How To Crack GATE Exam
Recipe for success in GATE Exam 2022: Study while others are sleeping; work while others are loafing; prepare while others are playing, and dream while others are wishing.
Early starters will always have more time before any actual GATE exams as their GATE course curriculum will finish much before the batches starting later.
1. Give yourself enough time to study for GATE Exam
Don’t leave it until the last minute. While some students do seem to thrive on last-minute cramming, it’s widely accepted that (for most of us) this is not the best way to approach a GATE exam. To help sort out your time management, set up a timetable for your GATE exam study. Write down how many GATE exams you have and the days on which you have to sit them. Then organize your GATE exam study accordingly. You may want to give some GATE exams more study time than others, so find a balance that you feel comfortable with.
2. Ask questions.
Our professors and TAs are there to help! Ask them questions regarding the material and the GATE exam so that you’re prepared when GATE exam time arrives.
3. Organize your study space for GATE exam preparation
Make sure you have enough space to spread your textbooks and notes out. Have you got enough light? Is your chair comfortable? Are your computer games out of sight?
Try and get rid of all distractions, and make sure you feel as comfortable and able to focus as possible. For some people, this may mean almost complete silence, for others, background music helps. Some of us need everything completely tidy and organized in order to concentrate, while others thrive in a more cluttered environment. Think about what works for you, and take the time to get it right.
4. Use flow charts and diagrams for GATE exam
Visual aids can be really helpful when revising for GATE exam. At the start of a topic, challenge yourself to write down everything you already know about a topic – and then highlight where the gaps lie. Closer to the GATE exam, condense your revision notes into one-page diagrams. Getting your ideas down in this brief format can then help you to quickly recall everything you need to know during the GATE exam.
5. Practice previous GATE exam papers
One of the most effective ways to prepare for GATE exams is by solving previous year papers. This helps you get used to the format of the questions, and to allot right amount of time on each section.
6. Explain your answers to others
Parents and little brothers and sisters don’t have to be annoying around GATE exam time. Use them to your advantage. Explain an answer to a question to them. That will help you to get it clear in your head, and also to highlight any areas where you need more work.
7. Organize study groups with friends for GATE exam 2022 preparation
Get together with friends for a study session. You may have questions that they have the answers to and vice versa. As long as you make sure you stay focused on the topic for an agreed amount of time, this can be one of the most effective ways to challenge yourself.
8. Quiz yourself.
If you think about and create actual GATE exam questions, you will likely become more familiar with what you need to study and, in the meantime, familiarize yourself with the type of language that will be on the GATE exam. Draft potential GATE exam 2022 questions and quiz yourself so that you can set expectations of what you need to focus on.
9. Colour code it.
Create a system that allows you to colour code material that’s going to be on the GATE exam by what’s most important, less important, etc. This will help you focus on the most pertinent information and prioritize the material.
10. Visualize.
If you’re a visual learner, it can help to create mind maps or diagrams to visualize how the concepts you’re learning relate to one another. This is especially beneficial when learning concepts that build upon the understanding of one another, like in science courses.
11. Take regular breaks
There’s a lot to be said about a good night’s sleep. While you may think it’s best to study for as many hours as possible for the GATE exam, this can be counterproductive. If you were training for a marathon, you wouldn’t try and run 24 hours a day. Likewise, studies have shown that for long-term retention of knowledge, taking regular breaks helps.
Everyone’s different, so develop a study routine that works for you. If you study better in the morning, start early before taking a break at lunchtime. Or, if you’re more productive at night for GATE exam preparation, take a larger break earlier, so you’re ready to settle down in the evening.
Try not to feel guilty about being out enjoying the sunshine instead of hunched over your textbooks. Remember Vitamin D is important for a healthy brain.
12. Pace yourself.
Make sure you stay focused and don’t burn yourself out. A great way to do so is to pace yourself rather than opting for the dreaded all-nighter. You can easily pace yourself by following tips like starting early, creating a GATE exam study schedule and taking breaks when necessary!
13. Snack on brain food
You may feel like you deserve a treat, or that you don’t have time to cook, but what you eat can really have an impact on energy level and focus, so keep away from junk food. Keep your body and brain well-fuelled by choosing nutritious foods that have been proven to aid concentration and memory, such as fish, nuts, seeds, yogurt and blueberries. The same applies on GATE exam day – eat a good meal before the test, based on food that will provide a slow release of energy throughout. Sugar may seem appealing, but your energy levels will crash an hour later.
14. Plan your GATE exam day
Make sure you get everything ready – well in advance of the GATE exam – don’t leave it to the day before to suddenly realize you don’t know the way, or what you’re supposed to bring. Check all the rules and requirements, and plan your route and journey time. If possible, do a test run of the trip. If not, write down clear directions.
Work out how long it will take to get there – then add on some extra time. You don’t want to arrive having had to run halfway or feeling frazzled from losing your way. You could also make plans to travel to the exam with friends or classmates, as long as you know they’re likely to be punctual.
15. Drink plenty of water
As a final tip, remember that being well hydrated is essential for your brain to work at its best. Make sure you keep drinking plenty of water throughout your revision, and also on the GATE exam day.
Good luck!
Why students fail in any competitive GATE exam even if they have worked hard?
‘Hard work’ never means studying for consecutively 8-10 hours or even more. Now, if putting longer number of hours into preparation is the key, then everyone would be doing so. Then the question is, what difference are you making? My point is, if everyone has the same mind set, all will be at the same level. With this, all will land at the same stage.
The success mantra to any competitive is ‘Smart work’. It means ‘to work with your own rhythm’.
To succeed in any competitive exam, first you need to crack it in your mind. You need to believe in your heart that you can clear the exam, that’s a very important step. You need to feel positive about it, confident about it.
But again they might be questions popping up in your mind like ‘How can you be confident until you have studied the concepts in-depth!’. I’ll explain it with an example. It is a chilly winter night and you are sitting near a fire place. Will it light up on its own? Or you need to put some wood in it? So, here the confidence is the wood, and good understanding of the concepts is the heat. You just cannot expect for the understanding of concepts to instil belief in you. It has to be the other way round, have belief in yourself, and the results will follow, the concepts will seem to be much simpler.
You don’t need to work “hard”, work “smart” and you will get better results without much efforts. It’s all mind game. Train your mind to follow your orders, and the life will become simpler. If your mind says that you can do it, you are half way done.