IN 2021, thousands of students gave a sigh of relief as the authorities released the official notification of the GATE 2022 exams. With the pandemic stomping upon all sectors – including the education sector, expecting a national-level entrance exam was somewhat far-fetched. But now that students have successfully filled in the exam forms, there is no reason to worry. If you are an aspirant looking forward to high scores in GATE Exam 2022, you must refer to a lot of resources other than just the official syllabus – one of them being the GATE previous years’ question papers.
But is referring to past years’ question papers enough? Which years must you focus on? What else must you have as resources? We will answer all of these questions in this article. Read ahead to know more.
How Do Previous Year Question Papers Help with GATE?
Preparing for an exam without checking its previous question papers is like throwing darts in the dark. Here is how GATE previous years’ question papers would help:
- Candidates can understand the pattern of exams, questions, and types of answers required, and grasp the overall structure of the examination.
- The GATE exam is aimed at testing an individual’s skills and knowledge in the said subject. The question papers will give you a brief idea of what kind of knowledge-checking the exam is aimed at. You would be able to understand which topics are more important.
- It becomes easier to spot the areas that require more clarification and revision; Some minute details and topics might go unnoticed while preparing from the entire syllabus.
- Since GATE is an exam conducted for tech geeks, the question papers include all the recent advancements. Checking out question papers from recent years will help you gauge what kind of recent tech the exam deals with.
Which Years to Focus on?
The GATE exam was first conducted in India, way back in 1983. Now, it is a no-brainer that referring to the question paper from that year would be of no use since everything has changed – from exam pattern and syllabus to marking scheme and normalisation criteria. Similarly, you can’t refer to question papers that are almost a decade old. Then, which years must you focus on? Maximum, 5 years and out of these, the most important would be:
- GATE 2021 Question Paper
- GATE 2020 Question Paper
- GATE 2019 Question Paper
If you want to go further back, then you can check out GATE papers from the years 2018 and 2017. But don’t go further back as everything will be outdated.
Is Solving Question Papers Enough for Me?
As important as they may be – question papers will ONLY help you get an idea about the examination pattern and expose the sections of the syllabus that might need a bit more brushing up. But how would you brush up on topics? How about solving a few more question papers with a similar pattern? How would you clarify the tiniest of your doubts? This is exactly where you would need other resources.
Other Important Resources
Apart from books, eBooks, MCQs, and other resources that you might already have, here are a few more to keep handy:
- GATE syllabus – to narrow down the important sections of the study material.
- GATE mock tests – to be aware of your current levels of preparation, find the topics that lack revision and improve your preparation accordingly.
- GATE sample papers – to stay in touch with the exam pattern and understand the type of answers on which you should focus.
- GATE difference between articles and full forms – to clarify any doubts regarding basic concepts and topics.
We hope that by now, you understand everything about the GATE previous year question paper and why you must refer to it. We also hope that you will refer to all the other resources mentioned in this article, and do your absolute best to crack the exams. All the best! Adios, amigo.