GATE2016TopperInterview

SiddharthRastogiAIR34(ME)
KreatryxAdmin September16,2016

1.HowwasGATEpaperthisyear?Giveussomeinsightsinto
GATE2016paperandcompareittopastyearquestionpaper.

Ans.Ifeltthatthepaperwasonelevelhigherthanlastyearfor
mechanicalengineering.1markquestionswerestraightforwardandwere
notatalltimeconsuming.2marksquestionswereamixofeasy,
moderateandtoughlevels.Theonlinecalculatorintroducedthistime
consumesmoretimesopriorpracticeforitisnecessaryforthesame.

2.Howdidyoufeelafterseeingfirstfewquestions?Didyoufeel
relaxedandcalmoryouwereanxiousduringfirstfewquestions?If
youfeltanxiousthenhowdidyoucalmyourself?

Ans.Yesdefinitely,IwasabitnervousbeforetheGATEexam.But
generalaptitudewasmystrongareaandthefirstsectionhadaptitude
questionswhichwereeasy,soIwasrelaxedonceIhadagoodstart.

3.Howdidyougoaboutattemptingthepaper?Howdidyou
distributetimeamongvarioussectionslikedidyouattempt1mark
questionsor2marksquestionsfirst?Pleasegiveadetailed
descriptionoftimemanagementstrategyyoufollowed?

Ans.Aptitudewasoneofmystrongareas,soIstartedwiththat.ThenI
proceededsystematicallytosolvealltheproblemswhichwereeasyto
solveandinwhichIwasprettysureabout.Iattemptedallthetough
problemsatlast.

4.WhatwastheimpactofOnlineCalculatoronGATEExam?How
didyouprepareyourselftotackletheOnlineCalculator?

Ans.Onlinecalculatorwastimeconsuminganddifficulttohandle.Ihad
practicedonthatcalculatorbeforetheexamandthatmademe
comfortable.

5.WhatdoyoufeelabouttheincreasingweightageofNumerical
AnswerTypeQuestions?Howtoimproveaccuracyinordertoscore
wellinNumericalAnswerTypeQuestions?

Ans.TheNATquestionsareeasybuttheyconsumetime.Patienceand
accuracyareneededtocrackthesetypeofquestions.Practiceisthekey.


PreparationStrategyforGATEExam
6.WhatwasthemotivebehindyouappearingforGATEexam?

Ans.IwantedtoworkincoreMechanicalengineeringcompanieslike
BHEL,NTPCetc.andthesePSUsrecruitthroughgate.

7.WhendidyoustartpreparingforGATEexam?

Ans.IstartedpreparingforgateexamafterIleftmyjobinmid2015.

8.Uptowhatdatewereyouabletocompletethecourseonce?What
wasyourtargetastohowmanyquestionstopracticeineach
subject?Whatwasthesequenceinwhichyoupreparedthesubjects?

Ans.ByDecemberend,Ihadpreparedmysyllabusonceandwasready
forrevision.Ihadnottargetedanyparticularnumberofquestionsfor
practicebutIfocusedmoreonqualityratherthanquantity.From
previousyearsquestionbank,Iwascompletelyawareofthesubjects
whichhadmoreweightagethanotherandpreparedthesubjects
accordingly.

9.Whichstudymaterialandstandardbookswouldyourecommend
forGATEAspirantsineachsubject?

Ans.IreferredstandardbooksandpreviousyearsquestionbankforME.

FMRKbansal
ThermoPKNag
ICEMLMathur
SomTimoshenko
TomSSRattan
HmtPKNag
IndustrialO.PKhanna
MDVBBhandari
RefrigerationsystemsCPArora
MaterialscienceCallister
ManufacturingKalpakJain
10.Howdidyoukeepthesubjectsfreshinyourmemorytheentire
time?Didyourevisethesubjectsregularlyoryoulefttherevision
forlastfewmonths?Whatwasyourstrategyforrevisioninthelast
fewmonths?
Ans.Irevisedmysubjectsonaregularbasis.Ididnotleavemyentire
revisionforend.Iwasinconstanttouchwitheverysubjectatalltimes.I
utilizedmyweekendsforrevision.

11.WhatistheroleofmocktestsinyoursuccessinGATEexam?
Howmanymocktestsdidyouattempt?Whendidyoustart
attemptingmocktests?

Ans.Mocktestsareverycrucialforanyexam.Theyhelpyouavoidany
calculationmistakesandhelpyoulearntimemanagementintheexam.I
startedattemptingmocktestsinthelastmonth.Igavearound10full
syllabustestsandthenindividualtopicwisetests.

12.HowwasyourscoreinMockTests?Isthereanycorrelation
betweenmocktestperformanceandactualGATEperformance?

Ans.Inmostofthemocktests,Iwasundertop100butinsomeofthem
myperformancewasnotthatgood.Thewholepointofgivingmocktests
isthatyoulearnfromthemistakescommittedanddontrepeatthem,
Ranksinmocktestswillnotmatter.Thereisnodefinitecorrelation
betweenmocktestperformanceandactualGATEperformance.Butthey
willdefinitelyhelpyoutoperformbetterinGATE.

PersonalQuestions
13.Whatistheroleofundergraduatestudiesorcollegestudiesin
yourGATEprep?

Ans.UGstudiesshouldbetakenseriously.ForGATEexam,youneedto
preparethesubjectscoveredin4yearsofcollegetogetheratonce.So,if
youhaveagoodbackgroundandyouhavetakenyourcollegecourses
seriously,youwilldefinitelyhaveanedgeoverotherpeople.

14.Howdidyoumotivateyourselfforsuchalongjourneytowards
GATE?

Ans.SinceIhadleftmyjobforpreparation,Iwasdeterminedtocrack
thisexam.Apartfromthis,agoodprospectivecareerafterthisexam
keptmeonmytoes.

15.DidyouexpectsucharesultaftergivingtheGATEexam?

Ans.IknewIhaddonereasonablywellbuttherankwasasurprise.

16.Howdidyoufeelthemomentyousawtheresults?
Ans.Itwasdefinitelyamomentofjoyforme.Thatfeelingof
contentmentwhenyourhardworkhasreallypaidoffsimplycantbe
explained.

17.WhatistheroleoffamilyandfriendsinyoursuccessinGATE
exam?

Ans.Myfamilyhasbeenmybiggeststrength.Theysupportedmy
decisionofleavingjobforthis.Myfriendsweretheoneswhomademe
realizewhatIactuallywantedtodo.

18.Whatisthesuccessmantrathatyouwouldliketogivetoother
GATEaspirantswhichhavebeencriticalforyourpreparationas
well?

Ans.Consistencyinhardworkandfocusarethetwomainthingsyou
shouldhave.