Optional Subjects of Successful Candidates of CSS 2010
 

[SIZE="4"][COLOR="RoyalBlue"]Dear all,
First of all congratulations to you all...
May you succeed in your interviews as well..

I want to know and let other aspirants know that what were your optional subjects? Which books did you use for study? How much time did you give to every subject? And what was your preparation strategy for all subjects; optional as well as compulsory???

Those who opted Urdu, Indo Pak history and Zoology as optional subjects are requested to answer in detail...

Thanks[/COLOR][/SIZE]

Salam Eager
 

Salam eager...How are you.....Thanks for your open hearted appreciations in other posts and best wishes before result.....(I remember your that post),

My optional subjects were,

Applied maths.
Physics
Islamic History and Culture


The remaining of details as you know...:angle, my preparation time and sources of preparation.

@ eager
I didn't appear in all the papers, but still I want to tell you that the sole consideration while selecting subjects should be your interest and aptitude. There is no such thing as high-scoring and low-scoring subjects, as trends change from year to year, some year a certain history is scoring, next year it isn't, same is true for urdu. Just choose the subjects you find interesting so that you find them easy and are able to do your best, and here you go!

[B]Geography
[/B]Physical Geography (P.Lake)
Geography (Aslam & Sohail Bhatti)
The Macquarie World Atlas
[B]International Relations
[/B]Encyclopaedia of International Relations & Global politics
International Relations (Sultan Khan)
Foreign Policy Making process: A Case Study of Pakistan (Editor: Moonis Ahmar)
The Globalization of World Politics (John Baylis & Steve Smith)
The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers (Paul Kennedy)
[B]Islamic History & Culture
[/B]History of the Arabs (Philip K Hitti)
A Short History of the Saracens (Ameer Ali)
Islamic History & Culture (S.M Shahid)
Tareekh e Islam (Akbar Shah Najeebabadi)
[B] Journalism
[/B]Exploring Journalism (Mirza Yousuf)



These were the books I consulted. I would have to confess that Wikipedia played the most important role overall. There are moments (quite often) when you get stuck reading a book & fail to co-relate the concepts or events to see a large picture & that is when internet helps you a lot. Apart from the above mentioned books, (I didn't read these books thoroughly enough since I didn't have much time) I consulted the 20 questions Jahangir Series books for Geography & Journalism. I wish I had gone through the MCQs books too, which I didn't. So, that's it..
I hope that helps!

[B]Indo-Pakistan History:[/B]
[I]Paper I:[/I] (i) K. Ali, and (ii) Sohail Bhatti
[I]Paper II:[/I] Covered in the preparation for Pakistan Affairs.

[B]Geography:[/B]
[I]Paper I:[/I] (i) Physical Geography by Strahler and Strahler, (ii) Physical Geography by H. J. DeBlij, and (iii) Physical Geography by Safdar Bajwa
[I]Paper II:[/I] (i) Commercial Geography (Intermediate edition) by Fazle Karim, (ii) Economic & Commercial Geography (O Levels Edition) by Fazle Karim, (iii) Human Geography by H. J. Deblij, (iv) Human Geography by Prof Mian Anwar (BA Edition)

[B]Journalism:[/B]
Exploring Journalism by Mirza Yousuf
Competitive Journalism by Abid Tehami
Online free Lectures by Virtual University

[B]Public Administration:[/B]
Public Administration by Dr. Sultan Khan
Public Administration by Dr. Liaqat Ali Khan Niazi
Online free Lectures by Virtual University
Misc Other sources

For Geography Paper II, you need to study a variety of sources and the more the better as the paper has a very generic nature. A wider study of newspapers would also benefit you. There are good lectures available from the Virtual University, especially on the Public Administration Subject. You must either listen to them or consult their written notes (which are also available for free.) For Public Administration, I would encourage reading different articles/research papers on different aspects of governance in Pakistan. Its preparation would also assist you in Essay paper.

Dont forget CIA World Factbook for Geography paper II statistics.

@New Horizon: There are certainly scoring and non-scoring subjects, although trends are hard to predict. For instance, Forestry and US History nearly every year produce a few 80s and a number of 70s, while IR will NEVER give anyone an 80. Choosing according to your aptitude is important but NOT at the risk of creating a combination that will limit you to a 600-650 total range. Scoring trends are pretty important and must be discovered through careful study.

[QUOTE=j87ibz;227092]Salam eager...How are you.....Thanks for your open hearted appreciations in other posts and best wishes before result.....(I remember your that post),

My optional subjects were,

Applied maths.
Physics
Islamic History and Culture


The remaining of details as you know...:angle, my preparation time and sources of preparation.[/QUOTE]

thanks for appreciation...


@ all those who replied
i couldn't thank you all on time as my internet connection had been facing problem since saturday night.... so thanks again...:))

but i was expecting many replies.... they are only five:sad:

I passed the exam with the following optional subjects.

Indo-Pak History
International Law
Constitutional Law
Journalism
Sociology

As far as preparation is concerned, [B]all[/B] the advice / suggestion / book recommendations etc. I availed were [B]only from this[/B] forum. My strategy was to 1) read the recommended books cover to cover once 2) prepare a list of most important question from the past papers (10 years) and 3) prepare all those questions and 4) revise the stuff.

This is briefly a glimpse of how I worked out my preparation plan. I hope it helps you a bit.

All the best.

[QUOTE=Viceroy;229830]I passed the exam with the following optional subjects.

Indo-Pak History
Constitutional Law
Journalism
Sociology[/QUOTE]

bhai....which books you used for these subjects.plz tell.

[QUOTE=Antonio Lorenzo;229839]bhai....which books you used for these subjects.plz tell.[/QUOTE]

Take a look at the book recommendation threads, the books I used were the ones that are most recommended, nothing new. I think the way you attempt the paper is far more important than the material you read. Just go with the most recommended books. The following links should help.

[URL="http://www.cssforum.com.pk/beginners-guide/frequently-asked-questions/books-suggestions/11723-books-optional-subjects.html"][B]Books for Optional Subjects[/B][/URL]

[URL="http://www.cssforum.com.pk/beginners-guide/frequently-asked-questions/books-suggestions/3582-books-compulsory-subjects.html"][B]Books for Compulsory Subjects[/B][/URL]

My optionals were:
[LIST][*]Indo Pak History (Books by K Ali, Rabani and Imtiaz Shahid plus internet)[*]Political Science (Judd Harmon, Western Political Thought by M.Aslam Ch Question-Answer type book plus internet)[*]Constitutional Law (World constitutions By S.L.Keeley plus internet) [*]Business Administration (my MBA course books)[/LIST]
Spent 3 weeks per subject in memorizing/revising.

cheers,
floydian

my optionals are

1. indo pak history
2. economics
3. urdu

for indo pak history i consulted K Ali, M Ikram Rabani , jahangir exam cram ,
and internet specially the site: [url]www.storyofpakistan.com[/url]

for economics and urdu i consulted a long list of books and economic servey of pakistan latest edition.....

mine optionals were

Psychology (one foreign book. bt i had background in psychology)

zoology (i have master in the subject. did't consult many books, just 1st year and 2nd year books)

agriculture (yellow pages of dawn newspaper)

balochi (few magazines of balochi literature)

mine whole focus was on newspapers and magazines. i dont like book reading

thanks

i had Psycology
US history,
Public AD,
Journalism, &
Sociology

my optionals are
Accounting and auditing
British history
Mercantile Law
Journalism

@tknw01
@maliasghar

Dear members, I have secured 25 marks in GEO I and 57 in GEO II.
I attempted three questions very well and the fourth one was OK. I am worried.
Suggest me some tips to score more in Part I

regards

[QUOTE=marilatif;230066]mine optionals were


zoology (i have master in the subject. did't consult many books, just 1st year and 2nd year books)

[/QUOTE]


you are talking about the Ist year and 2nd year of university or college??? i have also chosen zoology as an optional but i haven't yet started its preparation. kindly guide me. thanks

[QUOTE=aariz;230328]@tknw01
@maliasghar

Dear members, I have secured 25 marks in GEO I and 57 in GEO II.
I attempted three questions very well and the fourth one was OK. I am worried.
Suggest me some tips to score more in Part I

regards[/QUOTE]

Geography paper I is very technical in nature (quite contrary to the paper I) and one must produce required information sticking to the topic. Diagrams and sketches are of primary importance to score good marks and it will certainly help if you can draw well. The guy who was sitting right next to me in that paper, I remember, had drawn some stunning sketches to depict the landforms etc and I expect that he would have scored real good marks on that account. Rest, I handled the Paper in a very conventional manner (nothing out of the way) because that is how you are meant to attempt this paper. While in paper II you can quote sayings, data, facts & figures etc, in Paper I, I think, you should just describe the "bookish" concepts (preferably in your own words.) BTW, I expect lesser marks in paper I than paper II as well. :pp

I hope this helps! :)

Geography
indo pak history
marcantile law
muhammadn law and jurispruddence

[LIST][*]Computer Sciences[*]Business Administration[*]Psychology[*]Geography[/LIST]

optional subjects CE 2010
 

My optional subjects were:
Economics
Political Science
International Relations
Constitutional Law

political science
indo pak history
business administration
international relations

[B]Indo-pak History
Journalism
Sociology
International Law
Muslim law and islamic jurisprudence[/B]

[QUOTE=sidrah A;230153]i had Psycology
US history,
Public AD,
Journalism, &
Sociology[/QUOTE]

miss u r going to excel with these subjects.

only Journalism will bring u a bit down. otherwise good luck.

one thing more. if i and kashif decided to join in nova then u plz keep us upto date abuot noa. and also if it becomes convenient for us then we will certainly join u friends for group discussion. really it will b very important for me as well as u bc i will b the second person on the very first day in isb to appear be4 the panel. then i will b a source of information for u about the hell of interview.

thanks

highest score in 2010
 

what is highest score in 2010 exams???

[QUOTE=aneeqa;230592]what is highest score in 2010 exams???[/QUOTE]

wait for the final result. till then every thing is in secret.

@ above all,

aap log agar books bhi saath bata dain to it will be really helpfull for us.

and best of luck guyz.

regards.

hows Goh Cheng's certificate physical and human geography???
:@ maliasghar, tkn

My 2010 optionals plus last time 2009 score,
Pol.science, 101
Indopak history 139,
C.law 55,
Pushto 75,
314 in compulsory.
Can somebody forecast my score in these subjects this time, or just analyse.

Regards

[QUOTE=Noor Ul Haq2009;230705]
Can somebody forecast my score in these subjects this time, or just analyse.
[/QUOTE]

My guess ...
Pol.science 120
Indopak history 105
C.law 56
Pushto 72

cheers,
floydian

[QUOTE=marilatif;230066]mine optionals were

Psychology (one foreign book. bt i had background in psychology)

zoology (i have master in the subject. did't consult many books, just 1st year and 2nd year books)

agriculture (yellow pages of dawn newspaper)

balochi (few magazines of balochi literature)

mine whole focus was on newspapers and magazines. i dont like book reading

thanks[/QUOTE]

dear respected mr. mari,, i asked you a question..please answer it:dd

[QUOTE=Noor Ul Haq2009;230705]My 2010 optionals plus last time 2009 score,
Pol.science, 101
Indopak history 139,
C.law 55,
Pushto 75,
314 in compulsory.
Can somebody forecast my score in these subjects this time, or just analyse.

Regards[/QUOTE]

looking at the current trend iw ould say, p.science 140 because you scored 101 in the toughest trrend, INDO pak i would decrease ur marks cuz trend is not good this year, so INDO PAK around 115. C.law 58, pushto 75. its a rough estimate.
gl mate.

Thanx alot Floydian and Waqarj.
Very good estimate, but i think pushto marks this time r much better, average score is 65 which was 58 last time. As per this average i can cross 80 inshallah. However thanx again for ur prompt replies

Mine go thus:

Geography
Forestry
US History
Journalism
International Relations

My optional subjects were
Psychology
Forestry
Journalism
Geography.:happy: