There’s no single answer to what the hardest subject to study for is - because it depends on who you are, what you’re up against, and how your brain works. But if you look at the dropout rates, the failure statistics, and the sheer number of students who burn out trying, one subject consistently stands out: General Studies - especially in exams like the UPSC Civil Services in India.
Why General Studies Feels Impossible
General Studies isn’t a subject you can memorize like chemistry formulas or physics equations. It’s a mix of history, geography, economics, polity, current affairs, ethics, and environmental science - all rolled into one. And it’s not just about knowing facts. You have to understand how they connect. Why did the Government of India Act 1919 matter? How does inflation affect rural employment? What’s the difference between fundamental rights and directive principles?Students spend months reading newspapers, making notes, revising maps, and watching lectures. Then they sit for the prelims - and get crushed by questions on obscure treaties, tribal welfare schemes from 2017, or the exact year a particular forest was declared a biosphere reserve. One candidate told me he spent 18 months studying the National Green Tribunal’s rulings - only to get a question on a 2015 case he’d never heard of.
It’s not about how hard the content is. It’s about how unpredictable it is. Unlike math, where you can solve a problem if you know the method, General Studies rewards luck as much as preparation. You can study 10 hours a day for a year and still miss the one fact that shows up on the paper.
How IIT JEE Compares
Many think IIT JEE is the toughest. And in some ways, it is. The math problems are brutal. Physics questions twist your logic. Chemistry demands perfect recall of reaction mechanisms. But here’s the thing: JEE is predictable. If you solve 500 problems in calculus, you’ll see the same patterns repeat. The syllabus is fixed. The types of questions? Known. Resources? Abundant.Students who crack JEE don’t do it because they’re geniuses. They do it because they trained for years on past papers. They know exactly what to expect. General Studies doesn’t give you that luxury. There’s no past paper archive that covers everything. The UPSC changes its focus every year - one year it’s on agriculture policy, the next it’s on digital governance or climate finance.
Medical Entrance Exams: A Different Kind of Pressure
NEET and AIIMS are brutal too. You’re expected to memorize 15,000+ biological terms, 200+ drug names with side effects, and intricate diagrams of the human nervous system. One wrong option in a 180-question paper can drop you 100 ranks. The competition is insane - over 2 million students take NEET every year for just 100,000 seats.But again - the content is fixed. The NCERT textbooks are your bible. If you master them, you’re 70% there. You can practice until you get every MCQ right. General Studies doesn’t have a bible. It has a thousand books, and no one knows which ones matter most.
Engineering Entrance Exams Outside India
In the U.S., the SAT and ACT are stressful, but they test reasoning, not depth. In the UK, A-Levels are demanding, but students focus on 3-4 subjects. In China, the Gaokao is terrifying - 12 hours of studying a day, 90% of students fail to get into top universities. But even there, the syllabus is rigid. You study what’s on the list. In India’s UPSC, the list keeps growing.The Real Enemy: Scope, Not Difficulty
The hardest subject isn’t the one with the hardest questions. It’s the one with the widest scope and the least control. General Studies demands you become an amateur historian, economist, lawyer, scientist, and journalist - all at once. And you have to do it while balancing mental health, family pressure, financial stress, and the fear of wasting years.Students who succeed in General Studies aren’t the smartest. They’re the most consistent. They learn to accept that they won’t know everything. They focus on patterns: recurring themes in current affairs, the way questions are framed, the weightage of topics over the last 10 years. They stop trying to memorize everything - and start trying to understand how things connect.
What About Other Exams?
Let’s be clear: other exams are hard too. The CAT for MBA programs tests quantitative ability and verbal reasoning under time pressure. The GRE demands advanced vocabulary and analytical writing. The LSAT is pure logic - no facts, just reasoning. But none of them ask you to know the name of every tribal leader in Madhya Pradesh or the exact date when the National Food Security Act was amended.Even in technical fields like engineering or medicine, you’re studying a defined body of knowledge. General Studies asks you to study the entire world - and then write an essay on whether it’s fair.
How to Survive It
If you’re preparing for an exam with a General Studies component, here’s what actually works:- Focus on trends, not trivia. Look at the last 5 years of papers. What topics keep coming back? That’s your priority.
- Read one reliable newspaper daily - not five. The Hindu or Indian Express is enough. Don’t drown in news.
- Make connections. When you read about a new dam, ask: Who benefits? What environmental laws apply? Which ministry handles it? Link facts to systems.
- Practice answer writing. Knowing facts won’t help if you can’t write a 250-word answer that shows analysis, not just memory.
- Accept you won’t know everything. That’s not failure - it’s reality. Aim for 70% mastery, not 100%.
The goal isn’t to become an encyclopedia. It’s to become someone who can think clearly about complex problems - even when you don’t have all the answers.
Is There a Winner?
If you ask 100 students which subject was hardest, 70 will say General Studies. Not because it’s the most complex - but because it’s the most unrelenting. It doesn’t give you a syllabus you can master. It gives you a horizon that keeps moving.That’s why it’s the hardest. Not because the questions are hard. But because the game changes every year - and you’re never sure if you’ve trained for the right version of it.
Is General Studies the hardest subject for all competitive exams?
No. General Studies is most challenging in civil services exams like UPSC. For engineering, it’s math and physics. For medical exams, it’s biology and pharmacology. The difficulty depends on the exam’s structure. But among all major exams in India, General Studies stands out for its unpredictable scope and lack of a fixed syllabus.
Can I skip General Studies if I’m preparing for JEE or NEET?
Yes. JEE and NEET don’t test General Studies. They focus on Physics, Chemistry, Mathematics, and Biology. But if you’re aiming for government jobs after engineering or medicine - like through UPSC or state PSCs - then General Studies becomes essential. Many students who clear JEE or NEET later struggle with UPSC because they never trained for this kind of exam.
Why do people say General Studies is ‘unpredictable’?
Because the exam doesn’t stick to a fixed set of topics. One year, questions focus on climate change policies; the next, they ask about tribal rights under the Forest Rights Act. Even if you study everything, you might miss the one obscure fact that appears. Unlike math, where you can solve a problem with a formula, General Studies rewards context, awareness, and pattern recognition - not just memorization.
How many hours should I study General Studies daily?
There’s no magic number. Top performers spend 3-5 hours daily on it, but what matters more is consistency. Studying 2 hours every day for a year beats 10 hours one day and nothing the next. Focus on quality: one well-analyzed newspaper article is better than skimming five. Make connections. Write answers. Revise weekly.
Is coaching necessary for General Studies?
No. Many toppers have cleared UPSC without coaching. What they did have was discipline, access to reliable sources (like NCERT books, Yojana magazine, and The Hindu), and a habit of writing answers. Coaching helps with structure and feedback, but it doesn’t replace your own effort. If you’re self-motivated and organized, you can do it on your own.
Final Thought: It’s Not About the Subject - It’s About the Mindset
The hardest subject isn’t General Studies. It’s the belief that you need to know everything. The moment you accept that you won’t - and that’s okay - you start to study smarter. You stop chasing every fact. You start looking for patterns. You learn to write clearly, think critically, and stay calm when the paper surprises you.That’s the real test. Not the questions on the paper. The one inside your head.
