“Make sure that every time you sit in class, you grasp all the fundamentals”, says R. Mukund, an Industrial Biotechnology student from ACT who scored 739 marks in his GATE Biotechnology 2020 paper and went on to secure an AIR 50.

“I realized that I wanted to write the GATE examination when I was in his second year of college”, says Mukund. Making this decision not only helped him make a head-start in his preparation but also saved him the stress of cramming all the portions a few months before the exam.

When quizzed about his decision to study on his own, Mukund reveals that self-preparation is more flexible. He believes that coaching centers help in the final phase of preparation but should not be depended on completely.

When asked about the introduction of the Multiple Select Questions (MSQ) in the GATE 2021, he admits that it might be a little tricky since one must choose all the correct answers. However, he says that this new introduction could still be an advantage since it has no negative marks. Hence, he encourages the students to ‘GO FOR IT’ even if they don’t know the answer since one never knows when they might get lucky.

He urges students to take full advantage of the college syllabus since it is comprehensive and covers the GATE portions. “Coursera and NPTEL are some of the best resources for preparation. Apart from this, students should get familiar with the internet world since a lot of resources are available for free”, says Mukund. With respect to the examination itself, he advises students to be familiar with the pattern and the type of questions, while attempting numerous mock tests alongside. “Students should segment the whole exam and give first priority to the questions they know”, recommends Mukund.

‘Hard work and smart work are two different sides of the same coin.’ He believes that hard work is important in the initial stage of the preparation while smart work is equally important to devise an excellent strategy towards the end.