The highest number of selections in the **Indian Administrative Service (IAS) exam**, conducted by UPSC, typically comes from candidates with backgrounds in **optional subjects** that have high success rates. Based on past trends, the most successful optional subjects in terms of selection numbers include:
### **Most Commonly Chosen and Successful Optional Subjects in IAS:**
1. **Public Administration** – Popular due to its relevance to governance and administration.
2. **Geography** – High-scoring and preferred by candidates from both science and arts backgrounds.
3. **History** – Popular among humanities students and useful for the General Studies papers.
4. **Political Science & International Relations (PSIR)** – Frequently chosen by aspirants with an interest in current affairs.
5. **Sociology** – Short syllabus, scoring potential, and relevance to essay and interview stages.
6. **Anthropology** – Popular among science students due to its scoring nature.
7. **Mathematics** – Preferred by engineering graduates, though it requires strong conceptual clarity.
8. **Medical Science** – Chosen by doctors appearing for UPSC.
9. **Economics** – Frequently picked by students with an economics background.
### **Which Subject Has the Highest Selection Rate?**
– **Public Administration, PSIR, and Geography** have historically produced a large number of IAS officers.
– **Sociology and Anthropology** have high success rates due to concise syllabi.
– In recent years, **PSIR and Anthropology** have gained more popularity due to their scoring nature.
