Civil service Examination (Also known as IAS exam) which is conducted by UPSC (Union Public Service Commission), is typically regarded to become pretty difficult plus the most Competitive exam and the students typically uncover it extremely difficult to Crack.
A significant Situation Every Student faces within this Reputed Exam is choice of optional Subjects. As we realize that in line with recent Modifications made by government inside the Pattern of IAS exam, the preliminary Test within this exam has now been replaced by Civil service aptitude test, which comprises of two objective papers for all students carrying Equal marks. So the students never need to choose around the optional subjects for the preliminary exam. Get extra information about upsc ias exam
Along with five compulsory papers for the mains exam (two for basic studies, 1 for essay, a single for qualifying English and a single for any language from 18 optional languages), candidate has to decide on two subjects from a list of 25 optional subjects. Following are the not permitted combinations inside the UPSC syllabus-
-> Political Science & International relations and Public Administration,
-> Commerce & Accountancy and Management,
-> Anthropology and Sociology,
-> Mathematics and Statistics,
-> Agriculture and Animal Husbandry & Veterinary Science,
-> Management and Public Administration,
-> Any TWO branches of Engineering,
-> Medical Science and Animal Husbandry & Veterinary Science,
-> Mixture of TWO Literature
Inside the previous pattern, candidates used to take their mainstream subject as first optional and most of the stuff was covered within the prelims exam and then all they had to do was to decide on the second optional topic. But in the new pattern, all the candidates are at equilibrium inside the prelims and must decide two optional subjects for mains exam with more agility and criterion in mind as this is the very factor that determines candidate's chances for getting through in this exam.
Following are a few criterions to become taken care of while choosing optional subjects in new pattern for IAS exam-
First along with the foremost, Candidate must be comfortable in grasping the subject. The decision should not be produced on the basis of length of the topic but around the one's comfort with concepts inside the topic. For example, History and geography are known for lengthy syllabus and answers, while public administration and anthropology have limited syllabus and short answers. The edge is not in selecting the subjects that have short or lengthy answers but in comfort with the subject.
Availability of IAS study material is also a vital factor in determining the optional topic. There should be enough resources available for preparing the subject, consulting to an experienced senior in case of a completely new topic in your perspective is quite sensible.
Candidate should not pick out a topic just because it's scoring or his friends are choosing it. More students choosing for an optional topic (say history) means more students with history will be chosen for next round and thus a greater competition, it doesn't ensure a greater score. Remember, the easier the subject the tougher the competition in it.
For commerce students, a good mixture is assumed to become Commerce+ Public administration, as Public administration Covers lots of topics in commerce like role of CAG etc. Commerce + geography is also a good mixture if you are familiar with semi-technical topics and can look around inside the maps. This mixture is highly scoring and can score you 300-350 marks inside the mains exam.
For biology students, Agriculture + botany is good combination since many topics of agriculture are covered in botany.
Once and for all, it's about candidate's own comfort in understanding the topic and choosing the optional subjects should be done carefully since it is the quite deciding factor for the candidate's selection in this prestigious examination.
All the Best for your Success!