GATE Guidance

In my third year of college (2nd  year was COVID so fortunately that left me a lot of time to do GATE) I appeared for GATE ME 2022 by IIT Kharagpur and secured a rank of 2657. But it was not enough to get into some of the top IITs/IISc. So, in my final year I prepared for GATE ME 2023 along with placements (placed in Research role in CEAT, Halol, Vadodara at 6LPA as Research Engineer). Here is a guide on how I cracked GATE ME 2023 AIR - 26 and GATE XE AIR - 30.

Cracking GATE is an art of striking balance between problem solving and abstracting concepts. Do as many problems as possible, making short notes repeatedly, learning concepts from each problem you solve (I used to write the concept that I learned from each problem in the margin of my books). Once you solve enough problems you will notice that each of concepts falls into a few patterns (or bins). At first this method of problem solving might even feel slow but eventually patterns will emerge and you will start seeing them in each problem gaining speed in problem solving. For solving problems, I used these resources and in the same order as noted below:

1. Bits and Bytes: This will give you a comprehensive idea of the range of possible standard questions from each and every possible topic in each of the subjects. It is a must (although it contains some errors). This is a good starting point in order to clear the concepts and get accustomed with the possible variations of questions and their varieties. Spend time on these questions. Understand the concepts. Each question offers a new way to think about the concept. Take as much time as needed to solve each of these questions.

2. Solve Exergic Question Bank: For certain important topics, it contains the toughest questions possible, thus clearing in depth knowledge of the important topics in GATE. Take time to solve these, they also offer clarity of concepts on certain topics.

3. Solve Made Easy Gate Books: This does not contain many problems from each topic but still are good enough to clear concepts (if any are not cleared even after solving above sources). It is not a must, and one can skip this if he/she is thorough with Bits and Bytes and is confident enough on all the important topics.

4. Previous year questions from ESE prelims (by Made Easy): This is optional too. I solved this to get a good grasp on formulas. This contains questions which are not much relevant to GATE since they are very short and could be solved within a minute and are quite easy. But still, it is important to recall formulas from memory during GATE within very short time. This helps in solving that problem by helping you memorize the formulas through their repeated applications. I suggest doing these problems under time pressure. This is a good starting point to get used to the time constraint which one faces during GATE exam.

Take Test Series, especially Exergic Test series, the ones who are consistently scoring among the top 50 in Exergic Test Series are sure to get a good GATE rank. Other than that, also take Test Series from Made Easy and ACE Academy (This test series are not specifically made keeping GATE exam in mind and typically involve lengthy multi-level concept problems but are useful to get a different flavor of questions from the standard ones and clear multiple concepts at once. But don't spend significant time on these.) Use this to get a flavor of non-regular (ESE Mains level) questions in GATE but do not spend much time since it's not very relevant to GATE but they do help clearing many concepts showing connection between multiple concepts which may help in GATE).

Checkout these videos where I have shared my strategy. I was also featured on my college website for this achievement.

Here are my notes which I used for problem solving in GATE along with questions which I found interesting at the end of each notes. Happy Learning!

Along with all this, I also have a 9.08 CGPA in my Bachelors in Mechanical Engineering and also a Minor in Computer Science and Engineering (8 CGPA) from Nirma University, Ahmedabad. There is no trick, no other alternative to hardwork. It requires dedication and patience. Believe in the process, behind every overnight success is decades of hardwork and dedication. Keep pursuing. Enjoy learning!!

 Feel free to reach out to me for further guidance by contacting on one of the below social media platforms. I would be happy to help.