Students’ Speak: Follow these strategies to crack GATE 2020 exam

By: Shrikant Jha

Graduate Aptitude Test in Engineering (GATE) is a dream door to a lot of aspirants planning to get into some of the elite engineering colleges in India, including Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs), National Institutes of Technology (NITs) and Indian Institutes of Information Technology (IIITs).

GATE is a three-hour long exam consisting of 65 questions carrying a sum total of 100 marks. The exam is conducted in an online mode. The exam has a well-defined questionnaire of multiple-choice questions and numerical answer type questions. To get a better idea of how the exam will be, aspirants can refer to the GATE sample papers available on the official website of the exam.

The candidates are strongly suggested to be always be updated with the exam pattern and type of questions asked.

Most scoring GATE topics

First things first, always target for a good rank as there is a saying, “Always aim for the moon because if you fail, you will land on stars”. Avoid reading lengthy textbooks from scratch. In case if you do, take them as a reference at some points in your preparation.

1. Algorithms, Data Structures and C (extreme focus): These sections are the ones with a heavyweight. One more thing is, it is 100 percent predictable. So one should prepare in such a manner to be able to score maximum marks in these subjects.
2. Computer Networks, Operating System and DBMS: The content here in this stack is vast but in my perception, you should consider preparing it after the first category. Because both of them will no doubt help in your placement preparations also.
3. Theory Of Computation, Compiler Design, and Digital: In the case of these subjects, 99 percent of the time you will be able to figure out the questions. By predictable, I mean that you will be able to understand what the question is describing and what it is asking.
4. Computer Organisation & Architecture: This falls in the 80 percent predictability category as the questions from COA can be a hard pass. But in the end your preparation matters.
5. Software Engineering & Web Technology: Yes, you can prepare for that but most of the time people leave that out behind as they have a small weight.
6. Aptitude: While preparing and studying for your GATE exam you will eventually pace up your aptitude but you should definitely prepare for it. At least extract some time of your daily routine to prepare for aptitude. It will give you some break from your core technical subjects and yet you are again preparing for your another GATE exam subject.

Fix your GATE 2020 score

There are three abstracts of questions that will be asked to you in GATE 2020:

1. Positive (The one you can answer correctly): If the questions are scoring don’t miss out on that because it will make you fall in the neutral category. This can boost your rank and improve score significantly.
2. Neutral (Chances are that you going to leave these questions): This category will make no harm to your performance but also won’t push you upward or boost your rank. So try to push yourself on the plus category.
3. Negative (You may answer them wrong): The proper red zone is here because at this level you won’t only lose the marks of your current question, you will also give yourself a negative of 0.25 marks if mention in question.

If your negative rate is too high try to avoid it because that could cost you more than it appears.

Preparation tips for GATE 2020

1. Start as soon as possible because it will always give you an edge over those of you who will start late. So don’t wait for six months programme. You are required to be serious about it.
2. Succeeding in GATE 2020 is all about discipline and consistency.
3. Have a fixed daily routine of studying with a to-do list of tasks. It will make you proactive and keep you away from procrastination.
4. List out your weaknesses, work on them and repeat to consistently improve your performance as well as your attitude towards the exam.
5. The selection of quality study material and textbooks is important at the beginning of your GATE preparation.

1. Prefer a good offline or online coaching class for GATE preparation they will help you in understanding concepts and solving them without any issue.
2. You can start your preparation from the books that you have followed for the undergraduate course.

Revision schedule for GATE 2020

Use the I111 method for revision. For instance, you read some content or topic of your subject. Revise it “Immediately” without looking at it. Then the second revision 1 hour later, then the third one falls after 1 week, 1 month and so on. This will help you to place your contents in short term memory to long term memory.

About the Author:

Shrikant Jha is an experienced developer and an Open-Source enthusiast.  He is currently pursuing B.Tech from Galgotias University and hails from Agra. He has always been passionate about hackathons and competitive coding. In his leisure time, he loves to read mythological books and practice yoga.