IISc-Bangalore and the seven old IITs, namely IIT Roorkee, IIT Delhi, IIT Guwahati, IIT Kanpur, IIT Kharagpur, IIT Madras, and IIT Bombay, jointly conduct the GATE exam. Its purpose is to assess engineers’ technical abilities.
The exam is an online computer-based exam. It is held every year on the second or third weekend in February in a number of cities, with candidates having the option of taking the exam in the morning (9:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.) or afternoon (2:30 p.m. – 5:30 p.m.). A student’s GATE score is valid for three years after they take it.
Each year, about 1.5 lakh students from the CS and IT streams sit for the GATE exam. The reason for this is that studying for GATE has numerous benefits. Students gain opportunities by passing the GATE exam.
It’s actually a gate which opens various opportunities once cleared, Advantages are:
Admission to prestigious MTech, M.S., and M.E. programs:
Cracking the GATE is a requirement for pursuing a master’s degree at prestigious institutions such as IISc, IITs, and NITs. A postgraduate degree from one of these institutions increases your chances of being hired by a top company.
Interdisciplinary program admissions:
The PGDIE (Post Graduate Diploma in Industrial Engineering) and the PGDIM (Post Graduate Diploma in Industrial Management) are two interdisciplinary postgraduate programs offered by NITIE (National Institute for Industrial Engineering) in Mumbai (Post Graduate Degree in Industrial Management).
M.S./MTech. Programs in Other Countries:
The GATE is used by top universities such as the National University of Singapore, Nanyang Technical University, and the Technical University of Munich to admit students to their Masters’ programs.
Jobs in PSUs (Public Sector Undertakings):
PSUs are companies that are owned by the Indian government. More than 50 PSUs use the GATE exam to hire students for technical positions. Starting salaries can range anywhere from Rs 6 lakhs to Rs 14 lakhs per year.
Job Opportunities in the Private Sector:
Every year, India graduates seven lakh engineers. Because the number of vacancies in companies each year is much lower, not everyone is hired. In this situation, those who pass the GATE exam (with a score of around 25 – 30 out of 100) set themselves apart from other engineers.
Eligibility Requirements for GATE CSE:
The GATE is open to anyone in their pre-final year of undergraduate study or higher. As a result, both 3 yr., final-year students and graduates are eligible to take the exam. Furthermore, there is no upper age limit for taking the GATE exam, nor is there a limit to how many times a student can take it.
PATTERN OF GATE EXAMS:
The exam is a three-hour computer-based online test with 65 questions that include both objective and numerical answer type (NAT) questions. The exam has a total score of 100 points, which is divided into three sections: general aptitude, engineering mathematics, and CSE&IT questions.
Subjects in GATE CS&IT:
1. Engineering Mathematics:
- Discrete Mathematics:
- Linear Algebra:
- Calculus:
- Probability and Statistics:
2. Digital Logic:
- Intro to Boolean algebra
- Minimization
- Combinational and sequential circuits
- Number System
3. Computer Organization and Architecture (COA):
- Intro to COA
- Design of data‐path
- Design of ALU
- Machine instructions
- Addressing modes
- Design of CPU control unit.
- Intro to pipelining
- pipeline hazards
- Memory Organization
- Cache Organization
- Main memory and secondary storage
- I/O interface (interrupt and DMA mode)
4. Programming and Data Structures:
- Programming in C
- Recursion
- Arrays
- Stacks
- Queues
- Linked lists
- Tree
- Heaps
- Graphs
5. Algorithms:
- Searching
- Sorting
- Hashing
- Asymptotic time and space complexity
- Algorithm design techniques
- Graph traversals
6. Theory of Computation:
- Regular expressions and finite automata
- Context-free grammars and push-down automata.
- Regular and context-free languages
- Turing machines and undecidability.
7. Compiler Design:
- Lexical analysis
- Parsing analysis
- Syntax-directed translation.
- Runtime environments.
- Code generation.
- Local optimization
- Data flow analyses
8. Operating System:
- System call
- Processes
- Threads
- inter‐process communication
- Concurrency and synchronization
- Deadlock
- CPU and I/O scheduling
- Memory management and virtual memory
- File systems.
9. Databases:
- ER‐model
- Relational model
- File organization
- Indexing
- Transactions and concurrency control.
10. Computer Networks:
- Concept of layering
- OSI and TCP/IP Protocol Stack
- Basics of packet
- Circuit and virtual circuit-switching
- Data link layer
- Medium Access Control, Ethernet bridging
- Routing protocols
- Fragmentation and IP addressing, IPv4
- CIDR notation
- Basics of IP support protocols (ARP, DHCP, ICMP)
- Network Address Translation (NAT)
- Transport layer
- Application layer protocols
Tips to keep in mind to crack GATE exam:
- Knowing the GATE Subject Weightage will assist you in allocating your time and efforts toward those topics that are deemed important from an exam standpoint. It will also assist you in avoiding study bias, which occurs when you spend too much time on your favorite or most difficult topics, as well as preparing a streamlined study plan.
- Going over the GATE CSE previous year’s papers can help you improve your score for the upcoming GATE Exam. Solving previous year papers will also enable you to assess your progress as well as the types of questions asked from the more weighted topics.
- GATE is a test that necessitates a well-organized and consistent study routine. It is necessary to be thorough with the fundamentals. Students who have a firm grasp of the fundamental concepts during their engineering studies will not need to devote additional time to gaining a deeper understanding of the concepts. Candidates will be able to better analyze related problems and arrive at a correct answer if the topics are clear.
The basic concepts and syllabus will remain the same at the end of the day. Only in terms of the types of questions asked and the interlinking of various concepts will the question paper be unique.
- Time is of the essence, and all candidates must make the most of their time. When comparing the vast GATE syllabus, aspirants may be concerned about the vast GATE syllabus and the limited time available, but they need not be concerned because they now have their own strategy, which will be backed up by their sincere and well-planned efforts. Exam takers should remain focused and devote their entire being to GATE preparation.
Candidates must complete a sufficient number of practice questions for each topic. They should also try to improve their problem-solving speed as they practice.
Conclusion:
The GATE exam is designed to assess students’ knowledge and understanding of engineering and science subjects at the undergraduate level. Thousands of engineering graduates graduate each year from universities and engineering colleges. The GATE exam is the only way to measure and test the calibre of engineering students in today’s competitive environment.