GATE 2013 Notification, Form & Eligibility

GATE 2013 Exam Notification has been issued very recently by IIT Bombay, the organising institute for GATE 2013.  As per the notification...

GATE 2013 Exam Notification has been issued very recently by IIT Bombay, the organising institute for GATE 2013.  As per the notification, while the online submission of GATE 2013 form starts from 1st September 2012, the last date to apply online is 30th September 2012.While you should through the information contained in the official GATE 2013 website, you may miss some important points and therefore this blog post is made to highlight the same.

You can also click here to download the GATE-2013 notification-cum-information brochure.

First what is GATE - a primer:

Contrary to popular perception, GATE (Graduate Aptitude Test in Engineering) is not only an entrance exam for PG studies in the elite tech-institutes of India (i.e. the seven IITs & one IISC – IISC, Bangalore), but GATE score is also used for following purposes:

1.0 For entrance to PG studies in more than 300 tech institutes as per the list given in this website: yes, you can get admission in these very good engineering colleges through GATE.

2.0 As recruitment exam by many top-notch PSU like IOC, NTPC, Power Grid etc: yes, these days many organizations as given above have discontinued their own written recruitment exam (as these exams used to consume a lot of time/money/effort). These organizations uses GATE scores to shortlist the candidates for interview and further selection process. You can find the list of PSU recruiting through GATE in a previous blog post of mine titled: List of PSU recruiting through GATE- Notification, Eligibility & Form. More than 1500 engineers were recruited by these blue-chip companies through GATE 2012. 

3.0 As qualifying exam for various fellowships/scholarships like those for MHRD (Ministry of Human Resource Development) scholarship.

Hence for these reasons, number of students appearing for GATE has increased over time.

How many candidates appears & qualifies in GATE:

Over the years, number of candidates appearing in GATE has increased considerably as can be seen from the statistics given for last 11 years (from GATE 2002 TO GATE 2012) in the table at right. 

As you can see, the number of candidates appearing in GATE has been increasing year to year except in GAT 2005 & GATE 2007. Most noticeable increase has been from the year 2010. Why? Because the PSU started recruiting through GATE from that year - IOCL taking the lead from GATE 2010.

Another note-worth figure is the number of candidates who appears in GATE vis-a-vis number of candidates who applies. Close to 90% who applies, appears in GATE - which is a very high figure, compared to exams like Civil Services Exam, in which only 50% of those who applies, appears in the exam.

Again, GATE is proving to be tough exam to crack - around 15 to 20% of those who appears in GATE, qualifies. Does this figure frighten you? It should not because even for undergraduate engineering exams like IIT-JEE, the acceptance rate is only 3%!

You can also find a subject-wise break-up of number of candidates appearing in GATE for last three exams in the table at left. As you can see, close to 80% of candidates appears in four popular GATE subjects- ECE, CSE, ME & EE.

What has changed in GATE 2013:
1.0 More number of GATE subjects have become online: AE, AG, AR, BT, CE, CH, CY, GG, MA, MN, MT, PH, TF, XE, and XL. Only five GATE subjects are offline now: CS, EC, EE, IN , ME, & PI.
2.0 No application fee is required for Female candidates.
3.0 Single GATE Online Applicant Interface: You can not only apply for GATE through this single log-in, but also download admit card, view result as well as submit your grievance through the same interface.
4.0 Soft copies of photograph and signature must be uploaded during online application.
5.0 A new formula will be used for calculating the GATE score.
6.0 Random Biometric information (Photograph and fingerprint) check may be done on the day of the examination.

GATE Eligibility:

Eligibility required for appearing in GATE exam is given in this webpage.

GATE 2013 application form:

As said before, you can apply only online from GATE 2013 onwards. There is no offline form.

Also, after submission of your GATE 2013 application form online, you have to take print out of the online form and send it with enclosures to that zonal GATE office, which corresponds to your choice of test center. So while applying for GATE, your first task should be to decide in which exam center you would like to appear in the exam and find the corresponding GATE zonal office.

Which are these exam centers and the corresponding GATE zonal office? You can find it in this webpage.

Once you decide this, first read this instruction on How to apply for GATE 2013

And than go for submission of GATE-2013 Online form.
On-line submission of GATE-2013 form starts on: 1st September 2012 Saturday (00:00 Hrs).

Last date for GATE 2013 forms:

Last date for on-line submission of forms: 30th September 2012 Sunday (23:00 Hrs).

(Website closes beyond above date).

Last date for receipt of online form printout at GATE Offices: 8th October 2012 Monday.

GATE 2013 Exam Dates/Schedule:

Dates for GATE 2013 Online Papers:
AR, CE, GG, MA, MT, PH and TF:  20 January 2013 (Sunday) - (09:00 Hrs to 12:00 Hrs)

AE, AG, BT, CH, CY, MN, XE and XL: 20 January 2013 (Sunday) - (14:00 Hrs to 17:00 Hrs).

Dates for GATE 2013 Offine Papers:
CS, ME and PI: 10th February  2013 (Sunday) - (09:00 Hrs to 12:00 Hrs)
EC, EE and IN: 10th February  2013 (Sunday) - (14:00 Hrs to 17:00 Hrs).

Date for GATE 2013 result: 15th March 2013 (Friday) 10:00 AM

What suppose if wish to appear in GATE 2014:

I have a habit of forecasting probable dates for Indian entrance and recruitment exams. For GATE too, much before GATE 2013 notification came out, I had predicted these dates. Similarly, GATE 2014 notification should come out in August 2013 and the submission of form start in 1st week of September onwards. GATE exam for offline papers is conducted on 2nd Sunday of February every year. Therefore GATE 2014 offline paper exam date should be 9th February  2014 (Sunday), while the online papers should be conducted in the second half of January, 2014.

GATE 2013 Prep Materials:
My following blog articles should help you prepare for GATE 2013, which points you to the sources for downloading syllabus, sample papers, books & coaching institutes for the exam:
GATE EC Prep material Syllabus, Sample Papers & Books
GATE CS study material: Syllabus, Exam Papers & Books
GATE EE Syllabus, Sample Papers & Books
GATE ME Prep material: Syllabus, Exam Papers & Books
GATE CE Syllabus, Sample Papers & Books
GATE IN Prep material: Syllabus, Sample Papers & Books

I hope with above information you can apply confidently and prepare for GATE 2013. Best wishes!