My name is Aakash Bhardwaj, and this blog is about my life in the last three years. I was non-serious at the time of JEE prepration, and I assumed IITs were the same as other colleges, so I didn't prepare for JEE much. I was admitted to a tier 3 college, and within one year of college, I realized the value of IITs. During 2nd year, I started wondering about various options, which was when I came to know about GATE. In 3rd year, precisely the 6th semester, I started preparing for GATE 2021 and enrolled in the Ravidrababu Ravula sir's course. Ravi sir taught very well, and there was a considerable difference between what I learned in college and what sir taught. Everything was going well, and I was pulling 7-8 hrs per day and managing my college altogether.
In GATE 2021, the pattern changed, and there were two examination shifts. IITB also introduced multiple select questions. Due to COVID, semester exams that were supposed to get over in the Last week of December got postponed and went till the first week of Feb. Practical exams clashed with GATE. The GATE exam was on 14 Feb, and one day before the exam, I was in college for practical exams. I had very high expectations on exam day, but I had hardly read anything in the last 30 days. My exam slot was 2-5 pm, I went for the exam, and I almost gave up within an hour and started guessing the answers instead of solving the questions. Ultimately, I got 35 marks.
So I had two options: to go for another attempt or join TCS. I decided on another shot. Firstly, I analyzed my mistakes in GATE2021. Which were
- Solved very few PYQs
- Very less practice.
- Poor in-depth knowledge of subjects like TOC, DM, COA, and DBMS
So, just after GATE 2021, I started preparation and had access to MadeEasy Prime lectures. I took subject by subject, made thorough revisions, and referred MadeEasy classes for weekly topics. In this way, I have completed DS, Algo, CD, COA, DLD, CN, and OS by May end. In June, I enrolled in the Gateoverflow and MadeEasy test series and started attempting tests(Topic-wise and subject-wise tests) on every alternative day. I analyzed every test properly. In parallel, I started learning discrete maths from Satish Yadav sir and TOC from Deepak Poonia sir(GOCLASSESS was just launched then). I have completed all subjects till September, including solving PYQs twice.
In October, I started giving full-length test series. I have attempted almost 30+ full-length tests from various test series on alternative days. In Made Easy test series, my lowest marks were 58, and my highest was 82 (I got 68+ in most tests). In the Gateoverflow test series, I attempted three full-length tests with scores of 56,61, and 59. In the ACE test series, I got 70+ on most of the Attempted tests.
But, 20 days before the exam, I got covid positive, suffered from extreme symptoms, and took almost 7-8 days to recover partially and get back to studies. And this was when I got the news that my grandfather had expired. Throughout the lockdown, I used to study in the room next to my grandfather's room. It seemed that GOD was against me, and I was utterly lost. And guess what? I failed in GATE again!!.
I planned everything, completed the syllabus on time, solved every PYQ, attempted the Test series with proper analysis, solved foreign university assignments, and still got a rank of 3500. GATE 2022 was bigger than a failure for me. I was depressed and stressed. Thanks to Satish sir and my parents for helping me at this time. My failure portfolio didn't stop here.
After this, I attempted PGEE. I was on the waiting list but didn't secure a seat. In BARC, I got 130, and the cutoff was 134; hence, I was not shortlisted. In CPCL, I got 80/120. There was only one seat for UR, and I am from the General category, so I again failed(CPCL did not disclose the cutoff). Somehow, I started revision and attempted the HPCL exam after one month. I got 126 marks, and the UR cutoff was 130. I was very close to the threshold, but I still failed.
In the meantime, I got job offers from TCS, INFOSYS and IOPEX, but the salary was too low. I also got an MTech admission offer at IIIT Delhi (non-gate) and BITS Pilani(Goa campus). NPCI(national payments corporation of India) also offered me a job opportunity. IITs and PSUs were my dreams, and I gave my 100% to achieve my goal. It was difficult for me to satisfy at a bare minimum.
I am not motivated to go for another attempt at GATE, and it is still being determined when ISRO will hire through the ICRB exam or when NIELIT will recruit. Considering everything, I decided to go to Australia for higher studies. I got admission to CDU, Darwin(Australia), and this is probably my last week in India.
So yes, this was my hustle and my gate journey. People say, "Luck favors those who work hard," but I doubt it!!
I would especially like to thank Deepak sir for the unique content for TOC and brilliant answers on Gateoverflow. Thanks to Satish sir for teaching me and helping me in tough times. My parents supported me throughout the journey. I remember when my mom used to watch Ranayan on muted audio because I was studying then, so thanks for the blessings and constant support they have been for me. A special thanks to Kirti Soni and Himanshu Kumar for solving my irritating doubts.
