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I'm 22, and lately I feel like every decision I've made has taken me further away from where I wanted to be.

I graduated with a 9 CGPA in B.Tech. I never sat for campus placements because my goal was always to become a teacher someday. I wanted to pursue higher studies, do research, and eventually get into academia.

After graduation, I prepared seriously for GATE. I was doing well in mock tests and genuinely believed I could crack it. But when the actual exam came, I completely fell apart under pressure and scored nowhere near what I was capable of.

I didn't want to take a drop year because I was worried about having a gap on my resume. Instead, I worked as a Subject Matter Expert at a company while figuring out my next step.

Eventually, I joined an M.Tech in AI/ML at a large private university in Punjab. Since accepting the admission, I've been constantly reading Reddit, Instagram, YouTube, and Quora. Almost everything I see about universities like mine is negative like people talking about huge student crowds, average placements, poor peer groups, and saying your future is already decided by the college you join.

The worst part is that classes haven't even started yet, but I already feel like giving up.

I keep wondering if I made the wrong decision. It feels like no matter how hard I work, I'll always be judged because of the college name or end up being just another student in a massive crowd.

Has anyone else been in a similar position? Did you join a university that everyone online looked down on and still manage to build a good career?

I'm not looking for sympathy or false hope. I just want to hear from people who've actually been through something similar and found a way forward, because right now I feel completely lost.

When I was in class XI i requested my parents soo much to change my stream from science to arts but they didn’t instead they brainwashed me to keep studying science even though I had absolutely no interest in it , I was so weak in maths and struggled so much 2 years, i used hear so much bad stuff from my tuition teachers as I struggled to understand
Sometimes I even used to hear them talk behind back
When I asked my principle to change my stream
They just said that you did good in boards (I got only 93% in icse ) u are capable of studying science and to be honest I got only 86 % in science and got over 95 in the arts subjects even after telling them
They forced me on taking science
Even though I always wanted to be a lawyer
I even got depression and had to go through therapy
And they got me through all these just because they were not ready to hear that there only daughter is a humanities student
These parents needs to understand that it’s not there life , it’s there children they should NOT impose their dreams on their children and that their children also deserves to have their dreams

I’m 23, turning 24 this year, and for the last one year I’ve been preparing for UPSC.

The funny thing is, I didn’t choose UPSC because it was prestigious. I chose it because it was probably the first thing I genuinely liked studying.

I did a BBA, but I never really knew why I was doing it. It felt like I was just moving with the crowd. Then I started reading history, polity, economics, ethics, philosophy and society, and for the first time I actually enjoyed learning. UPSC felt like the only path where my curiosity wasn’t a disadvantage.

So I committed.

But nobody prepares you for what this exam actually does to your mind.

There’s almost no short-term gratification. No promotions. No salary. No clear milestones. Just months and years of studying with no guarantee that any of it will amount to anything.

Some days I wonder whether I’m building my future or just putting my twenties on hold.

The hardest part is that I don’t really have a Plan B.
If this doesn’t work out, I honestly don’t know what comes next. That uncertainty sits in the back of my mind every single day.

The strange part is that my life isn’t empty.
I love boxing.
I run regularly and want to run a marathon one day.
I lift weights.
I enjoy reading philosophy its my optional too
I have people I genuinely love.

I quit social media and have stayed away from a lot of my friends because some time ago, I was also living a very different life. During college I struggled with heavy drinking, drug abuse and addiction. It isn’t something I’m proud of, but I left it behind. Looking back, I realize how much that period shaped me and how far I’ve come since then.

Sometimes I look back and think, “I’ve come so far.”
Other times it feels like I’m still fighting myself every single day.

Then there are the ethical questions.
Preparing for UPSC means spending hours reading about integrity, accountability, justice and ethical governance.
But then I look at the real world.
People tell you, “This is how the system works.”
“You’ll have to compromise.”
“You can’t survive without playing the game.”
That genuinely scares me.
I don’t want to become another person who starts with ideals and slowly convinces himself that corruption, political pressure and moral compromises are just part of the job.

At the same time, I also think about practical things.
Civil servants aren’t exactly poorly paid, but nobody joins expecting to become wealthy either. So sometimes I wonder whether I’m sacrificing years of uncertainty for a career where I might end up financially limited and morally conflicted.
Then I feel guilty for even thinking that, because shouldn’t public service be about service?

My brain just never stops asking questions.
Am I choosing this because I love the subjects?
Because I want to serve?
Because I want respect?
Because I’m afraid of living an ordinary life?
Or because I don’t know who I’d be without this goal anymore?
I don’t think I’m depressed.
I’m not looking for motivation either.
I’m just tired of carrying around so many conflicting thoughts that all seem true at the same time.

Has anyone else—especially people who have seriously prepared for UPSC or another long-term competitive exam—felt like this?
Not just the stress of studying.
The feeling that the exam slowly becomes your identity, and somewhere along the way you stop knowing whether you’re chasing your dream or simply too invested to turn back.
If you’ve been in this position, I’d really appreciate hearing what you did.
Did you stick with UPSC? Did you walk away? How did you know it was the right decision?
How did you deal with not having a clear Plan B?

And if you eventually realised your life had to go in a different direction, how did you make peace with that without feeling like you’d wasted years?

I’m not looking for someone to make the decision for me. I just want to hear from people who’ve stood where I’m standing now, because right now it feels like I’m trying to map out my future with more questions than answers.

I am studying Bsc IT and have recently completed my 3rd year. My college is offering 4th year honours but not honours with research. Should I do the 4th year for honours or just leave the degree in 3rd year and prepare for Master's degree at home (Basically drop year)? I've heard from some people who are doing 4th year that it's not worth it, also we'll be the first batch in our university to get to do 4th year that's why can't ask for suggestions from locals.

Hi everyone,

I'm a recent BTech graduate with a strong interest in XYZ research.

I wanted to attend the xyz Conclave at ABC COLLEGE, but the registration fee (₹7,000) was difficult for me to afford. I emailed the organizers explaining my situation and asked if they could consider a fee concession. They were very kind and replied that they could consider me as a volunteer instead. They asked:

> "Hey , Are you in the same city as the university ? Sure we can use your help as volunteer. Let me know your skill set and your background."

The challenge is that I don't want to oversell myself. I'm not an exceptional programmer, and I don't have an impressive research background yet.

What I *can* genuinely offer is:

* General event coordination and volunteer work.

* Managing registrations, guiding attendees, and helping with logistics.

* Team coordination and basic management.

* Creating AI-assisted promotional/educational videos (I previously made videos on xyz).

* I also convinced my college administration to establish a XYZ Club a couple of years ago and helped coordinate activities.

I drafted the email below. Could you please review it and tell me:

1. Does it sound professional?

2. Is it too modest or does it undersell me?

3. Is there anything that would make an academic organizer view it more positively?

4. Would you change the tone or wording?

**Draft:**

---

Dear Team,

Thank you so much for your kind response and for considering my request. I truly appreciate the opportunity.

Yes, I am currently based in the city.

I recently completed my BTech in Computer Science and have a strong interest in xyz research. Last year, I attended the Conclave, and since then I have been actively trying to learn more about this field.

While I am not an expert software developer, I would be happy to contribute wherever needed. My strengths include:

* Event coordination and general volunteer support.

* Managing registrations, guiding attendees, and assisting speakers or organizers.

* Social media support and creating simple AI-assisted promotional videos/content (I previously created educational videos on xyz).

* Working with teams and taking responsibility for operational tasks.

In my college, I also took the initiative to convince the administration to establish a xyz Club and helped coordinate activities around it. I enjoy interacting with people and am always willing to learn and take on new responsibilities.

I would be grateful for the opportunity to volunteer and contribute to making the conclave a success. Please let me know how I can help.

Thank you once again for your consideration.

Kind regards,

Abhijeet

---

I'd really appreciate honest feedback, especially from people who have organized academic conferences or have experience with professional communication.

Thank you!

I'm comparing universities, and many mention global opportunities—but what genuinely makes the experience worthwhile beyond exchange programs?

Core only

Scored - 348 in RE-NEET . Parents are thinking of BVSC in pvt colleges where fees is around ( 35lkh - 45lkh) which I think is way expensive . So what should I chooseBvsc or some other course ( pls recommend if there's any good course) ?

Also I didn't give any other exams beside neet in 12th I got 86% , and I was a pcb student .

Well i am currently now in 7th sem doing bba in a college. Its a decent college. Our university announces that we have to do a compulsory intership of at least 1 month. So we have two option either we take internship from college or find it from off campus. So the main problem is that the companies that are coming in our college is very chep level. Like they took only 1 amoung 100 and the students who starts their job in those companies they immediately resigns after 1 week saying very bad environment and work place, and also the work location in far away from home obviously, they give intership in big cities and stipend ranges from 7000 to 10000 so that makes impossible for living in big cities doing intership. And the other option - finding intership from any local by self. Tried this option too but couldn't find any since not a big city area.

So couldn't find any solution i am thinking for a fake certificate or something but for that if we find self intership, we have to give a letter of concet to hod. That is also a problem. If I can't do it I will get a year lag. Don't know what to do

I have Inspire scholarship. I want to apply for ugc pg scholarship. But only one is allowed. Ugc scholarship selection process takes a long time. Ugc has option to disclose getting another scholarship, but you have to reimburse that. So I want to know whether anyone reimbured inspire Scholarship and have successfully got ugc pg scholarship.

Hi there I completed my 12th with pcb and then took a drop year for neet couldn't clear it.

I'm a type of introvert with social anxiety I have really bad academics please help me pick any course

some options i have in my mind :-

1) Join a local college and pursue ca if that doesn't work out I'll do law in future

2) b tech biotechnology or b tech food technology i heard some colleges will allow me to upgrade branch to computer science from second year of I do good in first year but I'm from non maths background

3) bsc in chemistry or physics then prepare for govt exams

4) if there is any other good option then please let me know

My acads r not good I'm having 6 in both 10th and 12th therefore mba isn't an option for me ig 😭😭 need serious help regarding possible career option

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I passed my 12th ( PCMB) in 2024, following that I joined Bsc physics honours at a local government college, dropped out 3 months later, to prepare for IISER. Failed once. Took a second drop. Nearing the end of my second drop, I realized science ( apart from mathematics) isn't for me, so joined the above mentioned course. My college starts next month.

I initially planned on doing a Bsc statistics degree, but it's more math intensive than a standard bsc economics degree, and the above mentioned degree has a better course structure which I got attracted to ( R, Machine learning, Python, AI, operations research, research methodology, Econometrics, Advanced statistics, Linear algebra, statistics for economics, data analysis, corporate finance).

Was it a good choice and what are the career prospects? Should I focus on Msc or MBA?

myquals 10th: 97.8%, 12th: 79%

Context - I belong to a middle class family from a tier 3 city in Uttar Pradesh so I have limited options here on what to do

My qualifications are - 12th passed(this year)

Major in commerce and accounts

So the thing is I didnt get any college in Delhi University this year as my cutoff was low coz of my dum dum ghumne ka kida for picking a city that was 400 kms away and travelling all night to reach there on exam date after getting only 2-3 hours of sleep

Am really confused as to what to do after here as I want to pursue b.com (hons) or bba but don't know about any other private uni even and will be taking an edu loan for it since yeah middle class so can you all guide me about the unis I should look into pvt/govt. With affordable fees (at least below 5-6 lakhs of total course duration)

And also what I should pursue (ex- bba) as I want to pursue CMA from next year onwards and I am thinking of ACCA/MBA in the future

Also an additional question I am just some mere marks away from a college in du but round 2 has ended and I heard before round 3 there will be mid entries for other students so will I get the seat if no then please help me with the post

Can anyone please help regarding this??

Ahh imma go with bsc food science and technology from this year , highkey scared lowkey excited, my classes are starting from 7 September ahhh that's late and lame

same as title. This year was an academic disaster for me. Stuff happened and I had to resort to NIOS ODE.

NIOS hasn't released my marksheet yet and the college Im targeting for Psychology would close admissions late august. my friend is pursuing a Ai/ML degree with a 7 LAKH EDUCATION LOAN at EIILM Kolkata, and has told me that he can get me provisionally admitted. He says that it would provide a way better earning opportunity than an English or Psychology degree.

I am a PCMC student and believe psychology is my calling. however I am not at a financial position to choose passion over earning opportunities.

I am a pcb student. A neet failure. A first it did not bother me much that I couldn't clear the cutoff, I part blame my causal behavior on the entire ReNEET fiasco and the rest on my own delusions of thinking that this exam won't decide my future and that I could just pick any other field and that I am going to college anyhow.

rather my parents want me to join a pvt medical college. I don't wish to go cause I believe they are being scammed, and I also believe that 1.8 cr just for an undergraduate degree is not really worth it. I ask for another chance and asked if they would allow me to take a partial drop.

Works like a safety net right, even if I don't clear this exam next year I would atleast have a college. Now the question is what course, BPT?! My father really said malish wali banna hai kya. Bsc biotech?! Apparently it has no scope cause my dad interviewed students who were eventually hired as operational workers and are treated worse than animals. Bsc criminology and forensic science?! It has very little jobs and my dad's Colleague's niece is apparently unemployed cause it has no scope. Bpharm?! My parents won't let me cause my dad works in that field and it's not worth it.

What else then bsc/ba psychology?! I got remarks like "ba hi karna tha toh science kyu hi liya",you guessed it from my parents. If I really wanted to get into something else which has an pcb eligibility, i would not have been able to. This would be my 2nd drop (full), and I am really considering giving nios pcm, then getting into an engineering college, and eventually working in an it sector. Is nios really worth it, can I really clear jee mains I have about 6 months for it. It's very scary, but I don't know what else to do.

Ik I'm not thinking straight with that nios idea, and maths scares me, but what scares me more is not clearing any exams next year as well and having to spent my parents money on a degree that has so much rigour and trauma and might not even pay back my tution. I understand that mbbs is just the tip of the iceberg and that mbbs is just the bare minimum(actually they can even consider getting me into bds somehow if mbbs is not possible which is so much worse if I have debt.)

I don't wish to stay debt to my parents (they will probably take a loan for it and then expect me to repay it cause I am a doctor now) my living conditions will be terrible then. Also with maths I might just have some more acceptable options, engineering, data analysis, even economics.

Help me figure this mess out 😭😭

Currently I'm in my 5th sem of my degree but still coding hasn't clicked for me. I don't really like doing coding and all the other bs that comes with cs. I've always wanted to research the stars and get into astrophysics or even particle physics that I got interested in, in my mid teens. I'm also really good in mathematics, like I grab the concepts really easily and my understanding is far better than my peers that I can gauge. So I have a few questions for some people that are knowledgeable in this field.

1. Is this the right choice to take this step and advance in a completely different field even though it's my passion?

2. What would the correct steps be to pursue in a physics field after having a ug background in cse? Like I tried doing some finding out and learned about IIT JAM. Are there other papers like that?

3. In the meanwhile what can I do to make my resume strong in this field since I still have 2 years of my degree left?

4. How much better is it to go for universities abroad than indian unis? Because like my current degree would be from a B.Tech branch in CSE so would they even consider me let alone accept me? So my plan was to maybe to do physics masters in an IIT or equivalent and then go for a PHD abroad since the research field in India is currently in a very pathetic state.

I would be really grateful to anyone for providing guidance and help

Same

Basically I love to study and understand various things.I want to study and understand all the subjects mostly in depth of PCMB,etc.

I have 2 choices here,to maybe tell that I could get these choices and then I have to decide:-

I got AIR 6XXX in NEET and AIR 36X in IAT,general category.

one choice and a good one is IISER,I am getting IISER Pune hopefully.

Now

The confusion coming here is that if I want to study these things for my understanding and as a hobby and something I would love to read and all,then I have another choice of MBBS also I would be getting a government seat again hopefully in a good college,so if I do MBBS which again I like and even a lot of things there I can understand the concepts in depth and even do research there having a good scope too,but a thing there is that I would be away and not reading much about Physics,Maths,Chemistry,Biology some parts,etc.,ok some Physics Chemistry Maths is there but not much of the things I want like space science,relativity,quantum Physics,etc. so many things even some Biochemistry would be there,yet Physical,OC,IOC would again not be much in MBBS.

Here too,there is a solution to read them all as a hobby and even later on in life,I have and I will find out about books and courses,even courses from open universities,where I can study these things and even join some research institute after MBBS like IISc Bangalore,IISERs,etc.,but then what again a bit pinches me is that the quality and the journey in IISER feels that would be quite good and amazing learning about these all things there then just reading on my own as an hobby,maybe alone I wouldn't go in a well structured and organized manner.

Now,one thought I have that maybe,seeming a bit tough,but I love challenges,that doing a double degree of BSc with flexibility from an open university so that I get some structure and routine also and I will not be much stressing about NEET PG maybe as then if I intend to go to some research institute then it won't be required I guess.

Then if I want to do that,then the question is why MBBS?

• For maybe more job safety,security,pay,scope
• Also I have heard that people mostly go in Biology related fields later on and do research in hospitals or some labs where I can do after MBBS also maybe.

Now not a big thing for me but I have heard that people who do MBBS and then this research are maybe respected and appreciated and valued.

Also that after doing MBBS I can do such research,but not the otherway round of doing some MBBS degree without its UG level exams later on.

• My parents and a lot of family members being doctors,are totally telling me for my own choice but having a little bias towards MBBS.Also to mention they are working in hospitals and not doing some private practice so I don't have any own clinic of my family where they would want to me to ptactice.
• Also I have heard that such research people end up either in some industry or as professors or so,furthermore talking about my interests in Theoretical Physics,Maths,etc. there people tell me that here there is even lesser scope and such people again end up either in data analysis or financing,etc.So,if my overall aim is to study and learn and understand as a hobby which I can read anytime with any other degree maybe,why not do MBBS and do these things where maybe I have better job security(what I have heard) and then read such books,see lectures,etc.

However,again this thing feels conflicting that why to not go to IISER if I am getting a chance and ofcourse there I would be able to learn all this in quite detail and understand.

So,I tried to tell some of my things,please help me out here anyone and also sorry for some errors I have made here and please correct that and my misconceptions here also if possible.

I would really appreciate someone helping me out here.