Why Choose Geography as an Optional Subject for the UPSC Civil Services Exam?

Why Choose Geography as an Optional Subject for the UPSC Civil Services Exam? Geography is a versatile and interdisciplinary optional subject that can greatly benefit civil service aspirants. It offers scoring opportunities and overlaps with the General Studies syllabus.

If you are a UPSC Aspriant and want to know about geography as an Optional Subject for the UPSC Exam? Here we discuss all the details:

Advantages of Geography as an optional subject for UPSC:

1. Relevance: Geography is highly relevant in today’s world as it helps understand our planet’s physical and human dimensions. It enables civil servants to effectively address global challenges such as climate change, natural disasters, and resource scarcity.

2. Scoring: Geography is a scoring subject in the UPSC mains exam. It includes a significant number of questions based on factual knowledge, which can be easily prepared for. Additionally, it includes map-based questions that can offer high rewards if accurately answered.

3. Overlap with General Studies: The Geography syllabus coincides with various topics in the General Studies syllabus. Consequently, studying Geography can improve scores in both the General Studies papers and the optional paper.

4. Interdisciplinary: Geography draws upon other disciplines like history, economics, and politics, providing civil servants with a broader perspective on the world. This interdisciplinary approach enhances their abilities to address complex issues.

5. Easy to understand: Geography concepts are relatively easier to comprehend compared to other optional subjects. This makes it a suitable choice for aspirants with different academic backgrounds.

6. Opportunity to use diagrams and flowcharts: Geography lends itself well to the use of diagrams and flowcharts. This enables aspirants to visually illustrate their points and demonstrate their understanding of the subject.

Overall, Geography is a valuable and rewarding optional subject for the civil services exam. It is relevant, scoring, and interdisciplinary, and offers advantages in problem-solving, global perspective development, and communication skills enhancement.

However, there are some cons to consider:

1. Large syllabus: The geography syllabus for UPSC is extensive and covers a wide range of topics. This can be overwhelming for students unfamiliar with the subject.

2. Challenging: Geography questions in the UPSC exam require a deep understanding of the subject. This can be challenging for students lacking confidence in their geography knowledge.

3. Competition: Geography is a popular optional subject, resulting in fierce competition. Students need to score highly to succeed.

Ultimately, the decision to choose Geography as an optional subject should be based on personal strengths, weaknesses, and considerations of the subject’s challenges and advantages.

To determine compatibility with the subject, students are advised to refer to NCERTs of class XI and XII and identify topics aligned with the UPSC syllabus. Writing answers for previous years’ questions can help assess readiness. This will not only aid in understanding suitability but also boost confidence levels.