THE EASY ENTRY TO GATE (GRADUATE APTITUDE TEST IN ENGINEERING)

Ever felt why engineering students keep spending time and money on coaching for exams such as GATE even after going through the much rigorous courses of engineering?  There must be some good enough reasons for a youth already in mid 20s, to go for a coaching in a city like Delhi. To get your answer think about the long queue of underpaid Engineers and techies in Delhi.  Lately, we have become a country where maximum students come from middle-class; parents spend lakhs on coaching in a view that their kids would get good jobs after completing their engineering. Such aspiration for courses such as engineering has resulted in a mushrooming of a large number of coaching centers, engineering colleges and hence engineering graduates.  But when the students fail to get a job, or remain underpaid they get depressed. To add to the worries of young engineering students, NASSCOM report suggests that only 25 % engineering graduates in India are employable. It blames poor quality of higher education system as a prime reason for unemployment among young engineers in India. That is not all, majority of those who are employed complain that they are underpaid.

At a time when the industry complains of an absence of trained quality engineers, that too in big hubs like Delhi and Bengaluru, emphasis is being made on the quality of post graduate higher education.  Coaching for GATE becomes crucial as admissions to all major Post-graduate Institutions are done through the Graduate Aptitude Test in Engineering (GATE). Different departments and IITs have different procedures for admissions as some departments offer direct admissions based on the GATE score. Others use GATE as a filter and then carry out the admissions. Even government companies such as IOC, BARC, TIFR, BPCL, HPCL, CEERI etc. and private technology based firms from electronics, chemical and Telecom sectors also give preference to GATE qualified Post graduate students for recruiting employee for technical position. GATE qualified candidates in Engineering disciplines are also eligible for the award of Junior Research Fellowship in CSIR Laboratories. Some Government organizations prescribe GATE qualification as a requirement for the posts of a Scientist and Engineer.

Despite a certain value and substance, many students today are often impeded by a host of myths around the GATE exams because of lack of awareness and information. According to a recent survey conducted by a coaching institute, majority of engineering students and their parents wrongly consider GATE as tough a test as JEE(Joint Entrance Examination). On one hand JEE sees much larger competition and a large number of subjects, whereas GATE remains a much narrower and specific test of skills than JEE. In JEE you need to burn a whole lot of midnight oil to cover a large number of subjects whereas, a decent guidance from a professional coaching in a city like Delhi is good enough to see you through the GATE exams. To broaden the gap, you are even allowed to use a calculator during the GATE examination.

However it is important to choose the most fitting coaching institution for an exam such as GATE, as many participants can’t afford so may retries at that level. Only the one with a combination of experienced faculty, proven track record and most handy needed to be picked. Some GATE coaching institutes in Delhi offer free trial classes so that students can get an idea before actually entering into a commitment. Hence it is advised that students insist on trail classes and an interaction with the actual faculty of the coaching institution. This not only helps GATE aspirants choose the best guidance but also help them select the most appropriate for them. Not to forget, interacting with the previous students of the institution always help.