Ques: What is GATE all about

Ans: GATE stands for Graduate Aptitude Test for Engineering. It is jointly conducted by IISc (Indian Institute of Sciences) and seven IITs (Indian Institute of Technology) on behalf of National Coordination Board-GATE, Department of Higher Education and Ministry of Human Resource Development, Government of India.

Ques: When is the registration process for GATE 2012 beginning

Ans: Online application submission commences on 12th September 2011.

Ques: What is the last date to register for GATE 2012

Ans: Last date to submit the online application is 17th October 2011.

Ques: What are the eligibility criteria to appear in GATE 2012

Ans: Following students would be considered eligible for GATE:

1. Bachelor’s degree holders in Engineering/Technology/Architecture (4 years after 10+2) and students in last year of their degree program.
2. Bachelor’s degree holders in Engineering/Technology/Architecture (Post B.Sc/Post Diploma) and students in last year of their degree program.
3. Master’s degree holders in Science/Mathematics/Statistics/Computer Applications and students in last year of their degree program.
4. Students in second or higher year of their four year integrated master’s degree program in Engineering/Technology
5. Students in second or higher year of their five year integrated master’s/dual degree program in Engineering/Technology
6. Candidates qualified through examinations conducted by professional societies recognized by UPSC/AICTE equivalent to B.E/B.Tech. Candidates who have completed section A or equivalent of such professional courses are also eligible.

Ques: What are the other important dates to be memorized for GATE 2012

Ans: Following dates are important for GATE 2012:

1. Last date for the receipt of printed version of ONLINE Application at the respective zonal GATE Office – 24th October 2011
2. Zonal GATE website display of final list of registered candidates, choices of test paper and examination city 9th December 2011
3. Availability of admit card on zonal GATE websites – 2nd January 2012
4. GATE 2012 online examination for papers: architecture and planning, geology and geophysics, textile engineering and fiber science – 29th January 2012 (9am to 12pm)
5. GATE 2012 online examination for papers: aerospace engineering, agriculture engineering, mining engineering – 29th January 2012 (2pm to 5 pm)
6. GATE 2012 offline examination for papers: biotechnology, civil engineering, chemical engineering, computer science and information technology, mechanical engineering, physics, production and industrial engineering – 12th February 2012 (9am to 12 pm)
7. GATE Offline examination for papers: chemistry, electronics and telecommunication engineering, electrical engineering, instrumentation engineering, mathematics, metallurgical engineering, engineering sciences, life sciences – 12th February 2012 (2pm to 5pm)

Ques: What is the procedure to submit the application

Ans: Application process could be divided into following steps:

1. Payment mode: Payment could be done either through net banking or through cash payment (payment challan option) at ICICI, Indian Bank or State Bank of India Branches.
2. Students need to obtain SC/ST/disability certificates if applicable.
3. Complete the application online. Application submission will be followed by generation of a PDF file. This file will consist of five pages.
   Page 1 – Instructions
   Page 2 – GATE 2012 Application – GATE copy
   Page 3 – GATE Application – Student’s copy
   Page 4 – Address slip of respective zonal GATE Office
   Page 5 – Bank challan (for payment challan option only)
4. All those who choose to pay in cash have to take print out of page 5 of the PDF file in triplicate. One copy has to be taken to the ICICI, Indian Bank or State Bank of India Branch to pay the fees. One copy is to be retained with the student and the third is to be attached with the GATE Application form.
5. Paste your recent passport sized photograph on page 2 of the pdf file as per the instructions.
6. Submit/Post the application. It could also be handed over personally on or before 24th October 2012.

Ques: How much does GATE 2012 form cost

Ans: GATE 2012 Application costs Rs.1000/- for general and OBC category students and Rs.500/- for SC/ST and disabled students.

Ques: When can we expect to obtain the admit cards for the GATE 2012

Ans: Admit cards will not be sent by post. These could be downloaded from zonal GATE websites from 2nd January 2012 onward.

Ques: Instructions to be followed on the test day

Ans: Along with the admit card, students are also required to carry an original and valid photo identification. You can choose to carry driving license, passport, pan card, voter id, college id, employee id card or a notarized affidavit with photo, signature, date of birth and residential address.

Ques: Which all papers are being included in GATE 2012

Ans: GATE 2012 would be conducted for 21 different papers. Students are eligible to take test in only one paper. Also change of paper request will not be entertained after submission of the application. The papers included in GATE 2012 along with designated codes are as follows:

Aerospace engineering AE
Agriculture engineering AG
Architecture and Planning AR
Biotechnology BT
Civil Engineering CE
Chemical Engineering CH
Computer Science and Information Technology CS
Chemistry CY
Electronics and Communication Engineering EC
Electrical Engineering EE
Geology and Geophysics GG
Instrumentation Engineering IN
Mathematics MA
Mechanical Engineering ME
Mining Engineering MN
Metallurgical Engineering MT
Physics PH
Production and Industrial Engineering PI
Textile Engineering and Fiber Science TF
Engineering Sciences XE
Life Sciences XL

Engineering Sciences and Life Sciences are papers are general in nature and include certain sections.

Engineering Sciences sections: Engineering mathematics, Fluid Mechanics, Materials Science, Solid Mechanics, Thermodynamics, Polymer Science and Engineering, Food Technology. Engineering mathematics is a compulsory section.

Life Sciences sections: Chemistry, Biochemistry, Botany, Microbiology, Zoology, Food Technology. Chemistry is a compulsory section.

Ques: How can we obtain the syllabus for respective paper for GATE entrance

Ans: Syllabi

Ques: What is the GATE examination structure

Ans: GATE would consist of a single paper of 3 hours duration. Paper would consist of 65 questions in total carrying a maximum of 100 marks. All the papers except with the codes AE, AG, AR, GG, MN and TF would consist of multiple choice questions with each question having four options. Papers with codes AE, AG, AR, GG, MN and TF would consist of multiple choice questions as well as numerical answer type questions.

Thus in total there would be four types of questions which could appear in GATE:

• multiple choice questions
• common date questions, i.e. successive questions requiring same data input
• linked answer question, i.e. answer to a question may be required to answer successive questions
• numerical answer questions

For papers with codes mentioned above exam would be computer based while for all other papers exam would be paper based using optical response sheet.

Also the test would consist of a general aptitude component carrying 15 marks.

In the papers with codes AE, AG, BT, CE, CH, CS, EC, EE, GG, IN, ME, MN, MT, PI, TF and XE, the Engineering Mathematics will carry 15 % of the total marks, the General Aptitude section will carry 15 % of the total marks and the remaining 70 % of the total marks is devoted to the subject of the paper.

In the papers with codes AR, CY, GG, MA, PH and XL, the General Aptitude section will carry 15 % of the total marks and the remaining 85 % of the total marks is devoted to the subject of the paper.

Ques: In which all cities examination would be conducted

Ans: Examination Cities

Ques: What is the provision for postgraduate admissions with MHRD Scholarships

Ans: As per the MHRD directives a specific procedure is to be followed for admissions into postgraduate i.e. masters and doctoral programs. 70% weightage will be given to GATE performance while 30% weightage will be given to academic record and performance in interview. But it is important to check for the criteria with concerned institutes individually.

GATE qualified students are entitled for MHRD scholarships for 24 months unless they lose it due to their poor performance.

Students from Integrated master’s degree and dual degree programs appearing for GATE are eligible to receive scholarships in their institutions only but are not eligible for fresh M.Tech/M.E admissions.

Ques: When can we expect the GATE 2012 results

Ans: GATE 2012 results are expected to be out by 15th March 2012.

Ques: For how many years GATE scores are valid

Ans: GATE 2012 results will be valid for 2 years from the date of announcement of GATE 2012 results.

Ques: Which all Institutes other than IITs and IISc accept GATE scores

Ans: Apart from IITs and IISc following Institutes accept GATe scores for admissions:

NIT Trichy
NIT Warangal
NIT Suratkal
NIT Jamshedpur
Jadavpur University
BITS Pilani
Tata Institute of Fundamental Research
Motilal Nehru Institute of Technology, Allahabad
Delhi College of Engineering
Anna University
Institute of Tewchnology, Banaras Hindu University

Ques: Which all are the top M.Tech Institutes in India

Ans: M.Tech Top 50 colleges in India-

Ques: What were GATE score cutoffs for lat year

Ans: GATE 2011 cut offs