In my opinion, getting top rank in IIT is more difficult than getting top rank in IAS. The reasons are as following.
- You have only two attempts to write for IIT-JEE while you have 6-14 attempts for Civil Services Examination (for IAS etc.)
- You require raw intelligence for getting to IIT while memory plays an important role in IAS
- You can’t improve your rank much in IIT due to you hard work and perseverance but you can do so in IAS
- You need to have clear fundamentals to solve the problems of IIT, while it is possible to crack IAS by memorizing the facts
- Your writing skills and handwriting plays an important role in IAS but it is of no value for IIT
- You have to compete with the best of the best for IIT after class 12 while limited number of such brilliant students try for IAS as they get much better opportunities after their graduation and they don’t want to spend years preparing for IAS
- The factor of luck is of lesser important in IIT than in IAS. You can find people who fail repeatedly in IAS for several years getting suddenly top rank in IAS.
- IITs have only one paper for everyone while in IAS you can always perform better by choosing a scoring optional.
- The role of personality is of no importance in IIT as selection is based purely on written score. In IAS, if you click with the interview board, you can get excellent mark and get into top rank.
