I made ..sort of "entries" on the different days :) posting as is... I hope it helps the people who are starting/ thinking of GATE, it will surely give you a kick-start to get to study right now!
Result: AIR 175 GATE 2024, 3rd year with some college...
11 Feb 2024
The day after the exam.
Hi! I am Devashish, yesterday was D-day for me and I would like to record my candid thoughts about my preparation journey, looking back, I see lots of highs and lots of lows but I hope it will all be worth it in the end.
My process:
I was not able/ did not want to do the subject/topic wise tests because of time and scheduling constraints but since I had started early, I was able to handle them at the end after completing the syllabus. You must find what works best for you, my process was to first complete the subject vids with any worksheets/in- class ques properly. Then I used to directly solve pyqs, if solved correctly using correct method then all good, else the harder ques/ the ones I got wrong I marked and tracked for future revisions, then after maybe 2-3 subjects I used to come back to them, usually half of them got solved at this point.
The last months were the toughest, i started in Feb end 2023 so it was a long time to prep but it was also my third year so a lot of time went to college too, the start was very normal, I felt neither good nor bad about when I started, Feb, March, April, etc. went oks.
I knew about GO too, but I only studied the free C course by then, It was so good that I decided to join, BUT, I had bad experiences with coaching so I also made a very deliberate decision to only follow my own timetable/schedule of subjects and manage college lil bit, then July came and I was behind in my own schedule, so I started crazy study: one subject morning, afternoon, evening types, it could only be sustained by me for just 1 month then due college exams and burnout I took like a week off, that was a -ve point, don’t do that mistake, I wasn’t affected by it much because I had studied DLD in college properly and that grind of 1 month mentally exhausted me but also polished that subject, would not recommend such experiments if studying any subject for the first time.
Then I re-evaluated my strategy and realized the importance of load balancing, I would recommend that have a ez/liked subject parallelly with a new / disliked subject, then sept came and I made my 2nd mistake, superficially completed the syllabus and wasted a week in thinking I know this I know that, but I knew somewhere in my mind that it was not true and just an excuse for not studying much.
So now started the most crucial part: actually testing myself, I did GO test series, usually got about ½ of the total marks, also got 0.5/25 once, but I tracked the mistakes and oct to nov I finished 1 revision and sub tests of whole syllabus.
Now I had a good idea of my weak subs COA + compiler+dbms etc
So dec two weeks went in strengthening them. I started full length mocks from dec 20, got in range of 30+ to 68+ but highest was 71, lowest 39 in GO tests only, so I knew my knowledge was not deep enough but I compensated for it with syllabus coverage and time management. I gave mocks every 2nd or sometimes 3rd day.
It was like a Sine wave, but you should know that mock marks do NOT matter, they only tell you that some ques you solved and some you did not in that moment.
Don’t make the mistake of not analyzing mocks. Analysis tells you what concepts need revision/ clarity. And that is what you need in the final months, revision, but in a way that simulates the exam, randomly getting ques from wherever topic and being able to revisit the whole concept just by thinking about it in a short time. This is a skill that you develop by giving mocks. Make sure that the test taking strategy works for you, if not then change it to your own taste.
I also took it to heart that whatever I don’t know doesn’t matter but whatever I know MUST be correct in the exam.
I could not sleep the day before the exam, I was very excited for it, gave shift 1, felt it was easier and a thousand times doable than any GO test I had ever given, because GATE asks the basics and fundamentals, so yeah, that’s it, hopefully I will get a good rank and won’t have to grind again in 2024. Now waiting for the result.
19 Feb 2024
Marks and Answer key released.
So it’s now 19 Feb 2024, the gate 2024 answer as well as response sheets are out, predicting around 160 AIR, its an awesome feeling, 72.33 marks, so yeah. Feels great, like a huge weight has been lifted away from me, I feel lighter and very happy, kind of like in a daze, some part of me cannot even believe it that I did so well. This is awesome! It’s a great feeling!
Checkout Amit Khurana sir on YouTube, his channel helped complete half the preparation.
GO is Awesome! They teach soooo well, I fell in love with cse subjects.
I’d also like to thank my professors, who helped me clear my doubts and guide me on the subjects, my friends, who used to take up my college work for me and helped me focus on the things that mattered, they also supported me so much throughout my preparation, my roommate Braj, who helped me study and taught me the importance of planning and execution. It was awesome to work with such great people who helped me succeed.
PS: I remember that the GateOverflow profiles of the people were also a motivating factor for me, I used to look at them when doing pyqs/taking breaks, the effort and time invested by all these people and imagining the hard work they did fired me up in the last months due to which I was able to stay on track.
That points system is a great thing! It gamifies the preparation and is an amazing mechanic.
16 March 2024
Finally got the results, AIR 175, Score 831. Rank me toh gadbad hai, 72 – 73 marks pe air 151 hain logon ki.
But I guess they have adjusted the scores accordingly ; I was getting predicted 160 rank and score 818.
Nice.
Finally, everything is right in the world. Mehnat ka fal milta hai, bas sahi direction me lag jaao sab kuch laga do…
I want to give a shoutout to my amazing college friends; Braj, Arijit, Akshant…without these guys I would have failed those semesters, Lol… these people are gems, and also my awesome college professors who helped me soo much.
YAY! Cant wait for whats ahead, abhi toh 3rd year hai, getting internships and stuff now. Will keep in touch with GO and this amazing community! Cheers!
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Tools / techniques I directly learned / followed / stole / got from the toppers :)
Use notion or obsidian for tracking pyqs, toggle the answers and keep snip of every ques did wrong.
Regularly do quizzes and tests to avoid tension later, but if not able to, then also don't panic, can cover with extra effort in the end.
Always refer proper resources and learn the concepts correctly the first time, if messed it up you will have to put in extra effort to fix it.
For those who still have not "found" your order of subjects / "schedule" i will advice as follows , feel free to change according to what suits you, I'll tell the acc to pre requisite.
Do probability, discrete math first
DLD do before COA, TOC,CD,OS,CN
TOC do before CD
CN do near the middle of the preparation its huge n needs practice.
OS do around COA can push to end time
DBMS is ok to do near sept, etc, after the harder subjects are done, revise discrete with this one
LA fit anywhere
Don't ignore aptitude. Do GO pdfs pyqs, gateandtech telegram channel, just maximize marks from here, they are free....
Always remain consistent, even if you become lazy and miss a few days then mentally compensate for it by working harder, on the flip side, don't work sooo hard that you burnout, i kinda lil bit did at the end, but all is well that ends well.
Don't let test marks affect you, it is not GATE, it is not the end.
In the later months you may start fearing the exam result, convince yourself that it doesn't matter, the mind plays tricks on you because it is tired, it doesn't want to work... just know : work implies output, work in the correct direction, you will do well, just don't get caught up in the whys and the what ifs, it is just wasting crucial time... get on with study.
Hope these help, I plan to stay in touch with this amazing community, feel free to chat.
I thank GO forum , GO classes, all the free resources that i followed, and above all, my friends and family.