Preparing for GATE in College: Challenges and How to Tackle Them

The GATE exam is drawing closer and the tension is going higher. Students are busy studying for the exam with their full dedication. Some students might have taken a year off to study, while the others may be college students who are managing their studies along with college to clear the GATE 2023 exam. Due to the vast syllabus and the tough competition, preparing for GATE in college requires a sincere effort from the students and give their best to it.

Amidst all this preparation, there are some issues that college students face while preparing for GATE in college. They are aware of these issues before starting the preparation but are not sure how to tackle them well and continue their studies. In today’s article, we will be discussing many such challenges that college students face and how they can tackle them well to ensure success in the GATE Examination.

GATE Examination

GATE is a national-level graduation exam for science and engineering students. The examination opens various career, education, and research-related opportunities for the students after graduation. Due to the tough condition of the exam, cracking it is a challenging task in itself. Highly motivated students who have a clear vision of their goals will be able to clear the exam very easily. The exam is primarily aimed to test the comprehensive understanding of various undergraduate subjects in engineering and science.

The GATE examination has no age limit mentioned for the candidates. It has a well-established syllabus based on which the questions are asked and the final merit list is declared.

 

Challenges the college students face:

For all graduates, college is filled with studies, classes, and events which keep you busy throughout the year. Many students pick up the task of preparing for GATE in college adding one more thing to their to-do list and increasing the pressure on them. While many toppers earlier have cleared the exam from college but there are certain challenges that one faces during college preparation. Some of the challenges are:

 

1. Managing Multiple Works

When in college there are lots of things that go around. From classes to events to workshops, practicals and everything is important in college. All these things somehow contribute to your development and growth and hence, play an integral part in your life. With so much to do, picking up your books to prepare for an exam that has such a high competitive rate is difficult. One finds managing so many things all at once almost impossible.

Though the syllabus of the GATE Exam coincides with that of the college, there are some topics that are different and the syllabus of the exam is distributed in the 4 years.

While multitasking here looks difficult, there are ways to tackle this problem and contribute equal time to each activity without compromising on any.

 

1. Start your Preparation Early:

Instead of waiting for the last year of college, start preparing for the exam right from the first year. This will give you an edge over all the other candidates and also reduce the pressure as you can prepare for each subject as and when it is taught in college. Preparing in the first year also gives you enough time to work on your shortcomings or problems that you might face during preparation. So enjoy college life while preparing for an amazing life later by starting your preparation early and getting rid of any obstacles that may come later.

 

2. Make a Plan:

A good plan is half your work done. Without a plan, success is a burden as you are not sure how to go about your preparation and thus midway may also lose hope and enthusiasm to continue. A plan must include your subjects, topics that need to be covered, and based on the time you have in your hand before the exam, make a plan. The plan must include your routine, how you plan on covering the subjects, the time needed for each subject, revising what you have read, and most importantly practice required to finalize the subject.

So set a target, make a plan, follow it sincerity and you are good to go.

 

3. Time Management:

Time Management is a wonderful tool that makes work easy and helps you achieve your goals. Your time management program must include your studies, fun time, daily chores, and everything. In time management specific time is provided for each activity and based on that you go about your daily routine. Once the time for any activity is done, you must stop and start with what is planned next.

Time management as the name suggests helps you manage your time in the most efficient and reliable way which keeps your mind at peace and forms a good habit which in turn brings you closer to your goals.

 

4. Inline your studies:

As mentioned earlier, the college syllabus is similar to that of the GATE exam so inline your studies. When any subject is being taught in class, study for the exam also simultaneously. Practice previous year paper, sample questions, and make sure that along with the college professor you are also done with the syllabus of the GATE exam.

This will not only help you in completing your syllabus but also will be a great help in clearing your doubts as and when you face them with your college professor.

 

2. Lack of guidance:

While in college there is no proper guide who can take you through the exam and actually help you with how the preparation must be done. In college, your professors can help you with clearing your exam but the basic guidance about the type of questions asked in the exam, preparation strategy, and books to be referred to is not present.
While not finding a guide can sometimes make your preparation futile, but there are various ways in which one can compensate for that.

1. Toppers Talk:

   Every year after the final GATE exam result is released, toppers talk is released in which the toppers talk about their strategy and how they cracked the exam. These videos act as an inspiration as well as a guide for your preparation. They help you know the books one must read, the notes which are helpful, which test series to Join, how to prepare for college, and many more. So instead of looking for guidance in your college refer to the toppers talk videos which will really help you take the correct path for your preparation.

2. Online Classes:

   Online Classes can prove to be really effective for College Students if utilized properly. Platforms like MADE EASY PRIME offer the best content quality to students through online mode. Students can choose from the wide domain of courses available online to take their preparation for GATE 2023 to the next level. This can be supplemented with Online Test Series and Postal Study Package.

3. Blogs:

   To help the students in their preparation and clear any doubts that the students face while preparing are taken care of in the weekly blogs published by MADE EASY. You can go through these blogs and read the blogs as per your preference. Also if you have any doubt that has not been addressed you can comment and inform. We will make sure to solve your problem as soon as possible and provide you the much-needed guidance directly in your college through our blogs.

 

3. Unaware of the competition:

College is a confined place with a limited number of students. Of the many students in college, some opt for GRE, GMAT, CAT, or any other exam. You will find very few students who will be sincerely preparing for the GATE examination. With such a limited number of students knowing about the competition that awaits you in the examination is extremely difficult.

Thus, one of the challenges the students in college have to tackle is not knowing the competition of the exam and where you stand right now. This helps you in getting an idea about how much more you need to work on and what needs to be done next.

 

While his is a grave challenge but tackling this is also easy:

a. Test Series:

Every coaching institute offers test series to all the candidates who prepare for the GATE Examination. These test series are a great way to know the competition of the exam while also practicing what you have read. The test series are a great way to handle the challenges one faces during college preparation.

They help you revise what you have read, practice the topic, learn new concepts on the topic and also know which points require more learning. The test series take you closer to perfection in each subject by helping you practice the questions similar to the ones asked in the examination.

These test series are a great way of knowing your competition and getting ahead of them by knowing your weaknesses and working on them as well as knowing your strengths and taking advantage of them. So no matter how much you have studied or which year of college you are in if you are preparing for the exam then enroll for a test series and enjoy the preparation time.

 

b. CBT (Computer Based Test):

Right before the GATE examination, MADE EASY conducts CBT on the same pattern as the GATE examination. These tests have the same ambiance, questions, time, pattern that one would expect in the GATE examination. By enrolling for the CBT you get a complete experience of the GATE exam along with the competition.

The exam is conducted in exactly the same pattern as GATE and for all the engineering streams i.e. Civil Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Electronics Engineering, Computer Science Engineering, Instrumentation Engineering, Production & Industrial Engineering.

The CBT Mock Test offers the GATE aspirants a platform to judge their performance and the results declared for the exam are also analyzed on an India basis. It is a tool to crack GATE, where candidates will get the opportunity to compete with thousands of quality students who are preparing sincerely for the examination.

The objective of organizing this test is to offer a stimulating environment. So those aspirants get acquainted with the Online GATE Exam. Exposure to this kind of test will surely give students an advantageous edge over their competitors.

 

4. Too Many Distractions:

With so many things going around in the college, there are lots of distractions that occur in the college. These distractions though are fun but somehow derail your preparation for the GATE examination. One must learn to manage these distractions and find a way out to focus on the exams and concentrate the energy on the studies.

1. Manage your time: Divide equal time for everything: for studies, fun, events, and all the other important things. Dividing time will help you focus on your studies and not get distracted.
2. Take enough breaks: If you take regular breaks in between your studies then focusing will be a piece of cake. Regular intervals will also act as awards for your studies. Your brain will start to concentrate more if it is given regular breaks. While taking these breaks you can actually incorporate those events, birthdays, and parties that are regular things in college and act as distractions in your preparations.
3. Reward yourself: If you have an event coming up in college, then start working doubly hard for your exam. And reward yourself by taking a day off and attending the event. This will neither hamper your studies nor will you miss out on the fun you will have in the event. One has to manage the distractions to their advantage and make the best out of them for maximum benefits.

 

Conclusion

While the GATE examination is a tough examination and the success rate is low, every year there have been various toppers who have actually cleared the exam along with their colleagues. The main thing one requires is to stay confident and not get bogged down by the challenges. We do not grow when things are easy and life is perfect. We grow when we face challenges and get success by overcoming all those challenges. So take up all the challenges you face in college confidently. Whining and excuses will only hamper your preparation and you will lose out on days from your preparation. So stand tall and find a solution to all your challenges.

We have tried to give our advice on ways to handle the challenges one faces during college. We hope they help you. If you have any other issue that you think is hampering your preparation, please feel free to write to us. We will be more than happy to answer you.

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