Graduate Aptitude Test in Engineering, abbreviated as GATE is one of the most sought after
exam nowadays in India. GATE exam is a golden opportunity for a student from Tier II or
Tier III college to grab highly paid Government jobs in PSU across India. It also gives an
opportunity to enroll in M-tech in some of the prestigious colleges like, IIsc, NITIE, IITS,
NITS and so, this test is taken by a number of candidates from all across the country.
Because of the opportunities available after the GATE exam, huge number of candidates
appear for this exam and this number has been increasing every year. Now GATE 2019
exam is expected to be much competitive than previous GATE exams.
Every year, the cutoff marks across all PSU’s have been increasing exponentially and hence,
it is of utmost importance to plan a proper strategy and work smartly to achieve your goal.
On an average, a time of 6-8 months is enough for GATE preparation for ECE paper. This
article will give you an idea about GATE ECE preparation strategies which are commonly
adopted by toppers.
Preparation Tips for GATE 2019 Electronics Paper
❖ What is GATE exam paper pattern?
- GATE paper contains 65 questions out of which 55 questions are asked from the technical domain and engineering mathematics. Rest 10 questions are usually asked from aptitude (both verbal & non-verbal).
- Questions are MCQ as well as numerical input type (NAT). From the last 3 years, NAT questions include almost 30-40 % weightage and the trend is increasing to include more NAT questions.
- Download GATE syllabus from official website to know about details.
❖Books for GATE ECE Paper
With such competitive environment in GATE exam you need to let no stone unturned to maximize your chances of success. In this regard, it is crucial that you select standard books that cover topics related to GATE exams. Here is a list of books which will help you preparing for GATE ECE paper.
1. NETWORK THEORY:
You should start with this book: Circuit analysis by Hyat and Kemmerly, this book contains simple explanation and covers almost all the topics of GATE ECE exam.
Once you have covered the basics, you can try the book mentioned-below to explore difficult problems: Network analysis by Valkenberg.
2. Analog Circuits:
(a) Electronic Devices & Circuit Theory (Author: Robert Boylestad): The content of this book is lucid and contains many examples for better understanding and practice.
(b) Microelectronic Circuits (Author name: Sedra, Smith): A basic book to understand MOSFET in detail.
3. Signal and System:
Signals & Systems(Author: Oppenheim and Willsky): The book is quite comprehensive and widely accepted for GATE preparation.
4. Electronic Device:
Solid states electronic devices (Author name: Streetman, Banerjee): The book is quite descriptive and EDC part is properly explained.
5. Digital Electronics:
Digital Design (Author name: Morris Mano): Very lucid and simple explanation is given in this book.
6. Control system:
Linear Control System (Author name: B.S Manke) : Lots of practice numericals are explained in this book. Theory part is relevant to GATE syllabus.
Automatic Control System (Author name: Benjamin C Kuo): contain proper proportions of both theory and numerical.
7. ELECTROMAGNETICS:
Principle of Electromagnetic author name: Sadiku : this the most sought after book for electromagnetic. This is a must have book for GATE exam.
Antennas & Wave Propagation (Author name: Harish and Sachidanand): The book is good but only a part of the syllabus is required for the GATE exam. Tally with GATE official syllabus before reading any topic.
8. Communications :
Principles of Communication System (Author name Taub &Schilling): The book is very simple and digital part is explained very well.
Communication System author name :Simon Haykin: Analog communication part should be covered with this book.
9. Microprocessor:
Microprocessor Architecture, Programming & Application (Author name: Ramesh Gaonkar)
10. Mathematics
- Higher Engineering Mathematics (Author name : B.S Grewal): This book is very good the Mathematics section of GATE exam.
❖ Solve previous year question paper.
- Every year questions from more or less same concepts repeat in GATE exam, so it is vital to take care of all the concepts which are frequently asked in GATE exam.
- Proper time should be given to cover previous year papers atleast 8-10 times.
❖ Prepare your cheat sheet/notes
- GATE preparation is a long journey and you need to jot down important keywords and formulas in separate notes for effective preparation and revision.
❖ Make proper strategy to study:
- Start by following your class notes, if you get stuck somewhere, open standard books to resolve your query and then practice previous year questions.
- You can also solve selected numericals from standard text books.
- Always remember, revision is the key to crack GATE exam.
❖ Give mock test full length series:
- Try to attempt mock tests online and practice them thoroughly before the exam.
- Analyze your mistakes in mock tests and try to minimize negative marking.
- Start practising mock tests as early as you can. We would suggest you to begin mock tests within 1.5 months of GATE preparation. Do not ignore mock tests as they turn out to be very helpful.
❖ Some Bonus tips:
- Make sure that you stick to the GATE syllabus. Do not even try to cover anything extra apart from syllabus. Remember, many students do these mistakes. Smart work is the key to crack such acompetitive exam.
- Solve previous year aptitude questions.
- Never ignore mathematics as questions of this section are really easy to solve.
- Try to cover the entire theoretical segment 1 month before the exam and focus mainly on problem solving after that as major chunk of GATE questions are numerical based.
- Never ignore previous year questions.
- Focus on your weak areas. This is very vital for scoring high in GATE.
- Practice as much questions as you can before the GATE exam.
You can also download GATE preparation app for GATE ECEexam. It provides free study notes, quizzes, mock test, practice set, question papers, & test series.