Every Engineer is probably aware about the GATE examination. Many of the engineering students fascinated about the exam during graduation years. Well, in today’s scenario GATE exam can be considered as the epitome of technical examinations conducted all across the country. Few students start preparing early while most of the others may not have proper planning till the final year or even haven’t made up their mind for the GATE.
Well, but on the verge of examination every GATE aspirant is in search of proper guidance for effective preparation. During this phase one question that make most of the guys uneasy is-
“Can GATE be prepared in one or two months?”
What is GATE?
First of all let us quickly overview what the GATE is. GATE stands for Graduate Aptitude Test in Engineering. It is conducted jointly by the IISc and seven IITs on behalf of MHRD, Govt. of India for the admission of various Post Graduate (M.E., M. Tech., M.S.)and Doctoral programs in IISc and IITs.
Along with IITs and IISc, the admission into regional colleges i.e. NITs are also done through GATE score. Besides IITs and NITs, all the government colleges and private colleges all across the country mandates the GATE score for the above mentioned courses. GATE score is also the part of recruitment process of many of the Public Sector Undertaking Companies (PSUs).
Also read, “Why should you prepare for GATE?“
Typically the Exam is conducted for 23 streams in Engineering and Basic Sciences in the month of February every year. The paper consists of 65 questions of total 100 marks. Out of 65 questions, 10 questions are of general aptitude and remaining 55 questions are from Technical Section and Engineering Mathematics. Questions carry ONE or TWO marks and can be of two types i.e. MCQ (Multiple Choice Questions) and NAT(Numerical Answer Type).
The ideal GATE preparation plan
GATE tests the aptitude in Engineering and Science in other words it is the applicative exam covering all the concepts studied in graduation years. The percentage of students appearing for the examination is increasing day by day because of many opportunities after GATE.
Increasing competition, scope of the syllabus and level of questions asked in the exam demand the well organised and strategic preparation plan to get respectable GATE score. How much time is required to achieve the good score may vary from person to person and depends on various factors. But generally most of the aspirants devote 6 to 12 months to crack the exam.
Also read for “The ideal plan for preparation of GATE”
Is it possible to crack GATE in one month or very short period?
Well, as stated above, normally aspirant go through yearlong toil to crack the GATE with good rank. It would be very difficult to cover and practice the complete syllabus for the exam systematically in one month to stand ahead of the competition.
But don’t lose hope guys! Nothing is impossible for a person with a strong determination. You are an Engineer. Remember the awake nights before your university papers and how did you manage the sea of syllabus just before the exam. Likewise here also, we should make up a plan rather a very serious plan to study effectively and extract maximum of it.
First of all decide in which category you belong to: –
- You are in your final years of graduation and thinking seriously about GATE exam. You have not dedicatedly prepared for the exam but you are aware about the exam.
- You are preparing dedicatedly for GATE say after graduation or preparing GATE while working. You have joined reputed coaching, test series etc.
Let me discuss for the category 1 only. For category 2 type aspirants, last one or two months would be very much different and I will discuss it in another article.
So considering time constraint, you can follow the proven strategy below and utilise this crucial time effectively.
- First of all take down the complete GATE syllabus and understand it. In this limited time, cover as much as possible stated in the syllabus not more than that.
- Arrange all of your standard graduation textbooks and the material through which you have studied for university exams covering almost entire GATE syllabus.
If time permits refer abridged GATE notes of any reputed coaching. - Now follow the very strict schedule. Study and practice as much as possible the relevant concepts for any GATE subject from the material mentioned above. Considering time limit you should devote 3 to 4 days to each GATE subject.
- During this phase prepare micro notes for revision from this content.
- Finally conclude your preparation by assimilating micro notes and solving at least 3 previous year GATE papers. If time permits you can practice more papers.
Stay motivated! Keep going! Best luck!
Do not forget to check our Awesome GATE courses.
