UPSC CIVIL SERVICES: Choosing the Right Optional Subject

Overview

The optional subjects often end up being the reason for an aspirant’s failure or success in the UPSC exam. These subjects carry almost 25% weightage when it comes to the total marks, which is a significant amount. As a result, aspirants often find themselves questioning the need of coaching for sufficient preparation.

What are the Optional Subjects?

Candidates get to choose subjects of their liking and interest, from a given list of subjects. This is for the papers VI and VII of the UPSC Civil Services Main examination. They have to appear for two papers on the subject of their choice. Each paper is of 250 marks and has a duration of 3 hours. The marks scored in these papers are considered for the preparation of final merit. Plus, it often plays a role in differentiating the overall score and ranks of aspirants.

The list of Optional Subjects is given below-

1. Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Science

2. Anthropology

3. Botany

4. Chemistry

5. Civil Engineering

6. Commerce and Accountancy

7. Economics

8. Electrical Engineering

9. Geography

10. Geology

11. History

12. Law

13. Management

14. Mathematics

15. Mechanical Engineering

16. Medical Science

17. Philosophy

18. Physics

19. Political Science and International Relations

20. Psychology

21. Public Administration

22. Sociology

23. Statistics

24. Zoology

25. Literature of anyone the following language: Assamese, Bengali, Bodo, Dogri, Gujarati, Hindi, Kannada, Kashmiri, Konkani, Maithili, Malayalam, Manipuri, Marathi, Nepali, Oriya, Punjabi, Sanskrit, Santhali, Sindhi, Tamil, Telugu, Urdu, English.

26. Agriculture

Choosing the Right Subject: Trends and Facts to keep in mind.
When it comes to choosing an optional subject, candidates are advised to avoid the herd mentality. Simply put, they must never choose a particular subject solely based on its performance in the previous years. Finding a subject based on analysis of interests, availability of sufficient study material, proper coaching, and scoring potential are advisable. Candidates need to research how vast the syllabus is, if any of it overlaps with the General Studies paper. It is equally important to consider whether they will be able to complete their preparation on time.

Based on previous trends and success rates, History, Geography, Public Administration, and Sociology are considered to be the most popular and highest scoring optional subjects for the UPSC.

History and Geography are popular among candidates due to their relevance with the General Studies Paper- and prelims. This overlap ensures the completion of a vast portion of the IAS syllabus. The easy-to-understand, fact-based nature of the subjects along with questions that can be answered easily even during the personality test make these subjects popular.

A compact and highly relevant syllabus that can be covered within a few months. And enormous overlap with the GS papers, especially topics related to governance, make Public Administration a popular and interesting choice among aspirants.

Availability of the best coaching for sociology optional, along with sufficient study materials and essay-type nature of the paper makes it a popular choice among aspirants. Even for those with no academic background in the subject. Considered to be among the most scoring subjects, the syllabus for sociology also overlaps with topics of General study to some extent.

Conclusion
The primary deciding factor when it comes to choosing an optional subject, should be the candidate’s interest towards the subject. Although researching all the other factors is quite necessary, the candidate’s love for the subject is what determines the amount of conscious effort that goes into the preparation of the subject.