I have selected International Relations, but I don't know what forces me now to think of Political Science. When I was in a process of selecting a subject from group-1 then after having lots of conversations with the members here on the forum, I decided to go with IR. Now I question myself whether I have made a good decision or not. I am still not satisfied, and seek more opinions about IR vs Pol. Science. What option would be the best one to go with? It would be highly appreciated if someone who has already appeared in any one of the said subjects, share his/her experience.

Errr, it would be helpful for anyone willing to answer your query if you could state exactly,
i) Why you are considering opting Political Science instead of IR.
ii) What are your general considerations for selecting any subject. I mean what your strong points are; whether you are good at understanding difficult concepts or good at memorising or something else...?

Actually I find myself good at understanding concepts, am kind of person who loves reading critically, and to be honest I would say that I am not very good at memorizing text, facts and figures, dates etc.

The only reason why I am considering Pol. Sci is because I think that Pol.Sc may yield better marks than IR. My main aim is to choose a subject which yields good marks as I have gone through sayllbi of both, and I figured out that I could study both with the same level of interest. So what do you suggest me?

I haven't opted it, still I am going to put my two cents out here for you to consider.

1) You should bear in mind that a lot of people are opting International Relations along with I. Law to cover a part of current affairs and to gain other "reported benefits". That automatically is going to bring the graph of general score down and graph of competition up. Your must be excellent or above that to get a good score. (Consider the example of Indo-Pak history, how it used to be before the reforms--I see I.R becoming the Indo-Pak history post-reform!)

2) My elder brother opted I.R in his first attempt in 2011, he cleared every other subject but failed in I.R. Now, you may think he was probably an incompetent person, but the same guy cleared in 2012 just because he swapped I.R with Socio. and Journalism. Now, this single example may not be enough to prove anything--but what it does prove is that some candidates do fail even after preparing and making their full effort. That just goes to say that this subject can be very unpredictable. This unpredictability can be discerned from its syllabus as well, because it is virtually "limitless". While the syllabus of Pol. Science is limited to a certain well-defined concepts and paradigms.

3) International Relations is more general in nature than Political Science. General subjects always tend to get opted more and your paper has to be exceptional to stand out among all the others.

Take these factors into account before you decide. In fact, if I were you I would opt Computer Science considering the background you have.

__________________
"Everything the light touches, is our kingdom."

@Cogito Ergo Sum:
Thank you so much Cogito for taking your time out and replying here. What you said about IR, was totally right, and I am more than 100% agreed with all the arguments you made. IR (with IL) is being opted by every third aspirant considering its advantages in current affairs, and in essay paper, and that very sign made me think of Pol. Science so that's why I asked here for suggestions, and I am the glad that I have got such a comprehensive reply from you.

And specially what you told in your second point about your brother, was served as an eye opener for me to be honest. Now I'll have to make a selection between CS and Pol. Sci. and I most probably go for Comp. Science because I know if I do little effort then I can cover it in less time contrary to if I select Pol. Science.

I used to hate Comp. Science a lot because I always wanted to study something new, which compelled me to make a selection between IR and PS. But now I understand the nature of exam, and the only thing that matter are marks, because we have got whole lot of life ahead in which we could study what interests us. Here in this competitive exam we are only concerned with the marks, and for marks we need to make a sensible selection. However I have only two chances so I'll have to decide wisely.

And again thank you so very much for commenting here and helping me make my mind. I will ask you a few more questions later here in this thread regarding other subjects. Hope you will reply. Stay blessed.

You are most welcome. It will be a pleasure to be of any help to you.

__________________
"Everything the light touches, is our kingdom."

I would like to know what you think of these following subjects.

PA:
Old subject.
We can take help from past papers.
Majority wants to opt it from group-3, which will rise the competitive graph.
Books are easily available in the market.

GPP & TPUM:
Both are newly added subjects, No past paper, can’t even guess what their paper would be like.
Books are not available yet in the market. (of popular publishers)
But the good thing is that not so many are going to opt them.
So what do you think is the best subject that could fetch good marks?

I also want to ask that which history subject could fetch good marks, and lastly, what do you think about the subject gender studies? GS is being opted by every 3rd aspirant I guess. How do you see it?

From Group III, I don't advise opting P.Ad. because of the reason you yourself have mentioned. This is going to become the new Journalism of CSS lol (where you get a wave-like scoring trend making it all look like a gamble)

As for GPP and TPUM: I have gone through the syllabi of both. Both have their pros and cons, I am spelling them out here and then you can easily judge and decide.

GPP is like an amalgam of sociology and political science. It can help you with your compulsories because many topics contained therein are kind of general ones. This will also mean that its material would be easy to find and easy to read. But this general nature of its syllabus also has its downsides. For example the examiner can complicate some of the questions for which you may not have prepared. Another bad thing about it is the length--it is kind of lengthy, regardless of it being simple, it is going to consume time.

On the other hand TPUM is a bit technical. But not as technical as to discourage a dedicated aspirant who has no background in it. Its biggest advantage is that it has a shorter length. It will take lesser time to prepare. But its bad side is that the examiner can get too technical and aspirants who have no background may feel short of material to produce an adequate answer.

Taking all of these factors into consideration, let me tell you what I think. New subjects--whether it be GPP, TPUM or GS--are going to fare better simply because people are not opting them this year to stay safe. Secondly, the examiners of these new subjects would like to encourage the aspirants to opt these subjects in the future by being initially lenient. Thirdly, examiners of social science (like Socio, Journalism and Psychology) always are lenient UNLESS they are asked to be otherwise. Socio and Journalism used to be that hen which lays golden eggs for CSS aspirants. This changed when FPSC commanded the respective examiners to be strict so as to discourage those who had started to opt these by the thousands!

If I were you, I would opt TPUM if I were short on time and GPP if I had ample time on my hands.

As for G.S, even though people are getting attracted to it, but I am still sure that the proportion is not as high as you have estimated. It is still a new subject and people avoid new things even if they are attractive. Because you have a non-biology background, you are not going to have any other option from Group V except G.S. So, I think if you are left with no other option, opting this becomes a matter of compulsion.

As for the histories, I think all of them are going to take equal amount of time to prepare. But as for the scoring trends, British and US history have been better than the others. But I am predicting that US history is going to come down now because everyone is going after it. If I were you, I would choose US history if I had short time and would choose British if I had ample time.

__________________
"Everything the light touches, is our kingdom."

It feels like making a selection has become a daunting task for me But I am very grateful that you have discussed every subject in detail, and from every angle. Now I have had an idea about the subjects, and can make a decision accordingly considering all the factors involved in a selection. Wish FPSC would not have brought reforms in CSS then life would have been so easy.

And thank you cogito for such a long reply. If you were not here then who would help us

Dear Bilal,

I think you are giving an undue share of time and energy to subject selection, a luxury it is already too late to invest your precious little time in... Do istakhara if you like and get down to serious concerted effort. I have been through this stage and it may lead to nonsensical confusion and frustration. No subject can get you through with less-than-required effort but hopefully you'll clear with almost any subject combination (insha Allaah) with the required effort (plus question answering technique)

Best!

PS: It's too late for Indo Pak and Islamic histories.