Originally Posted by Muhammadwd

I am preparing for IR, and I am not scared of the marks in the past couple of years. I firmly believe in strong preparation and understanding the requirements of a question before attempting it. There is similar hubbub every year. Before my first attempt in 2018, people were going on about the demerits of opting IR, but I opted it, prepared diligently and scored 122. Whenever there is chatter about trends, I feel that it does injustice to those who scored high where the majority scored low. All this fussing asserts that the people who scored high on IR were either lucky or were favored by examiners. The best things to do for preparing IR (and this is coming from a person who has gone through it before) are:
1. Preparing from books recommended by FPSC.
2. Having a strong grip on the theoretical base of IR and using it copiously in both Parts 1 and 2.
3. Attempting questions from past papers to strengthen grip on the ways of attempting questions.
4. Making sure that your grip on English Grammar is vice-like. Believe me, having flawless writing skills does wonders to your marks. Presentation doesn't matter as much as your writing style. I hardly gave any headings or drew any maps or charts, but my writing style was imaginative and completely my own and it showed in my marks.

I implore you to not switch subjects just because of trends. If you feel you are not comfortable with IR and more comfortable with Political Science, then switch it. If you are genuinely interested in the subject, prepare it like it is meant to be prepared. It might take some time but that happens in CSS. Everyone has subjects that vary in difficulty and the time it takes to prepare them properly. As an example, I will share my journey so far. I found Sociology and Criminology to be ridiculously easy and prepared both within 25 days. However, it took me a month just to prepare GSA. The key is to not get disheartened. Carry on and you will find good things happening to you soon enough.

Hope this helps!!