Success Mantras of GATE Toppers for GATE 2016

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GATE 2016

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Foreword

3 Foreword

3 Ravi Shankar Mishra AIR 1 in

Ravi Shankar Mishra AIR 1 in

Computer Science Engineering!

4

4 Pradee

Pradee

p Seervi AIR 1

in Electrical Engineering

10

10 Saurav Gupta AIR 5 in Electronics and

Saurav Gupta AIR 5 in Electronics and

Communication Engineering

14

14 Aditya Naray

Aditya Naray

an Nanda AIR

10 In

Instrumentation Engineering

18

18 Souradee

Souradee

p Sinha AIR 9

In Chemical Engineering

22

22 Sharada Prasad Panda AIR 6 in Biotechnology

Sharada Prasad Panda AIR 6 in Biotechnology

25

25 GATE

GATE

Expert

Opinion

28

28 Useful

Useful

Links

for

GA

TE

2016

29

29 GA

GA

TE

2016

Correspondence

Program

Premium

31

31 Complete

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Foreword

3 Foreword

3 Ravi Shankar Mishra AIR 1 in

Ravi Shankar Mishra AIR 1 in

Computer Science Engineering!

4

4 Pradee

Pradee

p Seervi AIR 1

in Electrical Engineering

10

10 Saurav Gupta AIR 5 in Electronics and

Saurav Gupta AIR 5 in Electronics and

Communication Engineering

14

14 Aditya Naray

Aditya Naray

an Nanda AIR

10 In

Instrumentation Engineering

18

18 Souradee

Souradee

p Sinha AIR 9

In Chemical Engineering

22

22 Sharada Prasad Panda AIR 6 in Biotechnology

Sharada Prasad Panda AIR 6 in Biotechnology

25

25 GATE

GATE

Expert

Opinion

28

28 Useful

Useful

Links

for

GA

TE

2016

29

29 GA

GA

TE

2016

Correspondence

Program

Premium

31

31 Complete

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G

ATE ATE 2016 will 2016 will be held be held on Jon January 30 anuary 30 & 31, 20& 31, 2016 as w16 as well as Fell as February 6 ebruary 6 & 7& 7, 2016, 2016 in multiple sessions of two per day. Some of the most popular branches which in multiple sessions of two per day. Some of the most popular branches which have the maximum number

have the maximum number of aspirants of aspirants like CSE, like CSE, ME, ECE ME, ECE and such and such will bewill be held in

held in two to two to three sessions three sessions while others while others with a with a lesser lesser number of number of applicantsapplicants may have just one session.

may have just one session.

Careers360 has endeavoured to bring all aspects of GATE preparation to the hands of Careers360 has endeavoured to bring all aspects of GATE preparation to the hands of all aspirants over the past few years. One of them has been a series of interviews with the all aspirants over the past few years. One of them has been a series of interviews with the GATE toppers each year. We have tried to delve into the preparation efforts, study GATE toppers each year. We have tried to delve into the preparation efforts, study sched-ules, books, and mind-sets of these toppers to bring all future GATE aspirants an idea of ules, books, and mind-sets of these toppers to bring all future GATE aspirants an idea of the effort behind success in GATE.

the eﬀort behind success in GATE.

Each year, there have been some new surprising elements to these interviews with some Each year, there have been some new surprising elements to these interviews with some aspirants being more inspiring than many. One such topper that comes to mind

aspirants being more inspiring than many. One such topper that comes to mind and whomand whom we hav

we have talked to in his book is Rae talked to in his book is Ravi Shankar Mishra who vi Shankar Mishra who being a mechanicabeing a mechanical engineeringl engineering graduate planned and prepared his way to top the GATE 2015 exam for Computer graduate planned and prepared his way to top the GATE 2015 exam for Computer Sci-ence. There are many such students who have beaten the odds and worked success into ence. There are many such students who have beaten the odds and worked success into their favour.

their favour.

The one common thing that has been a consistent factor in these candidates is their The one common thing that has been a consistent factor in these candidates is their never say die attitude combined with tremendous hard work, smart planning and plenty never say die attitude combined with tremendous hard work, smart planning and plenty of practice.

of practice. A small step tak

A small step taken in the right den in the right direction will be irection will be the key to suthe key to success!ccess!

Start your preparation now, take a leaf out of the books of these toppers and work your Start your preparation now, take a leaf out of the books of these toppers and work your way to crack the GATE 2016 exam successfully

way to crack the GATE 2016 exam successfully. W. We hope to see many more of e hope to see many more of you in ouryou in our future books sharing your inspiring

future books sharing your inspiring stories with other hopeful future aspirants stories with other hopeful future aspirants of GATE.of GATE. All the Best!

All the Best! Team Careers360 Team Careers360

Foreword

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R

avi Shankar Mishra who secured AIR 1 in Com-puter Science Engineering in GATE 2015 is a Mechanical Engineer of the 2014 batch from IIT Kanpur. Driven by a passion for computers, he opted to appear for GATE 2015 in CSE to secure admis-sion in M.Tech at one of the reputed Indian colleges. With a determined and dedicated approach, Ravi Shankar Mishra prepared with a single minded focus on scoring well and ended up securing AIR 1 for Computer Science Engineering in GATE 2015.

Careers360: Tell us something about yourself; where have you done your engineering from and in which branch?

Ravi Shankar Mishra: My name is Ravi Shankar Mishra. I belong to a middle class family from Bokaro Steel City, Jharkhand. My father is an Ex-Airman, my mother a housewife and my elder sister is an employee of Konylabs Soft- ware Company, Hyderabad. I have completed my B Tech in Mechanical Engineering from IIT Kanpur in the year 2014.

Ravi Shankar Mishra

AIR 1 in Computer Science Engineering

Careers360: what was the GATE Paper you appeared in? What rank did you get in GATE 2015? What is your GATE score and how many marks did you secure out of 100 in GATE paper?

Ravi Shankar Mishra: I appeared for Computer Science and Information Technology (CS) paper and secured AIR-1 in GATE 2015. My score is 1000, normalized mark is 85.85 and actual mark is 79.00.

Careers360: What was the reason you appeared for GATE 2015? PSU or further studies? Please elaborate

Ravi Shankar Mishra: I wanted to make a career in Com-puter Science but my Bachelor’s degree is in Mechanical Engineering, so I appeared for GATE 2015 with an intention of doing M.Tech in CSE from a reputed Indian college.

Careers360: Have you also applied to any PSUs and which ones?

Ravi Shankar Mishra: Right now, I have no intention to join a PSU. I am passionate about pursuing my Masters in

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Careers360: When did you start your preparation? How did you prepare? How many hours did you put in per day as per the stage of preparation?

Ravi Shankar Mishra: My preparation started 150 days before the GATE exam. I planned my preparation in three major phases and followed it to a tee, I am elaborating the plan in details phase wise:

1. Phase 1 (15 days, 5 hours/day) – Understanding the GATE Syllabus, Preparation Plan, Books

This phase started when I decided to appear for the GATE 2015 examination in CSE. The ﬁrst thing I did was to go through the blogs written by previous year GATE toppers. I tried to gauge a pattern in their prepa-ration and to understand the bare minimum prepaprepa-ration techniques they did correctly to be successful. I found a repetitive theme in their preparation -most of them followed standard books, solved previous year GATE papers, planned their study well, did proper revision in last months and enrolled in some good online Test Series. After this my quest for good standard books started. Some criteria I followed here are:

l The book should be simple enough so that a

Mechanical graduate can understand them

l It must be broad enough to cover the entire GATE

syllabus.

l Fortunately, I did get some good books which I have

listed below. Next, I planned the order in which I should study the given topics and the time I needed

Solving previous year papers:

I listed the chapters covered in GATE Syllabus and allot-ted time to each accordingly.

Important Topics with heavy weightage like Data Struc-tures and Algorithm got around 14 days for preparation while lesser important topics like Digital Logic got 6

days.

My focus was to study all the relevant topics from all the books I had chosen such that no question could escape me. I also did the relevant exercises from each chapter for better practice.

My study schedule went like – study a particular topic and attempt the past 10 years question papers for that topic only.

Here I must say that I used the question bank from MadeEasy but trust me, there is no book in the market which doesn’t have some errors and therefore, the inter-net is your only friend. I found solutions at the GATEO- verﬂow website to be very good.

Most important - I didn’t leave any topic untouched in the prescribed GATE syllabus. I even studied for Soft- ware Engineering, Web Technology and Verbal ability. 3. Phase 3 (30 days, 14 hours/day) - Revision & Test

Series:

This is a crucial phase which I used to recall what I had learnt in the last four months and to push my score fur-ther by 5-10 marks.

But I found myself in big trouble. The reason was that I did not make any notes during my self-study. That was because of two reasons. First, I don’t know the art of mak-ing good notes and second, if I had made notes, I would have required 2 more months to study the book chapters.

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Three things came to my rescue here and they not only gave me revision but also introduced me to some sub-topics that I unintentionally skipped - Made Easy study material, Ankur Gupta Notes and Standard book power point slides. I hurried through all of them.

Next was the turn of Test Series and I appeared for four full length tests by MadeEasy.

Careers360: Have you taken any coaching? If yes-From where? How did it help?

Ravi Shankar Mishra: No, I have not taken any formal coaching but I took the correspondence course of MadeEasy. The study material that they provided helped me to ﬁlter out unnecessary book chapters and it was also useful for revi-sion in the ﬁnal stage of my preparation as I hadn’t made any notes of my own during my self-study.

Careers360: GATE 2015 saw a substantial amount of numerical questions asked when compared to previous years. Were you prepared for this eventuality? How did you prepare for the numerical questions considering

that they require speed in calculating the solutions?

Ravi Shankar Mishra: I feel the reason for introducing large number of numerical questions in GATE is to discour-age the guessing tendency of students. One bad thing about this question type is that it requires very high accuracy. One small calculation mistake and you lose your marks as well as precious time in the exam. The good thing is that these questions come with no negative marks, so you can answer them no matter what. There was no special preparation for

to commit any silly mistake while attempting them.

Careers360:Can you share any preparation strategies with our readers? How to schedule study time and make

timetables?

Ravi Shankar Mishra: I kept my preparation strategy as simple as possible. It was just ﬁve steps:

(1) Plan

(2) Study Books

(3) Solve previous year papers (4) Revise

(5) Give Mock Test.

I feel that the major stress comes during step-2 and that required quite a lot of planning and time on my end. I am sharing my 105 days’ timetable with the future GATE aspir-ants. I would advise them to scale it according to the time that is available to them.

The order in which I covered GATE topics was inspired by two factors- one was the weightage of the topics and other was the pre-requisite subject to be studied before the advanced subject part.

I have given the order in which I studied the topics along with average weightage (from years 2010-2015) and days

devoted in the table.

GATE Syllabus Topics

Weightage

(marks)

Days Devoted

by me

Engineering Mathematics 15 20 DigitalLogic 5 6 Programming 5 3 Data Structures and

Algorithms 14 14 Theory of Computation 7 7

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Careers360: How should one schedule answering the GATE exam – which section to attempt ﬁrst and which next?

Ravi Shankar Mishra: Start with the easiest section as this will give you conﬁdence and help you shed away your nervousness.

I attempted the paper in following order: 1) Numerical ability

2) One mark CS questions 3) Verbal ability

4) Two marks CS question.

I attempted the verbal ability section late as I was not very conﬁdent about it.

One crucial point to keep in mind is to never get stuck on one question for too long. If a question has a lengthy descrip-tion or is taking more than 2 minutes, skip it and come back to it later.

Careers360:Name some important Topics that you feel are a must read for any student attempting GATE exam in Computer Science Engineering?

Ravi Shankar Mishra: The must read topics are the one with weightage 5 marks or above. Not so important topics that students generally skip are Compiler Design, Software Engineering, Web technology and Verbal Ability. But I would recommend that aspirants read them also if they have time. GATE 2015 paper was a little bit of surprise as these neglect-ed topics were given considerable weightage.

Careers360: Since all the GATE exams are online now, how mandatory is it for students to practice online and how frequently?

Ravi Shankar Mishra: It is very important to appear for some online mock tests so that a student gets comfortable with the GATE exam interface and instructions that will be

useful to save valuable time in the actual GATE exam. I will recommend appearing for at least 3 full length mock tests.

Careers360: What did you feel was a tough thing in the GATE exam?

Ravi Shankar Mishra: A tough thing about GATE 2015 CS paper was that many questions were asked from uncon- ventional topics that students generally skip during their

preparation. I was surprised that in session-1 paper, ques-tions were asked from software engineering (alpha testing), compiler design (viable preﬁx, live variable, static single assignment), html/xml and LU decomposition.

GATE Syllabus Topics

Weightage

(marks)

Days Devoted

by me

Computer Networks 8 10 Computer Organization and

Architecture 9 5 Operating System 9 14 Databases 7 12 CompilerDesign 4 6 Software Engineering &

Web Technologies 2 4 Verbal/Numerical Ability 15 4

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The second thing - I found the two marks CS question to be lengthy, I never took more than 135 minutes during mock tests to complete my paper but in the actual exam it took me 160 minutes, so keep this fact in mind while you plan for the time required for attempting various sections of the GATE paper.

Careers360:How important do you feel mock tests are and why? Is it true that if one solves the previous year question papers, there is a good chance of cracking the exam successfully?

Ravi Shankar Mishra: Mock tests serve three important

purposes:-(1) Introduces you to the interface and instructions of the GATE exam, this will be crucial to save time in actual exam as you already know basic navigation and answer-ing methods.

(2) Teaches you time management. Without proper time management, there is no way that you can put up a good performance. You must learn where to save time and where to use it.

(3) Helps you identify your weak areas and recurring mis-takes. This is crucial to help you to ﬁll the loopholes in your preparation and also to teach you how to avoid silly

mistakes in the actual exam.

Please note that the rank you get in mock tests do not reflect your actual gate rank. So don’t feel disappointed or less confident about your abilities. I never got in the Top10 ranks in any of the mock tests I appeared for and I never let it undermine my confidence.

Solving previous year papers is a very important phase and a must for getting a good rank in the GATE exam. It gives three

beneﬁts:-(1) Since, most questions come from similar topics year after year in the GATE exam; you will get acquainted with common gate questions

(2) You will feel conﬁdent that you can crack GATE. (3) You will able to gauge whether you have completed all the sub-topics given in the GATE syllabus

I would like to point out that solving only GATE papers is not going to help. The actual study plan should comprise of -Read Topic, Solve Gate Questions,Analyze your problematic areas and then Re-Read the topic. Also read the left-over sub-topics.

Careers360: Which books did you follow for GATE preparation?

Ravi Shankar Mishra: I have listed below the book name, author name, edition and relevant chapters of the books that I followed. The edition of books are the latest ones (updated till Dec. 2014) and freely downloadable on the internet. I would recommend all the future GATE aspirants to read

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Careers360:.Any advice for the future aspirants?

Ravi Shankar Mishra: Believe in yourself. Don’t let anyone tell you what you can achieve and what you can’t. Nobody thought that I could even get a rank in the Top 500 in the GATE 2015 CS paper as I was a Mechanical Engineering graduate but I backed myself.

Just think that if a guy with zero knowledge of computer science with just 5 months of dedicated study and deter-mination could bring his knowledge up to the level of the GATE exam and go on to score the First Rank, why can’t you? All of you who will appear for GATE 2016 will have

even more time than what I had. Forget about everything and just dedicate quality time over your preparation. Don’t worry about what the others think about you; you are not doing this for them. You are doing this for yourself and your family. It is your dream, go get it! Nobody is stopping you except yourself.

GATE Syllabus

Book Name

Author Name

Ed.

Relevant Chapters

Engineering Mathematics Discrete Mathematics and Its Applications

Kenneth Rosen 7 1,2,6-11 Digital Logic Digital Design Morris Mano 5 1-6 Programming The C Programming language Dennis Richie 2 1-6 Data Structures and

Algorithms

Introduction to Algorithms Cormen 3 1-4, 6-8, 10-12, 15, 16, 22-24, 34

Theory of Computation An Introduction to Formal Languages and Automata

Peter Linz 3 1-12 C omputer Networks Computer N etworking: A Top-Down

Approach

Kurose & Ross 6 1-5,8 Computer Organization

and Architecture

Computer Organization and Embedded systems

Carl Hamacher 6 1-3,5,6,8,9 Operating System Operating System Concepts Galvin 9 1-15

Databases Database System Concepts Korth 6 1-4,6-8,10,11,14,15 Compiler Design Compilers: Principles, Techniques and

Tools

Aho& Ullman 2 1-9 Software Engineering Software Engineering: A Practitioner’s

Approach

Pressman 7 Read slides only Web technologies w3schools (html/xml tutorial) Website Link

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G

ATE 2015 Topper Interview- Pradeep Seervi who is studying his B.Tech at IIT Mandi has suc-cessfully cracked the GATE 2015 exam securing an All India Rank of 1 in Electrical Engineering. Talking to Careers360, Pradeep elaborates on his GATE 2015 preparation and Examination Strategies that he used to taste success in GATE 2015..

Careers360:Tell us something about yourself; Where have you done your engineering from and in which branch?

Pradeep Seervi: My name is Pradeep Seervi. I am cur-rently studying at IIT Mandi and am in the ﬁnal year of B.Tech in Electrical Engineering.

Careers360: what was the GATE Paper you appeared in? What rank did you get in GATE 2015?

Pradeep Seervi: I appeared in Electrical Engineering paper and secured AIR 1 in GATE 2015. My score is 1000 and my marks are 75.96

Pradeep Seervi

AIR 1 in Electrical Engineering

Careers360: What was the reason you appeared for GATE 2015?

Pradeep Seervi: I have always wanted to work in some core electrical company and PSUs are the best options for that. So I decided to appear for GATE 2015.

Careers360: Which PSUs have you applied for?

Pradeep Seervi: I have applied to PGCIL, NTPC, BPCL, IOCL and HPCL but I am most interested in joining PGCIL.

Pradeep Seervi: I started my preparations after the third year of my engineering. I prepared a rough study plan which gave suﬃcient time for each subject and then tried to strictly follow it.

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I could not set any fixed time for preparation. As I was in still in my final year of college, I had to find time for GATE amidst all the assignments, projects and quizzes. But I tried to strictly follow my study plan. I studied with full concentra-tion whenever I got time to get the most out of it.

I actually started in August 2014 with my GATE study. I merged both my GATE preparation and college work till December 2014 depending upon the need of the hour. But I completely devoted all my time during the months of Decem- ber and January for GATE 2015 Preparation.

Pradeep Seervi: No, I didn’t take proper coaching or such. Instead, I joined an online program Krash 2015 by Krea-tryx. The K-notes and the questions provided by Kreatryx were really very good and helped me during the ﬁnal stages of my preparation. This was a crash course to ﬁne tune my initial preparation

I also joined the online test series of MADE EASY. The test series helped me a lot in planning the correct strategy for attempting the GATE exam. It also helped me identify sections where I was weak and improved my problem solv-ing ability.

Pradeep Seervi: Yes I was prepared for the numerical questions. Actually it is a myth that the numerical questions are hard or so. Numerical questions require speed and accu-racy which can be enhanced by practicing as many questions as possible. I improved my speed by giving a lot of online tests. Solving questions within a certain time limit deﬁnitely improved my problem solving speed.

The formulas are pretty basic. If you are conversant with them, calculate carefully, you are good to go. The key is a cool head with practice and more practice.

timetables?

Pradeep Seervi: The ﬁrst step is to get to know the exact syllabus of GATE. By this I mean, what exactly you should study, which topics to focus more on and so on. Time is always a crucial factor for GATE so it is imperative that we should be clear about what we will have to study and how. To know the GATE syllabus for preparation, I would suggest

checking the syllabus prescribed by many coaching centres and the GATE exam papers for the past 10 years. We can then be clear about the topics and subjects to focus on.

The second step is to prepare a rough study schedule based thus and try to strictly adhere to it. The basic requirement is to complete the theory part and then start with the tests. This way you have covered the syllabus and now you just need to

practice and ﬁne tune your preparation. An important part is to prepare short notes for each subject. These will be very useful to revise the subject.

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Start with each subject wise test. Analyse after you are done with it. Revise to cover your problem areas and prepare to strengthen your weak points. Once you are ﬁne with each subject/topic, start with the full GATE tests. Focus on giving as many tests as you can. Getting familiarized with a variety of questions attempted during mock tests will deﬁnitely help you during your GATE exam.

Last, Revise your short notes in the week before the exam

Pradeep Seervi: I feel this depends upon the student himself. One can attempt the paper in any way one likes. But

it is important to ﬁnalize a good strategy before the exam like how much time must be devoted to each section. This strategy can only be built by giving several mock tests. When you do so many tests, you realize the strategy that works for you best.

Careers360:Name some important Topics that you feel are a must read for any student attempting GATE exam in Electrical Engineering?

Pradeep Seervi: All topics are important but I feel the following ones carry more weightage and one should com-pulsorily cover them.

l Control System

l Network Theory l Power system l Electrical Machines

l Analog and Digital electronics

Pradeep Seervi: It is really important to practice online for GATE. It will help you track your performance and improve your time management skills. One must solve as many online tests as possible. If you depends only on theory and don’t appear for any online test, your chances for crack-ing GATE greatly reduces.

Careers360: What did you feel was a tough thing in the GATE 2015 exam?

Pradeep Seervi: Some of the theory questions were really tough. Some of the numerical questions were very easy but too lengthy. When it comes to numerical questions, I strong-ly feel that one must solve them with great care. Avoid mak-ing silly mistakes in calculation and try readmak-ing the question properly. Normally many mistakes are made by not reading and understanding the question properly. One must attempt the paper with a calm mind.

Pradeep Seervi: I would say that mock tests are very important. One gets familiar with the GATE online plat-form by solving as many mock tests as possible. It also helps improve your problem solving skills and speed.

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Solving the previous year GATE papers gives you an idea about the type of questions which are generally asked in the GATE exam. So, one must go through at least previous 5 years papers to avail the beneﬁt of being better prepared for

GATE exam..

Pradeep Seervi: For concept building, the books in the UG Curriculum were suﬃcient. Truly speaking, I used to read the handwritten notes of various subjects issued by some coach-ing institute. These notes were very vast and covered every inch of GATE Syllabus.

Anyway, some of the great books which were useful are:

l Signals and Systems by Oppenheim

l Control Systems by Nagrath Gopal l Advanced Engg Maths by Kreyszig l Digital Design by Morris Mano

l Electronic Devices and Circuit Theory by Boylestad

Careers360: Any advice for the future aspirants?

Pradeep Seervi: Never lose hope during your preparation. Have faith in God. Work hard and give your best. GATE exam is not that diﬃcult as people say; you will ﬁnd it very easy if your preparation is very good. So work hard and BEST OF

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S

aurav Gupta, a ﬁnal year student of Electronics and Telecommunication Engineering at Jadavpur Uni- versity, Kolkata has secured AIR 5 in EC in GATE 2015. Speaking to Careers360, Saurav elaborates on his Preparation Strategies for GATE 2015 and discuss how he managed to taste success in GATE while juggling his

ﬁnal year studies.

Careers360: Tell us something about yourself; where are you doing your engineering from and in which branch?

Saurav Gupta: I come from a middle class family from a small town, Naihati, in West Bengal. My father is a business-man while my mother is a housewife and I have an elder brother who is a doctor. I am a 4th year student at Jadavpur

University, Kolkata, currently pursuing my B.E degree in Electronics and Telecommunication Engineering.

Saurav Gupta

AIR 5 in Electronics and Communication Engineering

Saurav Gupta: I appeared for EC in GATE 2015. I got an All India Rank of 5. My GATE Score is 1000 and GATE

Marks are 82.21 (normalized).

Careers360: What was the reason you appeared for GATE 2015?

Saurav Gupta: I wanted to pursue M. Tech at one of the premier institutions of our country so that I can get a deeper insight of the subjects especially VLSI and Communication related ones. B.E provides comparatively superﬁcial knowl-edge in these subjects and hence I feel that a Master degree is a must to succeed in these ﬁelds

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Saurav Gupta: Though there was no speciﬁc timeline, the preparations were started mainly after 2nd year during the semester break. Since GATE syllabus is a subset of our aca-demic course, I didn’t have to dedicate extra time to it during my semesters. However, I kept doing my revisions at regular intervals at the end of every semester during the summer and winter vacations, along with some extra portions which were

missed during the semester course.

I have a habit of making notes of every subject I study and this proved to be very helpful during revisions. The subjects that were common in GATE and my academic course however received extra impetus and attention. As I have mentioned already, I used to prepare especially during the semester breaks when I used to allocate around 3-4 hours on an average. But after the ﬁrst semester exam of my 4th year was over, I had only 45 days left before the D Day. So I put in extra eﬀorts then there by increasing my study hours to 8 hours a day. During this period, I had prepared a gist of all the important formulas, tips and tricks which reduced the entire syllabus to around 50 pages and with its help I started giving online Mock Tests regularly.

Saurav Gupta: No. I haven’t taken any coaching. But I had enrolled myself into THE GATE ACADEMY’s Online

numerical questions asked when compared to previous years. Were you prepared for this eventuality? How did you prepare for the numerical questions considering

Saurav Gupta: No it was not much of an obstacle as my basic concepts were clear. Rather, it was a blessing in disguise

as I believe that some MCQs sometimes tend to be quite ambiguous thereby confusing the student. Numerical ques-tions, on the other hand, have a deﬁnite answer and hence are more deterministic.

As I had already said that I had prepared a gist of formu-las, tips and tricks which came in handy in reducing time. Besides, I feel there is no special preparation required for numerical type questions as long as you have a clear concept of the subjects.

timetables?

Saurav Gupta: Everyone should make their own notes from the standard books and this will aid them during revi-sions. Moreover, if you make your own notes, remembering and understanding things becomes much easier.

I believe that every student has his/her own pace of learn-ing and thus the number of hours that they put in does not matter much as long as they ensure that the time spent is qualitative rather than quantitative. Summer and winter breaks should however be utilized eﬃciently as it will not

mess with their semester studies.

Saurav Gupta: One should always start with the sections that they are more comfortable with. The ﬁrst few minutes are very crucial from the psychological point of view as it might either boost your conﬁdence or even ruin it complete-ly. Moreover, if one is stuck at some question, one should

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Careers360:Name some important Topics that you feel are a must read for any student attempting GATE exam in Electronics and Communications Engineering?

Saurav Gupta: There is no such important topic. All top-ics are equally important. However one should go through GATE syllabus thoroughly and solve all the previous year papers which will give a fair idea of what kind of questions are asked.

Saurav Gupta: Enrolling in any standard Online Mock Test series will suﬃce. Once a unit is completed, one should give the corresponding Unit Test to ﬁnd out one’s strengths and weaknesses.

GATE exam?

Saurav Gupta: The syllabus of GATE is quite huge com-pared to most other competitive exams. However, there is suﬃcient time if one can manage it along with his/her aca-demic coursework.

Saurav Gupta: Giving Mock Tests is the key thing in any entrance exam. It will expose the areas in which you are weak, thereby needing extra attention. It will also improve your speed.Solving previous year question papers will give you a fair idea of the GATE exam pattern but there will always be some surprises. Moreover, GATE exams are organized by diﬀerent IITs/IISC each year so it will not be a good idea to rely completely on previous year patterns.

Saurav Gupta: One should follow the books prescribed in their coursework. However the books which I followed are as follows:

Topics

Books

Electronic Devices 1. Semiconductor Physics And Devices by Donald A. Neamen

2. Solid state electronic devices by Ben G. Streetman and Sanjay Banerjee 3. Electronic Devices and Circuits by Millman & Halkias

Analog Circuits 1. Microelectronics Circuits by Sedra & Smith

2. Electronic Devices and Circuit Theory by Robert L Boylestad & Nashelsky 3. Pulse and Digital Electronics by Millman and Taub

Control System 1. Control Systems by Nagarath and Gopal 2. NPTEL Video lectures by M. Gopal

Digital System 1. Digital circuits and design by Salivahanan or Fundamentals of digital systems by Anandkumar 2. Digital Logic and Computer Design by M.Morris Mano

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Saurav Gupta: GATE exams are a golden opportunity even for an average student to shine. So don’t be disheartened if you have fairly low CGPA. Personally, even I was an average student with a rank of around 30 in my class (part of which can also be attributed to the tough competition in Jadavpur University, ETCE dept), but I was determined enough to come out with ﬂying colors, thereby making full use of this opportunity.

Topics

Books

Communication System 1. Analog and Digital Communication System by Simon Haykin 2. Principle of Communication System by Taub& Schillings

3. Modern digital and analog Communications system by BP Lathi

4. Electronic Communication Systems by Kennedy and Davis (just the Noise chapter) Electromagnetics 1. Elements of Elec tromagnetic s by Matthew N.O. Sadiku

2. Network lines and ﬁelds by J.D ryder (Transmission lines part)

3. Electromagnetic waves and Radiating Systems by Jordon and ballmain 4. Antenna Theory by Balanis

5. NPTEL Lectures by Prof. R. Shevgaonkar Network 1. Circuit Theory by A.Chakraborty

2. Network Analysis by Van Valkenburg

Signal Systems 1. Modern digital and analog Communications system by BP Lathi 2. Digital Signal Processing by S.K Mitra

Maths Higher Engineering mathematics by Dr. B.S Grewal General Aptitude 1. Quantitative Aptitude by R.S Agarwal

2. Quantitative Aptitude by CAT by Arun Sharma MCQ book Gate ECE by R.K Kanodia

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A

ditya Narayan Nanda who secured AIT 10 in GATE 2015 in Instrumentation Engineering did his B.Tech in Instrumentation and Electronics Engineering from CET, Bhubaneswar. Currently employed with NTPC, Aditya shares his GATE 2015 Prepa-ration Strategies with the GATE aspirants in this article and credits his success to hard work, practice and the blessings from his elders.

Careers360: Tell us something about yourself; where have you done your engineering from and in which branch?

Aditya Narayan Nanda: My name is Aditya Narayan Nanda. I am from Bhubaneswar, Odisha and I have com-pleted my BTech in Instrumentation and Electronics Engi-neering from CET, Bhubaneswar in 2015.

Aditya Narayan Nanda: I appeared GATE-2015 in Instrumentation (IN) paper and secured AIR 10. My GATE score was 871 and my GATE marks were 67.

Careers360: What was the reason you appeared for GATE 2015? PSU or further studies? Pls elaborate your reasons.

Aditya Narayan Nanda: Actually I was confused about whether to join a PSU or do M.Tech. I didn’t keep that in mind though and therefore during my GATE 2015 prepara-tion my only focus was to get a good rank.

Aditya Narayan Nanda

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An important Thing I would like to tell all aspirants is that CGPA plays an important role in PSU selection procedure. So don’t neglect your semester exams.

Careers360:If PSU, have you applied to any and which ones?

Aditya Narayan Nanda: Yes I had applied to NTPC, IOCL, ONGC, HPCL, BPCL, BARC and OPGC.

Aditya Narayan Nanda: I started my preparation during my 7th semester. I used to follow standard text books for all the subjects and make short notes for each subject. As I was in my ﬁnal year and we had many projects, seminars, semes-ter exams etc. to cope up with, I opted to devote 3-4 hrs every day for GATE. In addition to that, I used to study for 6-7 hrs and revise the short notes on holidays

Aditya Narayan Nanda: Yes I took Classroom coaching from MADEEASY, Bhubaneswar. Apart from that I also took postal coaching from ACE and GATEFORUM. I used to solve MCQs whenever possible. I believe that solving questions from materials of diﬀerent coaching institutes increases your speed, accuracy while allowing you access to a wide range of questions and question papers.

Aditya Narayan Nanda: Mock tests and Online Tests helped me a lot to prepare for numerical questions. What I found in in the actual GATE 2015 exam was that numeri-cal type questions were relatively easier than the 2 marks MCQs.

timetables?

Aditya Narayan Nanda: I sum them up below:

l Always follow standard text books and make short notes.

l Choose 2 subjects every day,

l 1st subject should be your favourite and 2nd may be a less

favourite one.

l Practice a lot of questions and try to solve the problems

yourself, don’t jump to the solution section directly.

l I considered GA part as a very easy topic and did not

practice it, so in GATE I scored only 3 out of 15 in General Aptitude section.. So don’t neglect even GA, Instead practice GA for at least 10-15 mins everyday.

Aditya Narayan Nanda: I think answering questions in a serial order saves time. You can mark the diﬃcult ques-tions for review and always came back later to solve it. Never waste your valuable time in solving diﬃcult questions. You

can learn time management skills and attempt plans during mock tests.

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are a must read for any student attempting GATE exam?

Aditya Narayan Nanda: If you really want to get into good colleges and any PSUs then you need a good rank. And for a good rank you have to study everything. Every topic is impor-tant and matters. GATE is unpredictable so you can’t take a chance. Study every topic in the syllabus and create interest in the topics which seems dry and boring to you.

Aditya Narayan Nanda: Yes, online test practice is a must. In the paper based tests you can solve on the given diagrams (e.g. circuits etc. which takes additional time) but in online exams you have to draw it on your rough paper. Sometimes you have to think of a smart approach. So speed is the most

important factor in the online exam.

Therefore practice with online tests as much as possible especially during the last months of preparation.

Aditya Narayan Nanda: As I pointed out earlier, I hadn’t concentrated and prepared well for the General Aptitude section. So General Aptitude questions seemed really dif-ﬁcult to me. Hence, my suggestion is that one should cover each and every topic during preparation.

Aditya Narayan Nanda: The fact is that you can actually get almost all important concepts from previous year ques-tions. I feel that solving previous year questions helps you to understand the level of questions asked in the GATE exam. But you can’t guarantee a good rank just by solving previ-ous papers. It is important to be prepared for unexpected questions and rarely asked topics too. My advice - Solve new questions from standard text books then only you can exercise your grey matter and be prepared to face some unexpected and new questions in the GATE exam if asked.

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Aditya Narayan Nanda: Some books I have followed are:

SNo

Subject

Books

and

Author

1 Mathematics Advanced Engineering Mathematics by Erwin Kreyszig Gate Engineering Mathematics by MADE EASY

2 Network Theory Engineering Circuit Analysis by Steven M. Durbin , Jack E. Kemmerly , William H. Hayt

3 Analog Electronics Fundamentals of Microelectronics by BEHZAD RAZAVI (Must Read

Recommended by Aditya) GATE - Electronics & Communication (Analog Circuits Volume 5 Of 10) by R K Kanodia

4 Digital Electronics Solved previous year questions from EC and IN streams

5 Signals and Systems Signals And Systems (Schaum’s Outline Series) by H P HSU Signals & Systems by Alan V. Oppenheim

6 Communication Systems Modern Digital and Analog Communication System by B P LATHI

7 Electrical and Electronic Measurements A Course In Electrical And Electronic Measurements And Instrumentation by A K SAWHNEY

8 Control System Automatic Control Systems by B C KUO

9 Process Control Process Control: Modeling, Design, And Simulation by B. Wayne Bequette 10 Transducers Introduction to Measurements and Instrumentation by ARUN K GHOSH

Aditya Narayan Nanda: Be positive and dream big. Always help others and share your knowledge in that pro-cess you can amplify your knowledge. Respect your parents and elders as their blessings can bring miracles in your life. All the best!

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S

ouradeep Sinha who scored an all India Rank of 9 in GATE 2015 Chemical Engineering his preparation strategies for GATE exam. A Chemical Engineer-ing graduate from Jadavpur University, Kolkata, Souradeep believes that his hard working nature and proper time management skills have contributed to his success in GATE 2015.

Souradeep Sinha: I have pursued my bachelor's degree in Chemical Engineering from Jadavpur University, Kolkata. I am a hard working independent individual knowing well enough how to manage time between family duties, leisure and assigned work. I believe completing the assigned work on time with honesty and dedication is the need of the hour.

Careers360: What was the GATE Paper you appeared in? What rank did you get in GATE 2015? What is your GATE score and how many marks did you secure out of 100 in GATE paper?

Souradeep Sinha: I appeared for GATE 2015 in Chemi-cal Engineering where I secured the 9th position. My GATE score and marks were 895 and 62.33/100 respectively.

Souradeep Sinha: My ﬁrst choice was always to be in a profession connected with the course I study currently. By giving GATE, one stands a chance to be part of the prestig-ious IITs or IISC for research-oriented activities that helps develop almost all the things we use in our daily life. GATE provides a platform to be in touch with the institutes where a part of the world's best innovative research is done with

Souradeep Sinha

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Chemical Engineering government job, one needs to give the GATE exam to qualify for their recruitments. It was just compulsory to succeed in GATE to qualify for their recruit-ment process. In addition, the job proﬁle, pay package and perquisites they oﬀer are the reason of choosing a Public Sector company.

Careers360:If PSU, have you applied to any and which ones?

Souradeep Sinha: Yes, I have applied in BPCL, HPCL and Indian Oil.

Souradeep Sinha: I started preparing from March 2014, i.e., from the middle of the 6th Semester. Ideally, if a person is preparing for GATE while studying in the ﬁnal year or while working for an organization, he/she should start at least 10 months prior to the exam. If the candidate is not busy with something, then he/she can prepare the same course in 4 to 5 months only.

One of our alumnus Dr. Debasish Sarkar, a professor from Calcutta University, taught me along with others. The teach-ing part from Dr. Debasish Sarkar and his counsellteach-ing was extremely eﬀective and helpful.

Souradeep Sinha: Yes, I enrolled with Gateforum for their all India test series. The test series did not help much except for a few attractive gifts.

Souradeep Sinha: The GATE 2015 paper was a bit tough-er than the recent years and a bit more technical and concep-tual. In addition, the GATE paper had almost 60% Numeri-cal Type Answer questions that made it diﬃcult for people to guess/eliminate options. I wasn't prepared for this but went on solving the questions with accuracy as there was suﬃcient time for each question.

timetables?

Souradeep Sinha: No strategy is required as such, as one already has covered all the subjects at least once during their college curriculum. However, understanding the basic con-cepts and regular practice are very important.

Souradeep Sinha: The main attempt should be to at least see all the questions in the paper by 150 minutes. Speed and accuracy were both required simultaneously. And since in my paper there were many numerical answer type questions without negative marking, there was an attempt to at least try the question once. One should attempt sequentially as the questions are normally jumbled.

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are a must read for any student attempting GATE exam?

Souradeep Sinha: Mass Transfer, Heat Transfer, Fluid Dynamics, Thermodynamics, Process Control, Chemical Industries, Mathematics.

Souradeep Sinha: From 2015, GATE authorities have allowed scientiﬁc calculators. So, as of now one doesn’t need much of an online practice session. It however depends on the individual. If you feel better having practiced online, do so by all means. I didn’t feel the need for it though.

Souradeep Sinha: Numerical Type Questions. They con-stituted 60% of the papers and require accuracy in calcula-tions. One needs to be highly alert for this.

Souradeep Sinha: Mock tests are an important part as they help us in practicing new types of question. However, for Chemical Engineering, there are no good test series avail-able.

One can certainly say that solving previous years question papers will not make it easier for you to crack GATE as no question is repeated. You have to try various new types of questions and increase your diverse problem solving abili-ties.

Souradeep Sinha: Notes given by Dr. Debasish Sarkar. They were enough to enhance and hone my preparation.

Careers360: Any advice for the future aspirants?

Souradeep Sinha: Strengthen your basics and practice a lot. Manage your time well – an important aspect to take care of. All the Best!

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S

harada Prasad Panda has secured an AIR 6 in Bio-technology in GATE 2015. Sharada Prasad shares his preparation experiences here and states that lots of practice, hard work and self-conﬁdence are some of the keys to success in GATE.

Sharada Prasad Panda: My name is, Sharada Prasad Panda and I belong to Bhubaneswar, Odisha. I did my B.Tech in Biotechnology from College of Engineering and Technol-ogy, Bhubaneswar.

Careers360: What was the GATE Paper you appeared in? What rank did you get in GATE 2015? What is your GATE score and how many marks did you secure out of 100 in GATE paper?

Sharada Prasad Panda: I appeared in GATE BT paper in 2015.I got an AIR of 6 in general category.My gate score was 863 and I secured 58.67 marks out of 100.

Sharada Prasad Panda: I appeared GATE for pursuing higher studies namely my masters. I want to work only after

doing masters.

Sharada Prasad Panda: I started my preparation from 7th semester. I tried to solve the previous year papers. I bought GATE preparation books and tried to solve chapter wise questions. I divided subjects into weeks. Every week I

Sharada Prasad Panda

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would focus on one subject and once the week was over, I would do problems pertaining to what I learnt. I would focus on what I knew and tried to solidify the concepts rather than trying to learn new things. Initially (the ﬁrst 2 months) I used to put in approximately 3-4 hours per day. Later I studied approximately 5-6 hours every day till the day of exam.

Sharada Prasad Panda: No, I just took an online test series of GATEFORUM. The tests helped me with speed management during exam and also in showing the areas in which I was weak.

Sharada Prasad Panda: Actually, I was prepared for this. A good way to remember formulae for the numerical ques-tions is to write the formulae again and again. And every week practise the numerical questions. Mark the diﬃcult one

and practise them again and again regularly till you g et them right. The test series helped with speed. I also gave many mock tests and part tests. The level of questions in these mock tests is a bit harder than GATE, so trying to solve them helped. In GATE paper, I ﬁrst attempted simple numerical

questions which required simple application of formulae. Diﬃcult numerical questions I attempted later.

timetables?

Sharada Prasad Panda: Set aside time every day for preparing for GATE besides the regular studies. Initially have a look at the previous year papers to get an idea of the distribution of marks by subject in the paper. Then focus on the important subjects from which a majority of questions may come. Study each subject for a week and then the next

subject in the next week. After all the subjects are done once, revise them again starting from the ﬁrst subject, and go on like this in cycles. Take breaks in between.

Sharada Prasad Panda: Attempt the aptitude section first. Then go through the paper in the subject section and mark the level of difficulty of questions. Answer all the easy questions first, then attempt the harder questions later. This was my strategy for GATE 2015.

Careers360:Name some important Topics that you feel are a must read for any student attempting GATE exam?

Sharada Prasad Panda: I feel that we should concentrate on the General Aptitude and Engineering Maths sections in addition to our chosen subject. These sections if done well allow us to score better thus increasing our overall marks. For BT, I fell all topics are important and one study study the whole syllabus. For the others:

1. General aptitude: Problems on Time and Distance, Alli-gations and mixtures, Time and work are must

2. Engineering Maths: Matrices and Determinants, Prob-ability, System of linear equations, Permutations and combinations are must

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how mandatory is it for students to practice online and how frequently?

Sharada Prasad Panda: It is important. Online environ-ment is much diﬀerent than oﬄine exams .I think giving online test series is enough for any student. Give mock tests every two weeks and subject tests twice/thrice every week. If you are completely new to the online testing environment, then it will take some time to get accustomed to it. With practice you can avoid the surprise element on the day of the actual exam. The more you practise giving online tests, the more your speed will increase as the crux is to solve the paper in a limited time frame. You will also get clear about your time management while solving the questions. This will

deﬁnitely help during GATE exam.

Sharada Prasad Panda: The numerical questions seemed a bit tough. They require careful calculations and even if we don’t have negative marking for these, getting the right

answer is important in a limited time.

Sharada Prasad Panda: Mock tests are important because they help with getting you accustomed to the online environment and teach you time management. Yes, it is true that if one solves the previous year papers then there is a good chance of cracking the exam. Previous year papers allow us to have an idea about the most important topics and subjects that carry a good amount of questions. We get a morale boost when we are able to solve some questions knowing that there is a good chance of answering more questions if the prepara-tion is right.

Sharada Prasad Panda: These books helped a lot:

l GK Publishers- GATE Biotechnology, GATE General

Aptitude and Mathematics,

l Pathﬁnder publications: Life Science part 1 and 2.

Careers360: Any advice for the GATE 2016 aspirants?

Sharada Prasad Panda: Dont lose hope when you find the questions tough at the beginning of your preparation. Just keep practising. Even when you attempt the test series don’t be disheartened if you don’t do well. Instead look at your weak points to improve and score well the next time. If you get good results, then don’t be too overconfident. Be happy that you are improving. It will seem difficult at first, but it is not that tough. Trust yourself, work hard and leave

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Expert Opinion

GATE 2016 Expert Interview –

Mr. Aniruddh Pratap Singh

(Faculty, Made Easy Group)

GATE 216 Expert Interview –

(30)

Useful Links for GATE 2016

GATE 2016

What’s New in GATE

GATE 2016 Syllabus

GATE 2016

Changes in Syllabus

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GATE 2016 Mock Test

PSU Recruitment

Through GATE 2016

GATE 2016

Ofﬁcial Website

Follow us on Facebook for

all the latest updates

GATE 2016

(32)

GATE 2016 Correspondence Program Premium

A Complete GATE Preparation Package for your success in GATE Highlights of the Package:

Ü Study Material Package: Ü Quick Refresher Guide Ü E-Lectures

Ü All India Mock Tests Ü Full Length Test Ü Sectional Tests Ü Subject Wise Tests

Success Mantras of GATE Toppers for GATE 2016

GATE 2016

GATE 2016

Contents

Contents

Foreword

3

Foreword

3

Ravi Shankar Mishra AIR 1 in

Ravi Shankar Mishra AIR 1 in

Computer Science Engineering!

Computer Science Engineering!

4

4

Pradee

Pradee

p Seervi AIR 1

p Seervi AIR 1

in Electrical Engineering

in Electrical Engineering

10

10

Saurav Gupta AIR 5 in Electronics and

Saurav Gupta AIR 5 in Electronics and

Communication Engineering

Communication Engineering

14

14

Aditya Naray

Aditya Naray

an Nanda AIR

an Nanda AIR

10 In

10 In

Instrumentation Engineering

Instrumentation Engineering

18

18

Souradee

Souradee

p Sinha AIR 9

p Sinha AIR 9

In Chemical Engineering

In Chemical Engineering

22

22

Sharada Prasad Panda AIR 6 in Biotechnology

Sharada Prasad Panda AIR 6 in Biotechnology

25

25

GATE

GATE

Expert

Expert

Opinion

Opinion

28

28

Useful

Useful

Links

Links

for

for

GA

GA

TE

TE

2016

2016

29

29

GA

GA

TE

TE

2016

2016

Correspondence