What Is the Most Stressful Degree? The Brutal Reality of Top Competitive Exams

There’s a quiet moment just before the exam hall doors open. Your heart is pounding. Your palms are sweaty. You’ve studied for 16 hours a day for two years. And you know-only 1% of people walking in here will pass. This isn’t a scene from a movie. It’s real life for hundreds of thousands of students in India, China, South Korea, and beyond. The question isn’t whether a degree is hard-it’s which path breaks people the fastest.

The Real Cost of Getting Into IIT JEE

When people ask about the most stressful degree, they’re really asking: Which entrance exam destroys your mental health before you even start college? For millions, the answer is IIT JEE. This single exam decides if you get into India’s top engineering schools-places like IIT Bombay or IIT Delhi. Less than 10,000 out of 1.5 million candidates make it each year. That’s a 0.6% success rate.

Students begin preparing as early as age 12. Coaching centers run 12-hour days. Weekend breaks are rare. Sleep is sacrificed. Many students lose friends, hobbies, and even family connections. A 2023 study by the Indian Journal of Psychological Medicine found that 68% of IIT JEE aspirants showed symptoms of moderate to severe anxiety. One in five reported suicidal thoughts. And this isn’t about being weak-it’s about a system built on extreme scarcity.

Success isn’t just about grades. It’s about surviving the pressure. Parents invest life savings. Siblings are compared. Failure isn’t seen as a setback-it’s seen as shame. The exam doesn’t test knowledge alone. It tests endurance. And the stress doesn’t end when you get in. Once enrolled, the dropout rate in IITs hits 20% in the first year-not because students can’t handle the coursework, but because they’ve already burned out.

NEET: The Medical Exam That Feeds on Hope

If IIT JEE is brutal, NEET is relentless. This is the gatekeeper to every medical college in India. One exam. One chance. No retakes for a year. Over 2.3 million students sit for it every year. Only 80,000 get seats. That’s a 3.5% success rate.

Unlike engineering, where you can switch to IT or data science if you fail, medicine leaves little room for Plan B. You can’t become a doctor without clearing NEET. So families mortgage homes. Students drop out of school to study full-time. Some live in coaching hostels for five years straight. One student in Chennai told reporters he hadn’t seen his mother’s face in three years-she visited once, just to drop off groceries.

Medical aspirants face a unique kind of pressure. They’re not just competing for seats-they’re competing for dignity. In many towns, the local doctor’s son is expected to clear NEET. If he doesn’t, the family is whispered about. Girls are told they’re wasting their time. Boys are told they’re disappointing their lineage. The emotional toll is heavier than the syllabus.

And here’s the cruel twist: even if you clear NEET, you’re not done. You still need to get into a government college to afford the fees. Private medical colleges cost up to ₹80 lakh ($9,500 USD) per year. Most families can’t pay. So you’re stuck in a cycle: study harder, hope harder, suffer harder.

UPSC: The Longest Road to a Job

Then there’s UPSC-the civil services exam. It’s not about getting into college. It’s about getting a government job that gives you power, stability, and respect. But it’s also the longest, most grinding path of all.

The exam has three stages: Prelims, Mains, and Interview. It takes most candidates 3 to 5 attempts to clear it. The average age of an IAS officer when they finally get selected? 28. That means many start preparing at 21-and spend half their twenties in a single exam cycle.

Unlike IIT JEE or NEET, UPSC doesn’t have coaching centers that guarantee results. You’re on your own. You read 15+ books. You write 20 essays a month. You memorize constitutional articles, economic policies, international treaties. You give up relationships. You skip birthdays. You watch friends move abroad, get promotions, buy cars-and you’re still stuck with your notes and a half-eaten packet of biscuits at 3 a.m.

And the numbers don’t lie. Only 700 out of 1.1 million applicants get selected each year. That’s a 0.06% success rate. The stress isn’t just about failing-it’s about the years of silence. No one celebrates when you clear Prelims. No one asks how you’re doing after your third failure. The world moves on. You don’t.

Why These Exams Are Worse Than College

People think college is hard. But college is a journey. You have professors, clubs, friends, breaks, second chances. These exams? They’re sieves. They filter you out before you even begin.

Here’s what makes them uniquely stressful:

• No safety nets-One exam decides your future. No retakes. No backups.
• Social pressure-Your entire community watches. Failure is a family shame.
• Financial ruin-Families spend everything. Many go into debt.
• Isolation-You can’t afford to socialize. You can’t afford to fail.
• No clear finish line-Even if you pass, you’re not done. You still have to get into a good college, afford it, and survive it.

Compare that to a typical university degree. In the U.S., Canada, or Europe, you can switch majors. You can take a gap year. You can fail a class and retake it. There’s room to breathe. In these systems, there’s no air.

What Happens After You ‘Succeed’?

Let’s say you beat the odds. You got into IIT. You cleared NEET. You became an IAS officer. What now?

Many survivors say the real trauma starts after the win.

At IIT, you’re surrounded by people who also survived hell. The competition doesn’t stop. Grades still matter. Internships are cutthroat. You’re told you’re the best-but you’re terrified you’re not good enough.

Medical students in India work 80-hour weeks. They’re on call every third night. They see death daily. And they’re expected to smile while doing it.

And IAS officers? They’re thrown into corrupt systems. They’re expected to fix problems they didn’t create. They’re praised publicly but punished privately. Many break down in their 30s.

The system doesn’t reward resilience. It consumes it.

Is There Another Way?

Yes-but it’s not easy to believe.

Some students are walking away. They’re choosing private universities abroad. They’re switching to vocational paths-digital marketing, cybersecurity, UX design. They’re learning skills that pay well without needing a 5-year exam grind.

In South Africa, where I live, the pressure isn’t the same. You don’t need to pass one exam to get into university. You need a matric pass, and then you apply. It’s not perfect. But it’s human.

Change is slow. But it’s happening. More parents are asking: “Is this worth it?” More students are saying: “I don’t want to die for a degree.”

Maybe the most stressful degree isn’t the one you study. It’s the one you’re forced to chase.

What Should You Do If You’re Caught in This System?

If you’re preparing for one of these exams, here’s what actually helps:

• Set a time limit-Decide now: “I’ll try for two years. If I don’t make it, I move on.”
• Protect your sleep-You can’t study if you’re exhausted. Aim for 6 hours minimum.
• Find one person to talk to-A friend, a counselor, even a Reddit group. Don’t isolate.
• Know your worth isn’t tied to this exam-You are not your score.
• Have a Plan B-Look at alternatives now. Don’t wait until you fail.

The system will try to convince you that sacrifice equals virtue. It doesn’t. Resilience isn’t about grinding yourself into dust. It’s about knowing when to walk away-and having the courage to choose life over a title.