9 Essential Tips to Optimize Your GATE EE 2023 Exam Preparation

1. Take Your Time to Prepare for Exam

Always keep in your mind to take enough time to complete the concepts. The study method varies from person to person. One may complete the easiest concept first followed by the difficult concept next. Because, when you complete easier concepts first you can automatically save more time for difficult ones. You can plan these according to your convenience. When you do that, utilize the whole time to complete a portion, get clearer with the concepts, and go for the next.

2. Make a Proper Study Plan

Schedule around 5-7 hours for one day to complete a chapter or topic depending upon its weightage. Say if you choose to learn the basics of ICs in Electrical Engineering subject, go through the types, purpose, and all the details to get a good idea and understand the concepts.

When you read it for next time, it will be much easier to recollect. So, for a week, you will get 35-49 hours of study time. If you want to add an extra 1 hour and round it to 50 hours, add 15 minutes extra to Monday to Friday. This helps to track daily, weekly, monthly activities, and monitor your progress.

After back-to-back study time, you might want to take a break. You can take appropriate breaks and start fresh to carry forward the next topic.

3.Find Out the Exam Pattern and Question Format

Look for and learn the exam and question formats for GATE Electrical Engineering Exam. Usually, the GATE EE exam pattern includes the number of questions under:

• General Aptitude
• Engineering Mathematics
• Electrical Engineering (differs subject-wise)

Three question types exist as follows:

• The Multiple-Choice Questions (MCQs)
• The Multiple-Select Question (MSQs)
• The Numerical Questions (NAT)

The multiple-choice question has negative markings. If you provide wrong answers, 1/3 and 2/3 marks will be deducted for 1-mark and 2-mark questions, respectively. So, think twice before marking the answers. If you're not sure about the answer, better skip or keep it for the last instead of wasting too much time on the same question. And, for the numerical type questions and MSQs, there are no negative markings.

4. Make Use of the Syllabus

The Electrical Engineering syllabus gives you an instant idea of the concepts.

• Engineering Mathematics
• Electric Circuits
• Electromagnetic Fields
• Signals and Systems
• Electrical Machines
• Power Systems
• Control Systems
• Electrical and Electronic Measurements
• Analog and Digital Electronics
• Power Electronics

Make yourself familiar with the subjects and dive deep into them topic-wise. Cover a topic fully and then move on to the next topic; don't skip any topic.

As a popular exam-day meme goes:

"You get the question that is always from the topics you chose to skip".

Trust me, you don't want to be a victim of that!

So, what are the ways you can follow to avoid skipping any topic? Read on to know them.

5. Practice to Ease Your First Attempt

Create short notes and solve various problems daily. Practicing this will make one's first attempt effective. If you are not confident to excel in the exam, implement what you have practiced on mock tests. This reduces pre-exam anxiety and will bolster your confidence.

Taking mock tests gives you a good amount of practice which increases your problem-solving capabilities. It enables you to track your progress and identify the areas you need to concentrate more. You can rectify those areas and improve yourself before appearing for the mains

6. Undertake Different Learning Methods

Some of the best ways of learning include visual learning and practice tests. As per a study by National Training Laboratories Institute, people generally remember 50% of what they see and hear, 70% of what they say and write, and 90% of what they do.

You will remember visual learning in the long run as it imprints the concept on a story basis. Another best practice is after learning the concepts, take micro tests immediately to build a strong base. Practicing what you learn increases your retention rates.

Jot down and follow any of these methods to optimize your preparation for the GATE EE exam.

7. Manage Stress

Relax and stay cool

You will feel that the concepts are tough and alien to you when you are staying low during pre-exam days. When you're stuck on any topic, stop and take a break. Spending some time with your friends and family will help you recover and come up with a solution.

8. Test Taking Strategies

Early morning is the best time for studying. A good ambiance plays a vital role in concentrated learning especially during the prep period. After entering the examination hall, go through the question thoroughly, pick the well-known questions and answer them first.

As far as you have doubts in choosing to answer which carries negative marking, avoid the question right away. Reserve the difficult and much doubtful questions to complete after the leisure ones.

9. Manage StressGet Plenty of Sleep

You need a good night's sleep to enhance your learning and decision-making capabilities. Some will relax by listening to music. If this suits you, relax by listening to one or two music and then go to bed. If not, find your best relaxation technique!