GATE Preparation Strategies

GATE Preparation Strategies Rajam Naidu GATE TestRunner

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Contents • Preface • GATE FAQ’s • Why should you prepare for GATE? • Can I prepare for GATE in the final year? • What is the structure of GATE paper? • Type of questions in GATE • Study plan for preparing for GATE • Strategy for preparing study plan • Setting Goal • Using GATE TestRunner

Preface • GATE is important for engineering graduates in India planning to pursue higher studies and also for jobs in PSUs. • The strategies discussed will help you while preparing for GATE 2014. • This is to help you understand how to plan for success in GATE • The discussion is useful for GATE 2014 and also for students writing in future. Contents

GATE FAQs • Why should you prepare for GATE? • Can I prepare for GATE in the final year? • What is the structure of GATE? • What is the qualifying marks and how do I set my goal? Contents

Why should you prepare for GATE? • GATE is for admission into M.Tech. or M.E. courses. It is mandatory for getting the scholarship while studying M.Tech. • GATE score is also being considered for PSU jobs. • Preparing for GATE also helps you if you are writing Engineering Services Exam or Civil Services Exam after graduation. • Joining M.Tech. is very useful as it will help you understand the subject better and it makes you a matured professional in your area. Contents

Can I prepare for GATE in the final year? • I say yes and no, ideally you should start your preparation early. But remember better late than never. • For starting preparation now it is not late if you strategize your studies and work towards a goal. • GATE covers all the subjects you study during your graduation and there is no fixed pattern for testing, questions may come from any where. • A systematic preparation will help you to succeed even if you started preparing late. Contents

What is the structure of GATE paper? • GATE paper will have 65 questions, out of these 30 are 1 mark questions and 35 are two mark questions. • There is a negative marks for wrong responses. It is 1/3rd of the number of marks for the question. • GATE score is given as percentile which gives the measure of how many students were behind you during the test. • You should be able to understand the difference between marks and the percentile. Contents

Type of questions in GATE • Questions that appear in GATE are • Recall :These are based on facts, principles, formulae or laws of the discipline of the paper. They can be answered from memory or from a one-line computation. • Comprehension questions can be answered by thoroughly understanding the concepts and by being able to draw conclusions. • Application based questions that can be answered by applying the knowledge for computation or logic • Analysis and synthesis based questions. Contents

Study plan for preparing for GATE • One should be willing to give 3 hours a day. • Study basic concepts and try to remember them for remembering if need be prepare short notes. • Understand the basic concepts thoroughly and be in a position to draw some logical conclusion. • Approaches mentioned will help you answer questions based on recall and comprehension type questions faster. • Learn applications of basic concepts. • Develop analytical ability. Contents

Strategy for preparing study plan • Verbal and Logical ability has 15 marks, target at least to get 10 marks which is achievable. This will help you to get closer to the qualifying mark and preparation made for this will help you in other competitive examinations as well, since they are common in all the examinations you will write. • Based on previous GATE results we may infer that a score of 25 out of 100 marks in GATE will be qualifying mark. • In most of the Premiere institutes a score of 35 is the cut off marks. • We are discussing raw score not the percentile Contents

Setting Goal • Prepare a list of colleges you want to join and are offering M.Tech. • Find out last year cut off marks, this gives you an idea of the target to be set. • Suppose if the score is 32 marks then you may set your target as 35. Out of this 35, you should aim to get 10 from verbal and logical reasoning. 25 marks from recall and comprehension type of questions which will be based on basic concepts. Contents

Using GATE TestRunner • Once you have set your goal, take a test analyze your score and realize where you stand. • Once you know where you stand, since your goal is set and strategy is known, start working on the next step of preparation to move ahead in your career. • From SDK Technologies • We Wish you a grand success • Write to feedback@sdktechnologies.com Contents

GATE Preparation Strategies