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One of my friends was very good at Maths. He used to be a topper in Maths during our college days. Maths is also considered a very scoring subject as compared to other optional.

My friend took this optional subject and gave three attempts. He wrote two mains but could not clear it. He never got good scores despite Maths being considered a good optional.

On the fourth attempt, My friend changed optionally to geography. He worked hard and developed a good command of the subject. He also got a good score, but he was not satisfied. He says that he never got scores in proportion to the hard work he has put in.

Moral of the story:

No optional subject is best. Explore available subjects and select the one that suits your requirement and temperament. However, you may consider the following things in the selection of optional:

1. Length of syllabus
2. Overlap with GS
3. The scoring pattern of optional in recent years
4. Competition in optional subject.
5. Availability of guidance.

Best wishes.