UPSC Toppers Success Stories: Shakti Dubey & Harshita Goyal’s Inspiring Journeys
Deeksha Dixit23 Apr, 2025
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UPSC Toppers Success Stories: The names of UPSC toppers flashed on the screen when the result of the 2024 exam was announced. The All India Rank 1 was bagged by ‘Shakti Dubey’, a BHU alumnus. Hailing from Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh, Lucknow, Shakti has completed her postgraduate degree in Biochemistry after BSc from Allahabad University.
The UPSC success stories of female IAS toppers Shakti Dubey and Harshita Goyal serve as motivation for thousands of aspirants who are all set for the UPSC 2025 exam cycle. Read on to learn about their transition from repeaters in the previous attempts to the topper this year.
UPSC Toppers Success Stories
Making it into the coveted UPSC result list itself is a remarkable achievement, on top of that title of topper speaks volumes about resilience in this highly competitive examination. This year, the top two positions are dominated by female candidates, with Shakti Dubey in the first position and Harshita Goyal in the second position. The third position was grabbed by Dongre Archit Parag.
These UPSC success stories tell about the sheer dedication and hard work of IAS toppers.
Shakti Dubey (AIR 1)
Shakti Dubey hails from Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh. Her upbringing in a family with a police officer father and a homemaker mother, along with her exposure to BHU’s campus life and student debating forums, shaped her passion for public service. She started UPSC preparation in 2018 after completing postgraduation studies.
| UPSC Topper Shakti Dubey | |
| UPSC Rank | 1st |
| State | Uttar Pradesh (Prayagraj) |
| Education | B.Sc. in Biochemistry (University of Allahabad) and M.Sc. in Biochemistry (BHU) |
| UPSC Attempt | 5th |
| Optional Subject | Political Science & International Relations |
Harshita Goyal (AIR 2)
Born in Hisar, Haryana, and raised in Vadodara, Gujarat, Harshita Goyal is a Chartered Accountant (CA) by profession. She began her preparation after CA by getting inspired by her father’s vision and a desire to empower marginalized communities. After initial setbacks, Harshita achieved second rank in UPSC CSE on her third attempt.
| UPSC Topper Harshita Goyal | |
| UPSC Rank | 2nd |
| State | Born in Haryana, raised in Gujarat |
| Education | B.Com from Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda, Gujarat. Chartered Accountant (CA) qualification |
| UPSC Attempt | 3rd |
| Optional Subject | Political Science & International Relations |
Dongre Archit Parag (AIR 3)
A B.Tech graduate, Archit worked in the IT sector for 1 year before quitting to pursue UPSC full-time. His aim was to contribute to policymaking and grassroots governance. Archit was already selected in the 2023 attempt with AIR 153 but aimed higher. He appeared again with Philosophy and got into the top 5 list at the third rank.
| UPSC Topper Dongre Archit | |
|---|---|
| UPSC Rank | 3rd |
| State | Maharashtra |
| Education | B.Tech in Electrical & Electronics Engineering from VIT |
| UPSC Attempt | 2nd |
| Optional Subject | Philosophy |
Previous Year's UPSC Toppers' Stories
Here are the most inspiring UPSC toppers' stories from recent years, highlighting their strategies and challenges:
UPSC 2023 Topper Aditya Srivastava (AIR 1)
The success story of Aditya Srivastava is an example that it is never too late to start preparing for the UPSC IAS exam. Unlike millions of aspirants, Aditya followed a non-traditional path by completing engineering at IIT and working 15 months at Goldman Sachs. It was during his corporate career that he decided to serve the nation by becoming an IAS officer.| UPSC Topper Aditya Srivastava | |
| Particular | Information |
| UPSC Rank | 1st |
| State | Uttar Pradesh |
| Attempt | Third |
| Education | B.Tech+M.Tech |
| Institute | IIT Kanpur |
| Optional | Electrical Engineering |
UPSC Female Topper 2023: AIR 3 Donuru Ananya Reddy
Topper among the females this year is ‘Donuru Ananya Reddy’, a resident of Mahabubnagar, Telangana. She cleared the UPSC exam with flying colors to live her childhood dream of serving society. Ananya has become an ideal to all girls by becoming the first in her family to join the elite civil service.| UPSC Topper Donuru Ananya Reddy | |
| Particular | Information |
| UPSC Rank | 3rd |
| State | Telangana |
| Education | B.A. (Hons) Geography |
| Institute | Miranda House, Delhi |
| Optional | Anthropology |
Know UPSC Toppers 2024
Around 1009 names are featured in the latest list, and UPSC success stories of toppers are motivating aspirants to push harder in their preparation. Know the names of the top 10 UPSC toppers from the list below:
| Rank | Name |
| 1 | Shakti Dubey |
| 2 | Harshita Goyal |
| 3 | Dongre Archit Parag |
| 4 | Shah Margi Chirag |
| 5 | Aakash Garg |
| 6 | Komal Punia |
| 7 | Aayushi Bansal |
| 8 | Raj Krishna Jha |
| 9 | Aditya Vikram Agarwal |
| 10 | Mayank Tripathi |
UPSC Toppers Success Stories FAQs
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