GATE 2022 to be held in February; here’s what toppers suggest for last-week preparation

GATE 2022 admit card was issued on the official website after an unprecedented delay that led to speculations of the exam getting postponed. Registered candidates who haven’t downloaded their hall tickets are required to do it at the earliest.

As the exam is approaching, candidates can use the past year papers and previous years’ GATE answer key to revise thoroughly. Below are a few last-minute prep tips curated from the toppers that would turn out to be essential:

1. Past years’ papers are the most important resources. Check out the GATE official website — gate.iitkgp.ac.in. Candidates can find the GATE 2022 previous years papers, mock papers, etc. there. 
2. GATE 2021 topper, Amit Sharma advises that candidates should focus on the concepts which have more weightage but are easy to understand and attempt. This might differ for each candidate, so figure out topics that are easy and turn them into your strong point. 
3. According to Rajat Gupta, who secured AIR 8 in GATE 2021, Mechanical Engineering, GATE 2022 mock tests and YouTube videos were a prime part of his preparation. There are numerous teachers, past year toppers, etc. who upload videos on YouTube. Candidates may use these to clear any doubts that they may have. 
4. Rajat Gupta also mentions that candidates often take the General Aptitude section lightly. It is common to all the papers, irrespective of the subject chosen by the candidate. It has a 15 per cent weightage, therefore, candidates should prepare for this session strategically by considering the most frequently asked concepts and type of questions. 
5. Most GATE toppers stress the importance of consistency in preparation and for that, one needs to be aware of the GATE 2022 exam pattern and syllabus. In these last weeks, candidates must allocate more time to revise the topics they have already prepared and write mock tests to manage time effectively. 

The GATE exam is going to be conducted online in the computer-based format, with a total of 65 questions to be covered in three hours. Candidates can attempt one among 29 subjects/ papers, based on their educational background. Each paper consists of two sections — General Aptitude (GA) and the subject-specific section as per the GATE 2022 syllabus. The GA section is common to all the papers; it comprises 10 questions with a maximum of 15 marks. The subject section consists of 55 questions carrying a total of 85 marks.

Three types of questions are asked in the GATE exam — Multiple Choice Questions (MCQ), Multiple Select Questions (MSQ), and Numerical Answer Type (NAT) questions. 1 mark MCQs carry a negative marking of ⅓ mark and 2 mark MCQs carry a negative marking of ⅔ mark. There is no negative marking for MSQ and NAT questions.

Candidates can also take a look at previous years’ GATE cut-off marks and accordingly scale up their preparations. The cut-offs are usually high, owing to the exam’s popularity amongst the academic fraternity. Candidates must note that the GATE answer keys will be released in the last week of February 2022, subsequent to which an objection window will be opened. After the release of the answer keys, candidates will be able to challenge an answer by paying a fee of Rs 500. The GATE 2022 results will then be declared on March 17, 2022, alongside the release of the final answer keys.