r/UPSC

Hello everyone. I'm into this preparation for 3+yrs now. And everyone here could relate with me about what the preparation do to our minds.. being isolated all the time. Cutting out on social life. Emotional imbalance. Mismanagement of time etc.etc...

Overall.. a mess and sometimes internally dead and hopeless. 

But for me things took a turn.. as I started doing some practices and kept myself consistent with it... and now it has been more than a year. 

I can't tell you guys how beneficial and magical it could be... esp for an aspirant. Just a 20-30 min. practice everyday (Now I've increased) and boom.. you've like taken a fresh birth everyday. 

I'll definitely list down what all benefits I felt as a Upsc aspirant and how it would help in the journey in another post.

I know this might sound just a mental concoction made by me... isiliye guys I want everyone here reading this to try yourself and test. Don't just go on my words.  

Hence.. I'm trying to connect to the aspirants which could get us together daily for this small practice. And would love everybody to join me in this... and if you feel like sharing your journey, struggles you're facing or even rant your frustration out...you're most welcome.

Even if anybody feels like they have cracked how to stay composed in this storm and overcame the difficulties themselves by doing something etc. please they can also share their story and connect..as it would help out other aspirants.

𝙎𝙪𝙢𝙢𝙖𝙧𝙮: 𝙈𝙖𝙟𝙤𝙧𝙡𝙮 𝙥𝙤𝙨𝙩𝙨 𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙩𝙖𝙡𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙖𝙗𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙝𝙤𝙬 𝙩𝙤 𝙥𝙧𝙚𝙥𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙤𝙪𝙧𝙘𝙚𝙨 𝙚𝙩𝙘. 𝙗𝙪𝙩 𝙣𝙤 𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙞𝙨 𝙩𝙖𝙡𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙖𝙗𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙩𝙤𝙡𝙡 𝙜𝙤𝙩𝙩𝙚𝙣 𝙤𝙣 𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙖𝙡 𝙝𝙚𝙖𝙡𝙩𝙝 𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙟𝙤𝙪𝙧𝙣𝙚𝙮. 𝙄𝙩'𝙨 𝙟𝙪𝙨𝙩 𝙖 𝙨𝙢𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙞𝙣𝙞𝙩𝙞𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙫𝙚 𝙗𝙮 𝙢𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙘𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙 𝙝𝙚𝙡𝙥 𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙤𝙛 𝙪𝙨 𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚.

𝙔𝙤𝙪 𝙘𝙖𝙣 𝘿𝙈 𝙢𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙣𝙚𝙘𝙩 𝙤𝙧 𝙙𝙞𝙨𝙘𝙪𝙨𝙨 𝙖𝙗𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙢𝙤𝙧𝙚.

This was my first mains overall third attempt, after checking prelims answer key I was on borderline but still completed gs 4 before result of prelims .

Essay :- wrote on "elephants fight" and "leader follows followers" wrote 12 pages on each . I covered all pestel aspects . Wrote just 4 practice essays .

Gs1:- knew every question but wrote tundra in fujiwahara by mistake . And wrote one 15 marker only 2 pages .

Gs 2 :- too analytical , but somehow completed . Some answers were good some so so

Gs3 :- thought examples were value addition but paper demanded examples , didn't know mission drishti but filled every page

Gs4:- was scoring 115+ in mocks,but paper was lengthy and analytical , started almost every question with a quote and finished with a quote .

Optional 1 (Socio) :- had prepared least , missed definition of situation used examples of gs 2 and thinkers wherever I remembered.

Optional 2 :- wtf was that too many if questions filled 3.5 pages in 20 marker somehow completed the paper .

Do you guys think I have any chance ?

TL;DR: BITS CS + ~5 years of experience + ₹52 LPA before the break. Took a 1-year gap for UPSC but didn’t clear Prelims. I’m deciding whether to attempt UPSC again or return to software, and I’m mainly worried that extending the gap to 2 years could make tech re-entry significantly harder. Looking for practical experiences on how recruiters view a UPSC gap and whether I should start testing the software market now.

I am looking for some practical advice from people who have been in a similar situation.

I am a BITS Pilani CS graduate with around 5 years of software experience. Before resigning, I was earning around ₹52 LPA. I took a 1-year career break to prepare for UPSC, but unfortunately did not clear Prelims. I am now considering whether to give UPSC another serious attempt or return to software.

My main concern is that extending the gap to 2 years may make it significantly harder to re-enter tech. At the same time, I am not sure whether a 1-year gap will be a major issue given my degree, prior experience and previous compensation. Also with coming AI boom, I am already worried that I am already missing out.

I would like to understand the following:

• How much does a 1-2 year UPSC preparation gap affect software hiring?
• Does having a good degree and years of experience help meaningfully in this situation?
• Would it make sense to start interviewing for software roles while preparing for another UPSC attempt?
• How do recruiters generally view a UPSC-related career gap, especially when the candidate did not clear Prelims?
• At what point does extending the gap become too risky from a career re-entry perspective?
• If you were in this situation, what factors would you consider before deciding between another UPSC attempt and returning to software?

Cant understand hype about foundation courses they are just passive material consuming shit
Which acts like self satisfactory in nature this is not jee that you need anyone technical knowledge i just read ncert and standard books with only optional foundation from karandeep and wrote 3 mains with 2 interviews what are your views on this coaching hyping and fear Mongering courses ?!!!

Hi everyone,

I’m starting my UPSC Economy preparation and I’m confused about which one standard book I should follow.

I’ve seen people recommend:

- Vivek Singh

- Sanjeev Verma

- Nitin Singhania

- Ramesh Singh

I’m looking for something useful for both Prelims and GS-3 Mains, with good conceptual clarity and less errors.

Also, if you think there’s some other book, material, or source that’s better than these, please suggest that too. I’m open to anything that you genuinely found useful for UPSC Economy.

If there are any availabl PDFs please share the links as well.

I’d prefer to pick one main source and stick to it rather than keep switching between multiple books.

Thanks!

Hi I am a UPSC aspirant and not a very bright student in terms of academics. So I want it to ask you what's the revision technique that works for you? Like how to actually revise?