Now GATE exam is over and you are
relaxed. Most of you are curious about solution of your problems or cut off of
IITs and NITs. But discussing problems with friends only increase your stress
so don't do that.
For those who are taking this exam very seriously, it's very difficult to wait till the results are out.
So you can do following things during your holidays. Believe me these things always help you in future.
1. Start Programming :
if you are not good at programming or you are good but not practicing it these days because of GATE exam it's time to restart it. Take one language of your choice (i.e. C,C++,Java,C#,Python etc.). Learn it's basics and start competitive programming.
There is no need of book. You can start by searching over the net. There are a lot of resources available for learning. For competitive programming you can visit sites like TopCoder, codeforces, HackerRank, HackerEarth, geekforgeek, codechef etc.
Benefits of this are, if you failed to score well in GATE exam and want to do job, this will help you in cracking your coding interviews and other type of online exams. You can also apply in different companies with the help of your rating in these websites.
If you will score well and get a good IIT and NIT, this will help you in placements and other competitions inside the college.
2. Cover your weak areas:
During GATE exam you have judged yourself about your strengths and weaknesses. If you want to give GATE again or you are hoping for interview call you should work on your weaknesses. Every subject is equally important. Sometime questions are asked from your weak areas. For your strong areas try different set of problems. Don't limit yourself to the syllabus of GATE exam. For example if you are good in Algorithms, learn new algorithms, try to code it, proof it's complexity and correctness. This will help in interviews of IITs.
3. Learn completely new things:
Most of you (like me) feel bored of reading same subjects again and again. Now you have time. So instead of wasting all your time in searching placement of IITs and ranking of colleges you can try these things.
a) Try Udacity : This site is very good for computer science students. Videos are very interactive.
b) Try Coursera : Very useful. Contains a lot of areas. You can browse and search different types of subjects, do assignments and projects and learn from them.
c) MIT ocw open courseware : Videos from MIT classes.
d) Standford Online: online standford
4. Give more exams:
If your gate paper was too good and you are 90% sure to get IIT , Don’t take any chance with your career. Because if you are unlucky by 10% and have to go for some lower NITs you will realize importance of other institutes like BITS, IIIT-H, IIIT-B, ISI. I consider these institutes much better than NITs. They are also better than some of lower IITs. Fill their form and also prepare for them.
5. Book tickets as early as possible:
When you get a call for interview or you are going for exam of other institutes like IIIT-H, BITS, ISI or any other, book your ticket in advance just after filling your application. During my time these exam dates clashes with some other govt. exam and it is almost impossible to get a Tatkal ticket or any seat in train. You should preplan your travel and also do multiple reservations ( Each possible dates/ Routes). Later you can cancel according to your selection/preferences.
6. Go out and enjoy the life:
If you are tired and don't want to do any of the above, go out, spent time with your family and friends. Holidays are necessary if you want to recharge your mind to face new challenges. But don't spend all your holidays. Otherwise if you get a call from good institute just after your result, you will not have enough time to prepare all subjects. ( Happens with me in IISc interview). So be in touch with your subjects.
Hope this is helpful. If you have any doubt you can ask in comments.
After gate result we will discuss interview experiences and what strategy you should follow to attend maximum interviews.
For those who are taking this exam very seriously, it's very difficult to wait till the results are out.
So you can do following things during your holidays. Believe me these things always help you in future.
1. Start Programming :
if you are not good at programming or you are good but not practicing it these days because of GATE exam it's time to restart it. Take one language of your choice (i.e. C,C++,Java,C#,Python etc.). Learn it's basics and start competitive programming.
There is no need of book. You can start by searching over the net. There are a lot of resources available for learning. For competitive programming you can visit sites like TopCoder, codeforces, HackerRank, HackerEarth, geekforgeek, codechef etc.
Benefits of this are, if you failed to score well in GATE exam and want to do job, this will help you in cracking your coding interviews and other type of online exams. You can also apply in different companies with the help of your rating in these websites.
If you will score well and get a good IIT and NIT, this will help you in placements and other competitions inside the college.
2. Cover your weak areas:
During GATE exam you have judged yourself about your strengths and weaknesses. If you want to give GATE again or you are hoping for interview call you should work on your weaknesses. Every subject is equally important. Sometime questions are asked from your weak areas. For your strong areas try different set of problems. Don't limit yourself to the syllabus of GATE exam. For example if you are good in Algorithms, learn new algorithms, try to code it, proof it's complexity and correctness. This will help in interviews of IITs.
3. Learn completely new things:
Most of you (like me) feel bored of reading same subjects again and again. Now you have time. So instead of wasting all your time in searching placement of IITs and ranking of colleges you can try these things.
a) Try Udacity : This site is very good for computer science students. Videos are very interactive.
b) Try Coursera : Very useful. Contains a lot of areas. You can browse and search different types of subjects, do assignments and projects and learn from them.
c) MIT ocw open courseware : Videos from MIT classes.
d) Standford Online: online standford
4. Give more exams:
If your gate paper was too good and you are 90% sure to get IIT , Don’t take any chance with your career. Because if you are unlucky by 10% and have to go for some lower NITs you will realize importance of other institutes like BITS, IIIT-H, IIIT-B, ISI. I consider these institutes much better than NITs. They are also better than some of lower IITs. Fill their form and also prepare for them.
5. Book tickets as early as possible:
When you get a call for interview or you are going for exam of other institutes like IIIT-H, BITS, ISI or any other, book your ticket in advance just after filling your application. During my time these exam dates clashes with some other govt. exam and it is almost impossible to get a Tatkal ticket or any seat in train. You should preplan your travel and also do multiple reservations ( Each possible dates/ Routes). Later you can cancel according to your selection/preferences.
6. Go out and enjoy the life:
If you are tired and don't want to do any of the above, go out, spent time with your family and friends. Holidays are necessary if you want to recharge your mind to face new challenges. But don't spend all your holidays. Otherwise if you get a call from good institute just after your result, you will not have enough time to prepare all subjects. ( Happens with me in IISc interview). So be in touch with your subjects.
Hope this is helpful. If you have any doubt you can ask in comments.
After gate result we will discuss interview experiences and what strategy you should follow to attend maximum interviews.
