GATE

First things first, separate your college work from GATE preparation. Try completing your college work during your class hours, so that you can utilise it for GATE preparation at home. Attend your class lectures honestly (to score a good CGPA equally important, especially for GATE PSUs) and grasp the concepts right at that time, so that you can implement them while solving GATE questions. Here are some quick tips and hacks that you can incorporate while preparing for GATE with college -

• Start right from your college year, as mentioned above. Look closely at the formula, concepts and fundamentals. Build your concepts from the start. 
• Take coaching classes to get a practical understanding of the GATE topics.
• Make notes of everything you find useful.
• Use Saturday and Sunday for question solving and revision of the topics that you've studied in class. By doing this, you are also preparing for the semester exams.  
• Implement a smart study routine. Around 7 to 8.5 CGPA is enough for PSUs and campus placements.

Lastly, stay consistent, aim to build foundation and you are good to go for cracking GATE. All the best!

IIT Guwahati will be conducting the GATE 2026 exam on February 7, 8, 14, and 15. Utilise these 4 to 5 months in the best way. Here is a quick yet effective GATE preparation plan that can help you score well in the exam. 

• Starting from November to December, start covering at least two subjects per day. Pick your notes and formula handbook and run through it. Pick videos for a detailed explanation. After covering that, try explaining the concept to yourself for understanding.
• From January, take full-time mock tests and sample papers to check your performance. Do not forget to download your admit card, the GATE admit card 2026 releases on January 2. 
• Last and final month, dedicate to revision and only revision. Solve GATE question papers again, which you find you made more mistakes. 

You are preparing for GATE, and not implementing discipline and consistency can lead to silly yet heavy mistakes, which can directly impact your scores and rank in the GATE exam. Here are some common mistakes that aspirants mainly make in their GATE preparation -

• Avoiding understanding the exam pattern and syllabus - randomly starting their GATE preparation can waste a lot of time and miss out on all the important topics that they should have considered as a priority. 
• Not creating a structured timetable.
• Not solving GATE PYQs and
• Neglecting engineering mathematics and general aptitude.

Besides that, not spending time on other topics (with less weightage), not taking care of health and sleep schedule. 

The GATE mock tests are dummy test papers that give the experience of attempting the real exam. The mock tests are like sample papers that reflect the difficulty level and pattern of the exam. GATE aspirants must keep up the habit of solving mock tests as they come with several benefits, such as -

• Since they mimic the real exam. You get to understand the GATE paper structure and format.
• You get an idea of what kind of questions are asked in the exam. 
• Check your performance analysis and see the improvement in how you score in the test. 

All in all, mock tests improve your time management and accuracy skills. So, give as many GATE mock tests you can.