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Why UPSC? When to leave the prep?

I started my UPSC prep in May 2018, after completing my graduation in Computer engineering. The college is one of the top 15, and I was an average student with good grades. I also attempted GATE in the final year of graduation and got descent rank but did not sit for any admissions, because by that time I was already bitten by "UPSC bug". I was ecstatic to start preparing, and as an arrogant brat I am I opted for self-study with no knowledge of UPSC whatsoever and no guidance at all from anyone( other than Topper's talk, if you call that guidance.) After 2 years,3 months : Here I am. Currently contemplating the decision made by naive-idealist-self. When I assess myself today I feel I don't have that thing to crack UPSC. And constantly searching for something, either parent, society, or dumbass-youtube-topper-motivational-videos, circumstance, teachers to blame my failures on. From April 2020 I started assessing myself and found out that I may not be carved out for this exam. From last 3 months, I am in sort of sad-emotionless situation where I don't feel anything. So I am thinking of giving up of becoming "IAS" and starting preparation for GATE again. But again I am worried what if I also fail there? what if I am giving up too soon? what if I regret this decision when I get into the corporate mess? I am confused about how to resolve this issue. I feel by continuing UPSC I am following "maladaptive perseverance" which would lead me into deeper sinkhole. Everyone talks about Why should you prepare for UPSC? But today my question is: Why should I prepare for UPSC? When should I give up without regretting?
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2 comments

You have barely three weeks in hand... contemplate later. You say that you're a victim of self and yet you're justifying this last moment chaos!

buckle up boy... time for punches now

Ash5Man,
5.2k views

Why should I prepare for UPSC? When should I give up without regretting? - Nice question.

Well first of all you should now prepare for it just because you have wasted/dedicated (depending on your perception) almost 2.5 years of your life on this thing called UPSC. Trust me there is no turning back now. Take up the challenge and amend your mistake and move ahead.

For the second question, you can never leave UPSC without regret in your mind. UPSC is just like a first love that you want to forget but can never actually do so. 


Bro, UPSC is the toughest exam in India. Go through the previous year's result and you will realize the candidates who are getting selected have put almost 3-4 years of their life into it. In my personal opinion, it takes almost 3 years of dedicated and planned preparation to crack the UPSC. Even the people who are getting selected in the first attempt have their optional from their academic background or have been preparing for 3-4 years prior to their first attempt.

Even I was in your position once upon a time and it took me 6th attempt to get the first call of the interview. It's just because of our own ignorance and haughtiness that I will crack it without coaching and on the basis of self-preparation. I learned it in a hard way that without the proper guidance of a dedicated mentor its way to difficult to crack UPSC. So it's my humble suggestion that you should plan properly for your next attempt and find a senior mentor who has already gone through the process to guide you.

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