Sociology is considered one of the highest scoring optional for UPSC. Year after year, aspirants find their name in the top league of the merit list because of the huge push their sociology optional marks gives them.
The highest marks in sociology optional till date has been attributed to Vishal Shah AIR 63 in 2018. He got 171 in paper 1 and 158 in paper 2. His total score thus summed up to a whopping 329 marks. This exceptional score in his optional subject helped him get the service of his choice.
Although his sociology score is highly commendable, sociology optional toppers over
the years have scored 310 plus in their sociology optional. In 2018 itself, Chirumamilla
V. Kumar scored 319 in sociology.
The highest marks in sociology in 2017 were assigned to Hemant Bhorkhade. He
scored 324 marks.
The second highest marks in sociology in 2017 are attributed to Anu Kumari. She
scored 318 in her sociology optional. It is also important to note that she got the second
position in 2017 merit list. Hence her second highest marks in sociology propelled her to
the top of the league.
Keeping aside the highest marks in sociology optional, the general trend for fairly common marks in UPSC is 260 to 285 plus. These sociology optional recommended candidates may be less highlighted compared to highest scorers, but they are definitely in great numbers.
On the flip side, even if you perform poorly in your sociology optional, you can still
expect a 240 plus score. Thus, it is not only easy to get a top score in the sociology
optional with the right strategy, but it is also difficult to get a low score in sociology.
In other optionals, marks have crashed to rock bottom in specific years. However
sociology is known for its consistent performance. So as to say, sociology optional has
never had a very bad year.
Pratyush pandey AIR 21, 2019 Scored 272 in his sociology optional. Other toppers of
2019 with sociology optional who Pranay Sir has personally mentored in IAS Gurukul
are-
Sanjita Mohapatra-AIR 10
Shreshta Anupam-AIR 19
Ruchi Bindal-AIR 39
Megha Anand-AIR 311
and many others.
Thus, getting highest marks in sociology is not something that only aspirants with
excellent past credential can aim for. One need not even have sociology as a
graduation subject to get the highest marks in the sociology optional. It also does not
matter whether you are a humanities or a science student.
The only thing that is important is that the aspirants should have a right strategy in their
UPSC armor. This right strategy has to build with the aid of right guidance. Sociology
optional under an experienced mentor can not only open the gate LBSNAA for you, but
also ensure you have a say in your service and cadre preferences.