{"id":244294,"date":"2021-02-24T22:15:14","date_gmt":"2021-02-24T16:45:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/?p=244294"},"modified":"2021-11-08T11:23:05","modified_gmt":"2021-11-08T05:53:05","slug":"upsc-preparation-with-law-optional","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/2021\/02\/24\/upsc-preparation-with-law-optional\/","title":{"rendered":"Your Guide To Cracking The IAS Exam With Law Optional Paper"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Civil Services Exam(CSE) is conducted by the UPSC to recruit eligible officers for various top Government posts such as the IAS (Indian Administrative Service), the IPS (Indian Police Service), the IFS (Indian Foreign Service), etc. It is considered to be the most lucrative as well as prestigious of all competitive exams in India.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Despite being one of the toughest exams to clear, it sees close to nine lakh candidates appear for it every year. That is because it is one of the few jobs which combines the benefits of job security, job diversity, work-life balance, personal growth and prestige for self and family. More importantly, it provides immense amount of self-satisfaction resulting from being able to be of service to those who need it the most.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

EXAM PATTERN\u00a0<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

The CSE takes place in three stages \u2013 the Preliminary Examination(objective type questions), the Main Examination(subjective type questions) and the Personality Test(interview).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

At the second stage, there is one Essay paper, four General Studies papers and two Optional subject papers. Each of these papers has a weightage of 250 marks. Thus, the choice of the optional subject becomes a very crucial decision as it can be a deal maker or deal breaker in this exam. Also, it is the only area where UPSC gives the candidates an option to choose a subject of their choice. Thus, it is imperative to make the best choice at this stage and what better option would a law graduate have than opting for law optional and maximising his\/her chances of clearing this exam.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

LAW SYLLABUS<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

Law optional has a finite and limited syllabus which is predominantly of a static nature. Thus, once a candidate covers the syllabus, it only requires repeated revision cycles rather than any updation at regular intervals.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The syllabus of law optional is divided into two parts. Paper I consists of Constitutional Law and International Law. Paper II consists of Law of Crimes, Law of Torts, Law of Contracts, Mercantile Laws and Contemporary Legal Developments. Thus, you would be tested on just two subjects in the Law 1 paper and more than five subjects in the Law 2 paper.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

FORMAT<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

The format for both the papers is the same. Each paper is of 250 marks and each consists of some short questions which need to be compulsorily answered and some options of long questions from which choices can be made. For more details you can look up the official website <\/span>www.upsconline.nic.in<\/span><\/a>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

OVERLAP WITH GENERAL STUDIES SYLLABUS\u00a0<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

Almost 40% of the General Studies syllabus has a direct link with the law optional syllabus and the percentage goes even higher if one considers the indirect linkages. It also helps immensely in writing better essays and better answers in the GS-IV paper on Ethics.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

CANDIDATES APPEARING FOR CSE WITH LAW OPTIONAL<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Law is increasingly becoming a popular optional subject both for law background students as well as non-law background students. More and more students are opting for this subject after realising its advantages not just during the preparation stage but also upon joining the service after successfully clearing the exam.<\/span><\/p>\n

PERFORMANCE OF OPTIONAL IN PAST YEARS<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

It is a scoring optional with top scores of 300+ commonly achieved on an every year basis. In the past decade, many toppers with single digit ranks have cleared the exam with law as their optional subject, quite a few of them even being from non-law background. Law has consistently been one of the best performing optional subjects in terms of success rates and conversion ratios of candidates, second only to that of medical science.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

FEATURES OF LAW AS A SUBJECT\u00a0<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

Law has a direct or indirect link with almost everything happening around us in society. Thus, it is not only interesting to study but it also helps in establishing the right linkages and developing a holistic understanding of even the most complex issues with utmost conceptual clarity.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Law is based on common sense and it trains one\u2019s mind to think differently. It helps in developing key critical thinking skills and probes one to ask relevant questions and seek answers in a conclusive way. It helps in better articulation and expression of ideas and arguments. This in turn leads to better communication of keypoints both in the written as well as verbal formats.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

STRATEGY FOR PREPARATION<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

Law is the most predictable part of an otherwise highly unpredictable exam. Thus, it requires a calculative and smart strategy to leverage its advantages to the maximum.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n