My GATE Story

As the GATE exam is over, lot of people realize that their score/rank may not be enough to get a decent M. Tech opportunity. Today's post is dedicated to all people who are not happy with their GATE performance. I will narrate my GATE story and how I got what I wanted after 3 attempts to GATE.

Attempt 1, year n

My first attempt for GATE was when I was in the final year of my engineering. I had started preparing from third year itself. I started with Discrete Maths, which I considered a fundamental subject, and gradually completed all the other subjects. By the time I appeared for the exam, I was completely immersed in CS.

On the day of result I learned that I had secured a rank of 1027. Though highest in my college, I was sure this was not enough for me to get admission into IIT. On the suggestion of a senior, I applied to KRESIT in IIT B. Surprisingly, I got a call for it. This was around April/May that year, and I was busy with my college project presentation, final exams, job searches etc. I barely got enough time to revise any subject for the IIT B written test. Anyways, I appeared for the test at IITB with a tired attitude and could not clear it. Seeing the IIT B campus was like a dream come true, but after I had to come back empty handed, felt like there was nothing else left in the world. I was completely shattered.

I decided that I cannot waste any more time on sulking and started preparing for placements. Deep within my heart I had the hope that someday I will find time to appear for GATE again and realize this dream. 

Attempt 2, year n + 2

I got a job offer from an IT service based company after the rejection from IITB. As I started working for them, I kept thinking of how I can still give another try to GATE and get into IIT. After completing about 1 year, I again filled up the GATE form and started preparing. Unfortunately for me, this time there was a lot going in my professional career and I could not devote complete time to my studies. Even before appearing for the exam, I knew this is not my best effort. GATE result confirmed this, and though I got a rank of 850, it still was not enough. I hoped at least I will get an MS call, but even that did not come. M. Tech seemed very distant at this point.

Attempt 3, year n + 4

By year 3 in my company, I had realized that I am not doing a job of a Computer Engineer. Instead, I was just a manual laborer in the IT industry. By this time I was very serious about my M. Tech and decided that it is the only thing that can bring me out of this trap. I started preparing again, but this time I was determined not to repeat the mistake of my last attempt, namely going for a half-hearted attempt. Fortunately, this time I had comparatively lighter load in my office and I decided to take full advantage of this opportunity. I started preparing in September, and prepared will full discipline and seriousness. I gathered as many books as possible, joined the British Library so I can refer more books, gathered online material. This time I knew it was going to be my best effort.

I got a rank of 295 this time. I got a call from IITK for written test interview. Fortunately for me, I discovered a course in IIT Delhi called JCA (Computer Applications). This was a computer science like course but run by maths Dept and I got a call for it. I cleared the IITK written test, but failed miserably in the interview. I did fairly well in the JCA interview and this was my only hope now. My biggest mistake was I did not apply to any other institute and I feel I should have applied to IITKGP, IITG or IITR. Anyways, I got confirmation from JCA that I will be getting a seat. This completed my life long quest for studying from an IIT. I had no hesitation in resigning from my job and heading to Delhi, even though a lot of people (including my manager) advised against going for an M. Tech.

Placements, year n + 6

Throughout my M. Tech, I was worried about placements, not only because it is important to get a good job, but also that I had left some very good corporate opportunities to pursue my M. Tech. Most people had told me that I would not get anything other than teaching jobs after M. Tech, and I could not afford these people being correct. Thankfully, placements turned out to be very good. Not only I was placed in Amazon.com, a dream company for CS, but that year I was the only person selected from IIT D by Amazon.