Which subject is best for HCS?
- Based on latest Pattern
- English Medium eBooks
Which subject is best for HCS Exam conducted by HPSC?
HCS exam is the most reputed exam in Haryana. This exam is conducted by Haryana Public Service Commission (HPSC) which is a constitutional body. HCS exam is supposed to be conducted every year. However, till now HPSC is not able to conduct this exam every year. This exam is conducted in the years 2011, 2014, 2019. There are various reasons including court cases, political reasons, administrative reasons, etc.
HCS exam pattern
Haryana civil services exam is conducted in 3 stages. HCS prelims, mains, and interviews. The entire exam process takes around one year. In the HCS Prelims exam objective type (Multiple choice) questions are asked. The preliminary exam is a screening round. There are 2 papers in HCS preliminary exam. These 2 papers are general studies and civil services aptitude test which is commonly known as CSAT.
CSAT is the qualifying exam now. Earlier CSAT was also counted in merit. Now only general studies (GS) paper will be counted in merit for preliminary exam purposes only. In overall merit there is no role of the preliminary exam, only mains and interview marks are counted.
HCS Mains exam pattern
HCS mains exam is conducted after HCS prelims is result out for qualifying candidates. generally 2-3 months you will find in HCS prelims exam and mains exam, unlike UPSC which has 100 days gap. Therefore students are advised to be ready for HCS mains always. Students should continuously study for HCS mains during prelims also if he/she can manage time.
In HCS Mains Hindi, English, General Studies and one optional subject will be there. HCS mains exam is descriptive in nature. Each paper will be for 3 hours. Students should note that earlier there were 2 optional papers while according to the new pattern there is only one optional subject and only one paper, unlike UPSC which has 2 papers of one optional subject.
HCS Optional Subject
HPSC has a list of the optional list including 6 new optional subjects that have been added as per the UPSC pattern. The syllabus of optional papers is modified and now it is more aligned with the UPSC syllabus. A list of optional as per new syllabus and pattern are :
- Agriculture
- Animal Husbandry and veterinary sciences
- Anthropology
- Botany
- Chemistry
- Civil Engineering
- Commerce and Accountancy
- Economics
- Electrical Engineering
- English literature
- Geology
- Geography
- Hindi Literature (In Devnagri script)
- Indian History
- Law
- Mathematics
- Management
- Mechanical Engineering
- medical Science
- Physics
- Philosophy
- Political Science and International Relations
- Psychology
- Public Administration
- Punjabi Literature
- Statistics
- Sociology
- Sanskrit Literature
- Zoology
Students can choose one optional subject while applying during form filling for the HCS exam. In other words, students have to decide about the optional subject in advance in fact before the prelims exam. It is recommended that HCS aspirants should optional subject carefully.
Now the question arises which subject is the best for HCS mains optional.
Which subject is the best for arts students for the HCS mains exam optional
Certainly, arts should avoid technical subjects. It is not necessary that students should take their graduation or post-graduation which they have studied during their college or university years. In college or university generally, students take the subject based on availability or admission in that subject in that college whether he is interested in that subject or not.
Many times students also take an easy subject which can help them to fetch good marks and help in getting a degree. Here in the HCS case, different factors contribute while taking a decision.
The interest of the student
The student must feel comfortable in that subject and have an interest in the subject. This will help students to motivate throughout the journey of HCS exam preparation.
Check and understand the syllabus
When you go through the syllabus, you will develop your own understanding of the subject. You are the best judge for yourself. Relate your ability and interest about the interest.
Check and understand previous year papers
It is very important that you should have a look at the previous year's papers. you can easily find previous year papers on the Frontier IAS website or HPSC official website. Whether it will be manageable for you in the given time frame, you will have a broader idea.
Explore Paper evaluation facility
Not only bookish knowledge plays a very less role in the HCS mains exam, but you will also need to develop writing skills, ability to present whatever you know on a piece of paper.
Explore coaching facility
If you are able to manage the syllabus, quality contents, understanding of the subject, writing practice, evaluation of papers, feedback then it is good, otherwise, explore the coaching facility. Many subjects will not have a coaching facility. So for that be ready for self-preparation.
Explore easily available contents
Your time must not go in finding and searching content that is rarely available. This will make your preparation risky. Many times such risks are not advisable when chances of failure are high. Explore the subject for which you can find study material, test series easily.
Which subject is the best for engineering students for the HCS mains exam optional
If you have an engineering background or science background, which is the best optional subject for you for HCS exam preparation? To find the answer if you are an engineering background or science background consider the following points:
Own subject as an optional subject in HCS
If you are from a good institute, good academic record, and have an interest in your subject which you studied in your graduation or post-graduation, then you must explore the possibility in your own subject instead of jumping from here and there. In recent times many technical and science background students have cleared UPSC or HCS from their own subject.
Arts subject more popular in technical background students
Many students take art students and qualify for HCS or UPSC exam. Generally, arts subjects become easy for them and even they can do self-preparation with a little bit of help on online resources and test series. You will find easily available high-quality content for humanity subjects.
Your interest matters
If you have an interest in the art subject, it will make your journey easy and self-motivating. A non- interesting subject can kill your motivation. Be aware of it.
Easily available resources
If you have access to coaching, quality study material, test series, paper evaluation, it will help you to score high and at least you will not regret it.
Top five popular subjects for the HCS exam
- Public Administration
- Geography
- Sociology
- History
- Political science and Internation relations
Read More: For details about HCS online course by Frontier IAS coaching
The biggest mistake students make
If you are an art background, commerce background, engineering background, medical background, science background you can do a blunder. Sometimes a student start thinks about last year from which subject students got maximum marks or selection. It can be highly misleading. Every year you can find some trends and this depends on the paper evaluator.
But it can not be the deciding factor that next year also the same evaluator will evaluate papers and will give similar marks.
Anyway if you want proper guidance, any kind of help, online coaching, test series, you must join India's no.1 coaching institute for civil services exam preparation especially Haryana, join Frontier IAS.