TOPPERS FOR GATE 2015 - SUCCESS MANTRAS OF GATE CAREERS360
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Careers360
Success
Mantras of GATE
Toppers for
GATE 2015
A Career is a Life Success Mantras of GATE Toppers for GATE 2015
Contents
Introduction 3
GATE 2014 Topper Interviews:
1. Abinash Das - AIR 3,ECE 4
2. Aditya Gusain - AIR 5, Biotechnology 6
3. Ashish Behera - AIR 1, IE 9
4. Ankit Goyal - AIR 1, EE 12
5. Saurabh Sarda - AIR 3, CSE 15
6. Santosh Kumar Pabbineedi- AIR 141, EE 17
Must Read for GATE 2015: 21
Expert Opinion 22
GATE 2015 Preparation Guidelines 23
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A Career is a Life Success Mantras of GATE Toppers for GATE 2015
Introduction
G
ATE 2015 Online Tests start from January 31, 2015 and will be conducted on other three days namely February
1, 7 and 8, 2015. Candidates belonging to the EC, ME, CS, EE, CE disciplines will be accommodated in multiple
sessions as the applicants for these disciplines are more in numbers. Over the past many months, Careers360 has
conducted interviews with GATE Toppers from various disciplines bringing forth their preparation strategies, time manage-
ment techniques, important topics, books and more.
To enable all the GATE aspirants to avail these tips and guidelines from those students who have not only successfully
cracked the GATE exam but also have topped it, we have compiled all the interviews in this book. No matter what the disci-
pline, the essence of the preparation is the same- to do the best.
Success will never be a big step in the future; success is a small step taken just now.
The common tip from all the GATE Toppers is the intention to do well backed by an equal amount of hard work and perse-
verance. It is our sincere hope that these Topper interviews inspire you to do your best and that many more students like you
feature in our future interviews on GATE with stories of dedication and success.
All the Best!
Team Careers360.
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A Career is a Life Success Mantras of GATE Toppers for GATE 2015
A
binash Das who scored AIR 3 in EC in GATE 2014 Careers360: Were you decided about appearing for
spells out details of his GATE preparation. Curently GATE from your undergraduation days or did the idea
employed with HPCL which he joined through his come in the final year? When did you start your Prepara-
GATE scores, Abinash emphasizes the importance of strong tion for GATE? Did you follow any schedule?
conceptual base in the subject along with loads of practice
for success in GATE 2015. Read more about his preparation Abinash Das: I decided to appear for GATE when I
below. started my final year of engineering. I also started my prepa-
ration as soon as I decided that and no I did not follow any
schedule as such.
Careers360: Tell us something about yourself; Where
have you done your engineering from and in which
branch? Careers360: How many hours did you put in per day
and how did you manage it along with your engineering
Abinash Das: I am Abinash Das.I graduated from Biju studies?
Patnaik University of Technology (BPUT) in Electronics
and Telecom Engineering. Abinash Das: I put in approximate of 5-6 hours per day
for my GATE Preparation. It is a bit tight scheduling it with
engineering studies but can be managed if one is dedicated
Careers360: what was the GATE Paper you appeared and determined about it.
in? What rank did you get in GATE 2014?
Abinash Das: I appeared in Electronics and Communica- Careers360: Can you share any preparation strategies
tion and I secured AIR 3 in GATE 2014. with our readers? How to schedule study time and make
timetables?
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A Career is a Life Success Mantras of GATE Toppers for GATE 2015
Abinash Das: My strategy was to first cover the entire Abinash Das: Mock test are very important because they
GATE syllabus. Once I was good with my subject, I moved to help in improving Time management , subject concepts and
mock tests for practice. I then sat for as many mock tests as I also give you a understanding where you stand with repect
could while simulataneously studying to be thorough in the to the competition. It also motivates you to improve.I think
subject. I did not follow any timetable or schedule as such. I Previous year papers are very important but only solving
just went along with the prescribed syllabus. them cannot improve rank or scores. It is extremely impor-
tant to be strong in your concepts.
Careers360: Name some important Topics that you
feel are a must read for any student attempting GATE Careers360: Which books did you follow for GATE
exam? preparation?
Abinash Das: You should cover entire syllabus.There Abinash Das: I studied the Standard text books and RK
is nothing like important and unimportant. Every topic is Kanodia for my GATE Preparation. I think this is more than
important. So don’t leave any topic from the GATE syllabus. enough for preparation.
Try and cover the entire syllabus.
Careers360: Please suggest time management strate-
Careers360: What is your opinion about coaching? Is gies for GATE preparation?
it necessary? If yes, how has it helped you?
Abinash Das: whatever the time you have allotted for
Abinash Das: Coaching I feel is dependent upon each GATE Preparation, ensure that 60% of that time is devoted
individual. If you are good in the concepts ,you don’t need to solving MCQs and mock tests. Practice will make you bet-
any coaching. Joining a Test series would suffice but you ter butu only if you have studied the subject.
must try to score more in each test. I joined the Test Series
at GateForum to help me practice for the tests.
Careers360: Any message for the future aspirants?
Careers360: Since all the GATE exams are online Abinash Das: Give as many mock test as you can and
now, how mandatory is it for students to practice online always Try to perform better than your last test.Work hard
and how frequently? and smart.Best of Luck for GATE ……
Abinash Das: It is very important to practice online to get
accustomed to the online pattern. So one should give atleast
one test in a week to be used to the test pattern. It helps to
guage time management as well as the methodology to adopt.
Careers360: How important do you feel mock tests
are and why? Is it true that if one solves the previous
year question papers, there is a good chance of cracking
the exam successfully?
5 http://engineering.careers360.com
A Career is a Life Success Mantras of GATE Toppers for GATE 2015
A
ditya Gusain who secured an AIR 5 in Biotechnology Careers360: Were you decided about appearing for
in GATE 2014 speaks about his preparation efforts GATE from your undergraduation days or did the idea
and the strategies that aided in his success in qualify- come in the final year?
ing in the GATE exam with flying colours. Having completed
B.Tech in Biotechnology, Aditya believes that hard work and Aditya Gusain: From the early days of my undergradu-
planned preparation is the success mantra behind his suc- ation, I have been seeing my seniors preparing for GATE
cess in GATE 2014. Read on to know the GATE preparation exam and getting into IITs thereby opening better job oppor-
strategies and guidelines for success in GATE 2015 tunities for them. That is what made me decide to attempt
GATE and get better opportunities.
Careers360: Tell us something about yourself; where
have you done your engineering from and in which Careers360: When did you start your GATE prepara-
branch? tion? Any schedule that you have followed?
Aditya Gusain: I did my B.Tech in Biotechnology from Aditya Gusain: I started my GATE preparations after my
College of Biotechnology, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Univer- third year of engineering. I first divided the entire syllabus
sity of Agriculture and Technology, Meerut. into sections and then covered it part by part. While covering
every part, I also started solving problems related to the topic
to get an idea about the type of questions and topics often
Careers360: what was the GATE Paper you appeared asked in GATE exam. It was also a check on the syllabus I
in? What was the rank you scored? had covered.
Aditya Gusain: I appeared for GATE 2014 in Biotech-
nology. I scored an All India Rank of 5 in GATE 2014.
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A Career is a Life Success Mantras of GATE Toppers for GATE 2015
Careers360: How many hours did you put in per day ioinformatics and Mathematics. These topics carry heavy
and how did you manage it along with your engineering weightage. The other important thing to take care of is the
studies? numerical type questions. I would advise to solve as many as
numerical based problems in different subjects as possible to
Aditya Gusain: I feel 4-5 hours is sufficient for GATE get a grip on tackling them.
Preparation on a daily basis but being regular with the study
is extremely important.
Careers360: What is your opinion about coaching? Is
it necessary? If yes, how has it helped you?
Careers360: Can you share any preparation strategies
with our readers? How to schedule study time and make Aditya Gusain: I feel coaching is not that important
timetables? because your success always depends how sincere and honest
you are to yourself. If you are confused about how to study
Aditya Gusain: I believe each person has his own way and cover the syllabus then coaching classes are good as they
of learning and understanding. My strategy was first to be may give you a direction and guidance.
regular in my studies and preparation while being honest to
myself.I covered the whole syllabus in parts starting by cov-
ering important topics from different subjects in Biotechnol- Careers360: Since all the GATE exams are online
ogy along with regular practice of engineering mathematics now, how mandatory is it for students to practice online
and general aptitude. and how frequently?
Scheduling your time is really important because the lack Aditya Gusain: It is really to important to to practice
of proper management may leave you confused about the online for GATE now as all exams are online. I joined the
GATE exam with doubts like which topics to cover and what test series at GateForum and this helped me to get a regular
is not relevant for GATE exam.I would advise to always study check on how my preparations were going on and what more
2-3 subjects side by side.This would maintain your pace in was needed to better it.
covering the entire syllabus.
Time management is the most important factor in any exam
One month before GATE should be only for solving ques- and a test series gives you an idea on how to maintain a pace
tions, mock tests. During this time, it is better to start revision throughout the exam. Solving around 30-40 tests before
because trying to start any new subject will just be a waste of GATE will prepare you completely to face the GATE exam
your time.Just try to practice as many questions as you can. without any fear.
Joining test series especially online test series like GateFo-
rum will really help.
Careers360: How important do you feel mock tests
are and why? Is it true that if one solves the previous
Careers360: Name some important Topics that you year question papers, there is a good chance of cracking
feel are a must read for any student attempting GATE the exam successfully?
exam?
Aditya Gusain: If one sticks only to reading theoreti-
Aditya Gusain: Some important topics asked fre- cal parts of subjects, cracking GATE will be very difficult.
quently in GATE are Bioprocess Engineering, Genetics, As compared to the earlier years, GATE 2014 consisted of
7 http://engineering.careers360.comA Career is a Life Success Mantras of GATE Toppers for GATE 2015
mostly numerical type questions. The GATE Exam Pattern Careers360: Please suggest time management strate-
is changing year after year so it is very difficult to predict gies for GATE preparation?
which topics are most important. Solving mock tests give an
idea of the type of questions that could be asked.Exposure to Aditya Gusain: To score well and secure a good rank,
different kinds of problems will really help to perform better time management is extremely essential and this strat-
in the GATE exam. egy cannot be taught to anyone. I feel it all depends on how
important qualifying in GATE is for you.
Careers360: Which books did you follow for GATE I would advise to avoid wastage of time just before GATE
preparation? exam in frivolous activites because preparation for GATE
can also be fun.So try to enjoy it and your will find success.
Aditya Gusain: Some of the books I studied are:
F Principle of Bioprocess Engineering –P.Doran, Careers360: Any message for the future aspirants?
F Fundamentals of Biochemistry-Lehninger, Aditya Gusain: Never panic. GATE exam is very easy if
you are serious about it and work hard for it. Remember only
F Biotechnology-Pranav Kumar, hardwork pays, so just study and that too with fun .Never
think what is going to happen after that. This attitude is what
F Immunology –Kuby has really helped me to secure a good rank.You can succeed
too if you believe and work for it!
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shish Behera secured AIR 1 in GATE 2014 in Instru- Careers360: Were you decided about appearing for
mentation Engineering. Speaking of his GATE expe- GATE from your undergraduation days or did the idea
rience, Ashish who is currently doing his masters at come in the final year?
IIT Bombay emphasizes that a combination of practice and
a good conceptual base helps tremendously in cracking the Ashish Behera: Frankly the idea came in the final year. I
GATE exam successfully. Ashish has taken the help of the knew about GATE from my 2ndyear but the zeal to prepare
Test Series from THE GATE ACADEMY which he says has seriously started at the end of my third year. I wanted to
helped him practice well and to guage his preparation. Read build my career in core instrumentation. Placements from
on to know more… companies of instrumentation profile were not that many in
our campus so I decided to appear for GATE and achieve my
ambition there on.
Careers360: Tell us something about yourself; where
have you done your engineering from and in which
branch? Careers360: When did you start your GATE prepara-
tion? Any schedule that you followed?
Ashish Behera: I graduated this year in Electronics and
Instrumentation from BITS Pilani Goa Campus . I am cur- Ashish Behera: I started my GATE preparation seri-
rently pursuing my masters from IIT Bombay in Electronic ously in June 2013. I could do good because I took all my
Systems. core subjects seriously while they were being taught in my
3rd year. At BITS, all the core instrumentation courses are
taught in the 3rdyear.
Careers360: what was the GATE Paper you appeared
in? I had no specific schedule as such but yes I gave equal impor-
tance to both theory and practice.
Ashish Behera: I gave GATE 2014 in Instrumentation
Engineering and I secured AIR-1 in GATE 2014 exam .
9 http://engineering.careers360.comA Career is a Life Success Mantras of GATE Toppers for GATE 2015
Careers360: How many hours did you put in per day F Analog Electronics
and how did you manage it along with your engineering
studies? F Transducers
Ashish Behera: Like I said earlier, there was no specific F Digital Electronics
schedule. All I did was to ensure equal time for both theory
and practice everyday. At BITS, we didn’t have many courses
so I could focus properly both on GATE and my placements Careers360: What is your opinion about coaching? Is
at the same time. The courses that I had in my last semester it necessary? If yes, how has it helped you?
were the same as the GATE topics so it wasn’t so tough to
prepare. It was all in synch. My preparation helped for both. Ashish Behera: I don’t think coaching is necessary. There
are a lot of resources available on the net which can help you
with the preparation as well enhance your knowledge. For
Careers360: Can you share any preparation strategies eg.- NPTEL videos. If you feel that you are strong in your
with our readers? concepts from what you were taught in your college then you
can do away with coaching. However if your basic concepts
Ashish Behera: Prepare well in advance and give equal are not clear and you think coaching will help you to devote
importance to all GATE topics. Be well versed with the pat- some serious preparation time for GATE then you must go
tern and give enough tests so that you have a feel of the actual for it.
GATE exam before appearing for it.
I only took the test series of THE GATE academy as I got
Some important mantras: some good reviews about it from my seniors and friends. I
took the test series as it was very essential to be in touch with
F During preparation don’t saturate your day with just theory as all the theory when my focus was on practice. It helped me to
practice is very important to strengthen your concepts as well as revise my weak points and strengthen them as well .
your confidence.
F Give as many tests as you can to help you to prepare a strategy for Careers360: How important do you feel mock tests
your final exam. are and why?
So friends Plan and Practice Well! Ashish Behera: Mock tests are essential to everyone’s
preparation for GATE. Some reasons are
Careers360: Name some important Topics that you a) When you attempt mock tests with an all India ranking, you
feel are a must read for any student attempting GATE can gauge your performance against thousands of test givers. So
exam? choose a test series which has a huge participation base
Ashish Behera: For Instrumentation all subjects are b) It helps you to Strengthen your confidence in subjects. Give
important but one should be strong in the the below men- chapter wise tests after you have thoroughly prepared a subject.
tioned topics -
c) It helps you to prepare a strategy for the final exam. You can know
F Control Theory
10 http://engineering.careers360.comA Career is a Life Success Mantras of GATE Toppers for GATE 2015
which strategy will help you in the exam. Careers360: Any message for the future aspirants?
Ashish Behera: Believe in yourself and prepare with full
Careers360: Which books did you follow for GATE dedication . If you want to be one of the best, nothing can stop
preparation? you . All the best !
Ashish Behera: I followed my college textbooks only .
They were all sufficient for GATE preparation. Some are:
Analog- Sedra Smith, Transducers- Doeblin, Control- Gopal
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A
nkit Goyal is the holder of the AIR 1 for EE in must be well versed with the concepts by then. Starting
GATE 2014. Not a stranger to the exam, Ankit first everything from scratch without knowledge of the basic
attempted GATE in 2013 where he secured an AIR 8. concepts can be very difficult to manage in the final year as
A gold medalist from IIT Indore, Ankit is currently focused there are a lot of exams, projects and other things that go on
in bringing his GATE experience and expertise to the fore in parallel.
with his own company Kreatryx which deals with innovative
content exclusively for GATE aspirants in EE and ECE.
Read below his insightful tips for GATE 2015 Preparation Careers360: What should the preparation be like in
the initial stages say September when the Gate Applica-
tion is announced? Pls elaborate as follows
Careers360: When should the GATE preparation ide-
ally start for any candidate during the under graduation Ankit Goyal:
years? Is it enough if a candidate prepares for GATE in
the final year? 6 months before the exam: Students should focus on two
subjects together during this period. One subject that is their
Ankit Goyal: Ideally the GATE targeted preparation strong point and where they can focus on problem solving
should begin only in the final year but students should try to with no theory reading required. The second subject should
be well versed with the subjects while studying them in the be one where they need to study from scratch. For this, they
UG curriculum. This way they won’t be over-burdened and should schedule a timeline of say 2-3 weeks to complete that
can easily manage. During the first three years, they should subject. The timetable should be such that the total course is
not concentrate on GATE Questions but create notes and completed approximately 2 months before the GATE exam
build concepts from Standard Textbooks. They would do including problem solving.
well to solve problems that are given at the end of Standard
Textbooks to improve their problem solving skills. 3 months before the exam: During this period, students
should focus wholly on problem solving and not on theory.
During the final year students must focus solely on Problem Students should clear all the doubts in the subjects they
Solving as only that can only help them get through. They have completed. An important point here is to remember the
mistakes made during the practice sessions and not repeat
12 http://engineering.careers360.comA Career is a Life Success Mantras of GATE Toppers for GATE 2015
them. This way, they can move forward else they will be stuck needed for GATE Preparation?
at the same point.
Ankit Goyal: As mentioned in my blog, I find that the fol-
A month before the exam: In the final month, students lowing books are very useful
should focus on test series and more so on solving full tests as
that is the only method where they can revise all the subjects F Advanced Engineering Mathematics by E.Kreyszig
in a matter of few hours. This will help them gain confidence.
Here they should note that an analysis of their performance F Engineering Circuit Analysis by Hayt and Kemmerly
after each test is absolutely necessary as this helps identify
the weak areas to enable improvement in that subject in the F Signals and Systems by Oppenheim and Wilsky
next test.
F Electrical Machinery by P.S.Bimbhra
Careers360: Is it enough for the student to refer to F Power Systems Engineering by Nagrath and Kothari
their engineering (UG) books or is there a need to delve
into other books too? F Power Electronics by P.S.Bimbhra
Ankit Goyal: For conceptual reading, the books in UG cur- F Control Systems Engineering by Nagrath and Gopal
riculum will suffice but for core subjects, students must read
other books so that their knowledge will improve. This also F Electrical and Electronic Measurement and Instrumentation by
helps during the interviews for M.Tech or PSU. In addition, AK Sawhney
students must follow an objective book for problem solving.
F Electronic Devices and Circuit Theory by Boylestad - here my tip
to EE aspirants is please do not study about devices they are not
Careers360: What is the difference in the B.Tech/B.E covered in EE curriculum
curriculum and the GATE Syllabus?
F For Digital Electronics, refer to Digital Design by M.Morris
Ankit Goyal: The syllabus is not very much different but Mano
the approach is entirely different. BE curriculum comprises
of mostly theoretical questions and that requires memoriz- F For Problem Solving GATE Electrical by RK Kanodia
ing concepts while in GATE the entire focus is on problem
solving. It does not matter much whether you know the
practical or theoretical details of that concept. Careers360: Do you feel coaching would help a stu-
dent preparing for GATE ? How?
This sounds confusing but the gist is that concepts that are
taught in B.E are essential to understand the subject and for Ankit Goyal: I feel coaching does help out the students
GATE we need to build on that to solve the non-standard in the present scenario as good faculty is lacking in many
cases that are generally asked in the exam. Memorizing will private colleges therefore students are weak conceptually
not help at all. Understanding will ensure that the concepts and application wise. Attending a coaching class helps them
are applied to get to the answer. learn the concepts from experienced faculty to develop their
technical knowledge. Another advantage is that they also
Careers360: Suggest some books that are good and learn about the exam, preparation tips and problem solving
13 http://engineering.careers360.comA Career is a Life Success Mantras of GATE Toppers for GATE 2015
skills which does help immensely in an exam like GATE. strategies for GATE preparation?
Ankit Goyal: There is ample time for study in a single
Careers360: What is the importance of mock tests, day only if students don’t waste their time. Students must
sample papers? It is generally said that solving all the try to separate the time devoted to co-curricular activities
previous year question papers is extremely helpful for and study – only then he/she can maximize their efficiency
candidates? What is your opinion on it? thus completing a task in lesser time. Self confidence builds
up along with efficiency.
Ankit Goyal: Mock Tests are the most crucial part of
students’ preparation and they are indispensable. I can state
to such an extent that if you haven’t started giving mock tests Careers360: Any other guidelines for GATE exam?
by January then you are actually going down in terms of AIR.
There are many benefits of mock tests as listed below: Ankit Goyal: For Numerical Type Problems - try to make
lesser approximations and do the calculation in the last step
F Learning about time-management only. This will reduce the chances of mistakes as well as the
number of calculations required. Till the last step one must
F Revising all the concepts in a matter of 3 hours try to solve in terms of notations rather than actual values.
F Judging Yourself on all India level before actual exam It is essential to write the solutions clearly to save time dur-
ing verification else the entire problem needs to be solved
F Developing a strategy to tackle the paper that best suits you. again. Don’t think that the time spent in writing is a waste as
that will be very less compared to time required for revising
F Due to online exam you need to get acquainted with the online the problem. A check formula would be as follows
exam atmosphere.
Total time for Problem = Time for Solution + Time for Revi-
sion therefore we must reduce time for revision.
Careers360: Since all the GATE exams are online
now, how mandatory is it for students to practice online I wish all the best to the GATE 2015 aspirants.
and how frequently?
Ankit Goyal: This year the biggest change is the intro-
duction of online calculators. The sample papers with this
feature have not been released by the GATE authorities. So I
would suggest that students should try and solve some offline
problems with the help of online calculator to get a grip and
increasing your mouse using speed. You need not do too
many such problems in a single day. Even if you solve 5 such
problems each day, that will help to speed up your calcula-
tions for GATE exam and save valuable time.
Careers360: Please suggest time management
14 http://engineering.careers360.comA Career is a Life Success Mantras of GATE Toppers for GATE 2015
G
ATE 2014 Topper Preparation Tips- Careers360 started concentrating wholly on GATE preparation.
brings yet another interview under the GATE 2015
Preparation Series for the aspirants who wish to
attempt the GATE 2015 exam. Saurabh Sarda currently is Careers360: When did you start your GATE prepara-
pursuing his M.Tech at IIT Bombay. In this interview, Sau- tion? How many hours in a day did you put in?
rabh Sarda who holds the All India Rank 3 for GATE 2014
in Computer Science Engineering tells us how he prepared Saurabh Sarda:I started my GATE Preparation in 2013.
for the GATE 2014 exam. Read on to know the details below. I had no fixed schedule while I was working. But after I quit,
I put in a maximum of 8 to 10 hours. It is highly difficult to
put more than that I feel. The mind and brain can only take so
Careers360: Saurabh - Tell us something about yourself: much.If you seriously put the effort, then this kind of a daily
schedule should get you good marks.
Saurabh Sarda: I completed my B.Tech from Visves-
varaya National Institute of Technology (VNIT), also known
as NIT Nagpur in 2012. Afterwords, I started working at Careers360: Do you think Final year students can manage
Nvidia Graphics, Pune and held a job there for 15 months. I GATE Preparation along with their engineering studies?
appeared for GATE in 2014 and scored AIR 3 in CSE. I am
currently pursuing M.Tech at IIT Bombay. Saurabh Sarda:If they are serious about their prepara-
tion, yes they can. Actually I would advise that one should
work for an year so that one can know how the industry
Careers360: When did you decide to appear for works and then decide. Its tough though as the final year of
GATE? Why? engineering is a hectic one with projects and many things
that normal study is tough.
Saurabh Sarda: Well I started working after graduation
to just see what life would be like. A year later, I realized that But yes there are many who have done it.
I wanted to do M.Tech. It would be good for my career and I
was interested in it. So, I got down to preparation for GATE.
I realized that working and studying was really going to be a Careers360: Can you share any preparation strategies
problem if I wanted a good GATE score. So I quit my job and with our students?
15 http://engineering.careers360.comA Career is a Life Success Mantras of GATE Toppers for GATE 2015
Saurabh Sarda: By July 2013, I realized that I had no through the mock tests. Also we can know the strengths and
contact with books for the past year while I was working. So weaknesses so we can improve.
I joined GATE Forum for their weekend classes. I joined the
classes to recollect and refresh the engineering concepts that
I had learnt during my engineering days. The mock tests that Careers360: Which books did you follow for GATE
I did there were useful to me in improving my speed during preparation?
the exam.
Saurabh Sarda: For Networks, Operating Systems books
I would suggest that concepts have to be strong. First read by A.Tanenbaum and other standard books. I had the same
them, know them and then start with tests. Make sure to do books during my engineering days so I have used them. The
the previous year papers. standard books available in the market for GATE prepara-
tion for CSE are good.
Careers360: Some important Topics that you feel are
a must read for any student attempting GATE for CS Careers360: Many students have come back with a
feedback about numerical questions being tough? How
Saurabh Sarda:Computer Science is all based on Math- do you suggest students should prepare for these ques-
ematics so if you are strong in Mathematics, you can crack tions
the GATE exam. Computer Science is all about logic and
reasoning which is why a strong mathematical background Saurabh Sarda: See the MCQs have the answers in front.
will ease the path. You just have to choose so you know if your answer doesn’t
match, you can rework the answer. But for numerical ques-
GATE questions for Engineering Mathematics are very easy tions, the answer is not given. It is never easy then. Moreover,
such that if you have prepred well for JEE, you can do these the questions are tricky such that they question your grasp of
questions well. I don’t know why but this section is pretty the concepts and the way you apply them.
simple.
Here again the mock tests are useful. So if your concepts are
clear you must then do mock tests, previous year papers and
Careers360: How important do you feel mock tests know how to apply these concepts.
are and why?
Saurabh Sarda:With the pattern change in 2013 and now Careers360: Any message for the future aspirants?
the online tests, the GATE exam has changed completely. I
attempted GATE in 2012 too after my B.Tech and now I don’t Saurabh Sarda: GATE is a devil but a known devil. Study
see any similarity between the two and my past experience was and be through with your concepts. Practice is the key for
no good for me.Check here for the GATE 2015 Exam Pattern speed improvement and time management.
Mock Tests are important and students should practice as From November end, I just sat and did the mock tests, pre-
much as they can. In fact I finished my concept brushing, vious year papers and nothing else. So candidates should
reading for GATE by October and then on it was practice, seriously practice the previous year papers. If you do well in
practice for me. I improved my speed and I really mean that them, a good score in GATE is assured but to do that, again
as I completed my GATE 2014 exam within 2 hours. Time the concepts have to be in place. So there is no easy shortcut
management is one of the most valuable lesson that is given method to this. Hard work is needed along with serious study.
16 http://engineering.careers360.comA Career is a Life Success Mantras of GATE Toppers for GATE 2015
S
anthosh Kumar Pabbineedi secured an AIR 141 in Careers360: what was the GATE Paper you appeared
GATE 2014 for Electrical Engineering. The special in? What rank did you get in GATE 2014?
factor about his success is that he started very late
somewhere in November 2013 with his preparation for Santhosh Kumar: I appeared in Electrical Engineering
GATE 2014 but turned to be successful at cracking it with and I secured AIR 141 in GATE 2014 and a score of 835.
extremely good results. In his words, Success comes only if
you want it. Check out his success mantras and analysis for
GATE 2015. Careers360: Why did you decide to appear for GATE
2014 again?
Careers360: Tell us something about yourself; Where Santhosh Kumar:I wanted a good government job pref-
have you done your engineering from and in which erably in a leading PSU. So GATE seemed the best path. All
branch? the good PSUs were recruiting on the basis of GATE scores.
Santhosh Kumar: I completed my B.Tech in 2012 from
Sri Sai Aditya Institute of Science and Technology, Kaki- Careers360: Considering that you started with very
nada. Then I worked for a year at Nations’s Pride Energy little time left for the exam which many start months
Systems, then moved to Kakinada Institute of Engineering ago, how many hours did you put in per day and how did
and Technology(KIET). I appeared for GATE in 2013 and you manage it?
secured AIR 1650.
Santhosh Kumar: I put in an approximate of 10-12 hours
On November 2, 2013, I decided to give a good shot at GATE. per day for my GATE Preparation. In my place, I would say
I had just 114 days to prepare. that I was determined to do well and that meantEat, Sleep,
17 http://engineering.careers360.comA Career is a Life Success Mantras of GATE Toppers for GATE 2015
Dream GATE only. Santhosh Kumar: For any serious GATE aspirant, time
shouldn’t matter. 10 hours and such doesn’t matter in such
I put myself in a room with a chair, papers for notes, collected situation. I am saying this as time is a constraint right now
textbooks needed and armed myself with nptel video lectures if you consider that GATE 2015 starts on January 31, 2015.
and started my preparation. I have been a topper since high
school and I am pretty dedicated. We have now 60 days. February should not be considered.
for preparation. That should be for problems and practice
Careers360: You have taken no coaching for your Preparation should be within 40 days for analysis in a cycle:
GATE preparation? How did you manage? Learn--> Test-->Analyze--->Improve.
Santhosh Kumar: I am completely against coaching. You learn the topic, take a mock test from the problems at the
I didn’t even think of it. With coaching I feel things are cut end of the chapter/topic, analyse strictly and frankly where
dried and given on a plate to you. That’s not learning. If I do it the weakness lies and then improve on that weakness. See
on my own, I learn. Its all about basics. You have to be strong the first learning session takes maybe 10 days, first revision
with your basics and that has to be learnt. should take 2 days, 3rdshould take lesser.
When I started, I had no clue what I should do and what
not. I approached Sadhu Pavan Kumar who secured AIR 3 in
GATE 2011. You see I didn’t know him (he belongs to JNTU, Then the last 20 days left from the 60 days should be used
Kakinada and my college is affiliated to it) but I mailed him to attempt mock tests. Students must attempt atleast 2 tests
and he answered back with tips on what to prepare and what similar to the actual GATE exam. This is to enable them to
not; simple clear guidance. It was helpful. acclimatize to the GATE exam environment. The other days
are for practice and more practice. Practice all the problems
I had support in the form of exchanges with similar minded you can lay your hands on.Revision is the key at this stage.
people on facebook. I had good friends who were there with
me and were also in the same mould. It was tough but not The last 10 to 12 days should be utilized to improve accuracy
impossible. These things matter a lot. and time management. This is pretty important. Practice
here is the key. Not everyone goes with the aim to attempt all
questions accurately.
Careers360: So, in essence students must really know
their basics and practice the problems therein.
Careers360: How should one schedule answering the
Santhosh Kumar: Yes. Students must know their basics GATE exam – which section to attempt first and which
well. They can’t go forward without that. If their basics are next?
good, they practice problems a lot, solve previous years
GATE and IES question Papers, they stand a good chance of Santhosh Kumar: This is dependent on the student. My
scoring below an AIR below 300. analysis of GATE shows a score of 60 marks will fetch a rank
below 200. So target it like that and you should have a clear
cut agenda of how you will attempt the exam. My advice is
Careers360: Can you share any preparation strategies attempt the 1 mark questions first. Then move on to the 2
with our readers? How to schedule study time and make marks and other questions.
timetables?
18 http://engineering.careers360.comA Career is a Life Success Mantras of GATE Toppers for GATE 2015
It is a general thing that one must read all questions but there that we cant really hop back to questions we feel need more
is no hard fast rule that one must attempt every question and time to solve or leave for review. Suppose you answer some
solve it. My aim in GATE 2014 was to answer 40 questions questions from say Q 1 to 10 and then you skip Q 11 to attempt
accurately. The target simply can be answer 20 questions of later because you feel you can answer it but it requires a bit of
1 mark each and schedule to answer 20 questions of 2 marks time. Now once you answer many questions after that. Then
and mixed marks. Linked answers don’t fetch you negative the problem comes that you don’t know which question you
marks if the first answer is correct. left to attempt later. True that it shows all questions but you
should remember which question number. Now in an exam
The numerical questions asked I feel are basic and nothing like GATE, that is a major problem. There is no time to waste
much to worry about. If you actually plan the exam down to in searching for this.
the last dot, you can score an AIR below 200.
Important: My advice, use the scribble pad they give you
to note the question number which you feel should be
Careers360: Name some important Topics that you attempted later and you save a lot of time getting back to it
feel are a must read for any student attempting GATE when you have time else you will be left searching. Other
exam in Electrical Engineering? than that, I really don’t envisage any other problems with
the online tests.
Santhosh Kumar: Ideally you should cover the entire
syllabus.but since there is a time constraint, one must choose.
I would suggest emphasis on the following: Careers360: What do you feel may be a tough thing in
GATE 2015?
F Network Analysis
Santhosh Kumar: I think the online calculator may
F Control Systems be a problem simply because we don’t have a standard one
prescribed. I have found 6 types so far. So how does a student
F Digital Electronics practice on this now? Even IITs have no prescribed online
calculator. So we have to watch on that front seeing that we
F Power Electronics don’t know what type will be available for students during
the exam.
F Machines
F After this do either Machine or Power Systems and not both. Careers360: How important do you feel mock tests
See there is not enough time to see through both these topics. So are and why? Is it true that if one solves the previous
choose one and concentrate on it. year question papers, there is a good chance of cracking
the exam successfully?
Careers360: Since all the GATE exams are online Santhosh Kumar: Mock test are a must. They allow you
now, how mandatory is it for students to practice online to know what the exam will be like. They are also the litmus
and how frequently? tests for knowing where you stand in terms of your prepara-
tion. Anyone who wishes to crack GATE has to practice with
Santhosh Kumar: It is mandatory to practice with the mock tests and sample papers. That is mandatory I feel and
online tests. I would like to bring an important point here to gives a lot of clues to the aspirants on how the exam will be
the fore. See the problem with the online tests like GATE is like.
19 http://engineering.careers360.comA Career is a Life Success Mantras of GATE Toppers for GATE 2015
Click here to download the Previous year GATE Question F Transient Analysis Of Electric Power Circuits by Arieh L Shen-
Papers kmann and also Chakrabarthi
F MicroProcessors :- Ramesh s Goanker
Careers360: Which books did you follow for GATE
preparation? F Digitals :- Morris Mono
Santhosh Kumar: Well here is the list below. I would F Analog :- Boylestad
suggest- keep one standard book and one reference book.
F Fields :- Hayt n Sadiku
F Electrical Machines :- PS Bhimbra & JB Guptha for concepts
(Text books) F Signals N Systems :- Oppenhium for Reference, Nagoor Kani
F Reference for Syn & Induct machines, transformers): Perfor-
mance of Alternating Current machines by M.g Careers360: Any advice for the future aspirants?
F Reference for DC machines: Performance of Direct current Santhosh Kumar: Revision is the key along with practice
Machines tests. It is important to revise atleast twice before the exam.
Also cracking GATE is no joke so try this only if you are
F Bl Theraja ( problems) serious and willing to give your hundred percent to it.Only a
dedicated student can be successful at qualifying with good
F Power Sysytems :- Jb Guptha & CL Wadhwa scores.
F Power Electronics :- MH Rashid for begineers. Here I would like to mention that I have a facebook pagehtt-
ps://www.facebook.com/forjuniors. I answer queries, help
F Measurements :- Sawhney . Tip: Use the internet to look and out other students who seek my help.
study on internal structures of Instruments
F Control Systems :- Nagrath Gopal , Jayrath
F Networks :- Hayt E Kemmerly till transients (for Reference)
20 http://engineering.careers360.comA Career is a Life Success Mantras of GATE Toppers for GATE 2015 Must Read for GATE 2015: GATE 2015 Mock Test GATE 2015 Exam Pattern GATE 2015 Sample Papers GATE 2015 GATE 2014 Official Website Follow us on Facebook for all the latest updates 21 http://engineering.careers360.com
A Career is a Life Success Mantras of GATE Toppers for GATE 2015
Expert Opinion & Guideline
GATE 2015 Preparation Tips-
Vishvadeep Gothi, Subject Matter Expert,
CSE, THE GATE ACADEMY
GATE 2015 Preparation Tips and Guidelines-
Nitin Rakesh Prasad, Director,
THE GATE ACADEMY
GATE 2015 Preparation Tips and Guidelines
from Jitendra Sinha Director
GATE Forum
GATE 2015 Preparation Tips from
Sumeet Kumar Sar –
Faculty (ECE), GATE forum
22 http://engineering.careers360.comA Career is a Life Success Mantras of GATE Toppers for GATE 2015
Preparation Guidelines:
GATE 2015 Preparation Guidelines for
Chemical Engineering
GATE 2015 Preparation Guidelines for
Instrumentation Engineering
GATE 2015 Preparation Guidelines for
Electrical Engineering
23 http://engineering.careers360.comA Career is a Life Success Mantras of GATE Toppers for GATE 2015
GATE 2015 Preparation Guidelines
for Electronics & Communication
Engineering
GATE 2015 Preparation Guidelines for
Computer Science Engineering
GATE 2015 Preparation Guidelines for
Mechanical Engineering
24 http://engineering.careers360.comYou can also read
