On 14th May in the evening I received the email for MS CSE interview which was scheduled on 17th May ( I just had 2 days to brush up my concepts and to finalise my fav subjects ! I stopped studying on a daily basis after my GATE exam in Feb :/ - I would recommend every candidate to stay in touch with their subjects ( if they are applying for MS ) as it will help a lot in their interviews )
At 3:30 PM on 17th May 2021 I got a call from IITI CSE to join the meeting via Google Meet. I entered the meeting :-
There were total 6 members present in the meeting ( their videos were off and they all were muted) and three professors questioned me in the interview - I would name them as P1, P2 and P3 ( I don’t know whether the other 3 members were professors or not … I didn’t even looked at their names for once, as I was already a bit nervous because it was my first interview )
P1 - Hi Priyanshu ! What are your favourite subjects ?
( I thought they would ask me for a introduction but they didn’t ... LOL :P )
Me - Sir Linear Algebra, Theory of Computation and Data Structures
P1 - Okay … Linear Algebra ( he seemed interested in it )
What are Eigen values and vectors ?
Me - Answered ( Gave both Geometric and Numerical Intuition )
P1 - How do we evaluate Eigen values ?
Me - Answered
P1 - What are the applications of Eigen values ? and later he asked the same about Eigen vectors !
Me - Answered
P1 - Then he asked me something regarding a matrix relation !
Me - I said I’m not sure about this and later on he simplified that problem and asked me again, then I was able to answer him ( I don’t remember that question exactly)
P1 - Do you know what is a Null Space and what can you say about it's dimensions ?
Me - Answered completely both Null Space and Column Space
( As I wanted someone to ask this :P )
P1 - What is a vector space ?
Me - Answered
P1 - Do the dimensions of column space and row space is same ?
Me - Answered ( even before he completed his question :P )
P1 - Prove it !
Me - Gave him some relations and he seemed satisfied !
P1 - What do you know about Matrix Norm
( I didn’t even heard this term before :/ )
Me - Sorry Sir !
P1 - What is a diagonalizable matrix ?
Me - Answered
{ He asked P2 to ask questions }
( and I thought that the interview was over :P ) – I couldn't hear him properly :/
P2 - So are you working right now ?
Me - No Sir, currently I am in my final year
P2 - Okay Priyanshu your favourite subject is Algorithms ... Right ?
Me - I repeated [ Sir Linear Algebra, Theory of Computation and Data Structures ]
P2 - Define me what is a algorithm in less than 5 words !
( He just wanted a short and precise definition I guess )
Me - Answered
P2 - Have you studied Computer Architecture ?
Me - ( I didn’t even saw my COA notes after my GATE exam )
But still I said -> Yes Sir !
P2 - What are the components of a CPU ?
Me - It was such a silly question but I panicked and said sorry sir :/
P2 - He repeated the question ( as he figured out that I panicked )
Me - Then I said Sir ALU, CU … He stopped me after ALU and CU
P2 - So every algorithm in general has two parts just tell me which part is handled by ALU and which part is handled by CU ?
Me - Answered one part correctly and later on he gave me a hint and I answered the other one as well !
P2 - Let’s talk about Complexity ... Why do we compute it in the very first place … What’s the need ?
Me - Answered
P2 - Let us talk about Complexity Classes !
( He asked me 2-3 questions related to NP class and other undecidable problems - I do got stuck in a question but he gave me a hint and then we were good :P )
[ He passed it to P3 ]
P3 - Priyanshu have you studied Computer Networks ?
[ Worst nightmare - I left CN for my GATE 2021 and I knew almost nothing that I can showcase in my interview and I didn't wanted to mess things up ! ]
Me - No Sir !
( P3 asked me whether it was in my CSE curriculum or not ? Then I answered that the semester in which CN was included got revoked completely due to covid last year ! )
P3 - Tell me what are planar graph ?
( I couldn't get enough time to revise graph theory in those 2 days ) – Drawbacks of not being in touch :/
I was able to recall a planar graph (figure) but just couldn't recall it's property specifically !
Me - Sorry Sir !
Then P2 said in between - Arree ... tell us what is a graph yrr ?
Me - Answered
P3 - How do we store them ?
Me - Answered
P3 - Which one is efficient ?
Me - ( Answered - both for dense graph and as well as for sparse graph )
P3 - Okay Priyanshu you can leave now !
No questions were asked from Theory of Computation ( not even a single question ) and what's worst - P3 wanted to ask some questions from CN (which I didn't even prepared for GATE 2021). Interviews will not go according to your prep/plan all the way long ( So, do revise those subjects which are related to your fav subjects ) You need to adapt to the situations and give your best ! As that's the only thing that you can do ;) And kindly be in touch with your subjects on a regular basis as I mentioned earlier - That will always help !
Take your time to answer your questions, don't be in a hurry !
The professors are quite friendly and they will help you out if you're stuck -
by modifying the problem or by giving some hints !
So, just keep your calm and give your best ;)
Verdict :- SELECTED
