GATE Preparation Strategy and detailed Study Plan

GATE Preparation Strategy

The GATE exam is taken up by lakhs of students every year and the numbers only keep increasing. The number of seats at the institutions obviously would not rise proportionately with the number of applicants. That sounds impossible! So get a good score and aim for a better cut-off, preparation strategies are necessary right from the beginning:

Collect the most basic details of the exam like duration, maximum marks, type of questions etc. The GATE exam is a 3-hour exam with a maximum of 100 marks. A total of 65 questions would appear with a mix of multiple choice questions plus numerical type questions.
The next thing would be to understand your subject well. Study the complete syllabus. Identify areas that you already know. Check the importance of each topic you study with respect to the GATE syllabus.
Collect all the necessary study materials. Identify at least two crucial books that cover most of the prescribed syllabus. Do not neglect aptitude section preparation. Make good notes for revision. Study your degree level textbooks for fundamentals. Video lessons are also great learning tools.
Collect previous year papers. Attempt mock tests regularly. Practice sample papers. Improve your time management skills.
Divide your schedule appropriately. Give more weight-age to studying your subject in depth. Allot time for practicing mock papers. Revision is necessary on a daily basis too.
Learn the easier parts of your subject. After completing each part, attempt a test based on that part. Make a note of doubts if any. Write down important laws or principles pertaining to that part.
After studying the entire syllabus, devote the last weeks before exam solely for revision and attempting mock papers. You should at least try solving 2 to 3 papers in the last few days of the exam to identify your strong and weak areas.
Avoid learning new concepts just a few days before exams. Revise what you have already learned. Glance over the prepared notes to recollect most important facts.

Tips GATE exam

These useful tips and tricks will help you solve the GATE paper with ease:

Do not leave out any topic mentioned in the GATE paper. Study each topic without fail.
Buy books that contain solutions to numerical problems.
Early preparation with a good plan is a must.
Identify strong areas and weak areas. Allot more time for the difficult topics.
Always study “topic by topic”.
Refer most sought-after reference books. They provide a quality explanation.
Effectively utilize free time for revision.
Study the most fundamental and basic concepts before anything.
Understand the concept first, immediately attempt numerical questions based on them.
There are questions of all types of difficulty levels in the paper. Start with the easiest questions first.
Set the clock for the three hours while attempting previous year papers.
Improvise time management skills in the next mock test attempt.
Study previous year papers. Identify weight-age of marks for different topics over the years.

Study Plan for GATE

Keep these points in mind while preparing your study plan.
The effective preparation time left before the exam.
List of topics and study time required for each of them.
Time for revision.
Time for attempting mock papers/previous year question papers.
Number of hours per day that you can dedicate to exam preparation.
Weight-age of different sections in a paper: Technical Subject – 70%, Aptitude – 15%, Numerical problems – 15%.

Assuming you have around 6 hours of dedicated study time every day, let’s prepare a sample study plan for a month.

Days 1 to 5: Chapters 1 to 5. Theoretical concepts plus numerical problems if any.
Days 6: Revision.
Day 7: Attempt two sample papers.
Days 8 to 12: Chapters 6 to 10. Theoretical concepts plus numerical problems if any.
Days 13: Revision.
Day 14: Attempt two papers from previous years.
Days 15 and 16: General Aptitude sections.
Days 17 to 20: Study remaining chapters.
Day 21: Revision.
Day 22: Attempt two mock papers.
Days 23 and 24: Numerical sections.
Days 25 to 28: Solve more practice papers.
Day 29: Revision – General Aptitude and numerical sections.
Day 30: Revision – Technical subject.