How to choose the proper optional subject or the way to choose an optional subject during a right way, this is often the one question that haunts most of the IAS aspirants whether or not they are beginners or already attempted the exam once or quite once.
With the exam pattern changed, since 2013 when the UPSC has done away with second optional subjects and now a candidate has got to choose just one optional subject for UPSC Mains that has two papers for 250 marks each. Also, UPSC has eliminated specific subjects at the preliminary level that might have narrowed down the preparation, which perhaps would have relieved the IAS aspirants. Yet, it's advised to settle on the optional subject for mains well before time, in order that the candidate will get sufficient time to form an inventory of books to refer, collect relevant notes also on the form a study group.
Though, now with one optional subject to settle on for the IAS mains exam, most of the candidates still find it difficult in choosing the optional subject. For most of the candidates before joining any IAS coaching center, the question they ask the school is which optional subject to settle on. there's nobody subject which will be called the simplest optional subject for IAS mains, and it depends on each aspirant what's easy and what's not.
Hopefully, this text would be useful for the beginners who haven't appeared for the IAS Mains yet and people who have appeared once or quite once but are still in a dilemma whether to modify this optional subject with the various optional subject or to continue with an equivalent.
What does the simplest optional really mean to the IAS candidates?
In recent counseling with the candidates, one thing, needless to say, we understood that the majority of the scholars were in confusion about which optional subject to settling on for the UPSC Mains exam. And, we also asked the scholars “how do they choose the optional subject for mains exam” and that we weren't surprised with their answers and therefore the most repeated answers are as given below:
A scoring optional subject
Most popular optional subject
An optional subject that's easy to know or which they find interesting
The subject that notes and study materials are easily available
Optional that best coaching is out there
The subject they need a background in graduation or post-graduation
And
The optional subject with which the foremost candidates have cracked the IAS mains exam
These are the majority of the explanations given by the scholars which they consider while choosing an optional subject for the Mains exam. IAS aspirants may consider one among the above reasons or multiples when it involves choosing an optional subject for the mains exam. Now let’s check out each of those reasons and analyze how an optional subject is categorized into scoring, popular et al..
What makes an Optional a scoring subject?
Most IAS beginners choose an optional simply because they consider it as a scoring subject and a few of the themes that are considered as scoring are Geography and Public Administration. What makes these optional as scoring subjects? once we see the many these subjects within the past few years in IAS mains exam, candidates have scored with 400+, while publicly Administration, many candidates are scoring 340+ and 350+.
It is seen that subjects like public administration might sound just like the highest scoring optional in the IAS exam. But again, there's no guarantee for this. Any subject is often scoring or not. It depends on how the candidate performs! Now, you'll think that just on the idea of scoring criteria, one can choose the optional subject for the Mains exam. So, here are subsequent criteria to clear what you think.
A Popular Optional
Under this criteria comes again the themes of geography and public administration along with side history, sociology, and Anthropology. Among the 27 optional subjects including the Literature subject, these five optional subjects almost cover the 50 percent share of mains optional subjects as these are the foremost chosen subjects as optional by candidates. Now you'd have gotten some idea why these are the favored optional subjects. But what makes them popular, here are some reasons:
A subject like Anthropology is popular also as scoring subject and interesting also, easy to understand for science students, students need to memorize diagrams, importance to tribal issues, and relate topics to current affairs.
While a topic like Public Administration features a definite syllabus and quite limited especially for Paper-II and one can cover it within 5 months approximately, it requires limited coaching and most syllabus involves self-study.
Geography is also a topic with a particular syllabus but bit vast and candidates with this option got to consider conceptual questions that need deep analysis. Students should even be conscious of current affairs also as should be good in India and World Maps. Moreover, Geography may be a semi-scientific subject and preferred among Doctors, Engineers, and most of the candidates for its laws, principles, and map-based questions.
The History optional for IAS is quite popular simply because everyone has studied history in school and most of the graduates and postgraduates candidate would have taken history has the main Also, one will find History as an interesting subject along with even scoring. History needs more understanding and interpretation because the questions asked in the exam are in such a way where candidates have to link the concepts with some facts in their answers.
Sociology is easy to understand and very interesting as the topics covered concern humanity and the very society we are a part of. It requires the ability to distinguish between abstract theories and concepts.
However, the popular and scoring optional is nothing to do with the exam it’s just a perspective, as there are few remarkable people who have cracked this toughest exam by taking the not-so-popular optional subjects. If one observes these candidates who cracked the exam successfully one thing could be noticed that they chose the optional subject based on the interest and background and not based on the scoring or popular one.
So how about the coaching criteria?
Now let’s have a look at the optional subject which most of the candidates choose based on the coaching available. Here, what we advise the candidates before choosing an optional based on this reason should think once whether the coaching is required for whatever optional they have chosen. If you have already decided to choose the optional subject just based on this criteria and you think that without taking the coaching cannot clear the civil services exam then you are completely relying on coaching, hope you find the best IAS Online coaching center as the IAS Exam has become unpredictable now not only for the candidates but also for the most well-known coaching classes as well.
To choose an optional subject with some previous background
Many people who have graduated or done Masters in some subject choose the same subject as optional in the Civil Services Exam. This is a plus point that the candidates’ are already familiar with the subject and need not put much effort into preparing for the optional. This is where graduation in humanities really helps as most of the popular IAS optional subjects’ mentioned above are involved within the “Arts” subjects. So if candidates are pursuing graduation or masters in any of the Arts subjects and desire to take the IAS Exam then it is advised them to pursue it seriously and focus more on the UPSC Syllabus that is common to their degree as well as the IAS Mains Exam.
With these criteria, one can understand that having some background about the subject along with interest are the more important factors in choosing the right optional for IAS than merely depending on the popularity of the subject or the scoring potential. Some of the candidates who had taken the most ambiguous subjects like Veterinary Science, Literature, Mathematics, and others have scored profoundly in the Mains just because they opted for the subject they were pursuing and which they loved.
There is a myth that there are easy optional subjects for IAS. But it is not true. The hard work and effort put forward by the aspirants make the subject easy.
Here are a few flip-through rules in short for selecting the right Optional Subject for IAS Exam
Comments