Originally Posted by Ur iphone

Disclaimer: the following are based on my opinion and observations, each aspirant must take their decisions thoughtfully:

I have never recommended any course to anyone
However, you must keep it mind that every year the performance or score of candidates in most of these optionals shows alot of variations
A data regarding 2016 marks in anthropology showed that some students scored 90+ in it ( again doubts can be raised On how authentic this data was)
Recently in 2021css dmc’s there has been a good trend in the few dmc’s

So to answer your question: not just in anthropology/sociology/psychology group but while selecting any optional, the target should be to comprehensively cover the syllabus and try to develop command over it

Let me give you a totally different example: you might have heard advice for or against opting philosophy. I personally agree that this subject is not everyone’s cup of tea. But if any aspirant looks at Philosophy paper of 2019, they will think this optional is as easy as walk in the park

Similarly, back in my days International Law was an extremely popular subject (almost a no-brainer as aspirants used to say that U.s History aur International Relations ke sath International Law is a must)
While we were giving 2019 exams, i heard a people say the International Law became one of the most opted optionals recently

Here is the twist: that year’s paper of International Law was so tricky and had so many lengthy questions that it quickly became a no-go optional (aaj kal ke kia halaat hain international law ke, i dont know)

So you have to look at your own strengths and weaknesses and interests/non-interest

Market mein ab har optional pe extensive guidebooks available hain

Shuru shur mein sirf JWT publisher was popular. Now Caravan, HSN (ilmi), Advanced and many other publishers also come forward with their guidebooks

The reason i am emphasizing too much on personal preferences and confidence for optional selection, is that, back in 2018, when i selected political science, very few people used to select it (as majority went to international relations).
But having given both the course outlines and a handful of books on international relations, i found political science to be much more doable. (Due to bad prep in paper one i scored in 30s of political science-1 and in 60s in paper2. But one thing was clear that this subject had alot of potential)

Anyways, remember we discussed targeting/butchering of optionals
By 2020, international relations had been getting so low socres that many new aspirants decided to go to Political science as it seemed much safer option.

Guess What? Not only political acience faced tougher marking in 2020 but it also started to have atleast one question that were way too challenging as compared to previous years’ papers

Here i will share another experience of mine about how much luck can play a role: in my 2018 ans 2019 attempts i almost always had very bad mcqs of political science (Yet i scored 68 in p.s.1 in 2019 and 60+ in p.s.2 in2018)
But in css-2020, the paper1 of political scoience had very easy mcqs (i was shocked that i could easily attempt a good 7-8 mcqs and be sure of it). Furthermore, it has very basic questions in subjective part like fascism, unitary/federation, etc.
So it was quite shocking for me to see getting Marks only in 30s In the same paper

My lesson for the aspirants: concentrate on covering all/maximum possible syllabus and select optionals you are most confident about

This whole debate is very subjective, so a huge DISCLAIMER must be added at the end that every Aspirant must must go through the syllabus and pastpapers very critically before taking any decisions about finalizing the subjects.

I am sorry I didn’t have any direct experience with anthropology, but i hope future aspirants can take every optionals seriously and ace their exams

Originally Posted by MubeenKh

Miss Hira, there is an Indian youtube channel named Anthropology for UPSC. It gives awesome lectures related to the topics. Secondly, if you want a book, Anthropology by Haviland is the answer.

Originally Posted by MubeenKh

Miss Hira, there is an Indian youtube channel named Anthropology for UPSC. It gives awesome lectures related to the topics. Secondly, if you want a book, Anthropology by Haviland is the answer.

Originally Posted by MubeenKh

Yes this one.. The book is the general anthropological book. But it covers most of the syllabus.

Originally Posted by MubeenKh

yes I have..

Originally Posted by MubeenKh

Random youtube sources for criminology. No one particular source. Did buy a book that everyone suggests being the most common one but never used it.