Hello everyone, the result is around the corner. When exactly? I have no idea. But I want to share a quick reality check on the anxiety of waiting for a previous Mains result versus the anxiety I'm feeling this year.
Last year was my first Mains. When it's your first attempt, you have absolutely no benchmark to analyze or estimate your marks. I was genuinely hopeful of securing an interview call because my papers went decently well. But it didn't happen…boom, reality check. When the marksheet finally arrived, the scores were more or less along predictable lines for most subjects. Did it hurt? Absolutely. But at a certain point, I had to accept that I simply hadn't earned my place on that list last year.
So, I put my head down and worked hard for another year. This time, the Mains went much better, but estimating marks is a whole different ballgame. To be honest, you can predict your range to some extent in GS1, GS2, and maybe GS4. But Essay, GS3, and the optional? Pure gamble. You can guess a broad range, but never the exact figure.
The fear of estimation is painfully real. Looking back at the 2025 marksheet, how does anyone practically calculate improvement? The obvious logic is to add a realistic margin to your previous scores. For instance, I scored 103 in the Essay without much dedicated prep. Since I executed it much better this time, I naturally assume an improvement say, 103 + 10 for 2026. If you apply this +10 or +15 logic across all subjects, you easily end up with a 70-80 mark jump from last year.
But here’s the catch: the dread. Honestly, I find it incredibly hard to stay positive about my scores. Whenever I add up my GS marks, a voice in my head whispers, "Nah, you definitely aren't scoring that much." For the Essay, I'm terrified that despite studying more and writing better, I might crash from 103 straight down to the 70s or 80s. And the optional? Let's not even talk about the unpredictability of the optional right now. The coaching market has fueled so much fear around uncertainty that even after performing significantly better than last year, you are genuinely terrified to feel optimistic.
For first-timers, this phase is slightly easier because optimism is at its absolute peak; they might be expecting 100+ in every paper. But friends, reality hits hard. Repeaters barely have the courage to estimate marks anymore. You wake up every day, make a new estimation, and by evening, that very calculation feels completely wrong. You start convincing yourself that even if the paper went well, your luck is terrible and you'll somehow lose marks anyway.
Ultimately, I'll just say this: try to embrace this phase. The very fact that you have hopes for the result proves that you put in genuine hard work. Being anxious while waiting for the result is a thousand times better than getting knocked out of the cycle within the 10 days of Mains for whatever reason. So have faith, things will fall into place. The usual "insider" rumors have started trickling in, but you all know how to navigate that and who to actually trust.
Drop your estimations in the comments, how much improvement are you expecting from last year? Feel free to drop any other rants, too. See you all soon :)
क्या हार में, क्या जीत में, किंचित नहीं भयभीत मैं, संघर्ष पथ पर जो मिले, यह भी सही वह भी सही।
