The GATE Exam is highly competitive and every year lakhs of aspirants appear for this exam. Being aware of the cut-throat competition one often wonders is it possible to crack GATE in first attempt?
Here are top 5 key tips that you must go through to ace your GATE 2021 exam in the first attempt.
Familiarize yourself with Exam Pattern and Syllabus:
- The GATE Exam is conducted in Online mode for a duration of 3 hours.
- Total no. of questions are 65, carrying 100 marks.
- Type of questions asked in GATE is multiple choice(MCQ), numerical answer type(NATs), and multiple selection questions(MSQ).
- One should follow the syllabus strictly and must aim to complete the syllabus rather than studying topics out of the syllabus.
- As there are plenty of subjects so one must. make a proper study plan according to the weightage analysis of different subjects.
Refer to standard textbooks:
- Try to study at least one standard book for each subject in the GATE syllabus.
- Apart from this, one must also learn from experts, online platforms that provide good study material as textbooks alone aren’t sufficient.
- We have mentioned the best looks for each branch in the end along with their author names.
Focus on the basics and Practice quizzes:
- Before mastering the topics, first, focus on the fundamentals as if you set your basics strong it will become easy to understand the advanced concepts.
- To accomplish this, you must solve as many problems/quizzes/Mock Tests as possible with consistency at regular intervals.
Importance of Strategy & Short-Notes:
- Frame a study plan which focuses on topic-by-topic study, as it will help to understand the depth of the concepts.
- After each topic, one must take small topic tests and also should focus on making short notes especially for all the important topics as it is really helpful during the time of revision.
Recall all concepts and methods:
- Completion of the syllabus must be followed by revision of all concepts, methods, examples & formulas.
- Memorize the concepts, definitions, and formulas on a regular basis.
- Try to revise basics more as it will help you crack tougher questions as well.
Also Read: Competitive Exams: Exploring The Future With Digital Alternatives
Lastly one must test their performance and abilities as it plays an important role in shaping your ranks and scores:
- In order to maximize your scores, one needs to reduce the time in reading the question and that will be attained by taking as many Mock Tests as possible.
- Most of the GATE Questions can be solved easily by reading and understanding. So the ultimate goal is to improve your time management skills so that you can improve your time to solve each question.
Here is the list of best books for Gate 2021 to follow branch-wise which will help the students crack the exam in 1st attempt if followed with consistency and plan:
GATE Books for ME
| Topic | GATE Book Name | Author |
| Heat Transfer | Fundamentals of Engineering Heat and Mass Transfer | R.C. Sachdeva |
| Machine Design | Design of Machine Elements | V Bhandari |
| Engineering Mathematics | Higher Engineering Mathematics | B. S. Grewal |
| Fluid Mechanics | Introduction to Fluid Mechanics & Fluid Machines | S. K. Som |
| Manufacturing | Production Technology | R.K. Jain |
| Theory of Machines & Vibration | Theory of Machines | S S Rattan |
| Industrial Engineering | Industrial Engineering and Management | O. P. Khanna |
| Thermal Science | Engineering Thermodynamics | P.K. Nag |
| Strength of Materials | Strength of Materials | Dr. B.C. Punmia, Ashok Kumar Jain, Arun Kumar Jain |
| Aptitude | A Modern Approach to Verbal & Non-Verbal Reasoning (Edition: Revised) | R.S. Aggarwal |
| Quantitative Aptitude For Competitive Examinations | R.S. Aggarwal | |
| Engineering Mechanics & Engineering Material | Materials Science And Engineering | I P Singh |
| Engineering Mechanics | S. Timoshenko, D.H. Young, J.V. Rao, Sukumar Pati |
GATE Books for CE
| Topic | GATE Book Name | Author |
| Engineering Mathematics | Higher Engineering Mathematics (Edition 43) | B.S. Grewal |
| Surveying | Surveying (vol. 1,2,3) | B.C.Punia, Askok jain, Arun Jain |
| Strength of Materials | Strength of Materials (Edition 2) | U.C Jindal |
| Design Of Steel Structures | Design Of Steel Structures (Edition 3) | S.K Duggal |
| Highway Engineering | Highway Engineering | S.K.Khanna, C.E.G.Justo |
| Structural Analysis | Basic Structural Analysis (Edition 3) | C.S.Reddy |
| R.C.C. Design | R.C.C. Designs (Reinforced Concrete Structures) (Edition 3) | B.C.Punmia, Ashok Kumar Jain, Arun Jain |
| Engineering Hydrology | Engineering Hydrology (Edition 4) | K Subramanya |
| Fluid Mechanics & Fluid Machines | Hydraulics and Fluid Mechanics (Edition 14) | Dr. P.N.Modi, Dr. S.M Seth |
| Irrigation Engineering | Irrigation Engineering and Hydraulic Structures (Edition 1) | S.K Garg |
| Soil Mechanics & Foundation Engineering | Basics and Applied Soil mechanics (Edition 2) | Gopal Ranjan, A.S.R.Rao |
| Aptitude | A Modern Approach to Verbal & Non-Verbal Reasoning (Edition: Revised) | R.S. Aggarwal |
| Quantitative Aptitude For Competitive Examinations (Edition 7) | R.S. Aggarwal | |
| Environmental Engineering | Water Supply Engineering(Environmental Engineering Vol.1) (Edition 28) | S.K Duggal |
| Sewage Disposal and Air Pollution Engineering( Environmental Engineering Vol. 2) (Edition 3) | S.K Duggal |
GATE Books for ECE
| Topic | GATE Book Name | Author |
| Digital Circuits | Digital Logic and Computer Design (Edition 1) | M. Morris Mano |
| Analog Circuits | Microelectronic Circuits: Theory and Applications (Edition 6) | Adel S. Sedra, Kenneth C. Smith |
| Signals & Systems | Signals & Systems (Edition 2) | Alan V. Oppenheim, Alan S.Willsky, S.Hamid Nawab |
| Electromagnetics | Principles of Electromagnetics (Edition 4) | Mathew N.O. Sadiku |
| Engineering Mathematics | Higher Engineering Mathematics (Edition 43) | B. S. Grewal |
| Networks | Fundamentals of Electric Circuits (Edition 5) | Charles K. Alexander, Matthew N. O. Sadiku |
| Control Systems | Automatic Control Systems (Edition 9) | Benjamin C. Kuo |
| Electronic Devices and Circuits | Semiconductor Physics and Devices (Edition 4) | Donald A. Neaman, Dhrubes Biswas |
| Analog and Digital Communication | Principles of Communication Systems (Edition 3) | Goutam Saha, Herbert Taub, Donald Schilling |
| Quantitative Aptitude | A Modern Approach to Verbal & Non-Verbal Reasoning (Edition: Revised) | R.S. Aggarwal |
| Quantitative Aptitude For Competitive Examinations (Edition 7) | R.S. Aggarwal |
GATE Books for CSE
| Topic | GATE Book Name | Author |
| Computer Networks | Computer Networking: A Top-Down Approach (Edition 6) | James F. Kurose, Keith W. Ross |
| Databases | Database System Concepts (Edition 6) | Silberschatz, Sudarshan, Korth |
| Algorithms | Introduction to Algorithms (Edition 3) | Thomas H. Cormen, Charles E. Leiserson, Ronald L. Rivest, Clifford Stein |
| Theory of Computation | An Introduction to Formal Languages and Automata (Edition 5) | Peter Linz |
| Operating Systems | Operating System Concepts (Edition 8) | Silberschatz, Galvin, Gagne |
| Digital Logic | Digital Logic & Computer Design (Edition 1) | M. Morris Mano |
| Engineering Mathematics | Higher Engineering Mathematics (Edition 43) | B. S. Grewal, Edition |
| Computer Organization & Architecture | Computer Organization and Architecture (Edition 7) | Hamacher, Vranesic, Zaky |
| Complier Logic | Compilers: Principles, Techniques, and Tools (Edition 2) | Alfred V. Aho, Ravi Sethi, D. Jeffrey Ulman |
| Programming & Data Structure | The C Programming language (Edition 2) | Brian W. Kernighan, Dennis M. Ritchie |
| Classic Data Structures (Edition 2) | Debasis Samanta | |
| Aptitude | A Modern Approach to Verbal & Non-Verbal Reasoning (Edition: Revised) | R.S. Aggarwal |
| Quantitative Aptitude For Competitive Examinations (Edition 7) | R.S. Aggarwal |
GATE Books for EE
| Topic | GATE Book Name | Author |
| Power Electronics | Power Electronics (Edition 5) | P.S.Bimbhra |
| Signals & Systems | Signals and Systems (Edition 2) | Oppenheim Alan V, Willsky Alan S, Nawab S. Hamid |
| Control Systems | Control Systems Engineering (Edition 5) | I.J.Nagrath, M. Gopal |
| Electrical Machines | Electrical Machinery (Edition 7) | P. S. Bimbhra |
| Measurements | A Course In Electrical And Electronic Measurements And Instrumentation (Edition 7) | A K Sawhney |
| Electromagnetic Fields | Engineering Electromagnetics (Edition 8) | William H Hayt, John A Buck |
| Engineering Mathematics | Higher Engineering Mathematics (Edition 43) | B. S. Grewal |
| Power Systems | Electrical Power Systems (Edition 6) | C. L. Wadhwa |
| Power System Engineering (Edition 2) | I Nagrath, D Kothari | |
| Analog & Digital Electronics | Integrated Electronics: Analog And Digital Circuits And Systems (Edition 2) | Christos C. Halkias, Chetan D. Parikh Jacob Millman |
| Digital Logic and Computer Design (Edition 1) | M Morris Mano | |
| Electrical Circuits (Networks) | Circuit Theory: Analysis & Synthesis (Edition 6) | Abhijit Chakrabarti |
| Fundamentals of Electric Circuits (Edition 5) | Charles K. Alexander, Matthew N. O. Sadiku | |
| Aptitude | A Modern Approach to Verbal & Non-Verbal Reasoning (Edition: Revised) | R.S. Aggarwal |
| Quantitative Aptitude For Competitive Examinations (Edition 7) | R.S. Aggarwal |
