upsc-exams/upsc-exam-india-civil-services-ias-optional-selections-part-1

The optional selection in the Civil Services is an important area.
I am a graduate on Computer Science. I am very much interested to appear for UPSC exam. But now I am in a dilemma to select my optional subject.
Engineering and computer students can opt for geography will be easier for science students. If you do good map reading , you can score really well. Then there are some areas in geography , which will be useful for general studies also. The other subject may be sociology/psychology/public administration. To select the option. please go through the detailed syllabus and old questions. that will give an idea to select on appropriate optional.

Has Computer Science been added to the optional subjects in Main examinations?
Not yet. It may or may not come as one of the optionals. It is normally decided by UPSC - whether to include one subject or not.

I am an engineering graduate. I want to take Sanskrit Literature for mains. What difficulties will I face and is coaching necessary for it?

You have to be good in Sanskrit. Good writing skills. In the Literatures, only the writing skill is very important. Some people have this as an inborn quality. You can consult the person who opted for the same recently. To improve the skills, if you feel necessary, you can opt for coaching.

I am an engineering graduate. I want to take Geography as my optional but my medium is Hindi. I came to know that Hindi medium students cannot do well in Civil Service and their score is less than English medium students.
It is not like that. People may be saying that the original standard text books are in English only. It may be difficult for a language student to translate in to his/her language. The other mistakes students used to do that is writing in the language directly in the Exam hall only with out any prior practice. It is the human tendency that why some one is writing the technical or Science subject in the Indian Language. So, the language person has the draw back in the initial stage itself. But all are individuals opinion. It varies from person to person. If you believe in you, you can very take the exam in Hindi. Important thing is that you have to have a good practice. If you write/present it in an excellent manner, you are bound to get good marks. So, you can interact with some more candidates, if possible with the similar optional subjects and decide about it. There are many students who cleared the CSE in Hindi Medium after trying their luck in English for one or two failed attempt. One more thing you have to keep in the mind is that the performance of optional subjects also varies from year to year.

I am student of IIT Delhi pursuing my B.tech in Civil Engineering. I am bit confused about the subjects for CSE , as people insist not to go with civil engg as a subject....and also to take one subject from arts. I have been good in quizzing and geography at my school.
For IIT students, geography will also be a cake walk. This is scoring and safe also. Your quizzing will definitely help here. Whatever you had studied in the schooling only will help you. But it is little advance and those things are really easy. You have to practice good map reading as it has 120 marks out of 600 in the mains. What your friends say about civil engineering is true. The success ratio of civil engineering is really poor. The trend is humanity subjects. So select a good humanity subject which will be easy for you. When you study with full potential, humanity subjects are really easy. Need little logic that's all.

I am from economics background. I am confused in choosing the second optional whether to take Public Administration or Psychology?
Both psychology and public administration are doing well. You have to choose between the two based on your experience, interest, expertise etc. Read the full syllabus and previous years question papers of both, this will give an idea to select the better one.

I am a fourth year engineering student. I want to know the prospects of opting geography as a subject for the main examination. Also tell me something about the GS paper.

Geography is very good option for science students. Though it is a humanity subject, it has more relevance in science also. The physical geography will be really easy for science graduates have an edge over city/humanity students. If you can do a proper and intelligent map work, you can really score well. Geography study will be useful in general studies also in about 50-60 marks, so geography is a safe and scoring subject for all. The general studies paper can't be explained in one sentence as paper can not be improved/ studied in short period. The general studies are nothing but whatever we have studied in our school days. Those studies are building blocks of our knowledge. The trend of the present general studies have changed lot. Earlier, the general studies questions were direct but the present day questions are more of an application oriented so one should understand the concept well and should be in a position to apply in practical sense. For the above reasons, aspirants are first asked to read the NCERT books. Then go for specialized books. The general studies manuals are also nothing but the gist of NCERT books.

Could you please guide me in choosing my optionals between Geography and Psychology for the Prelims? I have studied Science upto 10+2 and BBA in Graduation. Also please tell the time-frame required to complete the course keeping in view the Optional for Pre and Mains (as you suggest) and the strategy to be followed for that?
Both subjects are equally good when we take your basic and degree, both are good combination - from the point of view of Mains. First, go through the syllabus and prelims questions of the previous year, which will give you an idea, as to which subject would be a better choice. Factors such as your interest, basic knowledge, attitude towards the subjects are to be taken care of properly, as that will give an edge to one subject over other. The question regarding the completion of a subject is really subjective. It depends upon the individual and vary from one person to other. That is why people from the same background and opting for the same subject also get varied marks. It depends on various skills and other attributes of the aspirant as well as the mental make up of the evaluator. Strategy is the common strategy, which is given on the book.

I am a Hindi medium student. I have Public Administration and Geography as my optionals. Please tell me which one shall I opt for the preliminary exam.
For a Hindi medium student, we suggest geography will be a better optional than public Administration you will have good resources for geography also performs better than Public Administration in the civil services.

I am a Hindi medium student. I am an Engineering graduate. I want to know what optionals I should take that will suit my medium, as well as my background.

Geography and Hindi Literature. Geography is safe for you. As far as the second optional is concerned, you can think of taking Public Administration/Sociology/ Philosophy. But follow the strategy given by us properly, so that you select one of the best optionals suited for your success.

I am a Hindi medium student and an engineering graduate. I want to take Indian History in prelims and Philosophy and Sanskrit in mains.

There is no problem, if you can deal all these three subjects. Philosophy is doing well. Why do you want to go for Sanskrit? If you are really good in the Literature, go for it otherwise avoid it. Instead of confusing with History and Sanskrit, you can think of taking Geography. With your Science background, geography will be easier. If you feel, the chances of clearing the Prelims with the History is high, you can go ahead with your present decision. Before taking the final decision, go through the general strategy given by some sites. That will clear your doubt.

What are the chances of Zoology subject in Hindi medium for an ordinary B.Sc student ?

The Civil Services Exam is concerned, for the Zoology subject, the Questions are masters level. You can write in Hindi / English. But availability of std books & materials For zoology may be little difficult because of its scientific nature. As far as, Geography is concern you can very well write it in Hindi. Most of aspirants appear in the exams using Hindi medium.

It has been observed that many toppers are getting around 65% marks only at CSE. Is it not possible to score more than 70%?

If you observe the past record, even getting 60% in all the papers is really difficult. If you see the last year's trend also, the topper got around 60 plus percentage. This is not the University exam, where you prepare notes and reproduce in the exams to get 90 plus. In the Civil Services, there are criteria fixed by the UPSC for the paper evaluation. UPSC gives a key with some instructions to the Evaluators. They can not award more than 60%. If they award more than that, they have to explain the case also. So, whoever writes extremely well and impresses the examiner, who is also human being will get an edge over others.

I am doing my graduation in Agriculture 3rd year. Help me in choosing the optional for prelim and the mains. What is the success rate of botany as optional and whether it is scoring or not? I am also considering optionals like Sociology and Public administration? Which of these optionals is best considering the fact that my first optional is Agriculture

Agriculture graduates really perform well in civil services after medical sciences. Both the science and arts subjects are easy for the Agriculture graduates, as they study both in their graduation. So preparation of general studies won't be a problem. As you are in third year you should start general studies as well. The tips are there in the Book. Just follow it as per the guidance. As an optional Agriculture is really doing well.
The success ratio of Agriculture is about 1:6. to score good marks, follow the strategy given in our website.

The success ratio of Botany is about 1:9 to 1:10. While selecting the optional one should also consider the following factor.
1. Vastness/Coverage of these subjects.
2. Similarities in the syllabus.
3. Similarities in the question pattern
4. Exam time gap between the subjects. There are times exams are back to back. Persons who need little revision find it difficult if the exams are back to back
5. Usefulness in the general studies preparation. If we consider all the factors Botany has more close relation with Agriculture as compared to other two. Public Administration is useful in General Studies. Sociology is neither similar nor useful in General Studies.
Other important subject, you missed is Geography. This has similarity with agriculture and useful in the General Studies. Normally agriculture students go for Botany or Geography in general. Other two subjects you have mentioned also are opted by Agriculture students. Now it is you to decide based on the detailed syllabus, previous years questions and your interest. This will give an idea to select an appropriate subject as second optional.

Your comments on the subjects public Administration and Sociology.

Both the subjects are good. You can go ahead with your preparation. The number of candidates appearing with Public Administration are more than Sociology. In the prelims you have a good chance provided you prepare well. You have to be in top among the Public Administration candidates. As per the UPSC report the success ratio is more for Sociology in the mains than Public Administration. The trend keeps on changing. Now, it is upto you to decide. Even after going through the steps given by us, if you are not clear then do the following. Just make positive and negative points for both the subjects. Just weigh the subject based on pure objective. ie your success. Study of the Public Administration may be useful in your General studies both in Prelims and Mains.

I am a B.Com Graduate. What subjects I should choose? How to start?
If you are good at, you can opt for Commerce and Accountancy as one of the optionals. It is also doing well To test your knowledge base, first go through the strategy given in our site. In brief, detailed syllabus and previous years question papers one should be a topper in his own subject, so that the selection also becomes easier. The second optional may be Public Administrator/Sociology/Psychology/Indian Literature, if you are really good at it. That is good written skills and analytical capacity in the Literature. The starting can be at any stage. Regarding General Studies, you have to start from scratch if you don't have any idea. Subject also you can start based on the syllabus and previous years question pattern.