Ignoring Optional Subject can be Disastrous. How?

Students today have the belief that taking electives doesn't really make a difference. They concentrate a lot of their efforts on GS exams, which are worth 1000 marks. Additionally, General studies, having a comparable syllabus in the Prelims and Mains, takes the maximum preparation time.

Choosing your strongest subject area will keep you in the most comfortable position psychologically and in terms of preparation, resulting in your greatest performance. Optional subject, if prepared well, increases your chances of success.

• This has a crucial impact. Since you don't need to put all of your work into something if you are already good at it, you should use it to your advantage whenever possible. Apart from that, having previous knowledge in the field will end up with your less time of preparation which means you have a lot of time to dedicate and prepare well for all the other subjects.
• Thus, prepare well for optionals and do not ignore them. Assess your Optional preparedness by appearing in test series.
• For the Optional, writing practice is as important as studying. It has 3 effects:
  • It helps you retain things.
  • Helps to revise things and learn new things not covered by conventional books.
  • It helps you improve your writing speed, prods you to improve your handwriting and above all develops the ability to think and formulate answers in an efficient way - practice makes one perfect.
• Since most aspirants complete their optional before Prelims, they altogether forget about it until after Prelims is over. Don’t do that mistake.
• If you are not revising it, then all your hard work will be gone because when you come back, you will not be able to remember most of the things. Thus, be in constant touch with your Optional- either by practicing answers continuously or revising flash cards.
• Go Against Herd Mentality
• A significant majority of candidates, who passed the UPSC Civil Services Exam and belonged to science/technical backgrounds, chose an optional topic different from what they had studied during their graduation.
• Some chose history, sociology, anthropology, geography, political science, psychology, and public administration; this was largely due to the ease with which study resources could be found for these disciplines. This shouldn't, however, be the primary factor to be considered when choosing an optional.
• The subject you choose should:
  • Excite you
  • Make you know more about it
  • Should not put you to sleep
  • Make you think out of the box
  • Have books available easily

In general, candidates should select an elective that they are knowledgeable about or have studied at the graduate level. Candidates should always make sure that the subject they chose interests them and that they are comfortable with it. They should also bear in mind that the study materials for the optional subject should be simple to get.

• At this point, don't worry about your score; instead, concentrate on choosing an optional with the attributes listed above. Keep in mind that each aspirant will have a distinct preference. The grades will come after you have mastered the course material and gained sufficient writing experience.

Overlap of the Optional subject with GS: Is it the right strategy? Choosing an optional that overlaps with General Studies is a smart move because it will reduce the amount of time needed to study the subject compared to a subject that has no overlaps with the GS syllabus. Consider Rachat Raj, UPSC CSE 2013 Rank 3, who achieved a remarkable result in the Zoology optional. Numerous others have also achieved success in the top ranks while studying electives like law or medical science. None of these disciplines intersect with the GS curriculum the way that humanities subjects do. Never choose an optional course solely because of GS overlap. Additionally, never choose an optional simply because coaching institute experts advised you to. You must be aware that every optional subject receives credit. Some optional questions might not provide high scores in some years due to scaling effects, but there is no overarching pattern or theory. You must receive the highest possible marks in both the GS and the optional topic. Before choosing the optional, you must carefully weigh the availability of time, the work necessary, and the likelihood of earning the maximum marks. You can choose a scoring, overlapping optional subject if you have background or prior exposure to it, or if there is still enough time, even though it might need significant preparation given to the extensive nature of the syllabus. If you don't have much time, choose an optional paper that requires less time to prepare adequately. If 1-2 years is available before Mains exam, a hardworking candidate might be able to finish standard textbooks of almost any optional subject. But, compromising GS marks for Optional preparation can also turn critical, and hence not advised as per the latest pattern of exam.