UPSC Rank 329: Shruti Ola’s Journey with Law Optional

The journey to the Civil Services is rarely linear. It is a path marked by experimentation, learning, failures, and moments of clarity.

For Shruti Ola, who secured Rank 329 in UPSC Civil Services Examination with Law as her optional subject, the journey was a blend of her legal background, strategic preparation, and lessons learned along the way.

In a candid conversation with Aditya Tiwari, Shruti shared her preparation strategy, the role of her law background, how she tackled the optional subject, and what future aspirants can learn from her experience.

This blog captures the essence of that conversation and distills practical insights for aspirants—especially those considering Law Optional in UPSC.

Early Life and Academic Background

Shruti’s academic journey reflects a gradual but natural progression towards law and eventually civil services.

She completed her schooling from St. Joseph School, Shakti Nagar. After school, she pursued BA in English Honours from Banaras Hindu University (BHU). Later, she went on to complete LLB from Allahabad University, which eventually shaped her optional subject choice in the UPSC examination.

Interestingly, she pursued the three-year LLB program instead of the integrated five-year course.

When asked about choosing Law as her optional subject, Shruti explained that the decision came naturally.

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She said that when she examined the UPSC optional syllabus, law felt familiar and manageable compared to other subjects. Since she already had a legal background, the syllabus seemed understandable and something she felt confident about preparing.

She also considered her previous subject—English Honours—but eventually decided against it. According to her, she had studied English quite a while ago and had gradually lost interest in it, while law continued to engage her intellectually.

This combination of interest and familiarity with the syllabus ultimately led her to choose Law Optional.

Preparing Constitutional Law

When discussing her preparation strategy, Shruti highlighted that Constitutional Law formed a core part of her optional preparation.

Her primary source for this subject was the Bare Act, which she considers the most fundamental resource for law preparation.

Along with the Bare Act, she relied heavily on DD Basu’s book on the Constitution of India. She mentioned that she read the entire book three to four times, which helped her build conceptual clarity.

Beyond textbooks, Shruti emphasized the importance of case laws.

For this purpose, she used online resources such as:

• Indian Kanoon for accessing landmark judgments

• LiveLaw to track recent legal developments and contemporary case laws

• Defactolaw.in Website
  

According to her, incorporating relevant case laws into answers significantly strengthens the quality of answers in the law optional paper.

Preparing International Law

Shruti admitted that International Law can be comparatively challenging to prepare.

Her strategy involved using a mix of sources.

She relied on notes from her LLB classes, which helped her cover foundational topics. However, since she did not have comprehensive notes for every topic, she supplemented her preparation through online resources.

For specific topics like the United Nations and international legal frameworks, she pointed out that the official UN website provides more than sufficient material for understanding key concepts.

Her approach highlights an important lesson: even in a specialized optional like law, aspirants must be comfortable using multiple sources and digital resources to fill gaps.

Contract Law and Other Subjects

For Contract Law, Shruti relied primarily on Avtar Singh’s “Law of Contract”, which she described as extremely useful.

The book helped her because:

• It presents cases clearly and concisely

• Important legal principles are explained systematically

• Case laws are integrated directly into explanations

She also referred to specific sections from the Bare Act, which helped her understand the statutory language and apply it effectively in answers.

According to her, even though some books have become quite bulky over time, the clarity they provide makes them indispensable for preparation.

Preparing CLD (Contemporary Legal Developments)

Shruti described Contemporary Legal Developments (CLD) as relatively easier compared to other parts of the syllabus.

She prepared most of this section through online research and current affairs, since many topics in CLD are closely connected with contemporary developments.

She noted that some topics like Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) overlap with areas covered in Science and Technology for General Studies.

This overlap made it easier for her to prepare both areas simultaneously.

Overlap Between Law Optional and General Studies

One of the advantages of choosing Law Optional, according to Shruti, is the significant overlap with General Studies papers, especially GS-II.

She highlighted three areas where this overlap is particularly visible:

1. Constitutional Law and GS-II

2. International Law and global governance topics

3. Contemporary legal developments connected with current affairs

She specifically mentioned that her understanding of constitutional law helped her perform better in GS-II, where questions often demand discussions supported by case laws.

When questions in GS ask candidates to “discuss with case laws,” candidates with law optional naturally have an advantage.

Advice for Law Students Considering Law Optional

Shruti offered practical advice for students who already have a background in law and are considering choosing it as an optional subject.

Her first recommendation is simple:If you have a law background, Law Optional is definitely worth considering.

However, she emphasized that Previous Year Question (PYQ) practice is extremely important.

During her preparation, she created a dedicated notebook where she wrote down PYQs along with their answers. Instead of preparing separate notes topic-wise, she structured her preparation in question-answer format.

This method had several advantages:

• It automatically improved answer writing skills

• It created a ready-made revision resource

• Repeated questions became easier to master

She also pointed out that many questions in law optional tend to repeat in some form. Preparing them thoroughly can therefore be highly beneficial.

Time Required Preparing Law Optional

Shruti candidly admitted that she initially did not give enough attention to her optional subject.

Like many UPSC aspirants, she was heavily focused on General Studies in the early phase of preparation.

She explained that in the first year of preparation, almost everyone talks about GS, coaching institutions also emphasize GS, and aspirants often postpone optional preparation until after prelims.

It was only in her second year of preparation that she realized how crucial the optional subject is.

Because of this delayed realization, she feels she might have been slightly underprepared in her optional, which she believes could be one reason why her rank was not higher.

Nevertheless, she managed her preparation strategically.

Her timeline included:

• 2–3 months of preparation before prelims

• Focused preparation after prelims

• Around 20 days after prelims results

• Nearly 2–2.5 months exclusively dedicated to optional after the Mains result phase

During this time, she temporarily left GS preparation and concentrated fully on strengthening her optional.

She now believes that optional, essay, and ethics are the “master keys” of the Mains examination.

Stayed Focused on UPSC

Many law graduates appear for various legal exams such as judiciary or legal officer posts while preparing for UPSC.

However, Shruti maintained a single-minded focus on UPSC.

Her interest in civil services began early. During the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, she completed her graduation. Due to the uncertainty at that time, she decided not to move to Delhi immediately.

Instead, she appeared for law entrance examinations and secured admission into LLB.

Interestingly, her grandfather was an advocate, which also influenced her interest in studying law.

Although she developed a genuine interest in the subject, her ultimate goal remained the Civil Services Examination.

Preparing for UPSC Alongside Law Studies

When asked how law students can start preparing for UPSC while still in college, Shruti shared a practical approach.

Her key suggestions were:

1. Make Good Notes in Law Classes

Since there is considerable overlap between university law courses and UPSC law optional, making good notes during college can significantly reduce preparation time later.

2. Read Newspapers Regularly

According to Shruti, newspaper reading is essential because it builds awareness about both national and international developments.

This awareness is particularly useful for topics related to law and governance.

3. Build GS Basics Through NCERTs

While studying at Allahabad University, Shruti started reading NCERT textbooks.

She specifically mentioned:

• Geography NCERT

• Class 11 Political Science NCERT

These books helped her build a basic foundation, which later reduced the effort required for General Studies preparation.

She believes that if aspirants build strong basics early, full-time preparation after graduation becomes much easier.

Strategy for UPSC Prelims

Shruti emphasized that UPSC Prelims is a completely different type of examination compared to other exams aspirants may have taken before.

She warned aspirants not to assume that previous entrance exams or academic success will automatically translate into success in UPSC prelims.

Her advice focused on mastering three core subjects:

1. Polity

2. Geography

3. Economics

According to her, most aspirants prepare these subjects thoroughly. If someone is weak in them, they are likely to lag behind.

Once these subjects are strong, other areas like Science and Technology and Environment can be covered mainly through current affairs and magazines.

Don’t Take CSAT Lightly

Shruti also shared a personal lesson about CSAT.

In her first attempt, she took CSAT lightly and scored 73 marks, which is barely above the qualifying threshold.

This experience taught her that CSAT should never be underestimated.

She advised aspirants to maintain balanced preparation because the difficulty level of sections can change every year.

For example:

• If someone relies only on English and the comprehension section becomes difficult

• Or if someone depends only on mathematics and that section becomes tough

then clearing CSAT can become risky.

Therefore, aspirants should maintain synchronization across all sections so that they can compensate if one section turns out to be difficult.

Is Law Optional Scoring?

One of the most common doubts among aspirants is whether Law Optional is a scoring subject. Shruti addressed this directly.

She said that she never chose the subject based on whether it was scoring or not. Instead, she chose it simply because she believed she could understand and prepare it well.

In her opinion, scoring depends more on answer quality than the subject itself.

She emphasized the importance of:

• Writing clear introductions

• Addressing the exact demand of the question

• Including relevant case laws

• Structuring answers properly

If these elements are present, marks will naturally follow.

She also pointed out that historically, law optional scores usually hover around 280–285 marks, occasionally dropping closer to 260 but generally remaining in that range.

Her Interview Experience

Shruti described her UPSC interview experience as very positive. Her interview board was chaired by Anuradha Ma’am, and she described all five members of the board as supportive and cordial.

Most of the questions asked during her interview were related to law, particularly practical legal issues.

Some examples of questions included:

• A hypothetical land dispute and how it could be resolved legally

• Whether advocates are necessary in court proceedings

• Issues related to the low judge-to-population ratio

• Legal challenges within the Indian judicial system

• Maritime boundaries under UNCLOS

One question even referred to a recent event where West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had personally argued in the Supreme Court, prompting discussion about the role of advocates.

Shruti noted that the interview had a strong practical and application-oriented approach to law.

Advice to Law Graduates

Shruti Ola’s journey highlights several important lessons for UPSC aspirants:

• Choose an optional subject based on interest and familiarity, not just scoring trends

• Practice previous year questions regularly

• Build strong foundations through NCERTs and newspapers

• Do not ignore CSAT preparation

• Treat optional, ethics, and essay as key scoring areas in Mains

Despite feeling slightly underprepared in her optional, Shruti’s strategic preparation and legal background helped her secure Rank 329 in the Civil Services Examination.

As she herself acknowledged, every attempt teaches valuable lessons. With those lessons in hand, she hopes to improve further in the future.

For aspirants considering Law Optional, her experience offers both inspiration and a practical roadmap.