Engineering Entrance Exam

The Graduate Aptitude Test in Engineering GATE is an All-India examination administered and conducted in eight zones across the country by the GATE Committee comprising of Faculty members from IISc, Bangalore and other seven IITs on behalf of the National Coordinating Board, Department of Education, Ministry of Human Resources Development. The GATE score/rank is used for admissions to Post Graduate Programmes ME/M.Tech MS, Direct Ph.D in institutes like IITs and IISc, etc. With financial assistance offered by MHRD. PSUs too use the GATE scores for recruiting candidates for various prestigious jobs with attractive remuneration. In GATE examination, candidates can apply for only one of the 23 papers listed in the table given below. Candidates are expected to appear in a paper appropriate to the discipline of their qualifying degree. However, candidates are free to choose any paper according to their admission plan, keeping in mind the eligibility criteria of the institutions in which they wish to seek admission. For more details regarding the admission criteria in any particular institute, candidates are advised to refer to the websites of that particular institute. GATE exam is important because of below-mentioned factors:
M.Tech - Campus placements in National and International private or public companies
Several reputed PSUs and research organizations recruit on basis of GATE Score. I. e. IOCL, NTPC, BHEL, PGCIL, BARC, etc. Teaching: Professor, Asst. Professor at IITs, NITs, reputed educational institutes etc. Junior Research Fellow: ISRO, DRDO, BARC, CSIR, IITs etc. Senior Research Fellow: ISRO, DRDO, BARC, CSIR, IITs etc. Junior Research Associates/ Senior Project Associates
Scientists C grade jobs
Career in Research & Development
Technical value addition
Expertise in subject/domain specialisation.

Now, there is one more course called direct Ph.D which most of the students didn't know about. Direct Ph.D is the course which you can directly do after B.Tech/be degree. The admission for direct Ph.D is same as MS admission and it is now there in all NITs/IITs. In the respective IITs, you can fill the form and they will call you for the interview and written test and based on your performance you will get the college. The interview is related to basic maths and basic knowledge of subjects. In direct Ph.D also you can go for the interdisciplinary branch as it will be helpful in future. In direct Ph.D, you have to do coursework more as compared to regular Ph.D (after M.Tech) but you will save 2 years of M.Tech by taking admission in direct Ph.D and you will get more stipend as compared to MS/M.Tech.
Note: Prefer old IITs for direct Ph.D course as you will get more exposure more learning. For direct Ph.D there is one more option called conversion from M.Tech/MS programme to Ph.D. In this, if you join in any of the IITs/NITs for M.Tech/MS programme after completion of 1-year you can convert to direct Ph.D (CGPA required: 8.0 in 1st year) and you will start getting more stipend of INR 25000. If you will take admission in IIT Madras as a direct Ph.D, you will get 2 degrees after finishing i.e. MS+Ph.D.

After getting the rank, the first question which gets into the mind is what is the scope of M.Tech/MS? What will I do after M.Tech/MS? Shall I go for MS or M.Tech? Whether I will get the placement or not and which college and branch will be better for M.Tech/MS admission?
The scope of M.Tech: It's better to do M.Tech/MS from the reputed college like NITs and IITs otherwise if you will do from a private college or any govt university you will end up with same like finishing B.Tech and nothing in hand. There are a lot of opportunities after M.Tech/MS like placement, you can go for higher studies like Ph.D in IITs or you will get a chance to go abroad for Ph.D or you can join any R&D.
Benefits of doing M.Tech/MS from IITs and NITs is mainly the placement but the scenario of placement is good only in old 7 IITs and 2-3 NITs in other NITs only software companies visit like TCS, and Infosys which you will get after B.Tech. Also for that, you don't need M.Tech/MS degree.
If you will take admission in MTech:
My suggestion is if you are looking for placement after M.Tech prefer old IITs where you will get a good package of 10-15 LPA. Now, another question is with only very high gate score you will get M.Tech in old IITs then what to do? In that case, go for MS program.
If you are interested in higher studies like Ph.D then go for MS. f your score is low and you want to go for a good job then go for MS (hard work is more as compared to M.Tech) program as it is a research-oriented course.
As for the admission of MS, there will be an interview so if your gate score low applies for MS in old IITs so you will get a call for an interview and based on your performance you will get the admission. The MS interview will be based on basics of all subjects mostly basic maths.
M.Tech and MS program: It is same as M.Tech but it is a research-based course where you will learn more as compared to MTech but MS is not a fixed duration course as M.Tech like M.Tech, you will finish it in 2 years but for MS, the minimum duration is 3 years. The stipend for M.Tech and MS is same i.e 12500. But in MS, you will get a stipend up to 3 years only but it depends on your hard work you can finish it in 2 years also or 2.5 years also.
M.Tech, you have to do a lot of study (6-7 course in a semester) like B.Tech we used to do in 1the st year and 2nd year you have to do a project. But in MS, you have to do only 5 courses as it is a research-oriented program so your work is more on research.