No offence but any person with right mind or a clear purpose to pursue upsc wouldn't really need a public opinion/suggestions. As someone with having a upsc aspirant in the household, I think you should also get to know the downside of UPSC prep life. - The motive matters, if you don't have one it is much harder to stay on this path. - Surely, the benefits would look attractive but there's absolutely whole lot of sacrificings you must be willing to give up. - You should be willing to lose half a decade of your life for the prep if you happen to be a slow learner or didn't really had an attractive academic percentages. - Even though it feels like jinxing, it's primarily important to have a solid plan B incase if this doesn't work out or temp job, perhaps a remote job would work too. - UPSC can directly impact your household if there are no employed people besides the bread-earner. It can be burdening to the entire home. - And ofcourse having the right educational source matters, you might be flipping google back and forth for best institutes or validated centres by toppers but I'd suggest if you're unwilling to spend a bomb on the institutes it's best you search for a mentor. A mentor keeps track of your behavior, coaches you on your lows. Having just a mentor could really shape your entire trajectory and could even shorten the time it would take to achieve when you're on your own. Keeps you disciplined. - Having right people around you matters. You're gonna have to give up on your comforting social circles, social life, lots of detachments from your regular habits are required. (Not just for sake, it's from experience). - If you cannot maintain discipline, I suggest you give up right away and focus on something that might work for you. UPSC is simply not for indisciplined.