Selfstudyhistory.com’s Interview of Simran [Rank 66, CSE- 2024, History Optional]

Profile of the Candidate

Introduction

• Tell us something about yourself. 

I am Simran. I belong to Jind district in Haryana. I completed my education till 12^th in BRSK International Public School, Safidon. Afterwards, I moved to Delhi for graduation and post graduation. I started preparing in 2021 and cleared USPC in my 3^rd attempt.

Questions Related to History Optional

• Why did you choose history as your optional subject?

History as a subject always fascinated me. Since class 11^th, when I opted for humanities as stream of study, I was interested in this subject. Back then, I looked at history as a window to thousands of years of past which I could witness in my short life span.

• Kindly mention positive and negative about the History Optional for those who what to take history optional.

Positive- To me, it was an interesting subject. Many students see it in story format and likewise study it, it gives a scope to write at least something even for those questions where you do not know the exact answer. Also 50 marks for mapping is a boon if you are prepared well.

Negative- I often hear that it is not a scoring subject but this thought never bothered me personally. What bothered me was the vast syllabus especially during the gap between GS mains and optional exam. In that one week I realized how vast the syllabus is and I found it very difficult to fully revise it.

• Kindly mention booklist and sources which you followed for History Optional.

Earlier I read basic books like the one by Upinder mam (for ancient), shekhar bandopadhyay sir (modern) and satish chandra sir (medieval) but later on I completely shifted to selfstudyhistory and made new notes from the website. Here all major books are covered in detail.

Only for world history, I referred to basic book- Jain and Mathur and I watched the world history series at crashcoursehistory channel on YouTube for insightful examples.

• In Paper I and II, you answered 3 questions from Part A or Part B?

In paper 1, I answered 3 questions from part A. In paper 2, answered from Part B.

• How did you prepare for Map Portion?

From selfstudyhistory. But one suggestion for the platform- In past few years UPSC is asking very specific location which eliminates the possibility of any confusion that it could be this or that place. But it has also increased the difficulty level. Though selfstudyhistory notes are very good but they need to be updated as per current upsc trend.

• How much time per day you used to give the history optional during your preparation (both before and after prelims)?

Before prelims – After my second prelims I dedicate 2-3 months for optional note making from selfstudyhistoy. In later period of this phase I had started GS revision along side. Since I was also giving UGC NET, so I was revising the notes after some interval. I completely shifted to prelims preparation in January 2024.

After prelims – I dedicated 3-4 hrs to optional, depending on the nature of topic and attempted regular test with selfstudyhistory.

• Did you do answer writing regularly? If yes, what amount of time you devoted to it and how did it help you?

Before prelims I was not regular with answer writing, I tried to do daily practice but the consistency was less. After prelims I attempted around 11 tests for optional and 23-24 tests for GS. Apart from this I used to write 5 GS And 5 optional answers daily. Through this I improved my speed also.

• Did you join any test series? If yes, kindly name it? How did it benefit you?

Yes, I feel that without test series it is not possible to do complete preparation. Since marking of optional is a bit different from GS, the answer writing can also vary from one optional to other. Hence test series and good guidance is necessary. I opted for selfstudyhistory test series where I gave 9-10 tests. I used to get detailed feedback which was very encouraging.

• Did you maintain self-notes? If yes, how did it help you?

Yes I have mentioned earlier, notes were from selfstudyhistory.

• Have you solved previous years papers of history optional? Did it help you in the examination?

Yes, daily practice for answer writing for optional was done form pyq only. It is extremely necessary to solve pyq to understand the nature of questions and requirement of optional papers. It immensely helped me during solving questions in main examination.

• In your views, how the nature of questions asked in history optional changed in recent years?

Yes, in my attempt of 2024, I felt that paper 1 was quite specific in terms of questions from regional kingdoms, bhakti movement, art and culture. In fact, in the compulsory questions for part 1 , I could hardly answer 2 with assurance. Yet I completed my paper by writing down my peripheral knowledge and whatever I could remember from that topic.

• Were you asked questions related to History in interview? If yes, kindly mention those.

Yes, I was asked –

1. Do you feel that there is indianisation of history writing, how do you see this?
2. History repeats itself, mention any three instances.
3. How do you see the trend of renaming streets and cities ?

• How did selfstudyhistory.com benefitted you in your History Optional Preparation?

I had prepared my optional completely from selfstudyhistory. I am very thankful to this platform. For anyone who is confused between multiple books or even specific topics, I would highly recommend to check out selfstudyhistory website.

• Any specific thing you want to share about history optional?

I think I have said enough. Thankyou selfstudyhistory.

Click here for Answer Sheets of Simran [Rank 66, CSE 2024. History Optional]