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| Edited By: Abhijit Chaudhari |Source: DNA |Updated: Jan 12, 2014, 05:06 AM IST
Changes in GATE 2014
The test will be conducted online for all the streams. Last year six streams (electrical and computer engineering (ECE), computer science (CS) and IT, mechanical engineering (ME), electrical engineering (EE), instrumentation engineering and production and industrial engineering) were paper based while the remaining streams were online.
The test will be conducted in multiple sessions (12) spread over one month, starting from February 2 to March 2. It will be held on alternate Saturdays and Sundays, with two sessions per day.
Papers with more number of applicants (most likely ECE, CS, ME and EE) will have multiple sessions. This means that there will be separate papers having a similar level of difficulty in these streams.
The test will have numerical answer questions apart from multiple choice questions.
The application fee has been increased to Rs 1,500 for general and OBC category students while it is Rs 700 for female and SC/ST students. Last year, the application fee was waived off for female applicants.
GATE test online is a good move in many ways
Firstly, at such a huge scale, an online exam is relatively easier to administer. Compared to a paper and pencil test, the chances of human errors are also reduced.
In an offline test, there are chances of paper pilferage or leaking of the question papers. This is almost eliminated in an online test.
An online test also leads to faster and relatively error free results processing.
—The author is the director, Gateforum
