actuarial Science, Economics, Data Science and Statistics.
Modern Economics is highly mathematical, while Data Science combines Maths, programming and analytics. Choose the stream that matches your interests.
Disclaimer: This column is merely a guiding voice and provides advice and suggestions on education and careers.
The writer is a practising counsellor and a trainer. Send your questions to eduplus.thehindu@gmail.com with the subject line Off the Edge
Published - August 15, 2026 05:30 pm IST