retagged by
7,033 views
30 votes
30 votes

Frequently it has been found that people ask each other or at least try to read about/ hear from others about how are they preparing for GATE.

This question is a place where you should share answers to :

  • What is your formula for preparation 
  • What online tests you take up,
  • What books you choose to use,
  • From which book what chapters you understood at best,
  • What are the best lectures that you could suggest,
  • What is/was your daily schedule,
  • What were your mistakes,
  • What is the critical point of advice. you prefer to give
  • Any other relevant info. that you can come up with
retagged by

4 Answers

Best answer
43 votes
43 votes

Basically i want to only focus on the mistakes we do because in my case the study was not an issue. It was the mistakes that led me under perform. 

1- The temptation to read more, 

i really suggest u all . plz avoid the temptation of reading the whole syllabus . what happened with me was, i was learning maths the whole january and thats where i lost the grip on my already prepared subjects. At that time i was very gud at os and networks, and what i felt at gate was. i was unable to solve 50% from these subjects. my set was three and it was surely the easiest way to get in iits.

i lost it just because the gateforum test series always added 20 marks maths and which my friend gud at it , always told me " bhai maths bhut ati hai " and i was like , should i do it. and i always started it in panic , and the result was no time for revision and i lost everything. only one -2 questions of 1 marks were from maths. and other was dms .. 

NOTE - what i really suggest u is that finish all of your syllabus by dec . or the much u can read, choose wisely if u have no choice other then leavng some of the topics. like u can skip number system from digital. and invest that time in cache of co. and plz keep whole of the january for revision and only for questions. never prepare according to test series. they have the same patter in all of there test and the gate paper i feel i not what u will find in the test series. 


2- Revision.

the second biggest problem was revision. i never liked revision. so i never took it seriously. i never revised a thing which cost m a lot. and my reason for this was, my revision technique. 

my revision technique was , taking a pen and a paper and again doing every question + writing al again. even one topic took the whole day and i was never able to complete my one subject. 

what u should do is make a short note of te things u keep forgetting. and then just read them. well there will be some topic whih u can never forget but a lot of thing u keep forgetting keep them revising till they settle down. revision should be fast . and each iteration should take less time. if it is not so u are not doing it right. try to improve your technique. 

3- Confidence,

As a below average student , I always at some point was having a feel that i will not be able to crack it as others will. I passed my btech first year by cheating and got a cgpa of 6.7 . ( second division from a c grade university). And there are some things which we always fear and we always think this is impossible . like mine was. i will never be able to do probability and pnc. I was really scared of it. it was like. :these thing require a lot of thinking and i am not gud at it. 

well there is nothing called " impossible " . don't read it feel it. there was a time when u have some problem in your university exams thinking it is too hard. and now u have done it because u know u have to do it , there is no way to escape. we can do anything but we don't know this,. we do it in the worst case when there is no other option. all your friend and u are same . u don't have to cross them u are your own identity try making your life a success not more successful from them. try working on yourself and don't panic seeing there marks. u have to perform there. try to revise . and study. 
"you can do it" 

Don't Hear anyone and plz don't panic. 

Last year in these days as the test series started. a lot of my friends started taking it ans started discussing them. Me too got involved in the conversation and that really depressed me as i was not able to answer than i just start to panic. and think OMG all are doing great then me .

so 2 points here. FIRST of all he too was not able to solve the problem that why he is asking u about the same. U should remember that and don't panic even without even pen and paper 15 % of gate questions can be solved and with a little bit of knowledge 30-40% can be easily answered. ex. go to geeks quiz and take any previous year paper an see. u will be able to get 30-40% easiely. 

at the gate exam i remember my position was like you going to exam tomorrow with no preparation and zero knowledge of subjects like digital , maths dms apptitude and a little knowledge of algorithm. i was able to get 30. so u can do it. only 20 -30 marks more is the thing u are working for.. this is the best time. u have a lot of time to still read a lot. and then u can revise in january and then just go to iit. best of luck.

selected by
9 votes
9 votes
  • Do sincerely all GATE questions first; Everything how it happens and why it is in that way only, should be clear.
  • I've stopped doing those question in bulk which are not a part of any standard exam. Online Test I'll start again but few days later.
  • Online tests : MadeEasy, TestBook.com, Virtual GATE
  • It's a little difficult to tell specifically which books. still :
    Navathe, RaghuramaKrishnan : Domain Relational Calculus, FDs 
    Galvin : Operating Systems
    Morris Mano : Digital Logic
    Peter Linz : TOC
    Kenneth Rosen : Mathematical Logic
    NCERT, RD Sharma : Engg. Mathematics
    P n C : KC Sinha
    Probability : Schaum Series
    BS Grewal : Matrices, etc.
  • few lectures from NPTEL, RavindraBabu Ravula + Khan Academy + other MOOCs
  • Wasted lot of time doing non-quality question from coaching materials, and scoring top marks in offline tests they take up

I got a decent rank last year, managed to get a NIT with a good branch for MTech. But patiently decided to give a blow again at the exam, with hope to crack it in a better way. Thereby, I escape from giving critical advises for GATE.

+I've already told many stuffs via private messages.

edited by
7 votes
7 votes
  • What is your formula for preparation  ->
    • Do all GATE & TIFR Questions first !Try to mix 2-3 subjects study if possible !
      • Currently done with One entire round of study & Doing just GATE/TIFR questions as of now !
    • Try to collect all questions which I want to solve in last few days !
    • Do read reference books & Video lectures for all important topics ! (This takes lot of time.. Don't think this is good time to read Reference books !)
  • What online tests you take up,
    • Made Easy, Testbook & Virtual GATE,
      • Currently giving Just Virtual GATE sectionwise tests , once Exam Time slot is announced will start Testbook & Made Easy Full Length Tests
  • What books you choose to use-
    • DBMS - Navathe
    • TOC- Ullman, Peter linz
    • Discrete Math- > Keneth Rosen
    • Algorithm-> Cormen
    • Compiler -> Ullman
    • Digital -> Morris Mono
    • CO => Hamacher
    • OS -> Galvin
    • CNW -> Kurose Ross
  • What are the best lectures that you could suggest ->
    • TOC,Algorithm,Discrete Maths -> Shai Simpson http://aduni.org/ (MUST WATCH !)
    • Discrete Maths -> Kamala Krithinivasan, NPTEL
    • TOC - > Automata course from JD Ullman (Coursera)
    • Algorithm -> From Coursera, Tim Roughgarder
2 votes
2 votes

Reading from standard book is the key of success in this exam and choose self study for preparation

http://gatecse.in/wiki/Best_video_lectures_for_CSE

i am sharing here best resources for gate and also it will help you to understand concepts from standard books.

1) NPTEL The National Programme on Technology Enhanced Learning (NPTEL), a project funded by the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD)

cover all subjects 100% best resource

https://www.youtube.com/user/nptelhrd
 

2) Gate Instructors (very god for self learner with 350+ videos covering some important topics for gate)

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCtfGixtwTrTfRn-dTlOTNLw

3) Techtud (350+ videos)
https://www.youtube.com/user/techtud

4) Gate Lectures by Ravindrababu Ravula (350+ videos)
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJjC1hn78yZqTf0vdTC6wAQ

but dont skip Reading from standard book  otherwise these lectures will not work because a book gives complete coverage of topic but lecture give you an overview.

Related questions

1 votes
1 votes
1 answer
1
GATE_ASPIRANT_STARTING asked Apr 10, 2017
1,918 views
I AM STUDYING IN 1ST SEM CSE BRANCH.I WANT TO PREPARE FOR GATE. I PRESENTLY JUST KNOW A BIT OF PROGRAMMING.IN WHICH ORDER( SPECIFIC SUBJECTS AND TOPICS) AND WAYS SHOULD I...
0 votes
0 votes
0 answers
3
Mayankprakash asked Dec 28, 2018
533 views
Please suggest me how to do I start preparing for maths and aptitude as I'm already completing other subjects.(Any links or something which can be helpful)Suggestions wil...
0 votes
0 votes
0 answers
4
Vaishnavi Gadhe asked May 30, 2022
816 views
After doing a lot of numerical and understanding the concepts well I am not be able to find out the accurate answer within a certain amount of time plz suggest me somethi...