gate examination

Graduate Aptitude Test in Engineering (GATE) is a national examination conducted jointly by the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bangalore and the seven Indian Institutes of Technology (at Bombay, Delhi, Guwahati, Kanpur, Kharagpur, Madras and Roorkee) on behalf of the National Coordination Board (NCB)-GATE, Department of Higher Education, Ministry of Education (MoE), Government of India.

Qualifying in GATE is a mandatory requirement for seeking admission and/or financial assistance to:

(i) Master’s programs and direct Doctoral programs in Engineering, Technology, Architecture and,

(ii) Doctoral programs in relevant branches of Arts and Science, in the institutions supported by the MoE and other Government agencies.

(iii) Further, many Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs) have been using the GATE score in their recruitment process.

Graduate Aptitude Test in Engineering (GATE) is a national examination on the comprehensive understanding of the candidates in various undergraduate subjects in Engineering / Technology /Architecture and post-graduate level subjects in Arts.

Please note that GATE exams demands Comprehensive Understanding (thoroughly Understanding), which clearly saying that you should have deep knowledge about topics.

I discussed general information about GATE exam above, in which last point  is most important and  you should take this serious  if you are really serious about exam.

Now, I am going to discuss about main topic which is “How to prepare for GATE-2024 exam?” or “What strategy should I follow for GATE-2024 exam.

I have break down the complete preparation journey in below points and I am pretty sure that it will help you in your preparation.

  1. Mindset
  2. Know the exam
  3. Know the syllabus
  4. Make a realistic timetable
  5.  Don’t ignore these points

Mindset

Before explanation, I just want to let you know that “Mindset is everything”, as you already heard that “The mind is everything, what you think you become.” this is damn true line, what I had experienced in last 4-5 years. So do beleive in Growth Mindset, means you can do it. You just need right guidance in right direction and you are ready to dedicate yourself for exam preparation. Sometimes you will feel exhausted but no need to worry, Just remember the famous quote of Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam ji

"If you want to shine like a sun, first burn like a sun", which clearly means If your dream is big then your sacrifice will also big and during this process you will have to beleive yourself.

Now, you are ready at mindset level and next step is to know the exam.

Know the exam

For example - You are going to write the exam, but you don’t know important preliminary things about your exam then It is not good. For this, I would recommend to read Official Notification for getting better understanding about exam. After read, you will have the answers for below questions,

  1. What is the GATE exam?
  2. What is the Purpose of exam?
  3. What are the demands of exam from you ? ( Eg. Thorough Understandng )
  4. And many more.

At this Point, You have knowledge about your exam nature and next step is to know about your Syllabus.

Know the syllabus

Just do one thing - Go and print the syllabus first then read further, Don’t procastinate this. Hard copy of syllabus is very important because It will remind you daily that “How much syllabus you have completed ?” and “How much syllabus is left to be complete?”. I hope now you have syllabus hard copy in your hand. Just read the complete syllabus once, don’t worry if some topics are quite new, at this point you just need to read complete syllabus you are not going to give MOCK.

GATE syllabus contains core subjects of your engineering branch (CS/IT/ECE/CH etc.) and you already know about many topics mentioned in the GATE syllabus, So the question is here that “Can I crack GATE exam through Btech level study?”, My answer is NO becaue we know very well that we studies before one night of exam and How can one day study give you comprehensive understanding of the topics ?, So now you know that syllabus is known but you have to study again all topics in deep manner, then you would be able to solve GATE level questions.

Here, you know the syllabus and you also have prepared your mindset that It will take time to prepare syllabus and this is not an exam that you can crack by one day study.

Make a Realistic Timetable

Now, You are ready to start your preparation, but always keep in mind that “To win the war, Strategy plays an Key role and execution of this strategy decides your success and failure”

So, you should have a proper strategy for you preparation journey and strategy means simply “Step by step Plan”. I don’t know, you knows or not but strategy is strongly linked with your time because you will execute the strategy at decided time, you can’t start randomly. So Please consider these below points regarding Strategy and timetable,

  1. First count the number of months left for your exam.( For example - 10 Months)
  2. These 10 months will breakdown in this format: 10 Months = (Syllabus completion)+(Complete Revision+Mock+Test Series)+Buffer Time

1.Syllabus completion - This Phase will take 6-7 months, It can take more or less So it depends on each candidate, and please don’t worry if you are a slow learner because you will take 1-2 more months but you would be able to complete syllabus according your schedule. During this phase you will also revise previous subject time to time. Please don’t give mock and test series without syllabus completions. Yes you can topic wise questions but don’t affect you other subjects with low marks, because you are in learning phase So learn from mistakes not ruin your further preparation. Just note down your weak point in one notebook, this will really help you in last time. Also Please make a time table for 27-28 days in a months and allocate 2-3 days as buffer because you can have health issues or other issues, So these buffer time will help you to continue your preparation with any affect.

2.Complete Revision+Mock+Test Series - This Phase will take 2-3 months and in this phase multiple revision is most important because “Multiple revision = High chances to crack the exam”. Give initial months (1-2 Months) for complete revision, after that you can attempt MOCK and test series according to your time.

3. Buffer Time - I already told you that do not make time table for complete 30 days, please allocate 2-3 days as buffer for any issues.

Now part of strategy is almost completed and you are ready to make your realistic timetable, The reason behind using “REALISTIC” word is that, you don’t need to create a timetable for 24 hours, Initially make your time table according to priorities then you can go at advance level. But first make your time table for your priorities. For example - If you have decided to give 4 hours for your preparation then plan your these 4 hours first, then plan other things.

You can consider these points for your timetable,

1. Health - Plan your time for your health( Exercise+Meditaion), Please keep in mind that without good health, you will more issues during preparation and without good health you can not expect good output from your preparaion. It will take hardly 1 hour.

2. Study - Plan your time of 4 hours for your preparation either in morning or night, according to your nature. Don’t experiment to change your nature during preparation, because it will only waste your time.

3. Other things - Plan this time for other things like Family, Friends, College, Entertainment.

I hope all above points will help you to make your time table to produce good output from your preparation.

Don’t ignore these points

I will not take your much time by explaining in detail, but Please don’t ignore these below points during your preparation,

1. Health - I explained aleady.

2. Make your own notes(Hand written or Digital) But try to make short notes Hand written, a nd for detailed notes you can choose any way, which is appropriate for you.

3. When you are solving a question and found a new concept then note down that concept immediately. Don’t think that you can remeber this, NO you can’t, after few days you would not be able to recall that concept. I hope you got it.

4. Refresh your mind - Do whatever you like and gives you happiness. For example - talk with family and friends, music etc.

I hope you have enjoyed this read and I am sure that you learned something from here and you will follow this make your own roadmap.

In case, if you have any doubt you can drop in comment section and I would be really happy to help to clear your doubts.

Thank your for reading. Have a bright future !