Planning for UPSC as a career? Here’s how picking Arts/Humanities after 10th would help

Humanities/Arts is one of the broadest courses offered to students after the 10^th boards. Given its range of subjects and the fields of studies it opens up for the future, Arts has become a go-to option for students looking towards a dynamic career.

A major career attraction has been the UPSC(Civil Service exam) after pursuing Arts. Considered to be the behemoth of all exams the Union Public Service Commission examinations are held for recruitment in the Civil services of India.

Conducted in 3 stages and covering almost every subject known, these exams are the most competitive of the lot. The ends justify the toughness as those who manage to clear them all get selected for the highly coveted Group A and Group B govt. services.

So, what is the relation between the exams for a Tier 1 government job and Arts as an option?

A very vital relationship exists between both of them. We will discuss that in detail, but let’s start with the basics.

Subjects on offer in Arts/Humanities stream

Political Science

English

History

Geography

Economics

Psychology

Mathematics

Home science

Sociology

Public administration

Computer science

Music, etc

The list of the electives doesn’t end here as every school and board offers different numbers and combinations of them. The students are expected to choose 5 compulsory and one additional (optional) subject for their 11^th and 12^th academic year.

A lot of students tend to be skeptical towards humanities as a choice due to the popular misconception that it offers less when it comes to future higher educational and professional choices. It is a misconception at its best, and we will explain why.

Higher education choices through Arts/Humanities

The exploratory subjects on offer in humanities open up various avenues in higher education. Some broad divisions of them are as follows:

Traditional courses like a Bachelors in Economics, History, Geography, Humanities, Language and Literature, Philosophy, Psychology, Fine arts, Management, Music, Hotel Management, etc.
Law in an integrated course format, i.e. BA+LLB or BBA+LLB
Technical courses in Architecture or Bachelors in Computer Applications.
Core management courses like BBA or BMS.
Bachelor courses in fashion and designing

As one can observe, there is no dearth of options once a student picks Humanities as a major. And now we will take a look at how these subjects help in the quest for UPSC.

The examination structure of Civil Services exams

The Civil Services paper is conducted in 3 stages, the last of which is an interview/ personality test. The first two stages are the Prelims and the Mains. Let’s take a systematic look at the syllabus for both these stages.

Structure of Prelims Exam

The prelims consist of paper 1 and 2.

Paper 1 evaluates a candidate’s knowledge of Indian history, policy, governance, economics, Indian and world geography, environmental status, science, art, and culture. A student from Arts background would be well versed with most of these subjects, namely history, geography, polity, economics and general environmental issues (both of India and the world)

Paper 2 is a general exam and is qualifying in nature. It aims to test your analytical and logical reasoning abilities, comprehension skills, mental ability, and data interpretation. These subjects or rather broad areas of studies don’t fall under any special stream and could be developed on by any student with regular and persistent practice. Furthermore, a student need not worry much about this paper as they need to score only 33% of marks in it to become eligible for grading in Paper 1.

Structure of Mains Exam

The Mains are a well-drawn series of 9 papers out of which 2 are qualifying and 7 are ranked. The qualifying papers are named Paper A and B. Paper A is of a list of Indian languages (including English) presented by the commission, out of which the candidate has to choose one. Paper B is of the English language.

The papers which are ranked are as follows:

Paper 1: Essay

Paper 2: (General studies 1) Indian and world history. Indian heritage and culture. Indian and World Geography.

Paper 3: (General studies 2) Polity, Public administration, constitution, governance, International relations and social justice.

Paper 4: (General studies 3) Economics, Science and technology, environment, Ecology, disaster management.

Paper 5: (General studies 4) Ethics and aptitude

Paper 6 and 7: Optional subjects to be chosen by the candidate

Image Source: Writix

How does Arts/Humanities stream help?

While the Prelims are simply a stepping stone, the Mains are considered to be the stage which makes or breaks a candidature. When you look at the subjects for the General studies papers, one sees an obvious advantage in an Arts student who has already prepared these in school. It will be a matter of mere revision for them while others need to study these subjects from scratch.

The majority of subjects for both Prelims and Mains comprise of the syllabus taught to students in the Arts stream. Subjects like History, Polity, Economics, Civics, and Geography are recurring topics all throughout the examination procedure. If one has a clear base of these from beforehand, the battle is already half-won.

Furthermore, subjects like Psychology, Philosophy, Sociology, Disaster management and Ethics, which are a crucial part of the Mains paper are available as options for Arts students in their curriculum.

One must not consider school syllabus to be less of preparation for an exam this big. All the helpful tutorials and coaching centers ask their students to start building their base by studying the Arts curriculum from their school syllabus.

The exam pattern is prepared to be all-encompassing and fair to all parts of the country, so the syllabus rarely deviates from the basics. Although an aspirant should also obviously apart from preparing these thoroughly look towards extra guidance too.

Most of the experienced cite self-study as the best method for a thorough and clear understanding of the subjects and the exam. And although a year of completely immersed studying is considered enough for preparation, the earlier you start the better prepared you will be. So if you wish to pursue the Civil services as your career aim, Arts is definitely going to provide you with the extra edge to do so.

For preparing well, along with paying attention to your main subjects in the 11^th and 12^th grade, try to pick options like Philosophy, Political Science, Psychology, Public Administration and Sociology as they will prove to be a big help in your UPSC preparations for the future.

Being the most coveted jobs in the government sector naturally brings an extra level of competition for these exams. The vacancies vary every year, but the difference between the appeared and the selected is huge. Almost 4 to 5 lakhs students appear for the papers each year, the vacancies of which hovers around approximately 1000.

However, one must not get disheartened by the numbers, as even within such competition every year we get to hear success stories of those who persevered and finally succeeded.

How to prepare for UPSC Exam?

When it comes to self-study the best method is to invest in good books, magazines, and newspapers. Apart from the basic syllabus which comprises mainly of the NCERT books from std. 10 to 12, general knowledge is another big chunk of the curriculum for the exam. This is why it’s recommended that you stay on your toes when it comes to general awareness of both India and the world.

A good way to keep in touch with the dynamic general knowledge of the world is through online portals and quizzes. These keep you updated on every current topic and also let you test your knowledge from time to time.

This is where Dare2Compete steps in as your guide and help. You can participate in the various competitions and quizzes on offer to test your preparation and also to keep yourself updated on the topics you might have missed.

You can take part in online quizzes or enroll yourself in various competitions especially formatted for students keeping in mind the competitive environment around. These quizzes are easy to access and cover a wide range of topics from which you can easily find the ones to help your preparation.

Finally, keep in mind to cut yourself some slack. Every exam comes with its ups and downs and it's best if one doesn’t pressurize themselves over it. Prepare slow and steady, and use every means of expanding your knowledge base, be it online quizzes or your coursebook. UPSC requires its candidates to have an honest interest in the subjects they study, which can only come from perseverance.

Arts as a course covers the widest range of subjects which could be taken up for higher studies and also provide a strong base for competitive exams. If a student wishes to pursue the same, it’s better to let go of the misconception that Arts has fewer career avenues as compared to other courses. It provides equal, if not more opportunities and requires the same effort and dedication by the students.