Is coaching necessary to crack GATE 2018 exam

At this point of time, one question that is buzzing among all GATE aspirants is that whether they should join coaching to crack GATE exam or not. Though I have been teaching GATE aspirants for past 5 years approximately I have never recommended that everyone should go to coaching. In general there are a certain questions that one must ask herself/himself before joining any course so as to understand what kind of course would suit you the best.

The questions that you must ask yourself are:

• If you have just passed out or in final year, how good is your college performance?
• Is your college exam on similar pattern as GATE i.e. mostly numerical so that college concepts may help in GATE?
• If you are a dropper and have prepared by self-earlier then how many marks have you got in your first attempt?
• If your GATE score was less then what was the reason behind it? There can be many reasons some of which are:

1. I was not able to give enough time due to family issues
2. I was not good with 3-4 subjects so I could not attempt much
3. I knew the concepts but I committed silly mistakes
4. I don’t understand the concepts much and I need a guide

• If you have taken a coaching earlier then what was your GATE score and if it was less then what the reason behind it? Again there can be certain reasons some of which are:

1. The institute did not finish the course on time
2. I was not able to devote much time for self-study
3. The teachers were not very good to make me understand concepts
4. I could not attend all the classes sue to some personal problems

Once you have answered these questions then you would be knowing yourself better i.e. your weak and strong areas. So let me recommend different things to students lying under different categories.

College Pass-outs

If you have completed your graduation in the present year itself and you lack basic concepts as is the case with most local colleges, then coaching is recommended for you. The thing that I believe in is go full throttle in your first attempt so that you do not have to look back and regret the next year. This means do whatever you can in your first attempt to reach the best possible rank even if it means joining an institute.

Final year Students

For final year students offline classes can be a bit hectic due to heavy load of assignments and project work. So, I would recommend that if your wish to crack GATE then you better take an online course with recorded lectures so that you can learn at your own base and do not have to bother about sitting continuously in a classroom.

Second Year Droppers

If you earlier prepared by self and got a low GATE score then it is highly probable that your concepts are not upto the mark as per GATE level. Since you are taking a drop then it would be better to enroll full time in a coaching and give your 100%.

If your GATE rank was below 3000 then you have a grasp of certain concepts in GATE and you just need brush up of the concepts and few subjects. In that case the best path forward for you might be the rank improvement batches run by different institutes.

If your GATE rank was below 500 and you wish to just improve your rank and nothing more then you do not need any coaching you just need to join some test series to keep the concepts in touch throughout the year. The other way to keep the concepts in touch is by joining FB doubt solving groups and seeing new doubts and questions every day.

Working Class

If you are presently doing a job and wish to enter public sector by leaving behind private sector then may be classroom is not the way forward for you. It is so because with hectic job timings the classroom course is not manageable and even if you join weekend batches then you do not have any comfort in your life. In such a case the best way forward for you is the online course rather than offline course.

IIT/NIT students

As per my experience, in IITs and NITs the exam pattern is somewhat similar to actual GATE exam and hence students from such colleges are better prepared to tackle GATE exam as compared to other students. If such is the case then you do not need to join any coaching but rather take a distance learning course so that you get a good set of questions to practice and improve your concepts.

Now I guess you guys must have a clear idea which path should you choose to walk upon to crack GATE. There are different paths each suited to different type of students and each path leads to same destination i.e. GATE.

Also read:

How to balance college studies with GATE 2018 Preparation

Avoid these 7 mistakes in GATE 2018 Prep to save your score

Opportunities after GATE