The Graduate Aptitude Test in Engineering is a national level examination for admission into the Masters program or getting a job in the public sector companies. This exam is administered each year by the seven different IITs(Delhi, Roorkee, Kanpur, Guwahati, Chennai, Mumbai, Kharagpur) including IISC Bangalore on a rotational basis. These colleges work under the guidance of the Ministry of Human Resources and Development.
The GATE 2021 is being held by the Indian Institute of Technology, Mumbai. It is to be held online on 6, 7, 13 and 14 February 2021. It is a 3-hour long paper having 65 questions carrying a total of 100 marks. Out of the 65 questions, 55 will be from core subjects, while 10 will be general aptitude. The questions are usually a Multiple Choice Question(MCQ) type or Numerical Answer Type(NAT). They carry 1 or 2 marks each. For 1-mark questions, 1/3 marks are deducted for wrong answers while 2/3 marks are cut for 2-mark questions.
One of the crucial factors determining the admission into reputed colleges and industries is the cutoff marks. Each year the cutoffs vary due to several reasons such as
- the difficulty level of the paper
- total number of appearing candidates
- total number of available seats
The GATE 2021 cut off and result will be announced on 22 March 2021. From the past year question paper pattern, we can estimate the cutoffs. The expected cutoff for all subjects is given in the table below.
| S.No. | SUBJECTS | General | SC/ST | OBC |
| 1. | Electronics and Communication Engineering(ECE) | 25-30 | 16-21 | 22-26 |
| 2. | Electrical Engineering(EE) | 35-40 | 20-26 | 30-35 |
| 3. | Computer Science Engineering(CSE) | 35-45 | 25-35 | 20-25 |
| 4. | Mechanical Engineering(ME) | 30-40 | 25-30 | 15-25 |
| 5. | Agricultural Engineering(AG) | 30-32 | 26-28 | 18-22 |
| 6. | Civil Engineering(CE) | 25-30 | 20-25 | 15-20 |
| 7. | Aerospace Engineering(AE) | 25-30 | 20-25 | 15-20 |
| 8. | Chemical Engineering(CH) | 25-30 | 20-25 | 15-20 |
| 9. | Instrumentation Engineering(IN) | 34-40 | 30-34 | 20-30 |
| 10. | Physics(PH) | 35-40 | 25-30 | 30-35 |
| 11. | Petroleum Engineering(PE) | 35-40 | 25-30 | 30-35 |
| 12. | Engineering Sciences(XE) | 25-30 | 15-20 | 20-25 |
| 13. | Mining Engineering(MN) | 30-35 | 20-25 | 25-30 |
| 14. | Metallurgy(MT) | 45-50 | 35-40 | 40-45 |
| 15. | Architecture(AR) | 30-35 | 22-25 | 28-32 |
| 16. | Mathematics(MA) | 25-27 | 15-20 | 20-25 |
| 17. | Statistics(ST) | 25-30 | 15-20 | 20-25 |
| 18. | Biotechnology(BT) | 30-35 | 20-25 | 25-30 |
| 19. | Chemistry(CY) | 25-30 | 15-20 | 20-25 |
| 20. | Production and Industrial Engineering(PI) | 35-40 | 25-30 | 30-35 |
| 21. | Ecology and Evolution(EY) | 35-40 | 25-30 | 30-35 |
| 22. | Geology and Geophysics(GG) | 45-50 | 35-40 | 40-45 |
The Gate exam may indeed be challenging, but it is not impossible to crack. Hard work and perseverance is the key to crack any exam. Different people have different opinions and myths about the exam. Let us go through what experts have to say about this exam.
- The most effective way to solve any paper is to reduce the negative marking. Attempt those questions first that you are confident about. Trying to attempt all questions is a common mistake that leads to an increase in negative marking.
- Go through the GATE syllabus and then go through the graduation subjects. Solve as many questions as possible.
- Although the non-technical part of the paper is small, it holds a considerable amount of importance and weightage.
- Take the help of various resources like books and videos. Search for previous year question papers online and try solving them. In the case of any doubts, seek help from family, friends or teachers.
- Studying alone might become tiresome sometimes. Group study is a good idea at that time. With different types of questions for practice, each member helps everyone to excel and score good marks in the exam.
