I am Sreekanth C P. I did my BTech from College of Engineering, Trivandrum (Kerala). I decided to prepare for GATE by 8th semester because I didn’t got placements in core companies and wanted to join a PSU. But since I was busy with academic schedule I was not able to prepare in 8th sem and decided to drop a year.


My first reaction

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I was very excited and happy. I was worried about normalisation but this year not much change in marks was there.

Credit to my success goes to my coaching teachers and my parents who have supported me during my preparation.


Preparation

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Yes I joined EXERGIC (an online coaching) and also ACE. As I had less time to prepare, coaching helped to easily understand concepts and also helped to stick to syllabus.

Pros are they give complete guidance and good classes so that we need not spend time reading any textbooks for theory.

Cons are the fees.


Strategies

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A. Study schedule:

I started preparation by mid May. I used to spend 6-7 hrs for classes and sleep, rest of the time I used to solve numericals. I made short notes of subjects whenever a subject finished and then do previous year questions. I was able to finish the syllabus about two months before exam and then started revision and Mock Tests.

B. Strong and weak subjects (How did I prepare them?)

My strong subjects were Mechanics, SOM and HT. Weak subjects were Production and FM. I used to spend more time for weaker subjects and used to revise them frequently.


Books and e-sources

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I used to refer NPTEL for portions which were confusing. I didn’t referred any standard books as theory was taught in classes.

Aptitude Section:
For English I studied some common grammatical errors and word meanings. For Numerical aptitude I used to give test series and solve previous year questions.


Mock Tests

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Yes I attempted about 20 full length tests. Mock tests are necessary to understand our mistakes and also helps us to improve time management. I gave test series of Exergic and ACE. I found both very good and relevant to GATE.


Examination Day

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While giving mock tests I developed a comfortable way to attempt the exam. I attempted technical section first and then GA. I spend more time for 2 mark questions and did 1 mark questions quickly.


Interviews

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For IITs and BARC about 5 subjects are needed to be learned thoroughly. Referring past interview questions and reading standard books is what I am following now.

For PSUs some standard HR questions and the company profile are needed to be learned.


Future Plans

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I would like work in any of the PSU like IOCL, ONGC, NTPC …


Advice to fellow students

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As competition in GATE is increasing its better to start preparation early. Try not to leave any portions in syllabus and learn from mistakes you commit.