Success in the UPSC Civil Services Examination is reported by rank, which is the usual measure, but what is in fact a more telling story is the path that led up to it. In the case of Priyanka Goel, who secured an All India Rank of 369 in the UPSC CSE 2022, we see an exceptional story of how persistence defeated repeated setbacks. Born and brought up in Delhi, she finished her Bachelor’s degree in Business from Keshav Mahavidyalaya, Delhi University, then threw herself into studying for the civil services exam.
What made her story so inspiring is that she achieved success on her last of six attempts, which also did not break her.
A Journey Filled with Challenges
Reading Priyanka’s story brought to my attention that success does not come easily. Like many times with other UPSC candidates, Priya had her fair share of defeat. She failed the Preliminary Exam on her first try. In her second attempt, which she put all her hope in, she fell short by only 0.7 marks, which is a very thin margin indeed, and that could have been enough to push any person over the edge.
In her third tryout, she qualified for the Prelims, which in the end didn’t see her through the Mains, as it was a result of poor preparation. In the 4th go around, which saw success in General Studies, she still fell at the CSAT paper. For the 5th time around, which also included a very personal issue of my mother’s critical health, which brought in a big personal challenge, I also had to balance family responsibility with study, which in the end did not see me through the exam.
Still, she didn’t give up on herself.
The Breakthrough Attempt
In what would be her last try, she had hit upon the “do or die” opportunity. Also, with the stress of few chances given and what society expected of her in terms of marriage and career, she didn’t break. Instead, she zeroed in on what she wanted.
Her effort paid off on May 23, 2023, when the UPSC results came out. She scored 965 marks, which included 772 in the Mains and 193 in the Personality Test, which got her AIR 369. That emotional moment brought to an end a six-year struggle and marked the start of her career as a civil servant.
Her Preparation Strategy
Priya took up Public Administration as an option and saw a great improvement in her score over the years. She stressed the importance of going through the syllabus in depth, building solid concepts, not overcomplicating things with too much material, making notes that are to the point, and practicing writing answers regularly.
Her choice of books included Indian Polity by M. Laxmikanth, Spectrum’s A Brief History of Modern India, Indian Art and Culture by Nitin Singhania, GC Leong’s Geography, Shankar IAS Environment, and we also used selected notes for Economy and Internal Security. For Public Administration, she went with Prasad and Prasad, Mohit Bhattacharya, Lukmaan IAS notes, and previous years’ questions.
Lessons Every Aspirant Can Learn
Priyanka’s story is a testament that failure is a component of success and not the opposite of it. She analyzed her mistakes, fine-tuned her strategy, and put herself back into the game after emotional hits.
Her story is a note that says you do not have to be the most intelligent to pass the UPSC; what you need is consistency, self-belief, and resilience. For each of the aspirants who is going through a series of rejections, Priyanka Goel’s success is proof that with determination and by improving a little at a time, you can make your dreams a reality.
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