Salient Features of GATE exam

Graduate Aptitude Test in Engineering – popularly referred to as GATE has come to be known as de-facto benchmark for engineering students which is accepted throughout India by IISC, IITs and all leading universities & Technical Institutions. Some of the foreign universities like Singapore Technical University also recognise and accept GATE score.

Earlier GATE used to be a technical knowledge checking examination for admission in any of the Post Graduate Technical Course,  but starting from 2010, with the inclusion of  reasoning, aptitude and verbal ability areas in the examination has made GATE to act as a substitute for recruitment for Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs) as well.

A good score holder in GATE is expected to posses the following qualities:
•    Sound theoretical concepts of respective stream due to 70% weight age of technical syllabus.
•    Good analytical Skills due to presence of engineering mathematics, Numerical answer type problems, Linked answer type questions & common data question.
•    Good logical skills, as 15% of the paper consist of Reasoning, Aptitude & English questions.
•    Good problem solving approach as test paper also has mathematics as a major subject.
•    Nationwide competence in technical knowledge. 

Salient features of GATE exam are:
•    All India level examination.
•    Every year nearly 1 million students appear in the examination.
•    The exam is conducted by a board consisting of 7 Old IITs & IISC Bangalore.
•    GATE Score is valid for 3 years effective 2015 (applicable only for M. Tech. Admissions), PSUs accept GATE score only for the year of recruitment i.e. for recruitments for 2015, score of only GATE 2015 is valid.
•    GATE is an Online exam with one or more sessions for a stream depending on the number of candidates for a specific stream. e.g. GATE 2015 for ME stream was conducted in 3 sessions spread over 2 days.
•    GATE score can also be used for JRF-GATE positions in various CSIR laboratories.
•    GATE also opens the gateway for joining India’s premier nuclear research facility i.e. Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC).
•    6 of the 7 MAHARATNAs besides a large number of NAVRATNA PSUs have signed MoU with GATE Committee in 2015. In addition, some of the prestigious private sector companies are also now short listing candidates based on GATE score. Notable among the companies recruiting fresh engineers based on GATE score are IOCL, HPCL, BHEL, NTPC, PGCIL, MDL (among PSUs) and L&T in private sector etc.
•    GATE qualified candidates pursuing their M Tech in any of the govt recognised colleges & Universities get monthly stipend of Rs 12,500/- from Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD). .
•    Another premier institute National Institute of Industrial Engineering, Mumbai accepts GATE score card for admission into 3 of its post graduate programmes i.e. PGDIE, PGDMM & PGDPM.
•    A candidate wanting to appear for GATE can appear in any of the 22 streams specified in notification. Any engineer of a different stream can appear in any of the specified paper.
In this era of technology,  GATE score card is surely a reflection of any engineer’s technical knowledge.

Click here for GATE 2016 Online Test Series

Why Online Mock Tests Series for GATE 2016?

Imagine a hypothetical situation. You checked in a hotel suite for the first time and there is darkness all around. After groping in the dark, you find power switch board. Once you have located it, you will start playing with the switches to check the role of each of the switches. But once you have used the buttons a few times, you can use the precise button for the specific purpose. This is a way of programming your sub conscious mind to perform some task as per needs.

“Proper Planning & Preparation Prevents Poor Performance” Stephen Keague.

In India, most of the competitive examinations are held once in a year for eligible candidates. How can a candidate get the above mentioned sub conscious approach for one of the most important activities of his early career? The answer is – he should test his state of readiness by taking a number of Mock Tests of varying difficulty levels.

The word ‘mock’ means make a replica or imitation of something. Mock Test Series is a series of test papers similar in nature and conduct to that of GATE exam. It is a very useful and effective tool to optimize your skills – both in terms of time management as well as solving problems under pressure. Some of the benefits of appearing for mock tests can be listed as under:

• Skill Optimization: Competitive exams usually are based on defined syllabus & pattern. If you face similar type of question/problems regularly before the final examination, you will feel that the final exam is just one more Mock Test.
• Time Management: Appearing in the similar type of tests with final exam like restrictions will make you habitual for the test and enable you to make optimal use of time maximising number of CORRECT attempts.
• Competition Analyzer: Since you are evaluating your performance in mock tests by competing against a large number of serious test aspirants, you can easily analyze your standing vis-a-vis competition.

Which specific GATE 2016 Online Test Series/Mock Test to opt for – important factors:

• SPREAD : Check the number of students/candidates who are likely to join and what is their geographical spread. Larger the number of candidates spread across multiple regions, more accurate will be the measure of your performance vs competition.
• CORRECTNESS: Look for a test series that has a track record of being error free. A test series with large number of errors will lead to non serious approach towards the test series.
• Solutions & Explanation: Being a replica of actual examination, one of it’s key objectives is to develop problem solving skills which gets highly facilitated by way of innovative solutions/alternate approach to solving questions in a time efficient manner.
• Test Pattern: Look for a test series which makes you test your skills based on questions which are in sync with the type which is usually faced in an actual exam situation – mix of topics as well as degree of difficulty.
• Result Analysis: Is there any mechanism for the analysis of your result? A good analysis will make you identify your weak areas - to the extent of identifying topics/ subject which need to be strengthened to improve yourself.