I selected my UPSC optional subject after much consideration. I belong to english medium schooling and Computer Engineering background. The optional subject that I have selected is History.
Now why did I select History? I inquired many people about optional that they were preparing and their perception about that. First thing to do if you ask someone is making sure that he is a serious contender not a rumor monger and cutoff predictor.
This is what most of the people told me :
Optional A is very scoring, so take that.
Optional B is very easy to prepare.
Optional C has so less syllabus that it can be covered in 1 months.
Optional D is very scientific whereas all others are not.
This is what Serious Players told me :
Take the optional that you have interest in.
All optionals are equally scoring , what really matters is the hard work you put into it.
When I decided that history will the optional that is going to be prepared by me. There were many reactions. Most of the people said it was not a good optional as one has to remember dates, king, places, chronology (overall many things to remember and cram). They were all very apprehensive because the syllabus of history is also seems vast like an ocean. And at last they feared that it was not scientific and scoring.
But at last I settled on History and I have valid reasons for doing so :
1. My love for history and past times. I like to read how society functioned and our ancestors made their living in the past.
2. History is as scientific and analytical as any other subject. It just depends on how you prepare history.
3. History optional syllabus though it looks very vast, is rather quite manageable in 3-3.5 months of preparation. This is so because each and every thing is logically arranged and most of the times its like a chain which keeps on linking further.
4. While preparing history one gets a lot of fodder points about society and past practices which can be used in general studies and essay answers.
5. Most of the Paper 1 General studies is based on the Culture and History , so that part gets prepared along with your optional preparation. Hence it saves a lot of extra effort.
6. And last but not the least, UPSC has moved away from asking questions about Kings and Wars. Now the things that are asked in exam are more in the context of society and causes etc. so one should remove the fear of cramming dates from his heart.
Now why did I select History? I inquired many people about optional that they were preparing and their perception about that. First thing to do if you ask someone is making sure that he is a serious contender not a rumor monger and cutoff predictor.
This is what most of the people told me :
Optional A is very scoring, so take that.
Optional B is very easy to prepare.
Optional C has so less syllabus that it can be covered in 1 months.
Optional D is very scientific whereas all others are not.
This is what Serious Players told me :
Take the optional that you have interest in.
All optionals are equally scoring , what really matters is the hard work you put into it.
When I decided that history will the optional that is going to be prepared by me. There were many reactions. Most of the people said it was not a good optional as one has to remember dates, king, places, chronology (overall many things to remember and cram). They were all very apprehensive because the syllabus of history is also seems vast like an ocean. And at last they feared that it was not scientific and scoring.
But at last I settled on History and I have valid reasons for doing so :
1. My love for history and past times. I like to read how society functioned and our ancestors made their living in the past.
2. History is as scientific and analytical as any other subject. It just depends on how you prepare history.
3. History optional syllabus though it looks very vast, is rather quite manageable in 3-3.5 months of preparation. This is so because each and every thing is logically arranged and most of the times its like a chain which keeps on linking further.
4. While preparing history one gets a lot of fodder points about society and past practices which can be used in general studies and essay answers.
5. Most of the Paper 1 General studies is based on the Culture and History , so that part gets prepared along with your optional preparation. Hence it saves a lot of extra effort.
6. And last but not the least, UPSC has moved away from asking questions about Kings and Wars. Now the things that are asked in exam are more in the context of society and causes etc. so one should remove the fear of cramming dates from his heart.
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