How to Prepare for GATE

The Graduate Aptitude Test in Engineering (GATE) is an All-India Examination conducted by the Seven IITs and IISC, Bangalore, on behalf of the Ministry of Human Resources Development (MHRD), Government of India. GATE is undertaken to admit students in Postgraduate Engineering Programs at the National level. One of the IIT or IISc is selected every year to conduct the test.

There are a certain eligibility criteria for GATE as in any other exam. Read on to know the eligibility conditions for GATE:

1. Bachelor degree holders in Engineering/Technology/Architecture (4 years after 10+2) and those who are in the final or pre-final year of such programs.
2. Master degree holders in any field of Science/Mathematics/Statistics/Computer Applications or equivalent and those who are in the final or pre-final year of such programs.
3. Candidates in the second or higher year of the Four-year Integrated Master degree program (Post-B.Sc.) in Engineering/Technology or in the third or higher year of Five-year Integrated Master degree program and Dual Degree program in Engineering/Technology.
4. Candidates with qualifications obtained through examinations conducted by professional societies recognised by UPSC/AICTE (e.g. AMIE by IE(I), AMICE(I) by the Institute of Civil Engineers (India)-ICE(I)) as equivalent to B.E./B.Tech. Those who have completed section A or equivalent of such professional courses are also eligible.

GATE is basically an exam that assesses your fundamentals. The questions asked in the exam are mostly derivations of the fundamentals. While preparing for GATE, you should go step-by-step. Firstly, you need to clear your basics and then test yourself if you have got them right. After this, you should take a mock test among your competitors to see where you stand. Seniors are a great help when you want to determine as to what coaching material you should follow.

Start your preparation from the first chapter. You need to separate the books that include the fundamental concepts and the ones that include problem oriented questions. Also, get some good guide books for GATE and question papers of previous years. You should make a note of probable concepts, important theories, formulae etc. Try to use different tricks and solve as many problems as possible. Take chapter-wise self-tests to improve your score. In the end, take self-tests that include the whole syllabus. It is imperative to analyse your test results as this will help you improve more. You should see your strong and weak points. Check your accuracy level in different topics and maintain a topic-wise datasheet to check your performance level. Also, visit the library often to get hold of some good books that can help you get through GATE.