GATE-INTERVIEW-2

INTERVIEW-2

       Hello everyone,
            So here is the second interview in this series,and this time we have with us Sir. ADITYA ZADE who has secured a wonderful AIR-15 in GATE-2016.He did his B.Tech(Electrical Engineering) from sardar patel college of engineering.This was his second attempt, in his first attempt he was not able to make it upto his expectation and then decided to prepare again for GATE-16 and the rest is history.This interview will serve as a motivation for those who were not able to perform well in there first attempt and are still determined to crack gate.
    Finally i thank him for putting up such a beautiful example of how hard-work and determination can help you achieve your dreams. I hope many find his experience and suggestions helpful.

ADITYA ZADE,GATE-2016,AIR-15

Name

Aditya Zade

College

SPCE, Mumbai

YEAR

2016

All India Rank(AIR)

15

Score(out of 1000)

940

Marks(out of 100)

76.88

1.How was GATE paper this year? Give us some insights into GATE-2016 paper and compare it to past year question paper?

This year's paper was easier than the previous year paper. Actually I should say, the paper was not lengthy instead of saying it was easy. As this was the first year of online calculator, IISc did not set the paper with complicated calculations.

2.How did you feel after seeing first few questions? Did you feel relaxed and calm or you were anxious during first few questions? If you felt anxious then how did you calm yourself?

I started my paper with 1 mark questions. The questions were not that hard and could be solved in 1-2 steps. I felt very confident but I also realized that the paper is easy and have to solve the questions very carefully without doing any silly mistakes (as you know that if you are feeling that the paper is easy, 10000 other students might feel that too ). So instead of rushing into anything, I gave enough time to every questions I solved.

3.How did you go about attempting the paper? How did you distribute time among various sections like did you attempt 1 mark questions or 2 marks questions first? Please give a detailed description of time management strategy you followed?

I started my paper with 1 mark question of the technical part. I attempted those 1 mark questions(total 25 questions) in 50 min and then 2 marks questions(total 30 questions) of the technical part in 100 min. Then I attempted the aptitude part(total 10 questions) in 20 min. Still I had 10 min which I used to solve the questions which I had marked for review.
Overall I solved 56 questions out of 65 questions. That is 84 marks out of 100 marks.

4.What was the impact of Online Calculator on GATE Exam? How did you prepare yourself to tackle the Online Calculator?

As we know that "Practice makes a man perfect". I spent 4 months practicing the online calculator. Actually I was happy with the announcement of providing online calculator. Because I knew that IISc will not ask any questions having complicated calculations which was the scenario in actual paper.   

5.What do you feel about the increasing weightage of Numerical Answer Type Questions? How to improve accuracy in order to score well in Numerical Answer Type Questions?

My paper had 29 numerical type questions out of total 65 questions. The specialty of such questions is that even if the question is easy, you can not be sure about the answer. So I solved each numerical type question twice which was time consuming. So I would say if you are attempting any numerical type question, try to solve accurately in first attempt(you can do this by properly solving the question using pen and paper instead of solving in your mind and step by step instead of going for any shortcuts).

6.When did you start preparing for GATE exam?

This was my second attempt for GATE. I started my preparation in June. For first two months I studied for 10 hours a day and then till the month of December I studied for 11-12 hours a day. In the month of January, I reduced the number hours to 8 so that I wont get sick because of exertion. Always remember health is equally important as your preparation.     

7.Up to what date were you able to complete the course once? What was your target as to how many questions to practice in each subject? What was the sequence in which you prepared the subjects?

I completed my portion by the month of October. Then I took 35 days to revise everything(First revision) and appear for the first full test on 11th December. By the end of January I had revised everything for four times.

8.Which subjects according to require more practice and which subjects need to be read from standard textbooks?

(1)Most important subjects which require more practice:
    Power System, Power Electronics, Machines, Networks, Maths and Control         System
(2)Moderately important:
    Signals and Analog
(2)Subjects which can be completed quickly:
    Digital, Measurements and EMF

9.Which study material and standard books would you recommend for GATE Aspirants in each subject?

Power System    : B R Gupta, Nagrath Kothari, Wadhwa, Class Notes
PE                         : P S Bhimbra, Class Notes
Machines            : B R Patil, B L Theraja, Bhimbra, Class Notes
Networks            : Ravish Singh, Class Notes
Maths                  : Class Notes
Control System  : Class Notes
Signals                : Class Notes
Analog                 : Class Notes
Digital                  : Class Notes
Measurements   : Class Notes
EMF                      : Techmax and Class Notes
One suggestion, please do not ignore aptitude portion as it comes for 15 marks.

10.How did you keep the subjects fresh in your memory the entire time? Did you revise the subjects regularly or you left the revision for last few months? What was your strategy for revision in the last few months?

I left the revision for last few months. I completed my portion by the month of October. I took 35 days for my first revision, 20 days for second revision. 15 days for third revision and 10 days for fourth and last revision.  

11.What is the role of mock tests in your success in GATE exam? How many mock tests did you attempt? When did you start attempting mock tests?

According to me, out of 100%, completion of portion and revision contribute 50% and mock tests contribute 50% in our success in GATE exam. I attempted 24 mock tests. I gave my first mock test on 11th December. By the end of December, I had appeared for 8 mock tests. In the month of January, I appeared for 16 mock tests. The final GATE paper was my 25th paper, so I was confident and not nervous at all.
One suggestion, appear for at least 15 mock tests and keep 2-3 days gap between any two mock tests.

12.How was your score in Mock Tests? Is there any correlation between mock test performance and actual GATE performance?

I had joined the test series of three classes
(1) Gateforum   : 75 marks average
(2) Made Easy   : 65 marks average
(3) ACE               : 70 marks average
I would recommend to join ACE test series to every student.

13.What is the role of undergraduate studies or college studies in your GATE prep?

Undergraduate studies is like 'Sone Pe Suhaga'. I am saying this because it is true that even if you have not got proper knowledge during the graduation, you can perform well in GATE (considering you have prepared properly for it). But if you have got knowledge, it will not harm your preparation. It will simplify your preparation. So if you are graduating, try gaining the knowledge instead of 'Rattafication'.

14.How did you motivate yourself for such a long journey towards GATE?

Some people do not think a lot. They just prepare for the exam and appear the exam. Kind of like a robot. Such people do not go through any emotional problems.
But sadly I am not that person. I think a lot. I think about every minute, every second of my life. A person like me goes through the emotional problems like demotivation and depression. If you are a person like me, don't worry. Everyone has a special someone in his/her with whom he/she does not feel any depressed, demotivated. That special someone in my life was 'My Mother'. You just have to find out that person.
You can visit this link where I have answered a question related to motivation :
https://www.quora.com/Gate-2016-is-over-What-should-I-do-now/answer/Aditya-Zade

15.What is the success mantra that you would like to give to other GATE aspirants which has been critical for your preparation as well?

I would like to quote Martin Luther King "If you can't fly then run, if you can't run then walk, if you can't walk then crawl, but whatever you do you have to keep moving forward.''
I have seen a lot of students enthusiastically preparing for GATE but quitting by the month of November or December. This should not be you. Finish what you have started. Don't stop preparation even if you are thinking that you won't be able to perform. Who knows, how paper will be. It may happen that you have read only 65 questions properly and exactly those questions appear in the paper.

              Thankyou Aditya for your precious guidance,this will surely help and motivate many to fulfill there dreams.

GATE-INTERVIEW-1

INTERVIEW-1

Here is the first interview in this series,We have with us Mukul Pathade currently in Final year of B.Tech(Electrical Engineering) from sardar patel college of engineering. He secured AIR 420 in GATE-2016 EE stream,congratulations for his success and best of luck for his future endeavours.         He has shared his opinions,preparation tips and paper solving strategy with us,this will be helpful for gate aspirants to give a thrust to there gate preparation.

MUKUL PATHADE,GATE-2016,EE,AIR-420

Name

MUKUL H PATHADE

College

SARDAR PATEL COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING

YEAR

2016

All India Rank (AIR)

420

Score(out of 1000)

783

Marks(out of 100)

63.08

1.How was GATE paper this year? Give us some insights into GATE-2016 paper and compare it to past year question paper?

    Paper was very easy (analogy:IIT ki jagh AIEEE ka paper tha) as compared to 2015 and I expected this to happen because no scientific calculator was allowed. If your basics are clear then paper was very easy, there were many direct formula based questions so if u know the formula then that was enough.  

2.How did you feel after seeing first few questions? Did you feel relaxed and calm or you were anxious during first few questions? If you felt anxious then how did you calm yourself?

     Yes if your future depends on one exam then it is obvious that you would get anxious a bit but I had done Vipassana(meditation) course which helped me to remain calm.I was pretty comfortable with technical section but was trying my luck in aptitude section.   

3.How did you go about attempting the paper? How did you distribute time among various sections like did you attempt 1 mark questions or 2 marks questions first? Please give a detailed description of time management strategy you followed?

     I completed aptitude section in maximum of 15-17 mins.(though many of my answers were incorrect!)
Then I started with 1 marks Q which took almost 35-40 mins. Let me tell you some Q won’t take more than 10 sec and some Q would require maximum of 2 min and if it is taking longer than that then mark it and give another shot at the end. M/C, power system conceptual questions are asked.
Then the 2 marks Q these are 30 in total I spent almost an hour and 15 min in this section. Some Q requires simple derivations while some require calculations.
i still had 45 mins in hand so I started checking my solutions through rough sheet(use this rough sheet very properly so that when u revisit the Q it would be easier for U to check).While checking I followed bottom to top approach as Q at the end carries 2 marks and was fresh in my mind so it took another 15 min to go through all 30 technical 2 marks Q,10 mins for technical 1 marks Q, and another 5-7 mins  for aptitude section in the remaining time(15 min or so) I attempted the difficult Q which may take more time.

4.What was the impact of Online Calculator on GATE Exam? How did you prepare yourself to tackle the Online Calculator?

     Only thing it did was it made the paper easier for electrical stream and I mean very easy. Now you don't need to practice for complex phasor calculations which made machines, power system, networks easier.

5.What do you feel about the increasing weightage of Numerical Answer Type Questions? How to improve accuracy in order to score well in Numerical Answer Type Questions?

    I feel that was the main factor which separated students who actually prepared for months (4-5) before the exam and the students which started preparing month or 2 before the exam. Practice numerical type Q that’s the only way.
Join different online test series which will help u get variety of Q.

6.When did you start preparing for GATE exam?

I started preparing in the month of June. Most of my concepts were clear so I was pretty confident about technical section.

7.Up to what date were you able to complete the course once? What was your target as to how many questions to practice in each subject? What was the sequence in which you prepared the subjects?

             I completed my total gate course in month of November, I was pretty   confident about every technical subject except few those were Analog, measurements and EMT. I started revising the other technical subjects with the notes I had prepared from the first revision.

I did Power electronics in the month of June,

SS and networks in the month of July,

EMT and machines in month of august, followed by

    Power system and control system in September (note: machines and power system should be done one after the other so that it would be easier for u to grasp the concepts)

Analog and digital October month

And the most important Math’s in November.

Go through standard gate notes of each subject like ACE or Madeeasy notes then try to solve as many Q on that topic as possible (u can skip many Qs in kanodia as many Qs are of same type).

I referred K-notes and kuestions from kreaytrx as I found those very complete and up to date with the changing gate pattern.

8.Which subjects according to you require more practice and which subjects need to be read from standard textbooks?

           

    Maths: They can ask anything from math’s we studied in 4 semesters of our engineering be in constant touch with this subject, do not overlook this subject.

General aptitude: I had a phobia for this section. My aptitude wasn't so good so during last month I practiced this section daily for hour or so but everything in vain. I scored just 5/15 in this section which is way below average and that was the reason I couldn't make it to top 200.(I knew that this was going to happen but I regret that I couldn't change that). So do not take aptitude section lightly as this will decide your rank among top 500 or so.

Analog: I was weak in this subject and I skipped most of the portion like BJT and FET amplifier then the rest is easy.

             I actually loved studying other core subjects and once your concepts are clear then those subjects are like piece of cake.

9.Which study material and standard books would you recommend for GATE Aspirants in each subject?

             If you can afford then I would suggest u to buy G-Drive (Gateforums online video lectures).

Networks -G-drive+Knotes (I would suggest you to go through previous GATE Qs that would be enough)

EMT-I referred Mumbai university techmax book don’t remember the Authors name(do not refer any foreign author book those are very time consuming to study). They ask very basic Qs from this subject.

Signals and systems-I referred Gateforum (G-drive) video lectures. I never referred Oppenheim as that is a very big book to study but I referred Oppenheim video lectures from MIT OCW in 2nd year of engineering hence my concepts were clear.

Machines-Bhimbra (no other option only thing is that don’t go on reading each and everything have a copy of syllabus on your table and study only those topics which are relevant.)+Knotes.No class would teach this subject completely you need to study some topics on your own.
Power system-Nagrath and Kothari(It isnt a vast subject just stick to the syllabus ) refer other books like thereja for HVDC,Distribution systems etc+G-drive+Knotes.

Control system-Norman Nise ,Kuo and ogata for compensation part+Knotes.

Measurements-I referred Knotes for this subject as those were very precise to study.

Analog digital: For analog and digital I followed Gateforums lectures.For some topics in analog I referred Boylestad+Knotes

Power electronics: I referred G-drive. This was the most interesting subject for me everything is very logical in this subject.  

Maths-I referred Kumbhojkar for Maths.

10.How did you keep the subjects fresh in your memory the entire time? Did you revise the subjects regularly or you left the revision for last few months? What was your strategy for revision in the last few months?

       I used to revise subjects after a month or so .

11.What is the role of mock tests in your success in GATE exam? How many mock tests did you attempt? When did you start attempting mock tests?

        Mock tests are there just to boost your confidence.
I attempted almost 40 full length mocks and many subjective test during the preparation. Attempting as many mock test as possible is the most important thing in gate preparation because here you can develop your confidence and strategy for GATE exam   

12.How was your score in Mock Tests? Is there any correlation between mock test performance and actual GATE performance?

         I consistently scored around 55-60 in mock tests and papers were comparatively tougher than the Actual gate-2016 paper where I scored 63.08 .so yes u get an overall idea where u stand in the competition I expected myself to be in top 200 but I had to pay the price for negligence of General Aptitude section in GATE preparation.  

13.What is the role of undergraduate studies or college studies in your GATE prep?

         I don't think that my undergraduate studies helped me in any way. I am an average guy with 8.5 pointer we normally study night before exam. so my only aim was to break the stereotype that only toppers can score good in GATE.

14.How did you motivate yourself for such a long journey towards GATE?

       My Family!!!!!!

15.What is the success mantra that you would like to give to other GATE aspirants which has been critical for your preparation as well?

             Self-confidence chahiye bas. Youtube pe ivan joseph ka video dekho 13min ka TED talk hai that thing motivated me throughout this journey.
Now if me an average student can score AIR-420 then u too can.

Your pointer in class has no correlation with your GATE rank remember that!!

Thankyou Mukul for your precious guidance,this will help and motivate many future gate aspirants achieve there goals.