Graduate Aptitude Test in Engineering
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Conducted by either the Indian Institute of Science(IISc) or one of seven Indian Institutes of Technology in rotation, Graduate Aptitude Test in Engineering (GATE) is an annual exam for admission to Graduate programs (Masters level and the Doctorate) in most engineering institutes in India like Indian Institute of Science Bangalore, IITs and NITs, Jadavpur University, IT-BHU as well as pharmacy institutes[1]. From 2010, Pharmacology is no longer on the GATE list, with GPAT as the replacement [2]. The GATE examination is coordinated by a committee, comprising of IISc and seven Indian Institutes of Technology on behalf of the National Coordinating Board - GATE, Department of Education, Government of India. The pattern and syllabus are usually based on a candidate's background.
Minimum eligibility for appearing in this exam is usually good progress (typically students in their final semster) towards a Bachelor's degree in Engineering (4 year University Degree, similar to the US system) or a Master's degree in Science (3 (Bachelor's) + 2 (Masters, eg. M.Sc.), similar to the British system). The exam is usually conducted on the second Sunday of February.
About GATE: Graduate Aptitude Test in Engineering (GATE), is an all India examination administered and conducted jointly by the Indian Institute of Science and seven Indian Institutes of Technology on behalf of the National Coordination Board - GATE, Department of Higher Education, Ministry of Human Resources Development (MHRD), Government of India.
Admission to postgraduate programmes with MHRD and some other government scholarships/ assistantships in engineering colleges/institutes is open to those who qualify through GATE. GATE qualified candidates with Bachelor's degree in Engineering/ Technology or Master's degree in any branch of Science/ Mathematics/ Statistics/ Computer Applications are eligible for admission to Master/Doctoral programmes in Engineering/ Technology/ Architecture as well as for Doctoral programmes in relevant branches of Science with MHRD or other government scholarships/assistantships. To avail the scholarship, the candidate must secure admission to such a postgraduate programme, as per the prevailing procedure of the admitting institution. However, candidates with Master's degree in Engineering/ Technology/ Architecture may seek admission to relevant PhD programmes with scholarship/assistantship without appearing in the GATE examination. The overall coordination and responsibility of conducting GATE 2010 lies with Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati.
Applying to various institutes
GATE scores are only for application to graduate programs in Engineering disciplines in India. Usually IISc application dates are within 4–5 days of announcement of results. Most institutes do not specify their cut-offs for previous years. So there is a general confusion in terms of selecting institutes and specializations. But in the recent years IIT Kharagpur and Guwahati have been specifying last year cut-off mark list.
Typically the Indian Institute of Science is the most selective, very closely followed by the IITs. In general IISc and the IITs only admit students scoring among the top 3 percentile on the GATE, to their post graduate programs.