GATE BIOTECHNOLOGY

 Are you a biotechnology aspirant wanting to pursue your master's or doctoral degree in one of the IITs? Do you want to get into public sector jobs (PSU)? Then GATE is the perfect exam to get a head start in your career after your bachelor's degree

WHAT IS GATE BT? 

GATE Biotechnology is an All India level entrance examination conducted each year by IITs and IISc. The GATE Bt score can be used to get admitted to an M.Tech degree or a Ph.D. in IITs, NITs, or IISc.

Eligibility:

• 3rd / 4th year students of B.tech Biotechnology or any other life science degree
• 1st / 2nd year students of M.tech Biotechnology or any other life science degree
• 3rd year M.Sc of any life science studies.

Age Limit: No particular age limit

Attempt: No limit

Validity of scorecard: 3 years

Fee:

1. Male (General, OBC,others) - ₹1500
2. SC/ST.Pwd - ₹750
3. Women (all category) - ₹750
4. International students - ₹1500   

Exam Pattern:

The exam consists of Multiple Choice Questions (MCQ), Multiple Select Questions(MSQ), Numerical Answer Type(NAT) questions. The exam duration is 3 hours and consists 65 questions. The GATE examination has negative marking for wrong answers i.e, 1/3 for 1mark and 2/3 for 2marks. The MSQ and NAT type questions don't have negative markings. The exam has 3 sections- Quantitative aptitude-15marks, Engineering Mathematics-15 marks, Biotechnology- 70 marks. (General biotechnology, Recombinant DNA technology, Plant and Animal Biotechnology and Bioprocess engineering)

Tentative dates:

GATE notification: August

Application filling: September

Exam date: first or second week of February.

WHEN TO START?

The most important question that arises in a student is when do I start my preparation?. And technically there is no ideal time to start your preparation. Just start it as soon as you decide to take up M.tech and do not want to deviate into MBA. The real answer to "when to start ?" is "where to start?"  and 'how to choose a proper strategy?"

WHERE  TO START?

The real trick to elevate your GATE preparation is to have a great strategy. With a good plan and execution, one could easily clear GATE in one month's preparation. 

1. Start with a medium to easy subject and move on to a difficult subject. Starting with a difficult topic makes you lose motivation easily.

2. Before starting with each subject go through the previous year's questions of that topic, so you'll get an idea of what facts to know, what to understand and what to memorize. Refer Pathfinder Academy's previous year solved papers for subjectwise PYQs. link is given below.

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3. If you're doing last-minute preparation I prefer, not to start with the subject-wise reference books. Though the books are good for gaining knowledge, they have vast information of 1000-1200 pages, which is definitely impossible to study. And most importantly these information are not going to be entirely reflected in your question paper.

So choose wisely and go with GATE-specific reference books. They have the topics to be covered with the simplicity of information. I would prefer Pathfinder academy Gate biotechnology 5 book combo.

4. After completing a subject, practice PYQs of both GATE, DBT-JRF, and other exams if time permits. 

HOW TO START?

1. Planning is the key

• First, study the syllabus and weightage.
• Make a list of easy-medium-difficult subjects.
• Sort out the important subjects based on weightage and difficulty level.
• Make a well-set plan for the days you start prior to the exam.
• Collect your materials.

2. Execution

• Stick to the plan.
• Sort out your materials.
• Difficult topics? the obvious solution is youtube. I would prefer Shomu's biology channel, which is more than enough to score a least 50 marks in GATE.
• Analyze each answer choice of the PYQs. Refer to youtube videos for solving PYQs.

3. Exam execution tips 

• Do read the questions and options several times. Sometimes the easiest question is the most confusing.
• Attend all the Multiple Select Questions, as it has no negative marking and yields 2 marks.
• Attend all the numerical, it has no negative marking and yields 2 marks.
• Bonus tip: If you can't solve a numerical, just go through the units given for the answer and try to compare it with the units of the given parameters, and arrange it likewise. ( don't work all the time!)
• Don't try to hurry, you'll have sufficient time.

Do visit the blog for study plans and other Biotechnology related stuff!