Toppers Corner - Shivam Singh
Your Name – Shivam Singh
Your GATE Rank (with Year) – 14 (2018)
Your ESE Rank (with Year) – 40 (2018)
Your Branch – CE
Name of College – Aligarh Muslim University
Hometown – Aligarh
Q.) What things motivated you to prepare for ESE and GATE?
There were many things that motivated me to prepare for the aforementioned exams. First was the respect that you get in society when you have financial stability. There is nothing to break in it, everyone knows about it.
Second was that these exams can really provide your career a good platform to start. You may work hard, learn things and then switch to some private firm or open something of your own. At this stage you may think that cracking the ESE or Gate will be your destiny but with time you realize that these exams provide a really good platforms to groom yourself (if you really want to) and hence can use the destiny as the steps to go further.
During the preparation phase due to the created environment, everyone thinks that this side of the road is really mellow which is not the real scenario. For me too, It was one of the motivational factor.
Q.) How did you start your preparation? Give a brief idea about it.
In the seventh semester of the Btech, I studied my college notes to appear for Gate 2017. The preparation was not good as I wasn’t able to devote my time from my teaching schedule which I used to do as part-time job along with my grad. I got All India Rank 477 out of 1.5 Lac candidates. That failure taught me the things which made me successful next year. Without 477, 14 was unachievable.
I learnt that there is no alternative of revision again and again. Without attending test series, getting rank is as impossible as to please your relatives in India. Without working smartly, you can’t enter in the league.
Q.) What were the major challenges or hurdles in your preparation and how did you overtook these challenges?
The first challenge was to manage the time and utilize it fully. For college going students it becomes tough to concentrate along with the college classes. So they shouldn’t attend too much of college class unless the professor is really good (which is less likely to occur in almost all the Indian colleges) or they are getting short of minimum attendance for the appearance in semester exams.
For those who are going to coaching for preparation like I did, it becomes really tough to revise or even to study when your classes run straight for 10-12 hours. So first everyone should get ready to prioritize that for which subjects they need to attend classes, for which they don’t need to. I used to skip the morning classes because I’m a nocturnal. I used to study till 4-5 am and then sleep till 10-11 am. So you need to use time as wisely as possible.
The major challenge that majority of the dropper aspirants face is financing their coaching fee and living accommodation. I talk with a lot of aspirants and they remain in depression due to this factor a lot. If you are a college going students, you should start preparing early and try to crack the exams in the final year itself. If not, at least you will crack it next year if you are serious one. You may also make your financial stable by doing some part-time job like I did so that you can survive on your own for 1-2 years without having the fear of getting your parents failed. Trust on the fact that being independent and doing things on your own will give you the confidence and you stop to think what if you screw the exams.
Q.) There are two main exam as we all know, GATE & ESE. All the students are confused whether to target GATE or ESE alone or both simultaneously. So what will be your advice to a student regarding this?
This is a very subject thing to ask. It completely depends on the aspirants and his future goals. One thing, if you are targeting for just masters and not the job then its better for you to do masters from some good foreign university.
The aspirants may target both exams simultaneously like most of the toppers do. The extra study for Ese is the general studies and Engg. Aptitude exam. If you are just a new comer in the race or not sharp minded, fast in calculation and don’t know much of your Engg, its better to concentrate on gate for the first year. Plus there are more opportunities in Gate than ESE.
Q.) What was your daily schedule during preparation?
From July 2017 to December 2017, I used to devote my time in both- coaching and self-study. It was tough to manage. I used to revise daily and study daily the topics they were teaching in the classes. I was very regular in online and offline test series for ESE prelims.
From Jan 2017 to Feb till Gate exam, I completely devoted my time to Gate test series of 2 coachings and revision.
From Gate exam to ESE mains, I did not attend coaching and prepare by my own. I studied all the extra topics that were not in prelims but in mains only. I solved many many questions and proofs. I revised religiously. I also used to solve daily a one 3-hour test for mains. It boosted my confidence and helped me to understand my mistakes. It taught me that practising do reduce the performance pressure. This fact might be useful somewhere in the future life too.
Q.) How important is the revision in preparation and how did you plan it?
Revision is the most important factor in preparation because human minds are designed to forget things. If you want to remember something for long, you need to revise it again and again. I used to revise daily. There is one thing you need to keep in your mind while revising, if a subject is taking 15 hours in first revision, in second time it will take around max 6-7 hours or so. Hence you need to revise subjects again and again.
Also don’t revise all the subjects equally. There are few subjects which have more weightage or those subjects which are difficult for you, revise more those subjects.
Q.) Test series is also a important part of preparation. When did you start attempting test series for ESE prelims, GATE and ESE Mains?
Without the test series, you can’t achieve what you are looking for. It teaches you that how you will perform in real time. It tells you that where you stand in the competition. It reveals to you that whether you are right on track or not in your preparation phase. It makes you learn that what types of mistakes are you making and how will you avoid such mistakes.
For ESE prelims, I attended the offline coaching test series which used to schedule every Sunday.
For Gate, I attended online test series of 2 coaching. I gave total 28 full tests (16+12) after the ESE prelims and before the Gate exam. I used to give daily one test and analyse it completely.
For ESE mains, I attended test series from home. Its almost like a offline test series, you need to download the paper, print it and then write it for three hours and upload it in pdf format. The paper will get checked in 3-4 days and you will get the marks. Just DON’T CHEAT YOURSELF!!
Q.) What are some of the common mistakes every students make during preparation and how should one tackle these mistakes?
The common mistakes are:
1) Reading the same thing from different sources: Don’t do that, don’t try to do phd in the preparation phase. If its tough, its tough for everyone. Just deal with it like that. There are standard materials for the exams and stick to it.
2) Not revising properly: If you are doing it then don’t even prepare for the exam. You are out of the race even before it starts.
3) Not attending test series: If you are doing this, you will have knowledge but you will fail in the execution part.
4) Distracting due to different items: Just don’t be this dumb.
Q.) What was your plan for ESE General studies?
I prepare from the notes and the standard books. This part of the preparation is that part which you can’t be sure. So just give your best and hope that you get lucky in those 2 hours of the exam.
Q.) What is the difference in PSU or ESE interview? What things should one keep in mind during interview as we become little nervous during interview?
In PSU, the interview is less technical and more on overall things. The interview in ESE is purely technical. The interview is one of the tricky things and no one can be sure about the results.
Q.) Any other advice to future candidates?
See, the time is tough and getting tougher day by day. One thing that work on your mistakes and don’t think if you aren’t able to do it in one time, most of the toppers are repeaters. Most of the aspirants fight with the depression in this stage, please trust me that after this get over you will remember the time for evolving your personality and making you a different person, a better person.
There is only one strategy- Study,Revise,Test and Repeat. Just follow this calmly and you will get successful. Best of luck.!
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