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Nielit releases answer key of scientist B and Technical assistant post https://www.calicut.nielit.in/nic/

Hello Everyone, I am Ashwin Kulkarni(GATE 2018 Rank 323, Score 759, Fresher) Sharing my Interview experience at IITH for TA programme. 

I would suggest every aspirant one thing, please don't stop your revision or study even after getting GATE rank (especially in the range of 200-400) because that confidence and knowledge will be helpful in the Interviews.

IITH interview has mainly 2 stages - Written and then Interview.

Date - 5th July 2018

Written Test - 

We have to answer 3 questions in a written format.

Question 1: Let M is n x n matrix, and k is an Integer. You have to write a program which takes input for M and k and computes Mk.

Answer: I have written a program where initially it takes input for n x n matrix, then used efficient way of computing Mk as - 1) If K is even then used (M2)k/2 else 2) if k is odd then used M.M(k-1).

But remember M is not just a number its matrix. Hence wrote a function which always does matrix multiplication.

Question 2: Take a function n2long - n + 7 and prove  n2long - n + 7 = O(n2logn).

Answer: Using simple notation rules of Big-Oh I just proved it where f(n) $\leq$ c.g(n) and found values of c and n

Question 3:  Let T is a tree and a,b are any nodes then find their least common ancestor.

Answer:  I used a way where initially by traversing and analyzing each node and its children reach up to a and b and save its parent. then check if those parents are same or not otherwise find grandparents of those nodes recursively. 

(This test was for an hour and they distributed all students among four panels)

My interview was conducted by panel 1. where 3 professors were present. 1) HOD - M. V. Panduranga Rao 2) Srijith P. K. 3) I don't remember sorry :p

you can check all faculty members here - http://cse.iith.ac.in/?q=People/Faculty

I will use notations as Interviewer 1, 2 or 3.

Interviewer 1: Hello Ashwin Tell us your Gate score and Rank.

Me: Good Afternoon sir, My Gate score is 759, and rank - 323.

Interviewer 1: Kulkarni, Means Maharashtra? Pune? Smiling :p

Me: Yes sir, I am from Maharashtra, Aurangabad.

Interviewer 1: Okk, Ajantha, Ellora caves, Daultabad fort. :p (Tried to feel me comfortable). So you have mentioned about research paper can you give an idea about it, and about your project?

Interviewer 2: Before that, you have given preference as ML, so can we start with Mathematics, Probability?

Me: Yes sure sir, (I gave an answer about a simple question on probability) and but sir I filled ML because of its interest and my work on Natural Language Processing, but don't really much confident about it.

Interviewer 2: Ok, let's take Linear algebra then. just give us an idea about Eigen Values and vectors (On the board)

Interviewer 1: First of all, define vectors, Eigen values and vectors then prove its equation.

Me: (Defined Eigen values and also wrote its equation on the board) then tried to explain each term of it and how we compute (lambda) 

Interviewer 1: (half satisfied face). Tell us about the rank of a matrix.

Me: Told about the rank of matrices.

Interviewer 2: You have worked on NLP, then which how you have used this concept tell us broadly about it and which algorithm you have used in Name entity recognition?

Me: (told about NLP) Sir, I have used Stanford CoreNLP libraries for the whole process. and through its jar files, I did Name Entity recognition,

Interviewer 2: Yes but which algorithm have you used for Name Entity recognition?

Me: I directly used libraries so I don't know the internal algorithm so I told them Sorry I don't remember sir.

Interviewer 2: Can you tell us about Dynamic Prog? and write the equation of Longest common subsequence algorithm.

Me: Wrote the equation and told all the terms of it. 

Interviewer 2: Let's take two strings XCXX, XCXY then calculate its LCS. (I calculated using Dynamic programming matrix)

After that, they impressed :)

Interviewer 1: Okay let's tell us your favorite subjects 

Me: (Alas! now they asked me :p) I said, sir, I am much confident about DS and Algorithm

Interviewer 1: tell the definition of graphs.

Me: Graph has a set of nodes and edges (I literally just told this definition without even thinking)

Interviewer 1: Okay then tell us the difference between graphs and trees.

Me: Trees has n-1 edges (I was somehow upset at this point, and thought I even don't know the basic definition) :p

(That's why I told in the starting of this post  don't stop studying after GATE result. because we remember how to solve questions different algorithm, but we forget these simple definitions and terminologies)

Interviewer 1: Only n-1 edges is enough? and came to the board and gave me a graph which has 4 nodes but 3 edges and which was not a tree)

Me: Ohhk sorry tree should be connected, it should be single connected component.

Interviewer 1: You are from Maharashtra, then take Aurangabad, Ellora cave, Ajantha cave and daultabad and some other places as individual nodes. and draw edges between them (He told me to draw an edge from this node to that like) then tell us how I should reach from Aurangabad to Ellora? 

Me: Using Shortest path Algorithm found the shortest path

Interviewer 1: Good, now tell us What is Data structure, is graph a pure data structure?

My name is Abhishek Pratap Singh. I got AIR-297 (Score 771) in GATE 2021. This is my story.

Background

I did my B.Tech in CSE from AKGEC (a tier III college). I am 2017 batch pass out. I was placed in the bottom 5 in my engineering class. After college I delved into UPSC preparation. So for 3.5 years after graduation, I was not remotely related to any of the subjects of engineering and no work experience. I provided the above information to show the fact that I was not at all well versed with GATE subjects. 

Why did I switch from studying General Studies (History, Geography, Social Science, et al) to diametrically opposite technical subjects and not try for other exams where the above subjects would have helped me? This will require another blog. Here I will focus on how I approached my GATE preparation. 

I had 2 exams lined up for 4th October, 2020 and 11th October, 2020. After giving both, I knew I would not get through. For one week I pondered the future course of action. From 20th October, 2020 I started my GATE preparation.

Understanding demands of the exam

To clear an exam, first you need to know the nature of the exam. GATE selects candidates for post-graduation degree, therefore, it expects candidates to have strong foundation in undergraduate subjects.

I had also made up my mind to do it without coaching. Having realised that studying standard books and NPTEL lectures are your best friends for this journey.

The start

Anyone thinking of doing something always faces the first challenge in terms of where to start from. Luckily I got hold of GATE Toppers algorithms by Bikram Ballav Sir. That small pdf file of 21 pages was my guide. I have looked at it numerous times. It helped me in finalising my resources. 

The Plan

After calculating the number of days left and the number of subjects to study, I had around 10 days for each subject. 

I had also looked at relative distribution of marks to various subjects. With that data in hand, I decided to leave Compiler design and Computer Organisation. A major part of the plan was to score full in the aptitude section (I scored 14/15). 2nd pillar of my preparation was DS and Algo. 3rd pillar was TOC, CN, OS and DBMS

A typical day of preparation

Most of the time I took along two subjects at a time

Morning - new topics of Subject 1

Afternoon - Solving PYQs

Evening - new topics of Subject 2

This schedule I followed till 25th January, 2021. After that I could not study anything new as I was afraid of not being able to tackle problems of topics I already studied. So after that period I focused on revision and problem solving.

Test series

Keeping in mind the limited time, I only subscribed to GateOverflow test series.

What worked for me?

FlashCards

During the last couple of weeks, the major concern is how to collect all the preparation in one place and make a coherent picture out of it. Flashcards did the trick for me. I could revise a whole subject in 2.5 - 3 hours.

Subjectwise test

We often hear that one should stop giving subject wise tests 2 months before an exam and only focus on full mock tests. I will challenge this hypothesis. In fact, the subject wise test I gave in the last week did all the trick for me. I gave most of the subject wise tests in the GO test series 2021 as well as subject wise tests by Bikram sir. I could only give 2-3 full mocks.

Subjectwise test work well in condition when they are designed well, which was the case with GO test series and Bikram sir mocks. 

Why did I decide against Full mocks in the last 10 days (I gave only 1)?

For a particular subject, a full mock can only cover a limited portion. More often than not these sections are those from which the majority of questions are asked. Some niche topics get neglected. So a holistic study of the subject is not possible this way. What if for that subject the real GATE exam goes for less asked topics. One may suffer if not thoroughly prepared.

How did I spend my last week?

Everyday I would pick one subject. Use flash cards to revise it (2.5-3 hrs). Then give a subject wise test of the subject (1 hr). Analyse the test and pick out the weak areas ( 2hrs). Then work on those weak areas (rest of the day).

My mindset

In tackling competitive exams, mindset is really important. Personally If there is a lot at stake over a single paper I often give in to the pressure. So to ease the pressure, I had already prepared a list of other exams and colleges (IIIT H, ISI, CMI, etc). So that I can approach the paper with no baggage.

I got Set 2 in GATE 2021. At one point during the exam I did feel that I might mess up the exam, but eventually it went good. 

I got AIR-297 (Score-771)

I will be joining IIT Guwahati for my M.Tech. CSE

IIT, Delhi GATE Overflow Interview Experience Links: 2017 to 2020

IIT, Delhi Other Interview Experience Links: 2011 to 2019

PRAGYS APP

Since many people are not fully aware of the features of Pragy’s app, I’m listing them here:

1. You can calculate your mark by giving your response URL here: https://gateoverflow.in/mymarks/index.php No user details required.
2. You can get the current rank (among those who used the app) as well as the estimated rank and score from here: https://gateoverflow.in/mymarks/VisualizeMarks.php
3. Regarding the accuracy of the predictor you can see what happened last year: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1VuLslsr6ONupFJHXmQWQlCyR0FoUP2Oa-zthqE7tl1A/edit#gid=739634420
4. Regarding where all to apply, you can use the College Suggestion part of the app here: https://gateoverflow.in/mymarks/ScoreToColleges.php?score=633.24
5. Almost all the good options are given above though data for some reserved categories are missing as they weren’t available anywhere. 
6. MUST read out the points given in the College Suggestion part.

All College Wise Interview Experience Blog Links.

All Year Wise Interview Experience Blog Links.

Hi, I am Suraj Kesharwani, I have scored AIR: 372 in GATE 2020. My Gate-Score is 764. This was my third attempt. I had to leave my job earlier in June 2019 to prepare seriously as I decided this would be my last attempt. My previous ranks are 5793 and 7613 in GATE 2018 and 2019 respectively. 

I want to thank my family, GO Community, and my friend/ Mentor Abhishek Shaw. He has cracked GATE in 2019 with AIR: 175 and has also inspired me to leave my job and prepare full time. This blog is in continuation of his preparation strategy as I have also followed it with some improvements. You can find his blogs here (Blog 1) (Blog 2) (Blog 3)(Blog 4)(Blog 5)(Blog 6)

Some Personal Background:

• I never thought about taking GATE in my whole UG. Neither did I planned for a PG.

• I did my UG from private tier-3 college in West Bengal where people are trained to fetch marks just by mugging things up.

• I was not good at math. (I only think I am decent now)

• I had not read any standard book before this attempt.

Knowing What’s Wrong

After getting such low marks your confidence gets collapsed That is why I started my preparation to get around 70-75 marks which can land me the rank of below 200. So, I took a mock of 2019 itself, in my home after 2 weeks of actual exam. Even at home, I was only able to score just 42 marks. I realized that the problem was with my concept. I made a chart similar to the GO stats. So that I could know which all subjects ware my weak spots and needed extra attention. 

Also, wrote down those topics which I found hard to understand. I planned to work on these first and then moved onto the other subjects.

 I started a reverse plan and started to mark the dates as much I could for the next attempt with a week division like

​

and also made a sheet for each book of GO PDF. The sheets contained details of the topic of a particular subject sorted by weight.

​ 

You can copy the sheet if you want. Book 1 Book 2 Book 3

I did add columns for the question numbers as It is hard to find the questions when using GO lists and favorites questions. 

Improving

When someone has to prepare on their own, they have to have a monitoring factor to check their improvement on a daily basis. So I opted for a Test series just to make sure that I am completing the subjects with some timeline. I enrolled myself in GATEBOOK. (Because they were offering a 500rs prize money. So I motivated myself that I should top in some of the tests and could get my payment fees refunded in a way.)

After I collected this data, I started preparing the topics having more weightage. I took two subjects in parallel. One in which was I was weak and other, a lighter one. I would use to read them first from standard books and then tried to solve the PYQ of those topics from PDF. I would set a threshold of around  70-75%. I would revisit the standard books and standard resources until I was able to solve the questions with 70-75% accuracy.

After completing each topic I used to take a topic-wise test of completed topics available in my test series and GO. For the questions which I was not able to solve in the first attempt, I used to note their question numbers in my sheets. The next day, my first task was to attempt them one more time. (Going by the theory of Eating your frog first). This time I would read the words very carefully of these questions twice or thrice just to make sure that I am not missing some important details. This can help you to solve 50% of these problems. For the rest 50% which you are still not able to solve, you can go to the respective questions and read all the comments and discussions regarding each of these questions. (These questions are the most important ones which will help you to stand apart from average student). I used to decide my day in the previous night itself about what topics and subjects I would be reading the next day. As someone has rightly said. “You should run your day or else the day will run you.”

You can make your study plan as per your wish but don’t make it for more than two weeks. I prepared a sheet for myself like the one attached below where I used to make a to-do list with a color-coding. The most important thing about it which I personally feel is when some days in preparation when you are feeling down, you just have to complete your task and not do anything else since consistency is the key.

I also used to mark such topics just to get an aggregated view of subjects like 

Once I have covered the 60-65% topics of each subject. I started with a full-length test of previous years. It was around September end. I used to take paper for the previous year on a weekend. and in other days kept completing the subjects and topics. By this time I was scoring 55-60 marks in them. (Remember to leave the test from 2017 to 2020 for future use and do not see their questions while solving pyq.) 

I made a separate copy of my mistakes where I used to write down my conceptual mistakes in these tests. (It was a great help while revising). And when I felt nervous with the very thought that I might have forgotten an already covered topic, I would randomly generate question number in the topic question range and solve them just to make sure that I was fine. (I had written a simple program for it.).

Some of the topics are hard to understand in one go. Like for me, it was Turing Machine and Reducibility, Pipelining, Congestion control, etc. You can visit those again just to be sure. These things were continued till November end and by this time I was scoring around 70-73 marks in previous year tests. All these while I was revising the completed topics from my notes from time to time.

Test Series

In December, I took TIFR as it has new questions, and that too standard one. It helped me to judge my ability to solve and understand new questions.  Also, I started to solve aptitude daily for 20 mins. I used to solve only GATE aptitude with all the branches of previous years. You can download it if you want from All Apti Sets. You can download a gate calculator just to get the right environment and monitor your time with a stopwatch. You can also get the result data saved and try to see how you are performing and the area where you need to work on. My average was 10.33 total and I also scored about 13 in the actual exam.

This time is very crucial you have to finish the small topics as well since you cannot be sure as to where the questions will come from. At least you should cover the topics from which questions are asked in GATE since 2014. and cover them since they are very small and can be done in a very few days. Try not to learn anything new in Jan and wrap all your new learnings in December. You can now make use of the GATE papers from 2017 to the current year. Solve one in each week at exactly on your actual test slot. and can change your plan accordingly. I had saved 2018 and 2019 papers only and when I took them, I scored around 65 and 67 marks. If you aren’t scoring 70+ in these tests, try to read and get some ideas about the questions, and its solutions which you are not able to solve as some questions are there just to scare you but are actually based on simple logic, for example: 

So I completed these types of questions. and taught me not to get scared after seeing these types of questions in the actual exam. 

CBT and All India Test

In January the CBT and the All India Level Test of various Institutes had started and I was just regularly revising my subject notes and my Mistake Copy notes. (Apart from subject notes you must have even shorter notes which you can use in the last week to revise).

I took two CBT tests, one from made easy and one from ACE. and scored AIR: 346 (38.33 marks), and AIR: 189 (54.66 marks). You can just judge yourself and practise the environment of the exam. Even if you get some fewer marks don’t be disappointed, as real battle is still there. I was not concerned with marks but knew my attempt strategy was okay and I was scoring well in the previous year papers not because I am memorised but I am solving. I also took one test by Applied Gate. I scored only 15 marks and then I realised that they are not framing the questions well enough like standards of GATE and are giving some questions way above the GATE level so I did not attempt any more of their tests.

Speed GATE

In the last week, I was tensed as I had a slow speed in the calculation and I used to get stuck in some questions which generally takes more time than a normal question. So to teach myself the art of leaving those questions and try to fetch marks from other relatively easier questions, I and Abhishek came up with a plan of something we call it speed-GATE. I used to solve the same previous year papers but in just 2 hours time so that I could get familiar with leaving questions and judging quickly as to how much time will it would take to solve it and then solve it accordingly. (Ideally, I should have got 80+ marks after seeing those so many times. But I was making sure that I solve them each time and do not mark those solved questions just by memorizing.) My stats of those as follows: 

Just two days before the exam, I was just revising the shorter notes and my mistake copy notes. The last day I just tested the Interface by taking the mock in the actual GATE site. I did not take the whole test as I was just making sure whether I know all the functionalities of this year's interface. The last day I just relaxed. 

After the result came out this year, many of the students were much tensed as some of the GO answers were multiple. And I finally ended up securing 64 marks. At last, I would only like to say If you are preparing alone, be true to yourself while solving the questions. If you are taking a shortcut for even for a single question, you are just cheating yourself and if it will be continued you are the only one going to suffer. I have seen in GO Fb page posts of people in Jan that they still are getting some 60 marks. But instead of re-reading the weak topics, they just kept taking more tests.

Some additional tips:

Refrain yourself from watching a web series as you can not control the urge and it will end up taking your time.

Create a playlist where you can add songs which inspire you to achieve your goal. You can listen to them often to get motivated or when feeling low.

Take proper sleep of 8hour. You are going to use your mind heavily so let it have proper rest

Never compromise on your health as a healthy mind resides in a healthy body.

Do not have a conversation with your friend who is not so important as much of your energy and mental peace would be used explaining to them what you are doing and why are you doing so. 

Once in a week take a break for 3-4 hours as it’s a long journey and we need some relaxing time as well

Have the logo of your dream college printed in your study area so that every time you see it, you can remind yourself Your Ultimate Goal.

If you are comfortable with PDF then you can download almost all the standard books pdf from Books. 

I personally liked the earlier version of GO-PDF so if you want to download it, you can find it GO-PDF.

If you are watching any video lecture please be very sure that you are using standard content, as most of the (around 80%) of the content on the internet for GATE will make you dumber. I know two such Youtubers/ Teachers who have massive students following them but they themselves have not cleared GATE with a good rank and are teaching subjects for GATE (at least I did not find that about their rank).

A unique channel which I discovered was Shrenik Jain on youtube. For those who are searching materials for Engineering math of other branches, You can pause his video and solve and also see some short tricks shared by him using Just the properties.

IIT, Hyderabad GATE Overflow Interview Experience Links : 2016 to 2020

IIT, Hyderabad Other Interview Experience Links: 2016-2018

Hi, I got AIR 94 in GATE CSE 2018. The actual preparation started after my 6 sem exam in May. I started with Discrete Mathematics. The strategy I used to follow is that at a time I used to do only 1 subject. I learn the concept either from Standard Books or Videos. Make my own notes. Then do the previous year of that subject. Then move to the other subject. and Keep revising in between.

For previous year I used GO PDF soft copy. For easy question, I solved it within the PDF only. For good question, I used to open it into the browser, then I try to solve it. Whether I solved it or not. I checked the answer, read the discussion, and visit the mentioned links to understand it properly. Especially the links mentioned by Arjun sir, are really awesome, it really helped me to understand the concept better. I feel that solving like this really helped me to widen my strength and also tackle new questions in the examination.

How much quality videos you watched for a subject, but I personally feel that better concepts are built by reading the standard books. Once you read from Standard books it will be cemented into your mind and you will not forget it for a long time. But you should also know how to use those concepts and for that previous year questions or the exercises questions in the book will be too good. I purchased one standard book for all subject, except compiler.

For me, Managing my environment is also a big task. I don't find any person from my college who is actually preparing for Gate. So whenever I have 2 or more days holidays I come to my home and start preparing. Most of the good preparation time I spent at my home. And whenever I was in college I try to attend all the classes so that I can take big holidays and go home, and somehow I also able to manage 75% attendance, otherwise, I have to pay a huge fine. Already paid it many times :p.

You may have heard that quote "Surround yourself with those on the same mission as you", and for that Gateoverflow comes in rescue, Make lots of friends, solved each other doubts. Thanks to @Nitish Joshi, @Ruhul Sharma, @Ashwin KulKarni, @Soumya Jain, @Sonveer Tomar, @anup patel and many many more for being part of this. :)

After Completing Discrete Mathematics, I started C/DS/Algo and I didn't take too much time in it as I already good in it. After that, I moved to System subject and give proper time to understand them. I completed my syllabus in mid of November then I started taking tests. I really enjoyed taking tests at Gateoverflow because we can do discussion if we have some doubt and also we can answer the question if we want and have a better approach for that. Answering the question at GO really helped me a lot. :)

I also took Made easy full-length and testbook test series. It helped me to manage the time and to know that how many questions should we safely attempt (not get negative :P) to be on the safer side. While taking the actual Gate exam I was left with 25 minutes, I already go through the question paper once and only solved 46 questions, I know that it is not enough to get good marks, drink that 250ml water bottle, and again started solving questions with a lot of focus, Solved 11 more question and I think most of them are correct, But on the other hand also did silly mistakes :( and lost 7-8 marks. But it is okay, happened with everyone :) .

There are many up and down during my preparation, especially when I have to go to college continuously. Sometimes I'm not able to study one day, two day but whatever happened I don't lose my belief. I have a belief that I will make it. Really happy to make it. :) 

Few advice for the future aspirants:

1. Don't leave anything, complete the entire syllabus. Even a 1 marks in GATE make a big difference.

2. Solved previous year question at least twice or more.

3. Take Tests (either free or paid). In last 2 months trying to take lots of tests for practices.

4. Whatever you are aiming to score, Suppose 70 Marks in actual Gate then try to score 75 or 80 in test series because there will be examination pressure in actual Gate. Have some marks for it in the worst case.

5. Don't compare yourself to anyone.

6. Even the NPTEL videos are bit boring but they are really a high-quality one. They really help to build the good intuition. 

7. Even you are not scoring good in test series. Don't worry. Sometimes questions in test series are not good and answers are wrong.  But in actual Gate Exam, it is not like that. You will do good in actual Gate.

A Big thanks to @arjun sir, @preveen sir, @bikram sir, @anirudh pratap singh sir, @Habib sir, @Sachin Mittal sir, @Debashish Sir, @Digvijay sir, @Manu Thakur sir and many more for their guidance and inspiration.

In the end, I want to quote, 2 of my favorite quotation for inspiration for future aspirants. I used to take print out of quotation and paste them at my workspace. They give positivity. :) 

"There is no greater power in heaven or on earth than the commitment to a dream." ~Ignited Minds

"It doesn't matter what your past is, it doesn't matter what your present is, what only matter is where you want to go."

IIsc has released dates for written test.

I know nearly all the current/previous toppers are on GO, can you guys please share what to read for the test? I’ve read past year interviews but most of them had choice of subject to get asked on, a liberty we might not have in the written test.

M.Tech. in Computer Technology is offered by Department of Electrical Engineering IIT Delhi.You can check the course structure here.

Since the course offers many Computer Science subjects and even Machine Learning as its major component ,many cs students opt for this course.

Now, coming  to the interview day.We were required to report there at 8:30 am.First our documents were verified and then we were called for the interview one by one.

Since,it is somewhat an interdisciplinary course the interview panel was sort of divided.I think there were 4 professors taking the interviews and they were the ones who taught M.Tech. students there.Out of four,1 professor was majorly asking questions in Electrical and Electronics field,1 was asking System subjects in CS like Operating system and CO & architecture,1 was asking majorly in Machine Learning plus question on the subjects you mention that you have prepared and last one in Data structures and algorithms plus Discrete Maths.

Students in interview mainly came from 4 branches : Electrical,Electronics,Computer Science and Instrumentation.

Now, the interview was conducted in a room where the 4 professors were sitting separately and there was a chair for the candidate to sit.Out of the four we had to appear for the interview to any one of the professors,here I would really like to thank the TAs there ,they were very helpful and were assigning the candidates to the professors ,so they made sure that you get the professor of you area only.

Before the interview each one of us was given a blank sheet of paper in which we were required to write our Name and Application number,this sheet was to be used for doing the work during the interview.

My interview started around 7p.m. and lasted for about 30-35 minutes.I was allotted to Sumit Sir,who was asking questions in Data Structures and Algorithms plus Discrete Maths.Before going for the interview we were even handed over our application form.

As I entered the room ,sir first asked for my Application and gave it a look.He noted the stream I graduated in,my GATE score and year,my B.Tech.percentage and since I graduated last year he asked me what I did the previous year. 

After this he asked the following questions:

PS : He wrote the questions in the rough sheet given to us earlier and we were required to write neatly our solutions there.This sheet was later kept by them.

For each question he gave me sufficient time.

Q1) P&C Consider the numbers {2,4,6,8}.How many 6 digits numbers can be formed from them that are divisible by four and repetition is allowed.We were required to compute the exact answer.

Q2) Probability Consider we have 3 doors A, B and C.Out of the three doors 2 have goat behind them and one have a car.We are playing a game here,

1) The contestant comes and picks up a door.

2) Out of the remaining two doors,the game in-charge eliminates one door and that door is sure to have a goat behind it.

3)Now, the contestant has 2 options either stick to the door he choosed initially or switch to the other door that was left after the game in-charge eliminated one door.We were required to calculate the probability of wining the car in each of the cases and then tell in which case the probability of wining a car is more.

//In end sir said to me that sir has been asking this question in interviews since 2-3 years but till now nobody gave the correct answer except me :D

Algorithms and Data Structures

Q3) What all Data Structures you know?

Q4) Define Heap and tell the applications of Heap.

Q5) Consider the elements : 2,4,21,98,2,4

Sort them using Heap sort and show all steps.

Q6)How to do insertion in Heap?

Q7)Can we delete an in between element in the heap,If yes then show how ,so that Heap property is not violated?

Q8)Array can be used to implement Heap.Explain how will you implement a Heap using an array.

That's it ! Hope this helps :)

COAP2020  info. brochure :     http://coap.iitm.ac.in/pdfs/COAP%202020_IB_v7.pdf

iitg:

https://www.iitg.ac.in/acad/admission2020/mtech/

iisc:

https://admissions.iisc.ac.in/Web/SelectUGPG.aspx

iitb:

http://www.iitb.ac.in/newacadhome/mtech.jsp

iitd:

https://ecampus.iitd.ac.in/PGADM/login

iitk(direct admission):

https://pingala.iitk.ac.in/PGADM-0/login

iitr:

https://g21.digialm.com/EForms/configuredHtml/1702/54807/login.html

iitm:

https://www.digialm.com//EForms/configuredHtml/844/51370/login.html

iitkgp:

starting on 25th march

iith:

https://iith.ac.in/mtechadmissions/

IIT Bhubaneswar (Mtech in Computer Science and Engineering , Mtech in Climate Science & Technology)

http://webapps.iitbbs.ac.in/mtech-application/index.php

IIT Ropar (MTech in Computer Science and Engineering , Mtech in Artificial Intelligence )

http://www.iitrpr.ac.in/mtech-admissions-2020-2021

IIT Bhilai (Mtech in Computer Science & Engineering)

https://www.iitbhilai.ac.in/index.php?pid=adm_mtech_new

IIT Tirupati (Mtech in Computer Science & Engineering)

https://mtechadmissions.iittp.ac.in/

IIT Palakkad (M.Tech in Data Science , M.Tech in Computing and Mathematics ,M.Tech in System-on-Chip-Design)

https://pgadmit.iitpkd.ac.in/?q=node/3

IIT Indore (M.S. (Research) in Computer Science and Engineering )

https://academic.iiti.ac.in:8443/nregistrationmtech.jsp

IIT Patna (Mtech in Computer Science & Engineering , Mtech in Mathematics and Computing ,)

http://academic.iitp.ac.in/?vacancy_type=3 

IIT (ISM) Dhanbad  ( Mtech in Computer Science and Engineering , Mtech in Computer Science and Engineering [Specialisation in Information Security] ,Mtech in Data Analytics ,Mtech in Geomatics)

https://mtech2020.formflix.com/

NOT ON COAP :

IIT Gandhinagar  (MTech in Computer Science and Engineering.)

https://www.iitgn.ac.in/admissions/mtech

IIT Jammu (M.Tech In Data Science ,M.Tech In Information Security )

https://iitjammu.ac.in/pg-admissions

comment when rest are started...if anybody finds out immediately.

We are happy to announce the release of Standard book questions on GO site as a PDF. This being the first release is a draft one.

Link: https://github.com/GATEOverflow/GO-PDFs/releases/download/initial-draft/filter7.pdf

Upcoming ones

1. ISRO CSE
2. NIELIT CSE
3. NIELIT Aptitude
4. UGCNET CSE
5. TIFR CSE
6. CAT (Aptitude)

TIFR :- http://univ.tifr.res.in/gs2020/Imp_Dates/Imp_Dates.htm

JEST :- https://www.jest.org.in/joint-entrance-screening-test

These exams are conducted mainly for admissions in Ph.D / Integrated Ph.D Programme.

JEST score is also accepted for IISc M.Tech. Research admissions

Please visit their official website for further details.

Giving my two cents hoping that it would help someone later. This years procedure was a bit different. Due to the coronavirus pandemic there was no written test but a direct interview. Unfortunately this years GS cutoff for receiving an interview letter was pretty high, probably because they had to cut out the written test round. The interview was an online interview. We had to fill out a form regarding our preference list of the RA projects available. I chose IBM AIHN Project[NLP], Abdul Kalam Fellowship Project on Medical Informatics and Academic Office (SAFE) as my top 3 choices in that order. The interview was scheduled on 22nd/23rd June. By 20th June I received a mail saying that I have an interview for SAFE on the 22nd. The interview was held over google meet. This is how the interview went,

Interviewer – I

Me – M

I: (Mentioned a set of rules i.e. no looking up answers, no one else in the same room to help out etc. to which we have to agree for obvious reasons)

I: What is your GATE score

M: told

I: Tell me about your academic background

M: told (college graduated from, cgpa, goals etc.)

I: So you had graduated in 2019. What have you done in the past 1 year ?

M: told

(Note: They had informed us to provide a shareable Google drive link containing our CV, project reports or anything we would like to show the interviewers. I gave my CV, two project reports and my research paper)

I: I see that you have worked on a Bluetooth based attendance system (SAFE was also an attendance system amongst many other things). Can you explain a bit more about it ?

M: Explained in detail

I: Do you have any skills such as C, Java, Django, Android etc.

M: Told them that I knew C,Java, Android basics and another framework which I explained a bit about (the framework is called JADE)

I: Could you explain another project that is in line with our project ?

M: Told about how I worked with a lecturer over her PhD thesis. (Not a project, but had some work that I thought was in line with their interests)

I: Ok. Are you familiar with concepts in operating systems and computer networks ?

M: Yes Sir, but I’m a bit more inclined towards Algorithms and Data Structures sir (I was better at algorithms and was hoping they changed their mind).

I: I’ll give you a small overview of what we’re working on (told). That’s why we’ll be focusing more on operating systems and computer networks

(...damn it...)

M: Sure sir. I’ll give it my best Sir.

I: Explain about Internet protocol suit (TCP/IP protocol stack)

M: Explained

I: Good, you gave a detailed explanation. Could you explain about Proxy servers ?

M: Explained with a diagram I drew and showed it through the webcam.

I: Ok, consider the same diagram you drew and take one system, the proxy server and a server you want to download from. How many TCP connections and how many HTTP connections will be created between the system, the proxy and the server you want to download from ?

M: Explained my thoughts on how and why should there be 2 TCP and 2 HTTP connections (1 TCP and 1 HTTP between system and proxy, 1 TCP and 1 HTTP between proxy and server)

I: Ok, That is right. good, you were able to reason and come to a conclusion.

I: I guess that’s all the questions from my side. Do you have any questions ?

M: Yes sir, I have one question about the attendance system (SAFE) sir.

I: Yes tell me

M: I saw the brief video presentation about SAFE and found that it can avoid attendance proxies from those not in the class even though it works on WiFi. How does that work ?

I: (Smiled) What do you think ? How does it work ?

M: Explained my thoughts on it and how it could work

I: Ok, you’re close but no it does not work like that. (Eh, well. I at least gave it a shot) He then explained how it worked.

(A bit more discussion on the attendance system and I also put forward my thoughts on my prototype of the attendance system)

I: Did you field test the Bluetooth attendance system ?

M: Yes sir, with 2 classes next to each (Note: I told the interviewer before that the attendance system was a prototype and not a full fledged model)

I: Ok. Just out of curiosity, what were your 1st two preferences ?

M: told

I: Ok, anymore questions ?

M: No sir, that was about it sir

I: Ok.

(End of interview call)

My thoughts:

This is the first ever interview I faced (since I did not sit for placements) and it lasted for 45 mins. The interviewers ensure that we remain calm and are very humble. In my perspective, I found it best to be myself and explain everything that I had known about whatever question they asked. If I did not know something, I would mention that I did not know but I still tried to somehow find an answer that made sense. I would talk out loud and let the interviewer know what I’m thinking. The interview really gave me a new found respect for the professors at IITB.

If whatever I have said so far is more ‘rookie’ for folks who have experienced more interviews, I apologize.

The main point at the end of the interview that I was happy with was that I was able to give it my best at that time, irrespective of whether I’m offered a position or not. What I can truly say about giving interviews now is to always give an interview when provided the opportunity. It’s exciting, it could go sour, who knows ! but at the end of it you will also gain insight on how to improve yourself.

Hope this helps somebody who may have to face an interview from IITB later on. Peace !

Update (7^th July 2020): I have been offered a seat at IITB Mtech RA. I guess the interview went well.  

If you are looking for Masters in research then this is not a good place for you.but if your main concern is Placement then this is the place for you.

 M.Tech (2018-2020)  students placed in companies are as-

Qualcomm, Sandisk, Samsung R&D Noida, Royal Bank of Scotland, IBM, Mobikwik, Policy bazaar, Dunnhumby, Schlumberger, Nagarro, Amdocs, Tejas networks, Axteria , Shipsy, Intello labs,  Yodlee envestnet, Smart energy water, American Express, etc.

Academics wise, this is not that much good but when it comes to coding culture it is above average and campus life is just awesome simply, after every 5-10 days DJ party is here. Fests like Yuvaan & Engifest is very popular and you will get too much free time for any exam or placement preparation.

This year highest placement is 29 lakh in Qualcomm for 3 students following by 20 lakh in Sandisk for 2 students  and so on… Still, placement is in process for the current batch (more than 80% are placed with the average package of above 14).

Each year more than 300 companies visit here for B.tech in which 150+ are open for Mtech (CSE+SWE+ISY). All three specialization get equal opportunity. (if you are good in coding with good communication skill then you have many opportunities otherwise you can try for the different profile like data scientist, analyst etc ) which also offer above 10 LPA.

M.tech is allowed in companies like Goldman sachs, Uber, Microsoft, flipkart, Amazon and many more but they take very hard coding test so it is very hard to crack due to high competition.

For coding practice we usually follow GFG, hackerrank, codechef, etc.

For admission DTU consider only GATE score (total of 20+20+20 seats are in each specialization(CSE+SWE+ISY)):-

 for General Category in round 1 under 1000 for CSE and till 1700-1800 is safe for SWE with 2000 for ISY.  Sometimes magic happens in spot round like 4000-5000 gate ranks can also get a seat( which usually does not happen and goes till 3000).

NOTE :- Computer science(CSE) and software engineering(SWE) comes under Computer Science department and (ISY) in Information technology Department.

All get equal opportunity in placement but usually, students take CSE then SWE then ISY.

If your goal is to become teacher or to get PSU then again you can think of DTU as colleges like KIET, DIT University and Bharat Electronics Limited(BEL)  and many more come each year.

For any further query consult any placed M.tech final year student they will definitely guide you.

Hello Everyone...!! Mock Test 5 of GO Test Series 2021 will be live from tomorrow morning 6am until Wednesday evening 11:59pm for ranking purpose. Questions and answer keys will remain the same until Wednesday midnight and any wrong answer key will be Marks to All like in actual GATE.

All the best Guyss..!!

Take Exam

A test (no result being saved) for experiencing 1 and 2 marks being jumbled for the first time in GATE 2021: https://gateoverflow.in/exam/126/test-by-ruturaj-mock-1

First of all congratulation to all apprentice and take few months rest as GATE exam just over. If your exam is not good don’t worry you will have lots of options.

I am M.Tech 1st  year student of Robotics and Artificial Intelligence in IIT Guwahati and my B.Tech was in CSE. We are the first batch in Robotics & AI. Lets discuss why I choose and how I am getting benefits from that course as my background was CSE and how it will help in placement. I am also telling that I choose this course dropping all the offers from top nits( Trichy,Warrangle,Surathkal) CSE and IIT BHU CSE, IIT Ropar CSE,AI and my decision was right.

1.Lets first discuss the course content of my SEM-1 .

We have 2 core subjects – Fundamental of Robotics , Artificial Intelligence. and 2 electives- Computer science Maths and Deep learning(I choose) You can choose also NLP,Speech Processing,IOT,Wireless,Linear Algebra. So SEM-1 is fully Computer Science Subjects. You will not get any difficulties in any subjects except Robotics till mid sem, after mid sem last 1 month you will learn new things but that ok, you CSE students will get marks easily I got 9 points in it out of 10.  Even we had 2 labs- Robotics lab and Python lab, both are full of coding. I got 10 in Robotics lab and 9 in python lab.  If you choose NLP or Speech Processing we will get one course project from each and can put it CV for placement.  And electives that I mentioned all are offered by  CSE department and students from CSE and DS take those. So SEM-1 is perfectly ok.

2.Lets talk about SEM-2.

We have 2 core subjects-Robot Vision(take by cse prof. Arijit Sur Sir because 80% syllabus is computer vision) ,Machine Learning. and 3 electives I choose – Reinforcement Learning,Image Processing,Statistical Learning( for Data Science profile in placement). These 3 course is offered by Mehta School of Data Science and Artificial Intelligence of IIT Guwahati. Mehta family introduced IIT Roorkee data science and artificial intelligence department also last year.We are getting 4 course projects for placement CV from here. Even you can choose Introduction to Data Science,Soft Computing(90% syllabus is Neural Network), Numerical Analysis(which is Scientific Computing in Data Science course), VLSI(CS 557),Social media and DATA Mining(CS557),Optimization Methods(CS 508-Algorithm course based on graph, DP,NP hard, NP complete). My few batch mate have taken these courses. So if you see all 1st year courses are fully CS related and if you think you will get face difficulties if you come from CSE background then you are wrong, if the people come other than CSE background, then they face difficulties as then are not familiar with coding because all are CSE intelligence subjects.  

3.Lets talk about MTP(Final Year project)

My MTP project is related to Computer Vision/Image Processing/ CNN deep neural network, titled : ”Underwater Object Detection and Recognition”. Work will be related to Under Water Computer Vision using Deep Learning.Even if are from CSE or DS then you also have to work mostly related in such topics. So, till now there is no difficulties anyone one will face, I guess.

4.Now important one INTERNSHIP and PLACEMENT 

Centre will allow for internship also for 2/3/6 months. Where CSE department in IITG doesn’t allow for internship this year. Those companies who come for CSE and DS also allow us for data science profile in internship. Few of us got internship and mostly will get PPO(Pre Placement Offer). Even in the internship interview they expect that we are from CSE background.

For placement all companies those who come for CSE and DS we can sit with them for SDE and DS role for placement confirmed from our CCD placement office, no particular language barrier is there, you can choose any one among python,java,c++(mostly preferred). Company check your knowledge not background. 

So those who are thinking it as Robotics  I can say them you are wrong. The course is fully Artificial Intelligence course.

• Plus point is department so student friendly, they allow us to choose any cse intelligence related subjects, so in second sem we opted  all 3 electives related to cs and department  opened it for us, which were not even in elective list.

So why I dropped top Nits CSE, simple ,course is fully related to computer science+ I am getting top old IIT brand value(old IIT brand matters)+placement(mind it Google doesn’t come to any NIT).

So if you are getting offer from it don’t reject, accept the offer and enjoy the IIT life. At the end of the day call is yours.(P.S I didn’t apply for any IIIT, coz my family economical condition was not good). IIT Guwahati doesn't participate in last 2 COAP rounds last year. You can apply for the course during M.Tech admission application of IIT Guwahati along with computer science , data science. 

I have attached last year closing ranks for this course below in comments.

Sorry for any typos, and grammatical mistakes.

Placement Stat : Edit date-20/12/2022 (100% placed, 1^st branch of IITG with full 100% placement of 2022-23 placement season)

Though in bad market condition throughout the world Robotics and AI branch of IITG got 100% placed, with avg CTC 21 LPA and median CTC 19 LPA.

Among the students there are 2 international packages also. Students got placed in Rakuten Japan,HSBC,SLB(Schlumberger),Blend 360,HCL,IBM,Accenture,Flexday,Axtria,Fico,Bhanzu in profile SDE,Data Science,AI/ML.