{"id":898,"date":"2023-06-18T06:38:23","date_gmt":"2023-06-18T01:08:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lotusarise.com\/qna\/?p=898"},"modified":"2023-06-19T04:54:39","modified_gmt":"2023-06-18T23:24:39","slug":"pros-and-cons-of-taking-geography-optional-for-upsc-exam","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lotusarise.com\/qna\/upsc\/pros-and-cons-of-taking-geography-optional-for-upsc-exam","title":{"rendered":"Pros and Cons of Taking Geography Optional for UPSC Exam"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Geography is a very popular optional subject among UPSC aspirants. Approximately 3000 candidates with geography optional appear in the Mains Exam each year. There have been toppers with this optional in the previous years. The most famous topper is Ira Singhal who topped the civil services exam in 2015. Also, in the 2016 UPSC exam, rank 4 holder Saumya Pandey<\/strong> had taken Geography as her optional subject. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

While many aspirants swear by Geography as their optional, many others don\u2019t regard this as the ideal optional for them. This article talks about the pros and cons of taking Geography optional for UPSC exam, and will give candidates an answer to the question, is geography a good optional for IAS.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cons\/Disadvantages<\/strong> of Geography Optional<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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  1. The questions <\/a>being asked [especially in Paper 1] are quite tough nowadays.<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n
  2. The marking scheme is quite suspicious<\/strong>. In 2015, most people got marks in the range of 130\u2013180.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  3. Lots of facts, locations, names & books of geographers<\/strong> have to be remembered to make the answer more appealing.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  4. The syllabus<\/a> is really vast <\/strong>and there is a huge competition. The subjects are too lengthy and sometimes it becomes difficult to memorize a lot of information at one go.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  5. The competition in this optional subject is gigantic as compared to some other optional subjects.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  6. Lots of case studies and diagrams have to be prepared.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  7. Have to add a diagram<\/strong> for each question. This consumes lots of time<\/strong> in the exams.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    Pros\/Advantages<\/strong> of Geography Optional<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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    1. Geography is a scientific subject<\/strong> (unlike traditional science; here we learn topics varying from the universe to physical topography). Due to this, it is preferred by many aspirants from science, medical and engineering backgrounds.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    2. There is not much mugging up required. Only concepts need to be understood.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    3. Section 1 of paper 1 is a bit of conceptual and technical<\/strong>. Science graduates find it scoring.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    4. The material is easily available<\/a> <\/strong>in the market.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    5. Geography Optional has an overlapping syllabus with General Studies<\/strong> papers. <\/li>\n\n\n\n
    6. With the questions becoming more dynamic and less static, Geography also has a lot of overlap with subjects like economics, environment, ecology and conservation.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    7. At least 80\u2013100 marks in GS1, 10\u201320 marks in GS2 [Geopolitics of South Asia] and 50\u201360 marks in GS3 are covered by geography.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    8. Candidates can also use what they learn in Geography Optional in their essay paper on various topics.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    9. Even in the UPSC personality test, Geography will be useful as the board can ask questions on the local geography of a candidate\u2019s home town like soil, vegetation, minerals, etc.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    10. Geography Optional is a scoring subject because unlike humanities subjects, there is not much scope for interpretation. Also, diagrams, flowchart, etc. can be used to get more marks.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    11. The map-based questions are also scoring.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    12. As geography students practice lots of diagrams and maps<\/strong>, if this is done in GS papers then it can fetch you good marks in GS as well.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    13. It is quite helpful in Prelims<\/strong>. Nowadays, more than 30\u201335 questions are being asked from Geography and Environment section alone.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    14. The map section<\/a> carries 20 marks in paper 2<\/strong>. If done well then one can get full marks.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    15. Pass time can be utilized wisely by drawing diagrams and locating places.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    16. Geography<\/a> may be a most promising marking subject as a result in contrast to subjects like humanities, there\u2019s not a lot of scope for interpretation. Over this, the diagrams, flowcharts, etc. will be accustomed to getting a lot of marks.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    17. The definite information on Geography Optional makes it simple for the candidates and encourages them to travel for self-study for geography optional.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

      If you love studying geography, then definitely advantages outweigh<\/strong> the disadvantages.<\/p>\n\n\n