Students’ Speak: Tips to manage GATE preparation along with work

By: Abdullah Salman

If you're in a 9 am-6 pm job, make sure that you don’t lollygag around after office hours. Try to study for a minimum of three hours daily during weekdays, additionally to studying from notes.

Every year, only a handful of candidates qualify GATE, a number that is only a fraction when compared to the number of students appearing for the exam. Only a few who qualify this exam burn the midnight oil. The point is that if you smartly utilise your time, great dividends are often reaped. Here is how:

If you are not heavily loaded with work at the office, see if you can make out time for study. Make it a habit to keep notes with you of the topic you plan to study that day. You can also jot important formulae and equations that you simply think are important.

If you're in a 9 am-6 pm job, make sure that you don’t lollygag around after office hours. Try to study for a minimum of three hours daily during weekdays, additionally to studying from notes. During weekends, attempt to study and cover the maximum amount of syllabus. But for that to happen, you have to cut down on distractions such as social media, smartphone, etc. Don’t miss on your regular revision.

If you need some inspiration, here is Rohit Sachdeva AIR 93 (CE), who refused to be slowed down by his circumstances and made the most of his spare time to come out a winner.

A point on short notes: Once you are reading or solving a question, write the details. Since notes are your own thing, you can experiment and add figures and illustrations to form learning fun, easy and to assist your memory.

Handwritten notes: These will help you like wonders. If you are smart together with your notes, you'll get the whole syllabus covered in them. Yes, every now then you would possibly need to revisit the textbooks.

Weekend coaching: These will assist you to discover your feet. If you've got lost touch with a number of the GATE subjects, you would possibly be a touch rusty and would like to join a weekend coaching to wipe off the dust. These days most of the main cities have coaching centres. But before joining, discuss your situation with the coaching institute and inspect their teaching manuals.

Self-preparation: Coaching can be a double-edged sword. For example, coaching is meant for group teaching, so if you go alongside the group all is well and good. So, whether you are doing coaching or not, the main thrust of your preparation should revolve around self-study. Yes, you'll believe coaching material if you would like. But the driving force should be you, yourself. Effective self-study may be a composite of the many related things:

• Planning: Planning involves deciding the flow of study -- What and when to review, and for how long. If you don’t, you would possibly find yourself practising question you already know again and again, while ignoring weak areas. For example, if you picking a specific subject fast, you would possibly be got to allocate the spare time to another subject that needs attention.
• Execution: Planning would mean nothing if it's not supported by proper execution. So, if you aim to try to sample papers of GATE at a selected time, don’t push it back. It may be unavoidable sometimes, but make it a thumb rule to stay to an idea. Also, when studying take notes; they are handy elements as you'll undergo details without having to travel through large blocks of text.
• Revision: Do timely revision, it will save time. During revision, you must note your progress and determine which areas needless and which areas need more revision. Also, after sufficient revision, if you are feeling confident a few topics, you'll reduce the frequency of revision and move to another topic.

About the Author:

Abdullah Salman M. is currently pursuing an MBA in General Management from TSM, Madurai. He has 15 months of work experience as a Network Engineer. He hails from Vellore, Tamil Nadu and has previously completed BE (ECE), from Anna University, Chennai.