Subject selection

[Saira khattak]

I am a student od English literature and I want to take css exam 2018..The subjects which I am planing to take are Pol science,Histroy of USA,gender studies,philosophy,psychology..plz guide me whether these are right choices?or I need to change any??

[bilawalsanghroo]

The subjects which you have opted History of USA, Gender Studies are easy and scoring but Political Science is not so good, and one thing keep in mind that you should opt overlapping subjects which can fetch you good marks and also help you in other subjects particularly in Compulsory subjects like International Relations, International Law and History of USA, these four subjects are highly recommended and overlap each other plus help in Current Affairs. Firstly, you should go through the past papers and syllabus of those subjects that you want to opt, it is available on the fpsc.gov.pk and make your mind according to scoring trend and length of subjects plus your interest. If you have background in English Literature and interest then go for it. So my advice to you is you can opt International Relations, International Law and History of USA, English Literature and Sociology or your regional language. :

[Saira khattak]

Thank u so much..I will look for syllabus n papers but i literature is not scoring so i can,t go for it..

[LIL786]

Originally Posted by Saira khattak

I am a student od English literature and I want to take css exam 2018..The subjects which I am planing to take are Pol science,Histroy of USA,gender studies,philosophy,psychology..plz guide me whether these are right choices?or I need to change any??

Subject selection is an important and usually difficult point to decide for CSS aspirants but it is easy when you look into it following your educational career and own tendency, first. Second is to take glance at previous papers which guide you whether the being-selected subject suits you or not.

[A Zeee]

Originally Posted by Saira khattak

I am a student od English literature and I want to take css exam 2018..The subjects which I am planing to take are Pol science,Histroy of USA,gender studies,philosophy,psychology..plz guide me whether these are right choices?or I need to change any??

It is a wise decision of not taking English Literature as optional as only 3 candidates have scored above 60 in previous exam.
How to choose subjects:

1- Marks trend
2- Background (Not necessary)
3- Interest
4- Aptitude

Political Science is a good choice but not as good as IR. Only 1 candidate has scored above 70. IR is a better option with respect to scoring trend but your aptitude and interest matters as well. Go through syllabus of both and choose after that.
If answer is still PS than your subject selection can be as:
PS: 200
Psychology: 100 Good Choice
US History: 100 Good Choice
GS: 100 (Another option can be ES or Criminology which are more recommended ones)
Public administration: 100 (Instead of Philosophy as it helps in PS)

In case you decide to switch PS with IR:
IR: 200
Psychology: 100
US history: 100
I Law: 100 (Instead of Public Admin. a recommended choice with IR)
GS or ES: 100 (ES is more scoring and helps in GSA)

Now go through syllabus of all subjects and choose wisely.

[Saira khattak]

M really thankful A zee for such a detailed nd informative reply plus the alternative which you have suggested...yes i would like to go for IR..it was infact my first choice but i know nothing about law so I m afraid of law in it...so what should i do ??

[sherani]

ok got ti

[A Zeee]

Originally Posted by Saira khattak

M really thankful A zee for such a detailed nd informative reply plus the alternative which you have suggested...yes i would like to go for IR..it was infact my first choice but i know nothing about law so I m afraid of law in it...so what should i do ??

You are welcome
International Relations is not a law subject. It is more scoring as compared to PS. I think you are talking about International Law. It is in law section but there are only very few sections of law in it and most of the topics are very general.
The best marks scoring combination you can have is as following:
IR: 200
IL: 100
US: 100
ES: 100
Psychology or regional language: 100

These all subjects except regional language can be easily prepared at home without any tutor. They all are very high scoring and to prove my point I am going to attach scoring trend of previous result. These subjects are also very interesting. Now honestly why I am suggesting this combination?
1- You need to make choice between IR and PS. Subject matter regarding interest and study is pretty much same so you should go with scoring trend and IR can fetch you more marks. Moreover, check essay paper of 2017 and you will find that 40% topics were related to IR. It will help you in essay paper even if proportion of IR topics in essay changes but they will include at least 1 topic from IR.
2- With IR it is recommended to attempt IL due to overlapping of topics and same nature of terminology. Only two law subjects are high scoring as per trend which are IL and Criminology. If you are going for IR then you should go for IL. About IL a great fact is that you can prepare it from only 1 book.
3- Currently two histories are fetching good marks for candidates that are US History and Indo Pak history. With IR and IL it is high recommendation of seniors to attempt US history. It is shorter than other histories. Indo-Pak is also scoring and one can attempt it as well. Candidates choose it due to two reasons that are they are already familiar with many topics and second it helps in Pakistan affairs.
4- You are left with 3 groups. In group 3 one can attempt PA as other subjects are either for professional degree holders or are very low scoring but I do not recommend it to attempt it. It is recommended with PS. It is not that bad choice and if you are not choosing subject from group 5 or 7 then you can choose it.
5- From group 5 you can choose GS and ES. ES is more like science subject but with very little terminology. ES is more scoring and one can score as high as 90 marks in it. 1 book plus internet is enough for it. GS is technical subject and not so easy as predicted by many others on this forum. You need 1 local book, some reports and at least 2,3 foreign books to fetch good marks. ES also helps in GS & A paper.
6- From group 7 you can make choice between psychology, sociology and regional language. If you have interest in your local language then go for it but you might need to get coaching for that. If want to choose between psychology and sociology go for psychology is more interesting. Not much difference in scoring trend but psychology has a little better trend.

Now check scoring trend decide yourself but be careful and choose wisely because it is very important decision:
1- Analyze your interests and aptitude. For example some people are good in theoretical subjects and some are in numerical subjects. Some can fetch good marks in law like subjects as they have interest in it and they are excellent at cramming on the other hand some are not good at cramming and these subjects can be disaster for them. IL is exception with almost negligible law contents. Check syllabus of subjects in details. Analyze your interests. You can only study a subject if you have aptitude and interest in it.
2- Keep scoring trend in mind as well while choosing subjects if you have almost equal interest in both of them.
I hope now you can decide wisely.

[Saira khattak]

Originally Posted by A Zeee

You are welcome
International Relations is not a law subject. It is more scoring as compared to PS. I think you are talking about International Law. It is in law section but there are only very few sections of law in it and most of the topics are very general.
The best marks scoring combination you can have is as following:
IR: 200
IL: 100
US: 100
ES: 100
Psychology or regional language: 100

These all subjects except regional language can be easily prepared at home without any tutor. They all are very high scoring and to prove my point I am going to attach scoring trend of previous result. These subjects are also very interesting. Now honestly why I am suggesting this combination?
1- You need to make choice between IR and PS. Subject matter regarding interest and study is pretty much same so you should go with scoring trend and IR can fetch you more marks. Moreover, check essay paper of 2017 and you will find that 40% topics were related to IR. It will help you in essay paper even if proportion of IR topics in essay changes but they will include at least 1 topic from IR.
2- With IR it is recommended to attempt IL due to overlapping of topics and same nature of terminology. Only two law subjects are high scoring as per trend which are IL and Criminology. If you are going for IR then you should go for IL. About IL a great fact is that you can prepare it from only 1 book.
3- Currently two histories are fetching good marks for candidates that are US History and Indo Pak history. With IR and IL it is high recommendation of seniors to attempt US history. It is shorter than other histories. Indo-Pak is also scoring and one can attempt it as well. Candidates choose it due to two reasons that are they are already familiar with many topics and second it helps in Pakistan affairs.
4- You are left with 3 groups. In group 3 one can attempt PA as other subjects are either for professional degree holders or are very low scoring but I do not recommend it to attempt it. It is recommended with PS. It is not that bad choice and if you are not choosing subject from group 5 or 7 then you can choose it.
5- From group 5 you can choose GS and ES. ES is more like science subject but with very little terminology. ES is more scoring and one can score as high as 90 marks in it. 1 book plus internet is enough for it. GS is technical subject and not so easy as predicted by many others on this forum. You need 1 local book, some reports and at least 2,3 foreign books to fetch good marks. ES also helps in GS & A paper.
6- From group 7 you can make choice between psychology, sociology and regional language. If you have interest in your local language then go for it but you might need to get coaching for that. If want to choose between psychology and sociology go for psychology is more interesting. Not much difference in scoring trend but psychology has a little better trend.

Now check scoring trend decide yourself but be careful and choose wisely because it is very important decision:
1- Analyze your interests and aptitude. For example some people are good in theoretical subjects and some are in numerical subjects. Some can fetch good marks in law like subjects as they have interest in it and they are excellent at cramming on the other hand some are not good at cramming and these subjects can be disaster for them. IL is exception with almost negligible law contents. Check syllabus of subjects in details. Analyze your interests. You can only study a subject if you have aptitude and interest in it.
2- Keep scoring trend in mind as well while choosing subjects if you have almost equal interest in both of them.
I hope now you can decide wisely.

You are really kind..I can,t thank u enough for this reply...this scoring chart is hardly visible so I will check it somewhere else...I was afraid of law mainly because I m not at all good at cramming,its not my thing...my aptitude is for subjects like psychology,criminology,gender studies etc..I love to read about these things thts why I thought I would prepair them with ease...I want to go for IR but as it necessary that I should go for IL too..I know there will b overlapping in these two but I don,t have any interest in law plus i can,t go for ES I like arts and humanaties not science subjects..Bundles of thanks😃

[Anum Zara]

Originally Posted by Saira khattak

You are really kind..I can,t thank u enough for this reply...this scoring chart is hardly visible so I will check it somewhere else...I was afraid of law mainly because I m not at all good at cramming,its not my thing...my aptitude is for subjects like psychology,criminology,gender studies etc..I love to read about these things thts why I thought I would prepair them with ease...I want to go for IR but as it necessary that I should go for IL too..I know there will b overlapping in these two but I don,t have any interest in law plus i can,t go for ES I like arts and humanaties not science subjects..Bundles of thanks😃

Pleasure is all mine. I am afraid scoring chart is blurred on almost all sources. Check on Facebook page of KIPS. It is a little more visible there. IL is different from law subjects and close to zero laws in it so, no cramming just concept building. You can easily prepare at home by S.K Kapoor's book. Psychology is a good subject. Go for it. Criminology is also law kind of subject with sections more than IL but less than other law subjects and many things are needed to be crammed in it otherwise it is very high scoring.
Gender study seems very simple and candidates are taking it lightly but believe me it is not that simple. Also it is less scoring than ES. ES is easiest subject for people with science background but who has said that it is not easy for others. It is study about environment for example topics like pollution etc. It is also very simple, interesting and marks scoring.
No it is not necessary to take IL as optional with IR but I am strongly recommending to take it instead of criminology. There are certain reasons behind this recommendation.
1- Overlapping of syllabus IR+IL (Concepts are similar and writing language as well)
2- Overlapping so less time consumption in preparing (Smart move)
3- Less time for preparing that means more time for paper revision and solving past papers
4- Less amount of info to be retained
5- More scoring
6- Almost negligible sections for cramming as compared to criminology
7- Helps in essays

For CSS hard work is required but smart moves are also equally important. Yes one needs to study subjects according to her own interest and aptitude but scoring trend must be kept in mind.

For your information, I am also like you who cannot cram not even a single definition and since my bachelors I am only building concepts and writing them in my own words. You will be astonished to know that I have background in accounting and finance and if prepared well they can fetch good marks but I know I do not have aptitude for numerical subjects and also they are very tricky. Just one mistake and everything is finished so, I am kind of scared to attempt them. In previous attempt, I have made some bad choices but now I have learn from my mistakes so, I have chosen my subjects smartly. I have carefully chosen subjects which requires no cramming, can be easily prepared at home, interesting as well as high scoring. Take your time in deciding. Go through syllabus. Search few topics on net or you can take trial class in academy.
Choosing optional subjects with care is very important. People are afraid that they are either gonna fail in essay or precis but I know I will pass these subjects as my papers went very well. For your surprise, I am expecting to fail my public administration paper because I took it so lightly and also I was unable to study from resources I have which were believe me plenty. It was a very bad choice and being a business graduate it should have been a piece of cake for me but still that happened.

About interest in particular subject, there is one fact to be noted in CSS we are forced to attempt 6 compulsory subjects and we are required to choose 4-6 subjects of 600 marks so, candidate cannot have full interest in all the subjects. For example if someone has interest in languages, he cannot choose all subjects from group of regional languages according to rules so, it does not mean that he should not study other subjects. Interest has to be developed. Better to go with aptitude and scoring trend. If you have aptitude in subjects which requires no cramming, then go for them. Interest will be developed after starting studies.