Top Marks in GATE 2010

It was hard for me know the highest or top marks scored in GATE during last year and many student asked about it. I decided to record the heights marks scored in GATE exam and make an analysis. This also helped me to make a generalized assumption about highest marks in GATE or marks that would fetch a seat in IIT.

The highest are marks totally depends and I always suggest GATE 2011 students to target highest marks. Dont be happy, if you are scoring same as highest marks of previous year. Be aware someone is always preparing for highest marks (ie. 100), if he or she make it you will be standing in a risk to get into IITs.

The highest marks in GATE 2010 for all the branches could not be collected. I think marks of student well below 10 gives a good estimate of highest marks for the engineering stream. I gave the rank for which the marks obtained and a guess for top marks in GATE. You can also refer to Total number of student appeared in GATE 2010 and GATE 2010 qualifying Marks for other related information.

Highest marks for GATE 2010

Discipline	Rank	Top Marks
Computer Science and Engineering and IT (CS and IT)	1	85.33
Electronics and Communication Engineering (ECE)	1	79
Electrical Engineering (EE)	5 9 Top Marks Guess	78.67 77 ~80
Mechanical Engineering (ME)	4 5 Top Marks Guess	70.33 70 ~72
Civil Engineering (CE)	9 Top Marks Guess	67.67 ~71
Instrumentation Engineering (IN)	6 9 Top Marks Guess	61 58 ~65
Chemical Engineering	4 9 Top Marks Guess	65.67 62 ~68
Production and Industrial Engineering (PI)	2 Top Marks Guess	59.67 ~60
Physics	1	77.6

This post is from a series of posts related GATE exam preparation, GATE 2011 preparation: A complete Guide. Hope these will help many students. If you know the candidates appeared in any other stream, please feel free to drop a comment with a GATE registration number, I will verify and add it to the list.

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M.Tech in IIT or MS in US???

I came across this question when I was in B.Tech third year, from then I usually asked for my opinion on this. This is really a good question and every engineering student who thinks of either a great job or good carrier asks at least once to himself.

After graduating from IIT when I look back to this question, I can immediately conclude that the question itself was wrong. The reason is that the IITs are India’s top Engineering schools with a strong Alumni base in all technology companies in world, are compared to any university in US.

The right question should be “M.Tech in IITs or MS in top 50 Engineering Schools of US?” or “M.Tech in India or MS in US?” These questions are correct and not comparing apple with oranges.

Let me answer the second question first. M.Tech in India or MS in US? The answer to this question according to my understanding is US is a good option. As even a university with rank around 300 will have a one or two good faculties members who studied at top universities during certain level of their educational qualifications. At least they carry that culture with them and can be helpful for the students to think differently and confidently. Job opportunities in US are more, as the competition is less than when compared to India.

If I have an admission letter from top NITs or IITs and some university in US with ranking around 200, I will go for M.Tech in India. As NITs and IITs have all top companies of the world in every domain for campus recruitment with a 200% placement figures. No university in the world has this kind of placement statistics. This will also open doors for me higher education in top 50 universities in US with a scholarship which otherwise is quite difficult.

Let me come to the first question. “M.Tech in IITs or MS in top 50 Engineering Schools of US?” The answer is quite simple and straight, MS in US top 50 universities (with a scholarship) is a better choice. To reach there either you should be a fresh IITian, Some top 20 institutes in India, or already have a job experience in on of the top multinational companies like Microsoft, Google, and Yahoo…etc.

Getting into either IITs or Top 50 universities (with a scholarship) need lots of hard work and luck. With hard work and consistent try to get admission into these heavens of education one at certain point of time can be there. But I rarely saw someone with luck alone reached there. For M.Tech in IITs you have to prepare for GATE, take time to study for it. Need gather best GATE martial, solve previous questions papers and try not to be less than 99 % (percentile). On the other hand to go to top universities in US, you need to prepare hard for GRE and make sure that you won’t get less than 1400, write a good statement of purpose and run around to arrange good recommendations. After everything wait for admission committee decision, once you get an admission letter run around the US embassy to get visa. This all process make you understand that easy things don’t pay you much in life, so take a stand and work hard and pray for good luck.

To summarize this I would prefer to go to any Top engineering school in the world that gives me a freedom to make decision about career without any compulsions. Only IITs, Top NITs and Top Schools in any other developed country can give this opportunity. By Career decision I mean the decision to switch between Industry and academia easily.

Importantly, wherever I wrote Top US universities I also wrote with scholarship that covers your living and fees there. Otherwise, it will be really difficult to manage everything and study. Also, only top students will get scholarships and that is really an honor to start with.

I wish you a great luck with whatever you choose for your future.

M.Tech Admission without GATE or Non GATE

After receiving a huge number of requests from readers, I decided to write about admission to M.Tech (Master of Technology) without GATE Score or NON GATE M.Tech. For admission into M.Tech or MS in Engineering everyone have their own reasons and they prepare GATE accordingly. Few students have time and high targets and they start preparing for it well in advance. Most of them take a year break too to attend some coaching classes for making it to IITs.

On the same time, we often see students who are very enthusiastic but could not make it to GATE for some reasons. Few energetic faculty members engineering colleges and universities often try to find a way to get into a good college with minimum or no GATE score. There many reasons, one of them is final exams for engineering or internal test fall during same time making it difficult for them to compete with regular Engineering students or student taking coaching class.

Apart from these, there are few average students who always think of high standards but could not make it to GATE. Once they miss it they lose hope and get into a below standard jobs because of social and financial barriers they have to face for one year. Finally end up not realizing the dream, they dream while joining Engineering studies.

In this post I m trying to give the possible ways of admission into M.Tech and MS by Research course in IITs, NITs, Some very good Universities and State Colleges. Hope this will help you all. I also wrote few other posts related to M.Tech admissions process and requirements based on students question, please refer to A set of ‘Must Read’ articles for M.Tech aspirants for more details.

Admission to Indian Institute of Technology (IITs) or National Institute of Technology (NITs) Without GATE score (NON-GATE):
Most of the student can not imagine going to IITs without tough completion, which is a correct assumption. But there are ways to get into IITs and NITs without GATE scores too. Below are the possible cases.
Sponsored Candidates: If you are working in industry for over three year and can prove that your employer is ready to allow you to go to study by letters from authority, you can apply under this category.
There are few seats reserved under this category in both IITs and NITs.
Quality Improvement Program (QIP): This is started by Govt. of India to improve the quality of teaching staff in state colleges by giving them a chance to attend India’s top most engineering schools. All the faculty members with three years plus experience are eligible for this.
Kindly read the upcoming post giving detail view of these programs.

Admission to Indian Institute of Information Technology (IIITs):
They conduct their own exam for admission. Anyone can apply and try to get admission for Master of Engineering. These colleges are deemed universities and have good infrastructure and placements.

Admission to Central and State Universities:
Few Central Universities conduct there own exams and few consider GATE scores too. Most of the State University doesn’t get GATE qualified students, therefore they conduct their own written test and interview. For more information about notification and other details please subscribe via email, check the box on upper right side of this page. For a list of central universities offering M.Tech programs visit Master of Engineering Degree (M.Tech) in Central Universities.

Private Deemed Universities:
These days in India there are many professional private universities offering masters in engineering. They conduct their won exam and interview. Admission is easy but they may charge huge fee.

Private Engineering colleges offering Master of Engineering:
AICTE approve many old private engineering colleges to start M.Tech course because of infrastructure and faculty. Admission these are easy but may be expensive. A complete list of private colleges in every state in India is given at “Statewise list of Private Engineering colleges offering M.Tech“.

Part Time Master of Engineering:
Few State universities offer this program with the condition that student must live within the some distance (for example 30KM) radius from universities. Class usually conducted in evening and weekends.

Distance M.Tech Program:
This is most risky program, because many fraud universities offer M.Tech distance program that is not affiliated to any accreditation committee. For good detail about good universities Please read my earlier post on “M.Tech Distance programs in well known and reputed universities”.

I also recommend to think about doing masters abroad as there are lots of good universities in Australia, Canada, Germany and France that gives scholarships to Masters and PhD student. If you want to try please do think about them too.

For more detail please subscribe through email, enter your email address in the box given on the top right side in side bar. You will receive an email for updates.

You can find another good post about M.Tech admissions without GATE score here. All these post are to help you get admission into Master degree in engineering. Wish you good luck for that.

Please feel free to drop a comment if you have any questions related to this post and also give suggestion to improve and help other students. Do read others comments for more information.

M.Tech Admission without GATE or Non GATE: Points that will help you

I think that M.Tech is the only way to improve your percentage and job opportunities. If you don’t have a good GATE percentile or could not qualify the GATE and still want to see the top colleges and universities in India, read this blog. You can always opt for some private college near your home if you could not make one of these places.

I have ranked and classified them based on their student preference and placements.

A good set of tips to enter IITs, NITs and top universities in India without GATE Exam for Engineering Degree is give at None GATE M.Tech or M.Tech With out GATE in India

1. 
   
IIITs : These institutes are deemed universities and conduct there own test for M.Tech admission test. For detail about admission procedure visit inspire ‘n’ ignite’. Central Universities: These universities are supported by central government and have great infra structure and good faculty. Read more about then and admission procedure here.
2. 
   
3. Deemed Universities: In recent years many good deemed universities have come with great infrastructure and industry interface. Read more about them here.
4. State Universities: Few good universities in different states conduct their own test and follow admission procedure. Check the list here.
5. M.Tech part time and from Open University: This is a last option for me but it solely depends on your situation and job requirement. Read this for more information on M.Tech Correspondence . I will be adding a list of part time M.Tech programs with requirements

There are many private collages for Master Degree in Engineering (M.Tech) studies in every state, refer to M.Tech colleges in India. I am on the way to get a complete and comprehensive list of all private M.Tech colleges in India. I wish you a great luck for M.Tech Admission this year.

Alternative exams for admission to M.Tech other than GATE

Three south Indian states Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, and Karnataka have many good and well established private engineering colleges. These colleges have been approved to run M.Tech programs since quite a long time. Till last three years they used to conduct their own exams for M.Tech admissions.

As most of these engineering colleges are under one common university in every state. Recently these universities started conducting a common test and counseling for admission to Master of Engineering degrees (M.Tech/ ME) in private engineering colleges affiliated to them.

If you missed GATE exam or could not qualify for some reasons or have too less scores and want to try an alternative to get into parent institutes directly. You should try these exams.

TANCET (Tamil Nadu Common Entrance Test):
This exam is conducted by Anna University for admission to M.Tech and other PG courses in its affiliated colleges. We will update you with TANCET 2010 once official notice is published by Anna University.

Post Graduate Common Entrance Test (PGCET) Karnataka:
This exam is counducted by Visvesvaraya Technological University (VTU) for admission to M.Tech and other PG courses in its affiliated colleges. We will update you with PGCET 2010 once official notice is published by VTU.

Post-Graduate Engineering Common Entrance Test (PGECET):
PGECET is conducted by Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University on behalf of APSHCE (Andhra Pradesh state higher education council) for admission into M.E. / M,Tech./M.Pharm./M.Arch / M.Plg. (full time) in University and affiliated Engineering colleges in A.P. We will update you with PGECET 2010 once official notice is published by JNTU.

Usually the notification for these exams comes during first and second week of April. We will update as soon as the notifications appear on official websites

Admission to NUS and NTU (Singapore universities) through GATE

As I wrote in my earlier posts for M.Tech admissions 2010 that if you don’t get chance here you should try some good universities abroad. Few regular readers asked about possibility of admission to MS or PhD abroad on the basis of GATE results.

I found that National University of Singapore NUS and Nanyang Technological University (NTU) are offering MS and PhD programs on the basis of GATE results. I collect few details to help readers and they can also do further research if interested in studying in Singapore. Both the universities are highly reputed and offer degrees in all streams or fields of science and engineering.

Nation University of Singapore

Eligibility: Good performance in Bachelors degree and above 90 percentile in GATE.
Official website: National University of Singapore Graduate
Tuition Fee: 10000~17220 SGD (Singapore dollars) Approximately 3~5 Lakh Indian Rupees per annum.
Official website: NUS Graduate program fees

Nanyang Technological University

Eligibility: Good performance in Bachelors degree and above 90 percentile in GATE.
Official website: Nanyang Technological University Graduate admissions
Tuition Fee: 10000~17220 SGD (Singapore dollars) Approximately 3~5 Lakh Indian Rupees per annum.
Official website: NTU Graduate program fees

These are two wonderful and top class universities in Asia. They also offer limited scholarships. The basic disadvantage for Indian students who scored well is that the tuition fee is too high and Singapore is an expensive place to live. This makes students to opt for IITs and NITs where education is almost free and you get ample scholarship.

Hope this helps many students to get an idea about Singapore universities. There is much more to come on study abroad and other opportunities. Please do subscribe by email for more updates, and don’t forget to activate it

Admission to NUS and NTU (Singapore universities) through GATE

As I wrote in my earlier posts for M.Tech admissions 2010 that if you don’t get chance here you should try some good universities abroad. Few regular readers asked about possibility of admission to MS or PhD abroad on the basis of GATE results.

I found that National University of Singapore NUS and Nanyang Technological University (NTU) are offering MS and PhD programs on the basis of GATE results. I collect few details to help readers and they can also do further research if interested in studying in Singapore. Both the universities are highly reputed and offer degrees in all streams or fields of science and engineering.

Nation University of Singapore

Eligibility: Good performance in Bachelors degree and above 90 percentile in GATE.
Official website: National University of Singapore Graduate
Tuition Fee: 10000~17220 SGD (Singapore dollars) Approximately 3~5 Lakh Indian Rupees per annum.
Official website: NUS Graduate program fees

Nanyang Technological University

Eligibility: Good performance in Bachelors degree and above 90 percentile in GATE.
Official website: Nanyang Technological University Graduate admissions
Tuition Fee: 10000~17220 SGD (Singapore dollars) Approximately 3~5 Lakh Indian Rupees per annum.
Official website: NTU Graduate program fees

These are two wonderful and top class universities in Asia. They also offer limited scholarships. The basic disadvantage for Indian students who scored well is that the tuition fee is too high and Singapore is an expensive place to live. This makes students to opt for IITs and NITs where education is almost free and you get ample scholarship.

Hope this helps many students to get an idea about Singapore universities. There is much more to come on study abroad and other opportunities. Please do subscribe by email for more updates, and don’t forget to activate it.

M.Tech after MCA

This is another common question I received from the regular visitors. Most of them asked me about how to do M.Tech after MCA. I will try to answer this question and how and where to apply for M.Tech if you could not qualify the GATE exam.

First lets me take a direct you to an eligibility condition for appearing to GATE exam. In condition (b) if it mentioned that “Master degree holders in any branch of Science/ Mathematics/ Statistics/ Computer Applications or equivalent and those who are in the final or pre-final year of such programmes.” are eligible to write GATE exams.

If you qualify and have competitive scores you can apply for all IITs and most of the NITs. IITs particularly less bother about earlier degrees, and try to take students with good understanding to subject. Only condition applies is one apply with MCA or MSc degree must have Maths and Science at BSc level.

If could not qualify the GATE exam please refer to Non GATE M.Tech admissions: Points that may help. Don’t forget to apply for IIITs as they are more flexible in M.Tech admissions in terms of earlier degree and conduct their own written tests. Central universities also conduct their own exams for M.Tech admissions. If you prepare and appear for entrance multiple exams you will definitely be able to crack one.

I am writing a post on why to do M.Tech in general, but for MCA it has a clear advantage. Though both are master degrees, M.Tech will lead to master degree in professional course and therefore lead to higher opportunities both in industry and academy. Usually, B.Tech degree is treated superior to MCA but M.Tech is superior to both the degrees. Therefore, M.Tech after MCA gives an edge over any other bachelor degree in India and also makes you equivalent to your M.Tech peers.

If you don’t have a job offer in hand and just looking for some course to do, I strongly suggest you to apply for M.Tech wherever possible. If you are pre-final year student apply for GATE exam and keep it as an option to stay away from wasting time after completing degree and thinking what to do next. Time after completing course goes fast and a year gap after degree makes you lazy and harms your chances of getting good opportunities.

60% aggregate for M.Tech admissions

This year many institutes struck to 60% aggregate in B.Tech or qualifying degree for M.Tech (Master of Technology) admissions.

60% aggregate means, one should have overall 60% marks in all semesters of Engineering course. Few students asked me that is it only final year percentage or all four years percentage? The answer is that one need score minimum 60% marks in all semesters in engineering course.

In 2010 M.Tech admissions, I saw only few institute allowed students who have less than 60% aggregate, whereas 2009 many institutes didn’t asked for this conditions. I think from 2011 it will become mandatory condition for admission to al most all institutes and universities in India.

Many student who are at 59.XX have really bad time and luck. I got few comments too asking for some suggestions and most of them have got reasonably good scores but have 59 + %. I strongly recommend them to join some good central university as soon as possible. Because I feel next year may be the admissions will be more stringent. I also suggest them to apply to good institutes in India, because they always look for exceptional candidates and if get a chance you need to prove it. Do apply to NITs if you have good GATE scores.

If you are in final year student and targeting GATE 2011, you must take it seriously and work harder towards it, if you don’t have a 60% aggregate. Even if you score really great in GATE 2011 and don’t have 60% aggregate you will really difficult time during admission. Better prepare in advance and make sure are in 60% + class, usually first class student. Even finding a reasonably good job with below 60% is a quite a daunting task.

Wish you all great luck for your dreams.

To join GATE coaching or Not?

It is really an important question and usually one who is preparing for GATE struck at. Usually the first question comes to mind that is it better to go for GATE coaching center or prepare from home or hostel. This a part of series of article that I m preparing for students who are preparing for GATE.

This really depends on oneself. The major thing is your concentration and motive for cracking GATE. Every student has different characteristics and this decision mostly depends on that. Joining and not joining a coaching center have their own pro and cons and you can judge what is best based on how you can handle the negative aspect while taking the full advantage of positive sides.

Let me first start with advantages of joining a coaching center. The first and foremost advantage is you are forced to take time for studies, eventually you will learn few things there. Second advantage is you can make use of tips given by experienced faculty. General information like study material, questions and solutions from fellow mates.

The basic disadvantage of joining a coaching center is that you need to go there. Time is consumed in traveling a little before and after the class. You may in a no time situation for revising the stuff you learned. This can be big issue in metro and big cities as the traffic and distance to a good coaching center may take up to an hour to go and another hour to comeback. Another disadvantage can be meeting new friends and waste more time with them, slowly as you go formal less information and more useless stuff start flowing.

The advantage of studying at home is that you have total control over time and a complete concentration is possible. You can save lot of time that you spend in going out to class and buffer time between the classes. You can spare some time for search and being a part of active forums on internet to see what others are doing and how they are preparing.

The major disadvantages of studying at home are lots distracters that may push you away from study like, TV, internet, family member, relative and friends. Even a single cut of tea from your beloved mom may take an hour and finally end up not doing anything. A Cricket match, a TV serial or a movie can lead to hours of distraction.
To make it in simple words if you are an average student better you choose to opt a coaching center. On the other hand, if you above average better prepare from home and keep the distractions away from you.

Make a balance between pro and cons and don’t waste your precious time in distracters like matches, TV shows, too much to time with friends and relatives. Stay focused and rise above you excuses and realize your dreams .Wish you all a great luck.

M.Tech Admission Giude: GATE Percentile and admission to any IIT for M.Tech

Getting master of engineering (M.Tech, ME) or MS admission in IITs is dream for thousands of student. As every student know that GATE is conducted for Admission to all engineering course right from Computer science and engineering, electrical engineering, electronics engineering, mechanical and civil engineering. The number of admissions offered in these engineering courses are very limited therefore getting less score not able to get admission doesn’t mean that your are not capable of studying M.Tech or MS.

How important is GATE score for getting into IITs for M.Tech studies? This is one of the first questions popup when we think of doing M.Tech (A master degree in technical education in India).

IITs and IISc being the best in the country are definitely dream of every student who desire to go there and missed it for undergrad studies. Once you miss this place at undergrad studies you have to wait four years to knock the doors of these heavens of education again.

We write gate to enter there and face a huge competition. Even a 99+ percentile make you confused about the admission, as IITs call for their own written test and an interview to give an admission. Always there is a question how much is the GATE score important to get into IITs. What is the ideal GATE score will fetch me the test and interview call?

I made an analysis of GATE Cutoff scores for IITs, and an informative post about GATE 2009 Cutoff score for IITs and NITs, this will give you an idea about how competitive is admission to IITs and NITs.

The competition for admission to master of engineering degree (M.Tech) in computer science, electronics and electrical engineering too high and in other branched little less than these field of engineering. I think a case study for computer science it will be better for estimation of any other branch of engineering. If you dont have good scores or not able to get admission in good university for master degree you can also keep the option of studying abroad for ms usually master of engineering is called master of science too.

Here I present a very general case for IITs, which is almost same for all IITs. The number s are exact and just reflect an average considering general category.

In computer science for 20 seats they receive applications ranging from 400~600 (mostly depends on job market). Most of the applicants have good GATE scores. People with less GATE score never bother to submit application to save their and authorities time. These candidates are almost same in all IITs. Selecting best among then is a difficult task. The high frequency of similar gate scores made the selection procedure more difficult and regress.
To make it simple and more effective, a score based on their earlier education and GATE score is calculated. For example…

Score = (0.35) GATE score + (0.15) 8 sems Engineering % + (0.1) 10+2th % + (0.1) 10^th %

This score has 70% of admission judgment (0.35 + 0.15 + 0.1 + 0.1 = 0.7), another 10% is for written test and 20% weight is given to interview.

As IIT can not call all the candidates, they will call who top in the list depending on resources, such as faculty and available stuff and scores too. If scores of candidates after certain level drops drastically, that is considered as limit.
Usually limit varies from 1:3 to 1:5, for every one seat they may call 3 to 5 top candidates on above said Score. To make it more clear, for 20 seats they may call 60~100 candidates to appear for interview and exam.
Once exam and interview in finished the final scores adding the test and interview are calculated. Top 20 students will admission and another 10 will be in waiting list, if anyone drops the seat can be filled by next best student.
If you don’t get a call for written test in IITs for M.Tech you fell some where at GATE score, Engineering %, 10+2 % or 10^th %. As the GATE score is give highest weight, it clearly indicates the GATE PERCENTILE is a very important factor in deciding your entry to IITs.
When I look back and see this admission procedure sometime it looks easier to take admission in Low rank United States universities for MS. If you don’t get a chance in IITs I suggest you to think about this option too.

If this time you could not make dont worry there are lots of good universities all over the world specially if you an average student should try Master of Engineering programs in Germany, France and other European countries, as Education is free and you get good scholarships there, you can also consider master degree admissions in Australia, New Zealand, Canada and US. Getting admission in MS same as M.Tech or Master degrees courses is easier than getting in IITs. On the same time These universities give you good facilities for research and development. Usually Master degree in Computer Science or Master degree in Electrical, Electronics have good findings and support many students. Try all the possibilities to go for higher studies if you are really on to it.

Do not hesitate to search for more information about M.Tech admissions, Cutoffs and Admission notices. If you still have questions or need more information write in comment, you will get an answer for your question from many reader or Zahid. For latest updates subscribe by email and updates will be sent you on email.

M.Tech admission in IITs: Tips and Advises

One of my friend got 99 + percentile in GATE and an all India rank between 280~290. He was all jumping and very happy and came to me that now he can go to any IIT for M.Tech. He is from computer science, and I did PhD from computer science and worked closely on M.Tech admission process with admission committee for more than two years. Visited and appeared for tests all over IITs, IISc and ISI Kolkatta. I found it difficult for me to find some information desired for getting into IITs. I visited al most all the campuses over time and learned these.

So here I go with few quick advises.

1. Marley a good Gate score does not guarantee your admission to M.Tech at IITs, especially to Computers, Electronics and Electrical Engineering.
2. Apply all IITs and IISc don’t loose it because of over confidence.
3. Wait for call for a written test and interview.
4. Prepare well for exam as it is not like gate (multiple choice) most of the IITs give some descriptive and analytical questions too.
5. Interview play the most important role, as they see you problem solving. Whenever get a chance tell them the subject you are very strong in.
6. Importantly plan you schedule, as soon as you get a call book train tickets. You can cancel them latter on if you don’t go there.
7. Two IITs may call you around the same time or very close to each other so be mentally prepared for this and make a priority.
8. There are few other courses where you easily get seats in IITs. You can play a safe too if want.
9. If you are unlucky and average in all aspects of admission and could not make it, you can look for some good alternatives.
10. Enjoy your travel all over India 

Check out every tip in detail and don’t hesitate to post your doubts and questions for this all admission process. Let’s make it useful for coming generations.

IIT M.Tech Admission: Test and Interview preparation

Most of the students are confused about this phase of admission. The reason for conducting written test and interviews is to select the best students. As GATE is a multiple choice test, there is some probability of getting good percentile if some of the blind guesses are correct. To avoid these outliers, IITs and IISc conduct a written test and interview.

Written test:

1. Usually this test includes multiple choice questions and has around 10% weight for admission. As many students appear for exam and in a single day IITs have to finish whole process of admission, they feel comfortable with multiple choice questions. Multiple choice type test help the administration to quick evaluate and process the results.
2. There can be very few analytical questions, so prepare accordingly.
3. Prepare with short note material which you used for GATE.
4. Have a good insight into difficult subjects.
5. Don’t worry if can not do as per you expectations, as it counts only 10% .

Interview:
It is little scary to face professors from IITs for the first time, as you don’t know their expectations and your career depend on their decision. But follow these tips things will be great..

1. Don’t forget to visit Professors’ web sites. This makes you aware of his area and with his looks too. When you enter the interview room you will not be panic.
2. Initially they make you comfortable by asking some personal questions. Answer them and make yourself comfortable.
3. Try to be master of at least on subject. Usually they ask you for your choice, as they have experts sitting from all different fields. So make your choice wisely.
4. Even if you prepare for the easiest subject do not forget to read the most difficult part in it. As they are teaching these subjects for quite a long time they know what student either don’t understand or skip because of difficult concepts.
5. Most of them love mathematics in any subject. Therefore if you can remember few mathematical definitions in the chosen subject will definitely help you.
6. As there are only one or two experts in the subject you directed the interview panel, rest of the professors can ask you some general questions too, related to current trends and technologies in your domain.
7. Understand the environment in room, if it is helpful and cooperative try to answer all the questions. But if things are leading to arguments and heated discussions avoid the questions if you don’t know them. Better don’t mess up Profs.

Do remember, interview is a chance to prove that you are better than what your score shows. Mostly they try to analyze your understand of some problems and analytical skills to solve them. So try to understand the question and frame your answer based on logic. On the same time it is a good way to know, how good you are in subject. Bluffing something may lead to bad conclusions. Be polite, don’t be afraid. Show that given tips you will solve problems and ready to learn rather than arguing. Interview has around 20% weight, and can change many figures if you do well. I wish you a great luck out there, and waiting to welcome you a tradition called IIT, which I m part of and remain rest of my life…

GATE 2011 Preparation: A Complete Guide

If you are decided to take up GATE 2011 and crack it well to IITs or at least NITs you are at right place. After writing a successful series for M.Tech Admission in 2010, GATE cutoff scores for 2009 and Answer common questions like how to find GATE percentile, what is valid GATE score, where can I get admission with xyz score? Its time to write a complete and comprehensive guide for GATE 2011 preparation.

This is not only my a single handed effort by me rather a great number of students who appeared in GATE 2010 and shared their knowledge and experience through different surveys and emails on this site. We decided to cover the following topics in detail to help students GATE 2011 preparation.

Before going into the other topics, I would recommend you to refer A set of ‘Must Read’ articles for M.Tech aspirants which I wrote over a year answering questions of M.Tech aspirants.

GATE 2011 notification
GATE notification or GATE Advertisement
How to fill GATE online Application form
GATE 2011 Important Dates

GATE syllabus or GATE 2011 Syllabus For all engineering streams

GATE study material
A great list of Study material collected from different sources like coaching centers and student surveys on this site.

GATE Coaching Centers
We are trying to make this list complete as possible through yearly surveys on GATE coaching centers.

Students GATE Forums
Forums started by students in social networking sites like Orkut, facebook etc. If you are moderator and have a good number of students in your forum please contact me at zahid@inspirenignite.com , We will definitely promote your community and group. (if you are some website owner, coaching center, or some commercial vender for GATE lectures or online lectures and started a community or page (please do not bother yourself to contact).

GATE 2010 Analysis and cutoffs
Once M.Tech admissions in 2010 are over, I will try to make a complete GATE Cutoff list as I made in GATE 2009 Cutoff scores post. If official source of information is not available we need to think about alternate ways make this list possible.

A general calendar for M.Tech admissions in IITs, NITs and top universities will also posted, with approximate date of notification. This to make sure you don’t miss it.

GATE preparation tips
A monthly motivational reminder letter by Zahid
Interviews and posts, tips and experience by GATE High Scorers. If you appeared in GATE 2010 and have some experience good or bad, advise or an idea to share with thousands of students, please do not hesitate to drop a mail to zahid@inspirenignite.com

GATE 2011 Results and analysis for admissions
A complete analysis of GATE 2011 Results will be posted, once the results are announced.

M.Tech Admissions 2011
A list of M.Tech admission notification in all IITs, NITs, IIITs and Top universities, same as M.Tech admissions 2010 will be made available to all the students.
In 2011 we are also planning to include Non-GATA Admissions in private colleges too, this will depend on the volunteers will and wish.

Making of GATE 2012 preparation Guide
This list is the result of one year experience with post GATE situation. Hope we learn more in 2011 and make a better Guide for GATE 2012 preparations.

I will be updating each section as soon as we make complete details about it. We are in the process of making it happen and request all of you to actively participate in surveys and polls to give as accurate and helpful as possible information to the students who are coming from the path we already traveled.

Wish you all a great luck and expecting a huge support from the regular reader community. Thanks all of your for your support and encouragement.

Fee structure and scholarships for Master of Engineering degree (M.E./ M.Tech) in different Universities

I receive many requests to give general information about fees for M.Tech in IITs, NITs and different Universities.

Tuition fee and hostel fee for Master of Engineering degrees (MS/ ME/M.Tech) for whole course of two years in different Indian universities is approximately.

Central universities around: 10000 Rupees (at the max)
Indian Institute of Technologies: 50000~60000 Rupees
National institute Technologies: 120000
Private universities & Deemed Universities: 200000 Rupees
IIITs : 250000 + Rupees

Scholarships offered to GATE qualified candiates in different institutes especially last two scholarships are common in IITs and NITs.

MHRD stipend / Scholarship for master degree program: 8000 Rupees PM
Research fellowship MHRD + professor’s project : 9000~10000 Rupees PM
Industry fellowship / Scholarship : 10000 ~14000 Rupees

Ministry of Human Resource development gives scholarships to all GATE qualified candidates who are taking M.Tech in one of MHRD or AICTE recognized institutes. Research fellowship depends on projects and funds in department and Industry scholarship is given based on department and kind of industry sponsoring. Mostly they don’t ask you to work for them after studies. So just don’t worry go ahead and take it if you get one.

Research fellowship and Industry scholarships are may be one or two per batch therefore are very competitive and respected.

Few other scholarships are also available but are not common and well paid as these

My GATE Score is … Which college should I apply for M.Tech (or Master of Engineering Degree)???

This is the most commonly asked question to me since GATE results are announced. This is not really easy question to answer nor very difficult.

First let me put my view about Master of Engineering Admissions in India. We usually try to optimize our admission race to the best possible Top Engineering colleges in India. I consider IITs are best, Then NITs and then Central and State Universities and at the last I consider for Deemed or private univities and colleges for Master of Technology Admissions.

Now let me put the Admission Analysis based on a question,

My GATE score is XXXX and AIR is YYYY GATE percentile is ZZZZ and to be more specific my My marks are MMMM and my paper was PPPPP Engineering. Now Zahid TELL ME WHERE SHALL I APPLY????

I receive the similar set of more than 2000 questions from all the students from every coroner of India. Let me put my views honestly with few assumptions.

• Few good students will for sure for jobs in industry. (Job market is good this year)
• Few of them may go abroad for higher studies too.
• Few missed out a top college because of clash in institute written test or interview dates.
• Few go to IISc and save our lives. ( few for sure go there)

These assumptions are just to be too optimistic and try our luck for admission in Master of Engineering or Master of Technology Degree (M.E/M.Tech).

I will start with two questions: We usually look for GATE Cutoff Scores for M.Tech admissions doest they really matter for admissions? What is more important for M.Tech Admission, is it GATE Score, Percentile or All India Rank?

There is no straight answer to first question because I may be yes and no. To me it totally depends on difficulty of GATE papers. If we have cutoffs of two years one in which GATE paper was tough and another in which it was not very tough, then looking and comparing GATE scores may help. But comparing cutoffs of difficult paper with easy paper may lead to wrong conclusions.

For example
In GATE 2009 for CS paper 670 GATE Score had around 280 AIR
In GATE 2010 for CS paper 670 GATE Score had around 898 AIR

Now if in 2009 some IIT had 670 as last admission in CS does it mean that someone this year with similar score have a chance for IIT, with the above stat the answer seems to be NO..

In this scenario what matters most is AIR (my personal opinion)

Now considering that all 7 IITs ( as I don’t have information about new IITs yet) 30 around seats in CS ( few have more and few don’t fill all). We have 210 seats considering few have other fellowships and admission quota, the total number of seat can go up to 350. with this we can make the assumption about where to apply if you 1000 plus AIR. Similarly of NITs.

If you AIR close to following I strongly suggest you to try, in either cases you are free to apply anywhere once you are GATE qualified.

For Admissions to computer Science M.Tech Admissions:

Institute	AIR
IITs	700
NITs	1200
Central Universities and reputed universities
Good State Universities
IITs ( few offer admission based on GATE)

For other Engineering Streams:

Institute	AIR
IITs	900
NITs	2500
Central Universities and reputed universities
Good State Universities

These are my personal calculations. You are in better position than me to judge. These don’t stand for any legal obligations. You need to be wise to take decision about where to apply for admission. I will only advice and try to help you. Wish you a great luck with M.Tech Admissions.

Do subscribe for updates about M.Tech Admission and Analysis by email. Do help us by commenting and suggesting and correcting if I m wrong, I ready to learn. Thanks the support and encouragement.

Top engineering courses in India based on students’ preference

I wrote two important posts for students looking for admission B.Tech admissions. First one addresses the question which is the best engineering course. This is my preference for admission to B.Tech course. Another post is a very general and common post about different engineering field their future and prospects. In that post I covered almost all famous engineering course and gave the basic information about them along with core companies, institutes offering that course and average salaries.

Those two posts were, specially the first one, was my totally my choice of engineering course. In the post I present the choice of the student who toped in engineering entrance exam. I considered IIT, NIT, sate universities and private engineering colleges’ admission trends for previous year to make this order of preference.

Most of IITs don’t offer Electronics and communication engineering course, therefore the obvious choice for IIT-JEE student in previous years was Computer Science. Whereas, most of the NITs offer both CSE and ECE, and students have chosen CSE over E CE. The preference is considered based on last rank admitted to the course, lower the rank higher the preference.

The top Engineering courses based on students’ preference are as follows.

Computer Science & Engineering
Electronics & Communication Engineering
Electrical & Electronics Engineering
Mechanical Engineering
Information Technology
Instrumentation & Control Engineering
Chemical Engineering
Civil Engineering
Industrial and Production Engineering
Biotechnology
Metallurgy and Materials Engineering

The students in state universities preferred Electronics engineering over computer science and other trends remain almost the same as IITs and NITs. The reason for making this list to give students an idea about the preference trends in last years.

I personally consider all the engineering course, streams and trends are same. It all depends on interest and dedication one put on to it. In my preferred computer science in my early posts because there are more opportunities for average students and the growth is better when compared to other engineering streams.

Wish you a wonderful luck with your decision and suggest you to work hard to prove yourself and be the best whatever your choose in.

M.Tech Specializations and preference

Master of Engineering in many streams is very specialized course and lead to a very specific future in that industry. As any engineering stream is developed, more scope in industry will comes up leading to specialized courses in universities.

This post answers questions like, what M.Tech specializations are available for some field for engineering, M.Tech specialization preference based on placement opportunities. This is a part of series I m going to write for GATE preparation and M.Tech admissions. To make a truly informative recourse for millions of students, and hope this help them to set their targets and work for them.

Every specialization has its own value, demand and future. Few give better scope of placement because of its higher application and demand. In this post I tried to give a preference based on opinion collected from IITians in related departments. Hope this will help both student appearing for GATE and who looking for M.Tech admissions.

M.Tech specializations in Civil Engineering and their order of preference

1. Engineering Structures
2. Construction Technology & Management
3. Geotechnical Engineering
4. Transportation Engineering
5. Environmental Engineering
6. Remote Sensing & GIS
7. Water Resource Engineering
8. Offshore Structures

M.Tech specializations in Chemical Engineering and their order of preference

1. Chemical Engineering
2. Energy Engineering
3. Process Control & Instrumentation

M.Tech specializations in Electrical Engineering and their order of preference

1. Power Electronics & Drives
2. Power Systems Engineering
3. Instrumentation & Control Systems
4. Computer Controlled Industrial Power

M.Tech specializations in Mechanical Engineering and their order of preference

1. Thermal Engineering
2. Computer Integrated Manufacturing
3. Automobile Engineering
4. Manufacturing Engineering
5. Material Technology
6. Industrial Engineering
7. Product Design and Development
8. Industrial Safety Engineering

M.Tech specializations in Electronics and Communication Engineering (E&CE) and their order of preference

1. Advanced Communication Systems
2. VLSI System Design
3. Signal Processing
4. Electronic Instrumentation

Truly speaking, every specialization have good demand, the better specialization will give a little advantage. If you get a good score why to leave the little advantage. This is just to help find that little edge. If you don’t work hard even a good specialization don’t work for you, whereas with hard work any specialization can fetch what your are looking for.

M.Tech in New IITs or old NITs

This is being the most common questions asked to me for couple of days. But if you little google this topic you will find my quite old post New IITs vs Old NITs and Universities. This post was followed by a huge argument people support new IITs and old Universities, specially BITS alumni and supporters, as I ranked new IITs above BITS in Top Engineering colleges in India list. Read all comments in New IITs or Top NITs.

To answer this question you need know why you want to go some place for studies. Is it job or placement that matters most immediately after your degree or it’s a long term plan that makes you to go for higher studies.

First let me put my stand for the readers who don’t want to waste time reading all the post and want to know my choice to go ahead further. I personally go for new IITs rather than old NITs or Universities. I have high respect for all institutes in India but IIT was and still are biggest brand in education for whole world. All IITs irrespective of old or new, established or converted, represent a community of Engineers who contributed and contributing significantly in the growth of humanity, and the world recognize it.

I think by the time the first batch of new IITs for M.Tech comes out it will be 2013 and they will also be preparing for their first batch of B.Tech to come out in 2013 and 2014, therefore, I strongly guess that if new IITs don’t have enough infrastructure for placements their placements will be conducted along with their parent institutes.

It is also mentioned that the mentor institutes will support new IITs until they are able to function independently and are under direct supervision of existing IITs, refer to this official note http://www.iitk.ac.in/iitj/circular.pdf. I strongly believe if classes can take place in existing IITs for new IIT students then placement too can be conducted along with the student of mentor IIT until new IITs have independent placement cells.

If you have a long term plan of leading the world around you then IITs are best places to be in. Every top university of the world knows what IITs are and what IITians can do. A good academic record with few good recommendations can show you worlds top universities, which is not so easy with any other institute in India. IITs have a definite edge for higher studies or MBA in world’s leading institutes.

All leading companies and leading projects in India are backed by IITian and being from this class will definitely make you more confidant and trust of people in you. In IITs you not only learn engineering you will learn organizing and managing, which eventually help one in later life to be a leader and a contributor.

According to a common person in India, which constitute a 90% of educated people still think and believe that IITs are highest places of education and there is nothing beyond them. If you are from NIT or some other university you still have a place called IIT to reach the excellence. You will realize it when you travel a long distance in train from north India to south India wearing an IIT T-shirt.

This is my personal opinion and reader may disagree 90 degrees with it. Please drop your comments if you agree or don’t agree with this. This discussion will help may students across the nation.

What after B.Tech?

Another common question usually struck in an engineering student is what after Engineering. In this post I tired to figure out what are best possible options you can choose and are not exceptions. In other words well known and common options that you can choose after B.Tech.

Hunting a Job:
If one feel that is been to heavy to study for four years and want to start making money, then start early hunt for job. Make a profile in all job sites and social job networking sites like linkedin. Give it a big try and attend all walk-ins and apply all the places where you find suitable. Be prepared to travel a lot in the search from Bangalore to Pune, Pune to Dehi, Delhi to noida anywhere. Don’t miss any advertisement for fresher and don’t give up. Refer to Engineering future, scope and prospects for core companies offering jobs in special domain.

M.Tech or MS:
If you think you need to improve or need a higher degree to feel secure or gain higher positions at right time, you should look at all possible ways to crack GATE and think about M.Tech. If you are interested in having a foreign exposure and think your family can help and support you, then start preparing for GRE, TOFEL and start looking for universities that are suitable for that.

MBA Lets change the domain:
We study Engineering for four years and at the end we are almost clear about our decision of joining some engineering stream and our career in that. By the end we know whether we can stay in the same domain, stream, or field of engineering and improve or it is kind of wasting our time if we remain in the same engineering field and you decide to change your area of study. MBA is a very good alternative, but make sure you are going to a right place for MBA. To know more about it refer to M.Tech or MBA which is better to choose.

Research:
If you think you have patience and motivation for studying for several years ahead and work for a cool and successful career you should consider doing PhD after B.Tech, many IITs take admissions to PhD even right after B.Tech. This may take on the average 4 to 6 years to complete but will definitely make you a strong player in real life and make you confident.

What if I don’t get any of these?
This is really an important question to be answered. I feel the alternatives are join some value added courses and in some good institutes like CDAC and others that offer great value and job opportunities, as these require a good amount of money I never tried it. Rather I prefer to join a teaching job for several months use college library to maxim level prepare for interviews or GATE or GRE and get ready to jump to above fields I mentioned above. But I will sincerely be working towards my students too.

The exceptions can be to Start a company, be an entrepreneur and explore your world. If you have some hobby can make it a profession and make earning from that, for example paining, writing, singing, music and photography and many other hobbies. But be careful about these options they involve more risk and more gains.

Wish everyone a great luck and ask you chase your dream with confidence. If don’t feel confident please go ahead and do something that makes confident.