Hey guys 23 (f) starting my preparation from home. Dedicated 10 hours of study with an intention to understand syllabus, mains pyqs, covering all subjects. I am looking for peeps so that we can share the journey together.

Please only looking for serious aspirants.

I recently heard that an AIR who genuinely did self-study and wasn’t enrolled in any coaching got a very good rank. Apparently, after the results, a coaching institute allegedly paid him around ₹22 lakh for publicity and promoted him as their student/enrolled candidate.

I have no idea if this is actually true or just a rumour. Has anyone heard about this incident or knows which AIR/coaching institute this was?

UPSC Reddit, is this tea legit or completely made up? 😭

Folks just curious to know about what are the average age of people those are cracking UPSC exams?

So i teach kids at my home to make some pocket money while studying and 2 days ago two pandit( pandits are also sc) kids came to study and I accepted them without thinking much, and today just an hour earlier told my dad i got 2 new students, he asked about their caste so i told them and then he said some nasty things

Like if someone got to know I let them come to our house people are gonna treat us the same way

2 society won't drink water from our house nor they'll let us come to their house

3 and there is gonna be a huge bawal if my uncle and other family members got to know about it

For context I'm Jain and we're well settled but my parents still think like this,

I tried saying it's not right, ethics and all that, doesn't matter he said and now I'll have to make a call and tell them not to come from tomorrow

Lol irony all these ethics, social justice bs i studied and I can't even stand on it

Idk how I'm gonna do it, it's going to be a tough call

But it can be a good debate for sociology though

Thank you for reading 🥲

Hello,

This is my third attempt and first Mains. A few thoughts before I walk into that exam hall:

Do I feel prepared?
No. There is still more to revise, more data to cram, current affairs that are conveniently waiting to be “covered”, and paper completion that continues to remain a personal character flaw.

Am I scared?
Yes. And no. I oscillate between nothingness and extreme anxiousness. Quite honestly, this was the emotional state I had least anticipated.

Did I manage to stick to the strategy I started with?
Mostly.

• Integrate answer writing with mocks — done.
• Build 10–15 page short notes and fact sheets for every paper — done.
• Finish every paper in three hours — absolutely not. My last simulator still had one 15/20-marker from GS2, GS3 and GS4 staring back at me.
• Play to my strengths — done. Essay has been extensively brainstormed, ~15 essays written, and Ethics has enough examples to start its own anthology.
• Get comfortable with V7 — done. Is it objectively the greatest pen ever made? No. Did I use it because it is “topper’s choice”? Unfortunately, yes. tHiS preparation does strange things to otherwise rational adults.

Were the last two months hectic? Yes and no. There were days of insane productivity and days when getting through the bare minimum felt like an achievement. Which, of course, shakes one's confidence every now and then when everyone around you seems to have been studying 19 hours a day - without apparently needing food, sleep or oxygen. (yes i tracked mains candidates via ypt)

I am still revising my short notes. I still feel underprepared. I am still nervous.

But then, I remember: I felt exactly this way before Prelims too.

Perhaps preparation is never going to feel complete. At some point, you simply stop trying to become perfectly ready and show up with whatever you have managed to build.

So—if it is meant to be, it is meant to be.

The next post shall hopefully be after I see my name in that Mains-qualified PDF — accompanied, naturally, by a highly unnecessary segment on the saree shopping shenganians.

All the best to everyone walking into those exam halls.
We have revised enough, panicked enough, overthought enough and, frankly, come too far to do anything now except show up and write (haha)

Maybe see you on the other side.

Started with NCERT of class 6th and will be trying to complete the first set of reading by November December.Also I'm working full time and will be studying after my working hours. Give me some tips guys

What mandatory things to carry for the exam?? Other than..

1.admit card

2.govt id

3. Two photos

4. Black pen and pens

Someone who has given both EPFO and CSE exam, please shed light and share your perspective.

My background: 23M, currently group B employee in EPFO

My progress on UPSC 2027: Started 2 months back, skipped foundation, philosophy done 30%, Ethics done 70%, after these I plan to do GS 1/2/3, trying to learn everything additional needed to understand them on the way. GS of CGL formed a decent base to help me understand the 1-2 standard books I read.

My progress on EPFO: 101 marks in Dec 2025 exam, most marks were from English, Reasoning, Maths. Basically 0 in GS and special subjects (labour laws, accounting etc)

I am giving my first UPSC CSE attempt 2027, with a job, with about 10 months of time, with no coaching, skipped foundation to start with Mains, no elder sibling to guide who cleared this exam.

This seems impossible, based on the stories I read in recent times of successful candidates.

Good reasons for EPFO:

1. No Mains, I have cracked many MCQ tests and interviews

2. Group A job

3. I am already in EPFO, so my experience will help if I reach the interview

Bad reasons:

1. Gotta most likely skip CSE 2027 as Ethics and Optional won't help in EPFO, won't be able to prepare for Mains

2. 29 vacancies for UR, less chances of success (but that's the case for any exam I take)

3. I entered Group B job as a back up to prepare for CSE but taking EPFO will be like another backup after a backup. Although yes, Group A will be a big difference. It will take me 16-18 years to reach Group A at my current job

UPSC prepration has demanded time, focus and emotional energy leaving no space for friendships and joy. I used to stay happy but my unsuccessful 2026 attempt has drained me mentally and emotionally.

It's like I'm trapped in place with books and silent walls. Earlier as a child I used to feel proud on the fact that I can't live without books and today I feel trapped. I'm not living but merely surviving. I don't even have a friend to share this. Sometimes I wonder am I the only one who feels like this?

I get that my mind is not perfect and I can't study all day long. I need to be kind on myself but there are times when I am unable to open a book and the bubble of my patience bursts. I wish I could treat myself as a best friend but often I find myself as my harshest critic. I feel that if I fail, I don't have anyone to lean on.

I do talk with my family but I can't share what I'm going through with them because they will be concerned. The most painful part is that I don't have someone to call, someone with whom I can laugh and someone with whom I can stay without this bubble of study and revision.

I know that I will emerge out of this one day. I will be an achiever and an officer but as a human being I do wish that I had someone in my life in a capacity of friend or relationship and things would be little easier because I would have someone to share things. I just wish someone to say, "I know how you feel and I'm here."

I am posting it here because I hope that someone in the ocean full of strangers understand this and I will have someone. I want someone who is there for me.

Thank you for reading this kind people.

Given that UPSC obsessively used AI to set 2026 prelims paper, it's highly likely that mains 2026 would also see this.

What are the chances that AI would be used in evaluation of mains copies as well (at least for some assistance)? Does UPSC have such capabilities? It did get some 200cr grant last year.

You must be losing your mind by now. That revision schedule you might have thought to follow. The updated current affairs still left to be revised. Essay value additions to be revised one final time. All of this is okay. Everyone has been there. And this is where you should not let it overtake your objectivity.

A few suggestions been in this cycle for 7 long years.

1. Have a fixed SOP for the days of the exam. Be laser focussed on just implementing your SOP and not getting distracted by some new questions, randomness like Purviya in 2023. [GS-1]
2. Write from first principles. Write obvious things which are relevant to what is being asked. There would only be a handful of questions where you would know the exact content. For the rest you would have to make up relevant arguments on your feet. So, remember relevant arguments over filling sheets.
3. I scored 416 in GS in 2023. [marksheet attached in my profile]. I skipped one ten marker in GS-1 [fjord], one fifteen marker in GS-2 [NATO], one ten marker [microorganisms in fuel] and one fifteen marker [unemployment measurement] in GS3 and one ten marker [quote-based question] in GS-4. Also, in other questions I skipped on introductions and conclusions if I couldn't find anything relevant to write. What I'm trying to argue is please focus on addressing the demand of the question and don't beat around the bush.
4. One hack that worked in case I was not able to come up with relevant arguments was that i left space for that subheading and moved to the next subheading. Once your mind is fresh and it comes back to the previous subheading it can come up with good points.
5. Don't try to do anything new on the day of the exam. Stick to the routine you have figured out via writing mocks.
6. Don't let the (assumed) performance of the previous exam impact the next paper you write. Each exam is a standalone and its your resilience to be able to treat them like that. Mains is like a test match irrespective of the previous session you get up with the fire in your belly and give your best. [India's Gaba win in Jan 2021]
7. The only parameter to judge your performance should be were you able to stick to the strategy you had decided upon before going for the exam.
8. Carry something to eat during the exam. I carried snickers it helps to regulate blood sugar keeping the energy levels intact through the exam.
9. Be prepared for the worst. During my final attempt, my desk with the first one right next to the window with sun shining bright over my desk. And in Delhi during mains it always has to rain. So, in the second paper it started raining with the window open. You can always request the invigilator and they are mostly helpful.
10. Focus on the first lot- Essay and 4 GS. There should be the current priority.
11. One last point, when this ends you would realize that this is the most rewarding phase of preparation. The sheer amount of madness and razor sharp focus you have right now will be very difficult to get into for any other target in life. It's been 2 years since I moved on and still haven't been able to find something as encompassing as the preparation was in terms of the attention it takes. So, make the most of it.

See you at the other end. All the best!

Same as title.

Writing this Mains and I am not able to find V7 GRIP (not Rt) in the usual places I get it from. If you know some shop where I can get it, please let me know.

Hey there, I've given 2 upsc cse attempts, scoring 74 in 2026 prelims gs and 50 in csat (csat has always been a tough part for me) ...now I want to give the epfo apfc exam which is expected to be held in December...so around 4 months from now .... anyone who has already given attempt for epfo exam or someone who has idea of this exam please share your sources list and strategy

Thanks in advance 🙏

UPSC prepration has demanded time, focus and emotional energy leaving no space for friendships and joy. I used to stay happy but my unsuccessful 2026 attempt has drained me mentally and emotionally.

It's like I'm trapped in place with books and silent walls. Earlier as a child I used to feel proud on the fact that I can't live without books and today I feel trapped. I'm not living but merely surviving. I don't even have a friend to share this. Sometimes I wonder am I the only one who feels like this?

I get that my mind is not perfect and I can't study all day long. I need to be kind on myself but there are times when I am unable to open a book and the bubble of my patience bursts. I wish I could treat myself as a best friend but often I find myself as my harshest critic. I feel that if I fail, I don't have anyone to lean on.

I do talk with my family but I can't share what I'm going through with them because they will be concerned. The most painful part is that I don't have someone to call, someone with whom I can laugh and someone with whom I can stay without this bubble of study and revision.

I know that I will emerge out of this one day. I will be an achiever and an officer but as a human being I do wish that I had someone in my life in a capacity of friend or relationship and things would be little easier because I would have someone to share things. I just wish someone to say, "I know how you feel and I'm here."

I am posting it here because I hope that someone in the ocean full of strangers understand this and I will have someone. I want someone who is there for me.

Thank you for reading this kind people.

Getting 115 in Paper 1 , almost completed paper 2 except for precis ..

If I score decent in Interview, like avg 100

What are chances of getting into CISF ..

I don't intend to join other services .

Veterans Please help ..

What do you guys do when you just don’t feel like studying at all and somehow end up wasting an entire week?

I keep thinking I’ll start tomorrow, then tomorrow becomes another day, and suddenly a whole week is gone. The guilt just makes it worse, but I still can’t seem to get myself to start.

How do you guys get out of this cycle?

True to form, the man never fails to... test your patience.

4 days to Mains and the notes are still in the pipeline. Delays, info dumps at the 11th hour, last-minute scramble — it’s all part of the training. Consider it simulation for real government office life. I don’t get why people throw so much vitriol at him. He’s literally preparing you for reality. As General Manoj Mukund Naravane (Retd, Indian Army) put it: "That is the India story — tall on promises, short on delivery." (Four Stars of Destiny)

But jokes aside — don’t get it twisted.

His teaching and notes are gold standard. His handwritten comprehensive notes (bulkier, free) are the most underrated notes in the polity universe. His lectures have helped me crack some of the trickiest questions in state service exams. So yes, I’ll go on a limb and rave about his MCF course. If you want your basics clear once and for all, it’s worth the time and money.

Just bring "thairaav". And coffee. ;)