Graduate Aptitude Test in Engineering (GATE) is the national level entrance exam conducted by IITs. It leads to admission to (i) Master’s programs and direct Doctoral programs in Engineering / Technology / Architecture and (ii) Doctoral programs in relevant branches of Science, in the institutions supported by the MHRD and other Government agencies. Scorecard of GATE is also used for PSU recruitment through GATE.
Cracking GATE is not a piece of cake. It takes hard work and a hell lot of it. Along with that smart work is also important. Here is how Mudit Vajpayee cracked GATE 2018 with AIR 2. In an inspiring conversation with us, Mudit told us about his journey and his success mantra. Therefore, let us take a walk with Mudit on his GATE 2018 Journey.
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Q. First of all, we would like to congratulate you, we really respect the hard work you have put in. Kindly share your feelings with us and whom you credit your success.
Ans: I’m ecstatic with happiness as I will get to work with ONGC from this year. On 3rd Feb 2018, when my GATE PE exam was over, I was sure of getting a rank in Top 5. Therefore when I saw my result, it wasn’t much of a surprise for me. When I had started my preparation for GATE 2018, my aim was to just get into ONGC somehow but soon, few days into the preparation, I realized that I can really do good this time and then I wanted to be AIR 01 but nevertheless I got AIR 02.
I had so much support from my parents and friends during GATE preparation that the responsibility for any failure this time would have been mine and almost entire credit for success goes to them.
Q. Can you tell us about your family?
Ans. My Father is a journalist and mother is a housewife. My younger brother studies in SSCBS, DU. I am from New Delhi.
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Q. Please share your college experience?
Ans. PDPU has excellent infrastructure and totally up to date Petroleum Engineering curriculum. I participated in a lot of competitions. I started my research on Geothermal Engineering in my 3rd sem and was able to complete it by 6th sem and then presented it in IPTC 2016 conference, and PDPU provided me with full travel grant support for attending IPTC 2016. And, I had a wonderful time at my college owing to supportive faculty and management, great friends and people there.
Q. How was schooling life?
Ans. DPSG has been consistently ranked as one of the best schools in Delhi-NCR and this really shows in their teaching methodology. From playing Shot put to learning music, I was able to do a lot of things because of excellent extra-curricular and sports facilities. On the academic front, I was an average student. But it was my school where I was able to build a solid foundation.
Q. Hard work or smart work? Which one would you choose and why?
Ans. I believe that hard work is required to master your basics so that you can work smart. But my success in GATE is because of both hard work and smart work as I studied for long hours daily to complete entire GATE syllabus in 1.5 months so i.e Hard work but at the same time I figured out correctly exactly what topics to study and what to leave so i.e smart work.
“Give me 6 hours to chop down a tree and I will spend 4 of them sharpening my axe.” – Abraham Lincoln.
Q. What has been your success mantra?
Ans. Success is directly proportional to the hard work and effort put by you. In short, “Hard work is the unit to measure your hunger for being successful”.
As H Jackson Brown Jr. has said, “You have exactly the same number of hours per day that was given to Helen Keller, Pasteur, Michaelangelo, Mother Teresa, Leonardo da Vinci, Thomas Jefferson, and Albert Einstein.”
Be judicious and wise with your time. It has all the might to make you the most successful person in the world.
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Q. How and when should a student especially a petroleum stream student start preparing for GATE as they don’t have many resources available for preparation?
Ans. For a student who is still in college, the best time to start preparation is the 7th semester i.e. exactly 1 yr before GATE. Make a plan and divide the preparation into different phases. Next step should be to identify the sources from which the one needs to study and then diligently stick to the plan. As I’ve mentioned that the best source to start preparation is from the material provided on GATE AIOTS PE website. Most importantly study Engg. Maths and practice Aptitude as much as possible.
In the initial stages, make sure you study everything in the syllabus with concentration. College curriculum is similar to GATE syllabus so if one pays attention to college studies it would be very beneficial.
Prepare your own short notes and keep revising them on monthly basis. In the month of January start practicing the full tests, while revising your short notes on a weekly basis
Q. What resources did you use and, what difficulties did you face during the preparation?
Ans. I did my entire preparation from Petroleum Engineering eBooks that I have and the free study material provided by GATE AIOTS PE on their website. Covering the entire GATE PE syllabus in the limited 1.5 months time was the toughest aspect of my preparation. Plus since I had not joined any coaching so clearing my doubts was a problem for which I had to read extra from other sources to understand the topic better.
Q. Which books did you referred for preparation?
Ans. According to me, the following books are a must read for any GATE PE aspirant.
| Subject | Books referred |
| Engineering Maths | MADE EASY GATE Engg. Maths book |
| Oil & Gas Drilling | H.Rabia and Heriot-Watt University book |
| Formation Evaluation | Heriot-Watt and SLB Openhole Logs |
| Reservoir Engineering | Tarek Ahmed 4th Ed |
| Well Testing | Tarek Ahmed & McKinney and J. Lee |
| Production Engineering | Boyun Guo and Heriot-Watt Univ book |
| Exploration, EOR, Offshore, HSE & Latest Trends | Follow IIT (ISM) proff. notes provided on GATE AIOTS PE website |
Aptitude Section: According to me the best method of aptitude preparation is downloading last 5 yrs GATE papers of all branches from GATE website and solving each and every aptitude section.
Q. What are the things one should keep in mind while preparing for GATE?
Ans. That, GATE exam can be and has been cracked by people through self-study only. Though, attending at least 1 test series is very important to know where do you stand relative to others as GATE is all about your performance relative to other aspirants.
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Q. What was your analysis of the GATE exam?
Ans. This year GATE PE paper was much difficult compared to earlier papers. I could feel it during the exam. But if you have prepared your subjects well, solved previous year papers, practiced test series and have worked on your mistakes, nothing can stop you from nailing GATE exam.
Q. Any tips for the exam day?
Ans. Maintaining one’s calm and composure in spite of the difficult or unexpected paper so as to not commit silly mistakes is very crucial on the exam day.
About Your Future
Q. What are your future plans? Would you go for further studies or jobs?
Ans. My sole reason for appearing in GATE 2018 was that I wanted to work with ONGC and pursue my passion for Petroleum Engineering.
What can future Aspirants of GATE learn from Mudit Vajpayee?
- Hard work mixed with smart work will help in preparations.
- A plan is Important to ace the examination.
- Best time to start preparing – 1 year before GATE.
- Paying attention in classes is very beneficial.
- Solving previous years’ question papers is very helpful, especially for the aptitude section.
- Work on your mistakes.
- Staying Calm in the difficult situations helps in avoiding silly mistakes.
Inspired like we are? Comment below in case you want to know more about GATE and how to prepare for the examination.
