On what basis should one select optional papers?

on what basis should one select his optionals .
how to know what all is covered in upsc syllabus ??

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Hello,

There is a process to choose optionals. You must follow it to get the best ones for YOU. Firstly, strike out the subjects from the complete list that you think you can't take in any circumstances. Secondly, go through the syllabus of each of remaining subjects and select the ones that you think you can manage. Thirdly, ask your more than one seniors who have actually given the exam with those subjects. Finally, make the decision about the subjects.

Mind it, the final decision will be yours and it must be based more on your interest in the subject, availability of good study material, availability of good tutor/guide in case you need some help during your preparation. Don't go by the experience of a single person. If you have right frame of mind, right approach, you can crack UPSC with any subject of YOUR choice.

>>how to know what all is covered in upsc syllabus
Go to www.upsc.gov.in and download syllabus for the exam.

Thanks,
goyalk

Hi,Civil Services Examination these days have become one of the toughest nuts to crack.Looking at the competition involved in this exam, one can sail through this hurdle race in flying colours only by proper planning, hard work, perseverance and patience. Proper planning is must for getting good ranks in this exam. And first step in proper planning is right selection of optional. In my opinion optionals should e chosen on the basis of one��s interest in that subject, scoring pattern of that subject in previous few years, availability of study material.Once you have decided to getinto in the preparation the first and foremost thing to decide while aspiring for Civil Services is the judicious choice of subjects for the Mains examinations. With new syllabus from 2013 we have to choose one optional for Mains exam, the second stage of whole examination process. Earlier we had to opt one optional subject for Prelims as well. The selectionof subjects should be done most carefully, if it goes wrong, everything will go wrong. Aspirants to the Indian Civil Services may be forgiven for thinking that choosing the right optionals for the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) selection examination is more than half the battle won.Normally students have the advantage of selecting one of the optionals, which they are familiar with, or have at least studied till graduate level. If you are not comfortable with the subject, you should not selectthe subject as an optional,One should analyse the syllabus of previous years and the question papers. The comfort levels with the subject opted for and the past trends should be analysed. While going through the questions of previous years, one can judge himself/herself about the knowledge base and comfort level with the subject. After a detailed analysis one should decide the subject for the first optional. One can get some feedback/advice from seniors and fellow students who are well versed in the subject. To avoid confusion at advanced stages of the examination, one should have some consultation withexperienced/senior colleagues. They can guide you better than any coachingclassThere is a vast choice of optionals, since students belonging to various streamsof education aspire for the Services. The optionals may be broadly categorised as science subjects such as Physics, Chemistry, Botany and Zoology; Humanities subjects like History, PoliticalScience, Public Administration, Geography and Sociology; and languages like Hindi, English,Urdu, and Pali. The UPSC also allows for subjects like Anthropology, Psychology and Philosophy. The subjects are many but choices are noteasy.Among the optionals like History, Psychology, Sociology, Public Administration etc in which even the candidates not having special or additional educational qualifications have been doing reasonably well, while the subjects like Mathematics, Physics, and Engineering are considered to offer tougher questions and the candidates with exceptionally good preparation only may expect to do well. But this observation may not be taken as the universal truth. Moreover, the aptitude and proficiency of a particular candidate in a given subject also plays an important role in arriving at a decision

Dear there is a complete procedure in the selection of optional subjects in the UPSC exam and there are some conditions also follows as - you must be qualified in the preliminary exam first before applying for mains exam and if you are fail then you are not eligible to apply for the mains exam and you may choose any two subjects for your optional papers and there is one more facility that if you won't to choose your relevant subject from the list of 25 subjects then you may also choose any one literature subject for your mains exam means one literature subject with any one optional and you can appear for mains exam and the list of the subjects is following :

Agriculture
Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Science
Anthropology
Botany
Chemistry
Civil Engineering
Commerce and Accountancy
Economics
Electrical Engineering
Geography
Geology
History
Law
Management
Mathematics
Mechanical Engineering
Medical Science
Physics
Philosophy
Political Science and International Relations
Psychology
Public Administration
Sociology
Statistics
Zoology

There would be four papers conducted in conventional type pattern means your both subjects has 4 papers and there would be other 5 papers conducted in which 2 papers would be for GS and one for Any Indian Language, One for English Language and One for Essay and the total marks are 2000 alloted for all 9 subjects

Dear if you want to know about the syllabus of UPSC board then you should not worry because i have attached the complete syllabus for UPSC Civil Service Prelims exam and if you think about mains exam then you would have to study hard for your selected subjects and GS also and other as mentioned above but dear mostly there are following subjects covered in the syllabus of UPSC board exams :

General Studies and CSAT

Indian History - Ancient, Middle and Modern and Indian Culture
World History and Main Events in the World History - Important Peoples and Dominators
Indian and World Geography
Indian And World Economy
Relations of India with various countries of the world - foreign relations
Indian Constitution and Indian Polity with Government system
Science and Technology - Physics, Chemistry, Computer, Agriculture, Biology, Zoology, etc.
Mathematics
Reasoning Ability - Verbal and Non-Verbal - Critical and Logical
English Language
Current Affairs and Current Events
Art and Literature
Plans and Schemes of Indian Government

All the best

UPSC Civil Services Exam(CSE) is one of the toughest & most competitive exam at the All India level.
UPSC Civil Services Exam(CSE)is conducted every year for 24 posts/services.
After clearing CSE you can get posts like IAS,IPS,IFS,IRS,etc.
CSE is conducted in 3 stages viz.
1.Prelims/CSAT Exam-CSAT stands for Civil Services Aptitude Test.It consists of 2 papers of General studies
of 200 marks each i.e.total marks for CSAT Exam is 400 marks.It is conducted to shortlist candidates for the Mains Exam of CSE.
Only candidates successful in the CSAT Exams are moved to the second stage of CSE i.e.Mains exam.

2.Mains Exam-is conducted to test the indepth knowledge and intellegence of the candidates.
It consists of total 9 Papers and 2000 marks is the total weightage of Mains exams.
Two Optionals subjects have to be chosen at this stage and 2 Papers of each subject prepared.

Tips to choose Otional Subjects :
-Check the list of optional subject given in the exam notification.You can select the otiional subjects mentioned in the list.
-Certain combination of subjects are not allowed by UPSC,so always keep in mind that you have the right combination of subjects.
-You should choose subjects which you are familiar with and have atleast some knowledge of it,it will be easier to gain more on such subjects.
-You can choose from subjects you have studied at your graduation level.
-You should choose a subject which you find easier to grasp and understand.
-You should choose a subject you think you are well versed with and can score well in them.
-You can follow the syllabus for the otional subjects to know about the topic to be covered in detail.
After going though the topics you can judge which subjects will be better choice for you.
-You should choose a subject you are confident to express yourself well,so that the examiner comes to know about your indepth knowledge.
-You can go through previous years papers of subjects you like and see the level of questions and then select the optional subjects.

3.Interviews-is the test of Personality of candidates and is of 300 marks.It is the final stage of selection for CSE.
After this a Merit List is prepared based on the overall performance of the candidates and posts allotted accordingly.

For more details visit www.upsc.gov.in
I am attaching the UPSC CSE 2012 Exam Notifiction for your refrence and syllabus in details.

Optional subjects should be selected in a very cautiously because they help you to score better in the exam and you should choose those subjects which you are very good in and also easy for you to study.Subjects like Political Science etc are generally taken as optional.

Hi,
Please go through the list of optional paper and find out the paper in which you have confidence that you can manage and that is interesting for you. Please take help 0f coaching institute or any other source who have better command or face any upsc exam. For syllabus visit to the site of www.upsc.gov.in and download syllabus for the exam.
thanks

Re: On what basis should one select optional papers?

Hi friends,

UPSC (CSE) is one of the toughest & most competitive exam at the All India level.
UPSC (CSE)is conducted every year for 24 posts/services.
After clearing CSE you can get posts like IAS,IPS,IFS,IRS,etc.

CSE is conducted in 3 stages viz.
1.Prelims/CSAT Exam-CSAT stands for Civil Services Aptitude Test.It consists of 2 papers of General studies
of 200 marks each.total marks for CSAT Exam is 400 marks.
It is conducted to shortlist candidates for the Mains Exam of CSE..

2.Mains Exam- Depends on the indepth knowledge and intellegence of the candidates.
It consists of total 9 Papers and 2000 marks is the total weightage of Mains exams.
Two Optionals subjects have to be chosen at this stage and 2 Papers of each subject prepared.


3.Interviews- the test of Personality of candidates and is of 300 marks.
It is the final stage of selection for CSE.

After this a Merit List is prepared based on the overall performance of the candidates and posts allotted accordingly.

For more details visit www.upsc.gov.in