GATE-way to success

Susheel Joshi

Graduate Aptitude Test in Engineering (GATE) is a premier examination for graduate engineers who are aiming to secure a job in the PSUs or proceed for higher studies in IITs/ NITs, etc. These career-defining goals of each aspirant are achieved with rigorous preparation and practice for more than 100 days.

The GATE exam pattern comprises 65 questions and is divided into two sections — general aptitude (GA), which includes 10 questions and technical section, which has 55 questions. The technical section has about 20 questions in NAT format, while the remaining are MCQs. In all, candidates have 3 hours to answer the exam.

In the GA section, question one to question five carry one mark, while question six to question 10 carry two marks. In the technical section, question one to question 25 carry one mark while question 26 to question 55 carry two marks. Negative marking for MCQ is 0.33 for one-mark questions and 0.66 for two-marks questions. NAT questions do not have negative marking. 

Candidates should follow their desired method of attempting the question paper. Preparation for GATE is considered to be complete only once the exam is taken.

— The writer is SVP Academic at Gradeup

Make the right attempt

Here are two ways to attempt the GATE exam and to maximise your score:

Common method

• Solve the entire paper in one or two scans.
• The procedure is: Click on each question, read the complete question, understand the question and answer it in the first attempt (without any guesses).
• Always solve easy questions in minimum time in a single go.
• Hard or lengthy questions can be kept for the second scan of the paper.
• Answering any question should not take more than four to six minutes.
• All the unsolved and reviewed questions must be attempted only in the second scan. 

Alternative method 

• Candidates are provided with a notepad, which is used for attempting and solving questions in GATE.
• Candidates may treat this as an offline exam, where they can solve questions and answer them on the notepad with options.
• After 100 or 120 minutes, candidates can start marking the answers on the online system in a single flow.

Step by step guide 

• GATE exam includes more than 20 NAT questions, which do not have any options. So, there is always an uncertainty about the correct answer. Therefore, a candidate should spend more time on these questions, only if she is absolutely sure about the answers. Else, one can skip the questions and come back later. 
• Your aim should be to attempt more than 50 questions, which you are confident about.
• Restrict your guesswork to a maximum of two-three questions only if you are able to eliminate two options in an MCQ.
• You may guess the answer for NAT as these do not carry negative marks.Choice of section to attempt first: GA or technical section
• Generally, candidates have a tendency to begin from the very first question, therefore it is advised to first attempt GA section and secure at-least 10-12 marks from this section.
• Also, the candidate can then focus on technical questions till the last second of the exam.
• If a candidate is confident about technical section, she can proceed with it first, followed by the GA section.