The Graduate Aptitude Test in Engineering (GATE) is an all-India examination administered and conducted in eight zones across the country by the GATE Committee comprising faculty from Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore and seven Indian Institutes of Technology on behalf of the National Coordinating Board - GATE, Department of Education, Ministry of Human Resources Development (MHRD), Government of India.
The zones and the corresponding administrative institutes are
Zone 1 - Indian Institute of Science Bangalore
Zone 2 - Indian Institute of Technology Bombay
Zone 3 - Indian Institute of Technology Delhi
Zone 4 - Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati
Zone 5 - Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur
Zone 6 - Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur
Zone 7 - Indian Institute of Technology Madras
Zone 8 - Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee
The overall coordination and responsibility lies with Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore designated as the Organizing Institute for GATE 2008.
Admission to post graduate programmes with MHRD and some other government scholarship/assistantship at engineering colleges/institutes in the country are open to those who qualify through GATE. GATE qualified candidates with Bachelor degree in Engineering/ Technology/ Architecture/ Pharmacy or Master degree in any branch of Science/Mathematics/Statistics/Computer Applications are eligible for Master/Doctoral programmes in Engineering/ Technology/Architecture/Pharmacy as well as for Doctoral programmes in relevant branches of Science. To avail the scholarship, the candidate must additionally secure admission to such a postgraduate programme, as per the prevailing procedure of the admitting institution. GATE qualification, however, is not required for candidates with Master degree in Engineering/ Technology/ Architecture/ Pharmacy who may be seeking scholarship/assistantship for relevant doctoral programmes.
Some institutions specify GATE as the mandatory qualification even for admission of self-financing students to postgraduate programmes. GATE qualified candidates in Engineering disciplines are also eligible for the award of Junior Research Fellowship in CSIR Laboratories. Some government organizations prescribe GATE qualification as a requirement for applying to the post of a Scientist/Engineer.
OBJECTIVES OF GATE
Identify, at the National level, meritorious and motivated candidates for admission to Postgraduate Programmes in Engineering, Technology, Architecture, Science and Pharmacy.
Serve as a mandatory qualification for the MHRD scholarship/assistantship.
Serve as benchmark of normalization of the Undergraduate Engineering Education in the country.
Why should we take GATE:
To pursue M.Tech program in a leading institute of the country. The benefits of M.Tech are:
1. More and better companies are coming for Campus Placement in leading Institutes
2. Higher salaries are being offered for M.Tech as compared to B.E.
3. M.Tech degree leads to specialization and furthering of interest in a certain area which may lead to Ph.D
4. M.Tech degree is a must for those wishing to apply for Faculty/Research positions in educational Institutes/R&D centers.
5. Scholarship is paid during M.Tech, so no headache to parents for financial requirements.
6. The M.Tech program is a 3 semester (18 months) program; so get more time to work out career opportunities.
7. MOST IMPORTANTLY to get to be a part of any Nationally reputed Educational Institute and enjoy learning and research.
Examination Details:
The examination is a single paper of 3 hours duration and generally consists of Section A (Objective Type) which is of 75 marks and Section B (Problem Type) which is of 75 marks. Total: 150 marks.
You have to opt for your subject and study as per the syllabus mentioned in the GATE brochure (available in the Library).
The subjects of our interest are Computer Science and Engineering, Electronics & Communication Engineering., Electrical Engineering and Instrumentation Engineering. Other subjects are also available such as Mathematics, Physics, etc (consult the GATE brochure).
Generally a large number of students appear for the Computer Science subject in order to do a M.Tech in Computer Science.
Old question papers are available in the shops.
Results of qualified candidates in GATE will give All India Rank and indicate percentile score. For example, a percentile score of 99 means you are in the top 1% category of the candidates who appeared for GATE.
Candidates who get less than 70 percentile get no score card.
GATE scores are valid for 2 years. You may reappear the GATE exam if you are not satisfied with the earlier score and the new score (if better than the old one) will be used for admission purposes.
After the Exam, what next:
After publication of GATE results, students must apply to individual Institutes to get their application forms.
Institutes advertise M.Tech admissions in leading newspapers from 1st April till end July. However some Institutes do not advertise and therefore students have to get the forms themselves.
In the application forms, you have to mention your GATE score alongwith other details.
The concerned Institute may conduct written test and/or interview for the purpose of admission.
General thumb rules: If your Gate score in Computer Science is 96 percentile or more then you can try for IITs, if between 85 - 96 percentile, then apply for top RECs, JADAVPUR, SHIBPUR, ROORKEE, etc. If less than 85, you have to look for appropriate institutes.
Scholarship:
During the pursuit of M.Tech, you are paid a scholarship of Rs. 5000.00 per month by the Government of India. This amount is enough for living expenses including purchase of books, etc. The scholarship is paid for the entire 18 months M.Tech period.
SYLLABUS & Structure of GATE Examination
The GATE examination consists of a single paper of 3 hours duration and of 150 marks.
For Electronics & Communication Engineering students the paper code is
EC
Structure of MAIN PAPER
The question paper will be for a total of 150 marks divided into three groups:
(i) Group I: Question Numbers 1 to 20 (20 questions) will carry one mark each (sub total 20 marks).
(ii) Group II: Question Numbers 21 to 75 (55 questions) will carry two marks each (sub total 110 marks). Out of these, Q.71 to Q.75 may be common data based questions.
(iii) Group III: Question Numbers 76 to 85 (10 questions) will carry two marks each (sub total 20 marks). These questions are called linked answer questions. These 10 questions comprise five pairs of questions (76 & 77, 78 & 79, etc.). The solution to the second question of each pair (e.g. Q.77) will be linked to the correct answer to the first one (e.g. Q.76) in the pair.
Each question will have four choices for the answer. Only one choice is correct.
Wrong answers carry 25% negative marks. In Q.1 to Q.20, 0.25 mark will be deducted for each wrong answer and in Q.21 to Q.76, Q.78, Q.80, Q.82 and Q.84, 0.5 mark will be deducted for each wrong answer. If the first question in the linked pair is wrong, then the second question in the pair will not be evaluated. However, there is no negative marking for the linked answer questions - Q.77, Q.79, Q.81, Q.83 and Q.85.
Papers bearing the code AE, AG, CE, CH, CS, EC, EE, IN, IT, ME, MN, MT, PI, TF will contain questions on Engineering Mathematics to the extent of 20 to 25 marks.
The multiple choice objective test questions can be of the following type:
(i) Each choice containing a single stand-alone statement/phrase/data.
Example Q. The state of an ideal gas is changed from (T1, P1) to (T2, P2) in a constant volume process. To calculate the change in enthalpy, Dh, ALL of the following properties/variables are required. (A) Cv, P1, P2 (B) Cp, T1, T2 (C) Cp, T1, T2, P1, P2 (D) Cv, P1, P2, T1, T2
(ii) Each choice containing a combination of option codes. The question may be accompanied by four options P, Q, R, S and the choices may be a combination of these options. The candidate has to choose the right combination as the correct answer.
Example Q. The following list of options P, Q, R and S are some of the important considerations in the design of a shell and tube heat exchanger. P: square pitch permits the use of more tubes in a given shell diameter Q: the tube side clearance should not be less than one fourth of the tube diameter R: baffle spacing is not greater than the diameter of the shell or less than one fifth of the shell diameter. S: the pressure drop on the tube side is less than 10 psi (A) P, Q and R (B) Q, R and S (C) R, S and P (D) P, Q, R and S
(iii) Assertion[a]/Reason[r] type with the choices stating if [a]/[r] are True/False and/or stating if [r] is correct/incorrect reasoning of [a]
Example Q. Assertion [a]: Bernoulli's equation can be applied along the central streamline in a steady laminar fully-developed flow through a straight circular pipe. Reason [r]: The shear stress is zero at the centre-line for the above flow. (A) Both [a] and [r] are true and [r] is the correct reason for [a] (B) Both [a] and [r] are true but [r] is not the correct reason for [a] (C) Both [a] and [r] are false (D) [a] is false but [r] is true
(iv) Match items: Match all items in Group 1 with correct options from those given in Group 2 and choose the correct set of combinations from the choices E, F, G and H.
Example Q. Group 1 contains some CPU scheduling algorithms and Group 2 contains some applications. Match entries in Group 1 to entries in Group 2. Group 1 Group 2 P- Gang Scheduling 1- Guaranteed Scheduling Q- Rate Monotonic Scheduling 2- Real-time Scheduling R- Fair Share Scheduling 3- Thread Scheduling (A) P-3; Q-2; R-1 (B) P-1; Q-2; R-3 (C) P-2; Q-3; R-1 (D) P-1; Q-3; R-2
(v) Common data based questions: Multiple questions may be linked to a common problem data, passage and the like. Two or three questions can be formed from the given common problem data. Each question is independent and its solution obtainable from the above problem data/passage directly. (Answer of the previous question is not required to solve the next question). Each question under this group will carry two marks.
Example
Common Data for Questions 74 and 75:
Let X and Y be jointly distributed random variables such that the conditional distribution of Y, given X=x, is uniform on the interval (x-1,x+1). Suppose E(X)=1 and Var(X)=5/3.
First question using common data
Q.74 The mean of the random variable Y is
(A) 1/2 (B) 1 (C) 3/2 (D) 2
Second question using common data
Q.75 The variance of the random variable Y is
(A) 1/2 (B) 2/3 (C) 1 (D) 2
(vi) Linked answer questions: These questions are of problem solving type. A problem statement is followed by two questions based on the problem statement. The two questions are designed such that the solution to the second question depends upon the answer to the first one. In other words, the first answer is an intermediate step in working out the second answer. Each question in such ‘linked answer questions’ will carry two marks.
Example
Statement for Linked Answer Questions 80 and 81:
Consider a machine with a byte addressable main memory of 216 bytes. Assume that a direct mapped data cache consisting of 32 lines of 64 bytes each is used in the system. A 50x50 two dimensional array of bytes is stored in the main memory starting from memory location 1100H. Assume that the data cache is initially empty. The complete array is accessed twice. Assume that the contents of the data cache do not change in between the two accesses.
First question of the pair
Q.80 How many data cache misses will occur in total?
(A) 48 (B) 50 (C) 56 (D) 59
Second question of the pair
Q.81 Which of the following lines of the data cache will be replaced by new blocks in accessing the array for the second time?
(A) line 4 to line 11 (B) line 4 to line 12
(C) line 0 to line 7 (D) line 0 to line 8
GATE - Graduate Aptitude Test in Engineering
