IITs and GATE cutoff story 2010

I have seen the GATE exam, and the application process to various colleges and the various cutoffs very closely. So, I will try to demystify the complexities of the Post GATE activities here. Read on…

I believe if you are reading this post keenly, it means that you are planning to crack GATE 2011 or whatever. And you will surely want to get into some IIT or IISc , because that is what we all dream of.  I will present some observations that will make you clear in terms of what exactly you need to do so as to achieve your goal. Please note that I might be wrong in terms of some stats presented here, but most of the things are true to my knowledge..

GATE 2010 MARKS

Gate evaluation can be done in 3 ways -

• Actual marks obtained out of 100.
• Gate Score out of 1000.
• All India Rank.

2010 Stats (Not 100% sure)

AIR1       -  85/100     – 1000/1000

AIR87    -  62/100     – 892/1000       (My Friend)

AIR274 -  55/100     -  793/1000      (Me! )

Conclusion – If you get about 52.5/100 I think you will be in the top 350, and if you get 50/100 you will be in top 500.

Applying to different Colleges

The process of application to various colleges starts after the GATE results usually March 2nd week. The order of preference differs from person to person. Usually Ive observed, that the IISc Banglore seats fill up first, followed by IITB, IITM / IITK / IITD, IITKgp, IITR.

The rankings of Engineering colleges in India can be found here. (Google it again for your assurance). IIT Kanpur seems to lead the pack for 2010.

Collegewise Application details and Cutoffs (For Computer Science and Engineering Discipline)

1. IISC Bangalore

The Application process starts at the earliest and though I do not have any concrete information, I believe that the direct admission + interview process is over by April and the seats are taken up by top 100 AIRs.

2. IIT Mumbai

IIT B does only gives direct admission to students. The direct admission cuttoff for first round was approx AIR 65.  My friend Ashutosh Shukla, who had AIR 87, got direct admission through second round.

3. IIT Chennai

IIT Chennai also offers direct admission only. Upto AIR 110 got direct admit in first round. For second round I guess it went up to AIR 160. Then they have a provision of spot admission to fill up vacant seats. In 2009, the AIR 194 had got a seat on spot.

4. IIT Kanpur

I have got admission at IIT Kanpur, so I can say I know the process inside out . Total seats available are 50. The Direct Admission was offered to students who had GATE score of 866/1000, with AIR of I guess 100-110.

20 students took direct admission leaving 30 seats to be filled up through interviews and written tests. For interview, the cutoff score was 750 / 1000, which meant that people who had secured an AIR about 350-370 got called for written test.

On the D-day, there were around 120 people competing for 30 seats. The written test was more focused on subjects like probability, permutation and combination, Algorithms, complexity, general ability, TOC. 60 students were shortlisted for interviews.

After interviews (which for me was pretty easy with very basic questions asked), the result was declared after 5 days and finally 30 students were offered admission.

5. IIT Kharagpur

IIT Kharagpur gives a weightage of 70% on GATE score and 30% on interviews. No direct admissions offered. People upto AIR 500 – 600 get called for interviews. I did attend its interview, and  the questions asked were very basic maths, and even physics including newtons laws of motion. No core CS faculty was on the panel, so I was being asked more electronics based questions too (which i had no idea).

6.  IIT Delhi

IIT Delhi gave direct admission to students with gate score of 825/1000 and above, which meant AIR of about 150. For interviews students with gate score of above 750 were called. I have no further details as I did not appear for the further selection process.

Please note that IIT Delhi also has JCA and VDTT programs for which CS students can apply besides MTech and MS  Research programs.

7. IIT Roorkee

Again, it does not give direct admission and the interview / written test process is held last. No further info from my side.

Applications to NITs and other colleges usually start after the selection process at IITs is over. I again have no info on these things.

Moral of the Story

If you want direct admission in some IITs, you must aim for atleast 60 / 100 and AIR < 110. If you manage to get around 52-54, you will be called for interviews from IITK, IITD, IITKgp, IITR.

Interview Hassles

Believe me you will want to save yourselves from the hassles of interviews/written tests because they inbvariably tend to collide and then you may have to choose between your favorite IITs. Also, you may need to embark on journeying whole of India, in the unforgiving May Heat at a time when railway tickets and reservations are hard to get! Believe me, to attend IITK interview, due to unavailability of railway and plane tickets (IRCTC Tatkal scheme ditched me as usual) I first took a bus from Pune to Nagpur. Then me and my dad traveled from Maharashtra, through whole of MP and to UP to reach Kanpur in next 2 days!!  Then we had to go back to Nagpur as my Kharagpur interview was scheduled 2 days later there! And what more, IITD interview at Delhi after 3 days! Anyways, the travel was worth its pain after the IITK results were out!

I hope you find the post useful, and please feel free to ask any questions in comments.