The Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) are the dream institutes for most of the budding engineers. If you wish to pursue a master's in the IITs spread across the country, you should know that qualifying in Graduate Aptitude Test in Engineering (GATE) opens a doorway. This national-level entrance exam is conducted annually for an admission to postgraduate programs such as ME and MTech. Along with technical education, the GATE score is even useful for employment opportunities in the public sector.
Even before applying for GATE, many aspirants are negatively impacted because they give importance to myths. There is no need to give importance to these myths because they don't have any role to play during your GATE preparation. Here are the top nine myths you should ignore while preparing for GATE.
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1. Coaching Is Required For GATE
Many aspirants feel that one has to join a coaching institute to crack the GATE examination. However, it is not mandatory. One can ace the GATE examination without taking any coaching.
2. Have To Attempt All The Questions
There is a misconception amongst aspirants that one has to attempt all the questions in GATE to crack the exam. Absolutely not, attempting more than 35 questions correctly will help you get a good score.
3. Only Hard Work Helps In GATE
Obviously, one has to work hard in order to stand out from the crowd, especially in GATE. However, working hard alone will not bring you success as GATE is listed as one amongst the toughest examinations. One has to work on proper planning besides time management to crack the exam.
4. Has To Devote All The Day For Preparation
As GATE is one amongst the toughest examinations, aspirants have to devote at least 8 hours a day to prepare for the exam. It doesn't mean you have to keep other things aside. While preparing, never give room for distractions.
5. Focus On All The Topics
If you are taking GATE only to get the minimum qualifying score, you can leave some concepts and focus on the topics with high weightage. If you are looking to get an admission in one of the top universities, you have to score well in all sections including general aptitude.
6. Take Time To Solve The Practise Papers
Solving the previous years' question papers is a good idea but not practising within a stipulated time is not encouraged. Practising in a restricted time will even increase your speed and accuracy.
7. Focusing Only On Your Strengths
Surely, you will have some strong areas where you can score more marks. In order to ace GATE, aspirants have to focus on both strong and weak areas.
8. Have To Read Too Many Books
One has to work a lot for GATE because the difficulty level of the questions is high. Hence, one has to gain more knowledge. Referring to many books will not help you, indeed it will land you in ambiguity. So, focus only on 2-3 books to understand the concepts. This will also increase your confidence.
9. GATE Is A Cakewalk After Achieving Distinction In Engineering
This is a common assumption for many candidates. Though you have scored distinction in engineering with the same syllabus, qualifying in GATE is completely different which requires some different skills. One has to hone their competitive skills.
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