Best optional for civil service exam

The question of which subject to choose for civil service as optional is something that keep the aspirant thinking for hours. The upsc has given away this worry to an extent by reducing the marks for civil service considerably. Even then to come top in the list and secure an IAS rank the options are important.

The most popular options in previous years used to be

1)      Public administration: Relatively similar to the general studies especially the paper 2. Availability of coaching centres. Used to derive constant marks,’minimum guarantee’  in aspirants jargon.

2)      Geography: Lot of coaching centres, easy material availability. The option is light, which means its easy for people to understand. Anyway students know water, land , food etc and so can easily pick up the subject

The other popular options used to be sociology, languages , psychology etc.

The idea of popular option has been dealt a serious blow in recent years. The public administration has become Greek in last few years. The minimum guarantee theory has been severely damaged by the students getting crushed.

The new pattern leaves less time to worry about options since mark has been reduced. The allocation for options is paltry as compared to the general studies. So the easy way out is to get a subject that doesn’t eat time and is simple. The earlier trend to fully depend on option has now vanished. So the civil service has changed all together in the last few years.

The best bet for many aspirants will be to stick to the graduation subject rather than jump to something completely anonymous.

The ias exam is still a much sought out exam and so students go punishing themselves for long hours of study to get into it. The new pattern will provide room for more thought and communication among the students. The rush to delhi to select an option from the best teacher there might see a slow down.