GATE Topper Interview – Ashish Kumar (AIR 96 CS, 2017)

Ashish Kumar, from Moradabad, secured AIR 96(CS) in GATE 2017 . He has scored 855 marks out of 1000 marks in GATE exam. Ashish shared his feelings of being a GATE 2017 Topper with Aglasem and gave many valuable tips to GATE aspirants. Read the complete interview to know more about him and his success at GATE.

 About Ashish Kumar

Ashish belongs to a middle class family from Moradabad, Uttar Pradesh. His father is a policeman and his mother is a housewife.

The motive behind appearing in GATE 2017 as stated by Ashish:

In 10+2 I couldn’t make it to the IIT. So, I didn’t want to let go this opportunity. Therefore I targeted decent rank this time so that I can get admission in top IITs.

Surely, GATE 2017 Topper Ashish Kumar is an inspiration for many aspirants. He also shared his feelings of sweet shock the moment he realized that he has done it. He recalls:

I was feeling very happy after cracking the exam in the final year of graduation itself. I always targeted a 2 digit rank and finally got it.

Ashish gave credit of his success to his entire family. He said that his mother always believed in him and kept him motivated during the journey. His father always let him do whatever he was interested in. He stated that a special credit goes to his brother and sister who always had their own way of making him believe in himself and that he can achieve anything.

GATE Exam Experience

Questions asked to Ashish Kumar regarding GATE exam experience were:

1. There are a lot of students who are apprehensive about the online (computer based test) pattern. In your opinion, is the format something to be worried about?

I don’t think so. You will get comfortable to the online test by attempting various test series provided by coachings. Even 30-40 tests will help you make feel better about online test.

2. According to you, how was the exam? Was it tough or was it easy?

I think it was well balanced.

3. On the exam day, what was your experience like? Please elaborate upon this as it will be extremely helpful for the students.

Get some food in your stomach before exam. I reached the center 1 hour before the exam and just relaxed there.It is obvious that you feel about negative things before the exam. As soon as I started the exam I forget every negative thing and started focusing on question only. Just give your best every time.

 GATE Preparation and Strategy

Describing his preparation and strategy, Ashish stated:

I started preparing from early Feb 2016 almost a year before the GATE exam. I never had a fixed time and duration to study in a day but I always targeted to complete some topics in a day at any time I felt comfortable.

Apart from the strategies, the balance between studies and other things needs to be well maintained. This is what Ashish had to say:

I had last 2 months before the exam completely free as college semester exams were over in starting of December. So I prepared hard in this time (atleast 10 hours a day). During semester exams I used to revise my handwritten notes.

When Ashish was asked about the most difficult topic, this is what he said:

Concurrency Control in DBMS was little bit tricky. I got perfection in it by solving many previous years GATE problems on this topic. There were 2 or 3 topics I left out which did cost me a few marks.

Ashish, when asked about the importance of coaching classes in GATE preparation, said :

I joined offline coaching to be just regular in preparation. It is not necessary to take coaching classes. GATE tests your basic concept of the subject. It doesn’t require deep digging into a topic. So just keeping fundamentals strong is enough and covering the wide syllabus of GATE is very necessary to be in top 100.

Books recommended

Standard books are available on each subject(like Cormen for algorithms, Galvin for OS). Just google it and you will find them.

Last Minute GATE Preparation

When asked about the last minute preparation tips that Ashish wanted to give to aspirants of Gate 2018, Ashish said:

Do not read new topics, just revise the ones you have done maybe using hand written notes. Whatever you write you remember that for a long time. Don’t panic and find things that motivates you and that’s all!

Success Mantra

If you want it then go get it whatever it takes from your side. Do your best and forget what others say.