This IIT Delhi graduate and IAS topper scored a 171/170 in a Harvard University exam!
Ankur Garg was the youngest ever person to top the IAS exam at the age of only 22 and now he has done the impossible at Harvard University.
On December 22, Ankur Garg gave a post on Facebook saying: When I was in school, my father used to say - 10 out of 10 isn’t good enough in any exam. Always strive for 11 out of 10. I hardly understood how that’s done.
He might say he doesn’t know ho wit is done but the man surely has a magic formula up his sleeves. He is not only a graduate from the prestigious IIT Delhi but also went on secure the first rank in the Civil Service Examinations in 2002.
The IAS topper born in Patiala, Punjab, has now done it again by securing 171 marks out of 170 at a Harvard University master’s degree exam.
In the last phase (possibly!) of student life now, I end up getting this score (171 out of 170) in the final exam of the macroeconomics course. The icing on the cake - it comes at Harvard and is signed by Jeffrey Frankel himself! Garg wrote in the Facebook post.
The photo of his marks shared by Ankur Garg on Facebook (image: facebook.com/ankur.garg.9659283)
Exam result signed by world class macroeconomist
He shared a photo of his achievement on Facebook on December 22 which showed him scoring more than the total marks allotted in the final exam of the master’s degree macroeconomics course.
Ankur Garg is pursuing a two-year programme on Public Administration in International Development from Harvard.
The IAS topper is most excited by the personal validation of his result from world-renowned marcroeconomist Jeffrey Frankel, who is also a professor at Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government, holding the James W Harpel Professor chair for Capital Formation and Growth.
In the photo shared on Facebook by Garg, you can see the breakup of the marks along with the signature of the economist.
Becoming an IAS topper in 2002
It was Garg’s childhood dream to become an IAS officer and he made it a reality by topping the 2002 UPSC exam. He had decided it in class 3 and never budged from his dream all through his college life.
He told TOI that he expected he might come in the top 10 but never thought of becoming an IAS topper.
When asked about his secret of success, he told the media that there wasn’t any secret except for single minded devotion’ along with good luck and good wishes from loved ones.
As per Better India, Garg has helped start a campaign against open defecation as a civil servant and is even taking steps to ensure that the government doesn’t deter the initiatives being taken by IAS officers.
His father’s advice might have sounded impossible, but the man imbibed it and went on to push beyond his own notions to secure multiple achievements. He dedicates his success to his father’s advice as he writes at the end of the post: This one is for you, dad’
Who knows what else we might see from him?