GATE 2012 Entrance Examination

By Priya Chatterjee

Graduate Aptitude Test in Engineering or commonly known as GATE 2012 is conducted jointly by Indian Institute of Science and 7 Indian Institutes of Technology each Year. It will be conducted both Online and offline. The Online exam will be held on 29th January 2012 from while the offline exam will take place on 12th February 2012. It is conducted under the watchful eyes of :

1. Indian Institute of Science Bengaluru
2. Indian Institute of Technology Bombay
3. Indian Institute of Technology Delhi
4. Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati
5. Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur
6. Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur
7. Indian Institute of Technology Madras
8. Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee 

Eligibility:

The candidates must strictly fulfill the following conditions:

• Bachelor's degree holders in Engineering/Technology/ Architecture (4 years after 10+2) and those who are in the final year of such programmes.
• Bachelor's degree holders in Engineering/Technology/Architecture (Post-B.Sc./Post-Diploma) and those who are in the final year of such programmes.
• Master's degree holders in any branch of Science/Mathematics/ Statistics/Computer Applications or equivalent and those who are in the final year of such programmes.
• Candidates in the second or higher year of the Four-year Integrated Master's degree programme (Post-B.Sc.) in Engineering/Technology.
• Candidates in the fourth or higher year of Five-year Integrated Master's degree programme or Dual Degree programme in Engineering/Technology.
• Candidates with qualifications obtained through examinations conducted by professional societies recognized by UPSC/AICTE (e.g. AMIE by Institute of Engineers (India); AMICE by Institute of Civil Engineers (India)) as equivalent to B.E./B.Tech. Those who have

Exam Structure:

GATE 2012 consists of 21 subjects which are divided into 2 slots i.e. Slot I and Slot II of 3 hours duration each. A candidate is allowed to choose only one subject. Each of these papers will be objective type comprising of 65 questions and an equal weightage of 100 marks. In Online exam Paper I will take place from 09:00 hrs - 12:00 hrs and Paper II will take place from 14:00 hrs - 17:00 hrs. While Slot I comprises Architecture and Planning (AR), Geology and Geophysics (GG) and Textile Engineering and Fibre Science (TF) subjects exams while Slot II comprises of Aerospace Engineering (AE), Agricultural Engineering (AG) and Mining Engineering (MN).

The Offline exam will also comprise of two paper slots, of which Paper I comprises of Biotechnology (BT), Civil Engineering (CE), Chemical Engineering (CH), Computer Science and Information Technology (CS), Mechanical Engineering (ME), Physics (PH) and Production and Industrial Engineering (PI). Paper II on the other hand comprises of Chemistry (CY), Electronics and Communication Engineering (EC), Electrical Engineering (EE), Instrumentation Engineering (IN), Mathematics (MA), Metallurgical Engineering (MT), Engineering Sciences (XE) and Life Sciences (XL).

All the GATE papers will consist of a General Assessment Section comprising 10 questions. The first five questions will be of 1 mark while the last 5 questions are of 2 marks. For 1 mark question, 1/3 mark will be deducted and for every 2 marks question, 2/3 Marks will be deducted. GATE 2012 score will be valid for two years from the from the entrance result.

The offline exam will take place across 170 cities while the online examination will take place across 24 cities under 8 zones.

Other Important Dates:

Result Date: 15 March 2012.

The list of selected candidates will be made available on the official website.

All the Best!