GATE 2014 Exam Pattern & Preparation Strategy
By Prudhvi Reddy
Graduate Aptitude Test in Engineering (GATE) is an all India examination administered and conducted jointly by the IISC and 7 IITs every year. Over the past few years, the number of applicants for GATE has increased dramatically, due to reasons like the pattern changes, PSU recruitments based on GATE score, attractive packages for career options after MTech, the urge to stand out among increasing number of engineering graduates etc.
In the last 5 years, the number of GATE applicants has more than quadrupled from 1.8 lakh in 2008 to 7.7 lakh in 2012 and 12 lakh applicants in 2013. With the introduction of Aptitude section from 2010, focused preparation for GATE comes in handy for other PSU exams like CIL, SAIL, etc and also campus recruitment interviews. GATE scores are considered as the merit criterion by organizations such as Power grid, BHEL, IOCL and NTPC, for recruitment to the posts of Executive Trainees and Management Trainees. Also, GATE score is considered by premier institutions like CSIR and BARC to select students with a penchant for research.
Pattern of GATE
- GATE is a 3 hour exam with 65 questions (30 one-mark questions and 35 two-mark questions) summing up to 100 marks with questions from core subjects, engineering math and general aptitude. Questions from the core engineering subjects far outweigh the other 2 areas with 70% weightage.
- From a categorization perspective, the questions will be of the following types – memory/recall, application of knowledge, and conceptual understanding. Most of the recall based questions will be in the one mark category.
GATE Syllabus
GATE has a total of 22 papers to choose from – Aerospace Engineering, Agricultural Engineering, Architecture and Planning, Biotechnology, Civil Engineering, Chemical Engineering, Computer Science and Information Technology, Chemistry, Electronics and Communication Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Ecology and Evolution, Geology and Geophysics, Instrumentation Engineering, Mathematics, Mechanical Engineering, Mining Engineering, Metallurgical Engineering, Physics, Production and Industrial Engineering, Textile Engineering and Fibre Science, Engineering Sciences, Life Sciences.
- All the GATE papers except Engineering Sciences & Life Sciences, will have three sections – General Aptitude, Engineering Maths and corresponding Technical Subject. General Aptitude plays an important role in maximizing the overall score, with a meaty 15% weightage. Engineering mathematics also enjoys a weightage of 15% in GATE. Practice is the only way to tide over these sections. 70% weightage is given to Engineering subjects, where the fundamentals are tested.
- For students appearing for Engineering sciences, a candidate has to answer General Aptitude, Engineering Maths and any two out of 6 sections - Fluid Mechanics/ Materials Science/ Solid Mechanics/ Thermodynamics/ Polymer Science and Engineering/ Food Technology.
- For students appearing for Life sciences, a candidate has to answer General Aptitude, Chemistry and any two out of 5 sections – Biochemistry/ Botany/ Microbiology/ Zoology/ Food Technology.
GATE 2014 is Completely Online
Over the last few years, the exam has been gradually incorporating online mode in some of its streams. Out of 21 papers in GATE, 15 papers were conducted in online mode for GATE 2013. GATE 2012 and GATE 2011 had 6 and 4 online papers, respectively, while there was no online component till GATE 2010. From the year 2014, GATE, has become a completely online exam.
GATE 2014 will consist of questions of multiple-choice type and questions of numerical answer type.
- For multiple choice type questions, candidates have to choose the answer from the given choices.
- For numerical answer type questions, choices will not be given. Candidates have to enter a number as the answer using a virtual keypad.
Though it is a new medium, Online mode need not be seen as a hurdle to students as most of them are comfortable with the online medium, and have attempted online tests like BITSAT/AIEEE at +2 level. Also, they will have access to the actual GATE exam interface with sample questions, months before the actual GATE. Mock test with actual interface will be provided to the students before the examination date, to get the students acquainted with the new interface.
How to Prepare
A close look at the changing pattern of the exam over the years indicates that – precision is the key ingredient for cracking GATE. GATE primarily tests the applicants' grip on basic concepts of various undergraduate subjects and the ability to apply them in problems. Thorough knowledge of fundamentals and extensive practice are the only two factors that can bring success in GATE. Candidates should plan their preparation strategically, by attempting previous papers and analyzing the weightages for various topics. Also, aspirants should spend time in solving old GATE papers and also analyze the relative weightages for various topics across the years. This will help in planning the preparation optimally.
About the author:
Prudhvi Reddy is currently the course director - GATE at T.I.M.E., Hyderabad. He has pursued his PGDM from IIM Calcutta and did his graduation from Birla Institute of Technology and Science.
