BEST OPTIONALS

A JOURNEY OF A THOUSAND MILES BEGINS WITH A SINGLE STEP.

Choosing a right combination of optional for Prelims and Mains exam is vital to come out with

flying colors in IAS exams. Accomplishment with jubilation is Success. Suppose a candidate clears

Civil Services Exam and gets service allocation against his will because of his position in the ladder of

rankings, then that is accomplishment without jubilation. It is at this crucial point that the role of

optional comes into play as the weightage for optional is 1200 marks out of 2000 marks.

The wide factors which influence the selection of optionals are

*Inherent interest

*Field of study

*Scoring potential of the subject

Firstly coming to the point of inherent interest, no doubt it is very vital during the course of

preparation. It always keeps your motivation level high.

Secondly coming to the point of field of study, of course one always has a natural inclination to

choose a subject of his study. However there are subjects like Polymer Technology, Textile Technology

and others which are not prescribed in the UPSC syllabus. In such cases candidates generally tend to

choose closely related subjects like Chemistry and so on. It is very essential to note at this juncture that

syllabus is very vast and choosing a closely related subjects most often do not click well. Knowing a

subject alone is not sufficient to score well. A cautious note here is that we have seen many candidates

to opt for Botany and Zoology in mains exam thinking that overlapping of syllabus at many places may

help in time management. The crucial point is that though there is overlapping of syllabus at many

places, approach is different for each one of these optional. And hence we suggest you not to mislead by

such illusions.
 Thirdly coming to the point of Scoring potential, it is a very delicate issue to be discussed at

length. Every subject is scoring provided you have the aptitude for that subject or put it in different

words every subject is not scoring for everybody. Always Mathematics has high scoring potential.

But whether Mathematics suits everyone’s aptitude and attitude is the most intriguing question? Your

senior might have scored well in Geography. But does it hold equally true for you also? The answer to

the above questions is absolutely “NO”. As far as scoring potential of a subject is concerned, please do

not follow other’s advice. They may be expressing from their view point. However we do not mean to say

that do not discuss with your seniors or coaching institutes. What we mean is, take the necessary advice

from others but the ultimate decision should be yours as none knows you better than yourself.

Is there anything like Best Combination of Optionals?

As far as Civil services Exam is concerned one should always keep in mind the factor of General

Studies and Essay [GS + Essay carries 800 marks out of 2000 in Mains exam]. GS plays a decisive

role in both prelims and mains exams. Based on the analysis of UPSC examination pattern we have

herein prioritized the Optionals based on the degree of GS and Essay friendliness.

*Political Science and International Relations.

*Sociology.

*Public administration.

The degree of GS & Essay friendly nature of these subjects is illustrated below:-

Political Science and International Relations

*In prelims almost every year (new pattern – In the new pattern a special emphasis has been given for

Politics and Governance) 15-20 questions will be related to the optional paper Political Science and

International Relations.

*Out of 600 marks in GS almost 300-330 marks (Indian National movement, Indian polity,

International affairs, India and world etc.) is related to the optional subject Political Science.
 Moreover in Essay paper [200 marks] almost every year there is one topic related to politics and

International relations. Hence out of 2000 marks in Mains Exam almost 1100-1130 marks (300-330

marks in GS + 200 marks in Essay + 600 marks as Political Science as optional paper) is related to

Political Science. Whatever optional you choose, preparing for these 500-530 marks related to

Political Science is inevitable.

*If your other optional subject is Sociology, then it would be most advantageous as approach

towards each one of these subjects is same.

*Now there is a proposal to bring in changes in the main exam also within 2-3 years. In case the

pattern is changed, even then Politics will remain relevant and it may become a compulsory part like

now in the new pattern of Prelims.

Sociology

*In prelims almost every year 15-18 questions [new pattern syllabus Socio-economic development

+ Social welfare schemes] are related to the optional paper Sociology. Specifically one needs to study

almost Sociology Paper 2.

*Out of 300 marks in GS-I almost 50-100 marks (Social issues and Welfare Schemes etc.) is related to

the optional subject Sociology. Moreover in Essay paper [200 marks] almost every year there is one

topic related to Indian Society. Hence out of 2000 marks in Mains Exam almost 850-900 marks (50-

100 marks in GS + 200 marks in Essay + 600 marks as Sociology as optional paper) is related to

Sociology. Whatever optional you choose; studying for these 250-300 marks related to Sociology is

inevitable.

*If your other optional subject is Political Science, then it would be most advantageous as

approach towards each one of these subjects is same.

*Now there is a proposal to bring in changes in the main exam also within 2-3 years. In case the

pattern is changed, even then study of Society will remain relevant and it may become a compulsory

part like now in the new pattern of Prelims.

Public administration

*In prelims 10-12 questions (Indian Polity + Indian Administration) will be related to the optional

paper Public administration.

*Out of 300 marks in GS-I almost 90-100 marks (Indian polity etc.) is related to the optional subject

Public administration. Hence out of 2000 marks in Mains Exam almost 900-920 marks (100-120

marks in GS + 600 marks as Public administration as optional paper. Sometimes you may likely get a

topic in essay related to administration) is related to Public administration. Whatever optional you

choose, preparing for these 300-320 (if essay is included) marks related to Public administration

is inevitable.

*Now there is a proposal to bring in changes in the main exam also within 2-3 years. In case the

pattern is changed, even then study of Society will remain relevant and it may become a compulsory

part like now in the new pattern of Prelims.

*As far as the other optional subjects are concerned their degree of GS and Essay friendliness is very

minimal and in some cases like engineering subjects etc. it is almost nil. Previously History had very

much importance in Mains General Studies Paper 1. Now the recent trend of questions shows that

“History has become a history”.

*Now from the foregoing discussions one can easily conclude that Political Science and

International Relations + Sociology OR Public Administration+ Sociology is the best combination.

However even among these two Political Science and International Relations + Sociology is the

best combination as owing to its dynamic nature Political Science is more GS & Essay friendly

than Public Administration. Now we leave it to you to decide. But we suggest you to choose any one of

these two combinations. That would be the wise decision.

*Apart from these there are other subjects like Geography which are very much popular among Civil

Service aspirants. However popularity alone should not be the deciding factor. In every subject

there are people who have scored well as well as there are who could not score well. Hence scoring
nature of the subject rests in you. It is you who is responsible for scores. Hence keep all such factors

in mind before finalizing your optional. But be cautious that if you choose wrong combination of

optional and fail to get through the IAS Exam you need to wait for almost another 18months or

so even if everything goes fine with your next attempt.

Make sure that you would clear the IAS Exam at the earliest possible time because your career growth as
a Civil Servant depends much on the age of entry into the service. Definitely a candidate who gets the
service at the age of 21-24 years will have good prospects of career growth compared to a
candidate who gets the service at the age of 29-30 years as seniority in service plays a vital role
Government services and the retirement age is 60 years as of now. Those who enter the service at
the age of 22 years will have more than 90% of chances to reach up to the post of Cabinet
Secretary the topmost posting that a civil servant can attain

ADVANTAGES OF POLITICAL SCIENCE

FOR PRELIMS OPTIONAL

* It is very much GS-Friendly. About 25-40 questions in GS are related to political science
syllabus. Viz. (In the new CSAT Syllabus a special emphasis has been given for Politics and
Governance).
*15-20 questions from Indian freedom movement
*12-15 questions from Indian polity
*10-12 questions from international affairs and institutions.
*Irrespective of the optional subject chosen by you, you need to prepare for these questions in
GS-PRELIMS. Hence if you opt for POLITICAL SCIENCE, these questions will be automatically
covered in your preparation for optional subjects.
*No need to mug up things. Once if you understand the concepts, even with the basic logic and
commonsense approach you can handle the questions very easily.
*Thus it helps in multi-tasking and thereby better time management.

FOR MAINS
*It is very much GS-Friendly. Many questions (related to Indian National Movement and Indian
polity) in GS-Mains-2008 were essentially based on the optional subject Political Science and
International relations. Political Science is especially a handy tool in PAPER-II of GS-Mains. Hence
if you opt for POLITICAL SCIENCE, these questions will be automatically covered in your
preparation for optional subjects.
*It is very much ESSAY-Friendly. Almost every year If not two atleast one topic will be based on
political science and socio-political issues. An essay written by a political science student will
have an edge over the essay written by other candidate with respect to the topic on socio-
political issues. If your other optional subject is Sociology, then it would be most advantageous
to write a better essay than other students and you can create a margin for yourself.
*No need to mug up things. Once if you understand the concepts, even with the basic logic and
commonsense approach you can handle the questions very easily.
*Very dynamic subject. It moulds your administrative skills and capabilities. If your other
optional subject is say Sociology, then it would be most advantageous to create a margin for
yourself, as neither of the subjects can be studied in absence of the other. (i.e) both are very
much closely related and have the same approach.
*Thus it helps in multi-tasking and thereby better time management.
*Many questions in Interview will be based on Political economy and socio-political issues.

ADVANTAGES OF SOCIOLOGY AS AN OPTIONAL

FOR PRELIMS
*Very much GS FRIENDLY. (In the new CSAT Syllabus a special emphasis has been given for
Social Sector issues and Initiatives).
*It helps in multi-tasking and thereby better time management.
*No need to mug up things. Once if you understand the concepts, even with the basic logic and
commonsense approach you can handle the questions very easily.
*Syllabus is very much compact.

FOR MAINS
*It is very much GS-Friendly. Many questions (related to Social issues and Socio-political
challenges) in GS-Mains-2008 were essentially related to the optional subject Sociology.
*It is very much ESSAY-Friendly. Almost every year If not two atleast one topic will be based on
socio-political issues. An essay written by a political science student will have an edge over the
essay written by other candidate with respect to the topic on socio-political issues. If your other
optional subject is Political Science, then it would be most advantageous to write a better essay
than other students and you can create a margin for yourself.
*No need to mug up things. Once if you understand the concepts, even with the basic logic and
commonsense approach you can handle the questions very easily.
*Very dynamic subject. It moulds your socio-political approach towards the society. If your other
optional subject is say Political Science, then it would be most advantageous to create a margin
for yourself, as neither of the subjects can be studied in absence of the other. (i.e) both are very
much closely related and have the same approach.
*Thus it helps in multi-tasking and thereby better time management.
*Many questions in Interview will be based on Socio-economic perspectives and socio-political
issues.