Let us start with a definition of IAS. IAS or Indian Administrative Services is one of the branches of Civil Services. In 2020, UPSC had made available 796 open positions for IAS candidates. However, every year, only around 180 positions are made available for IAS candidates in general. A student will have many choices available before him in terms of degrees that he can earn after 12th. In this article, we will consider which degree is best for UPSC exam.
To become an IAS officer, a candidate needs to pass the UPSC Civil Services Examination. Then, IAS officers can start fulfilling their duties. This is to support state and federal governments in the implementation and monitoring of the policies that have already been created. Another important responsibility of IAS officers is to share their thoughtful advice on all decision-making processes of the government.
We can say that an IAS officer is involved with the execution and administration of policies. He also shares critical information with the relevant ministries regarding the impact and status of these policies.
Which degree is best for UPSC exam?
The students are free to choose any stream in their final year of high school. However, the students need to complete their 10+2 or another equivalent exam from a recognized board such as CBSE. The student should also have studied subjects such as political science, economics, geography, sociology, public administration, psychology, philosophy, etc.
After the student completes his diploma, he can take the UPSC exam. In case the student clears his UPSC examination, he will be assigned a specific university or college. There, he can continue higher study programs via counseling.
It is then recommended that aspiring IAS officers choose the highest-rated colleges for admission. The college from which an IAS aspirant graduates will impact his career throughout, in the case he chooses to become an IAS officer.
Eligibility Criteria
- After a candidate completes his 12th, it is important to graduate from an accredited university. A wide range of degree options will be available for the candidates to choose from.
- If you are going for the Bachelor of Arts degree, it is preferable to go for a degree whose course material is in line with the IAS syllabus. This ensures that your education will be beneficial in preparation for the IAS exam.
- Candidates are eligible to take the IAS exam even if they have obtained their undergrad degree via distance learning or correspondence.
GS (General Studies) integrated program
If you choose to go for a GS (General Studies) integrated program for your undergrad + postgrad studies, the first and second years of your academic career cover the different disciplines of the UPSC Prelims and Mains examinations. This one’s going to be a significant and crucial choice because, in the optional subjects, there will be two main papers. These two papers make a significant contribution to the total merit position of a candidate.
medical degrees and physical sciences
Going by the trends and patterns that have appeared across the prior few years gone by, we come to see that medical science is one of the fields that has been discounted frequently in terms of IAS examination. With each passing year, we see that the number of IAS candidates holding medical degrees increases. These candidates also tend to perform better than other candidates in the test.
One of the important reasons for the same is that after one earns a professional degree in medicine, one is unlikely to seek employment in government agencies.
More candidates appear not just from the field of medical sciences but also physical sciences in the UPSC, in the terms of job searches and successful applicants.
Engineering
Let us now consider the case of engineering candidates. Taking a look at the top performers in the IAS entrance test across the past couple of years, engineering students have ruled the roost.
This is even if engineering is a candidate’s discretionary subject for the IAS examination, his success rate is going to be on the lower side.
Another noteworthy fact in the same respect is that with specialized courses, top candidates have done reasonably well in the IAS exam.
At the end of the day, we have to say that if you intend to succeed in the civil services examination, engineering is undoubtedly one of the most preferred fields. When considering which degree is best for UPSC exam, engineering might be it. This helps you secure a place as one of the top candidates for IAS positions.
Humanities
Arts students can also do well in IAS exams and traditionally, for civil services exams, humanities have been regarded as one of the cornerstones.
A range of interesting insights, trends, and patterns come to the fore when we look at the data that UPSC releases in its annual reports. It becomes easy to see that the achievement percentage of humanities discipline is greater as compared to any other discipline.
Despite this trend being in place, another interesting development has come to the fore over the past few years. Across the previous few years gone by, when we consider the general investment and achievement percentage of the students who are enrolled in humanities foundation, it has begun to decline.
But still, the percentage of students with a background in humanities who have passed the IAS exam is high.
Science
We can now turn our attention to the students from the science stream. We come to see that there are candidates in the science stream who join civil services and then leave it. The number of such candidates is large.
However, the number of such students is not so large as to render a significant impact on this census. But the demand for students from the science stream is high in IAS. The need for scientific thought and outlook is a must. The bureaucratic system seeks technocrats today.
UPSC aspirations could influence your course selection after 10+2
We have considered many degrees in this article, primarily concerning the historic performance of students from each line of study in IAS examinations. There used to be a time when these degrees were considered as more of expert degrees. So, when we consider the bigger scheme of things, only a limited few would be interested in pursuing these degrees.
However, with the passage of years, we now have a lot more number of candidates who hold B.Com and MBA degrees.
The focus area for the CSAT prologue, which is the Civil Services Aptitude Test prologue is on reasoning, translating information, science, and fundamental leadership. Correspondingly, the students from B.Com and MBA backgrounds have also begun to consider taking the civil services examination. Across the days to come, we are likely to witness an increase in the numbers in both, interests and progress ratios.
For a student who is planning to take the IAS exam, it becomes important to understand that the keys to success are the student’s enthusiasm and drive. To pass the IAS exam, you need to have a hunger for success and a passion. We hope this article gives you a fair overview of which degree is best for UPSC exam.
