GATE 2015 Topper: AIR 1 Electronics and Communication Engineering – Jaya Jha

A student of NIT (National Institute of Technology), Raipur, Jaya Jha topped GATE 2015 by securing an All India Rank(AIR) 1 in Electronics & Communication (ECE) branch. Scoring more than 85% in the exam, Jaya outperformed as many as two and half million students who appeared for this paper in the exam.

A cricket buff and a  huge fan of MS Dhoni, Jaya loves listening to music as well. According to her, one's focus on concepts is very important to crack the exam. And for this, one should go through the standard books.

In an interview with shiksha.com, Jaya Jha, GATE 2015 topper – ECE shares her success strategy and plans for the future.

Take a look at GATE 2015 Topper Profiles here!

Q. How do you feel being the GATE 2015 AIR 1 topper for ECE?

A. It feels great. I can’t express it in words.

Q. Were you expecting to bag AIR 1?

A. Not exactly, I was although expecting myself in Top-5.

Q. Tell us about your educational background.

A. I am presently pursuing my B.Tech. in ECE from NIT Raipur.

Q. Is this your first attempt?

A. Yes. This is my first attempt.

Q. What is your score?

A. I got 85.02 marks and my GATE score is 1000.

Q. Did you take coaching classes?

A. Yes. I had joined Logic Gate Studies, Raipur for the classroom course. I also enrolled for the online test series of Ace Academy and Made Easy.

Q. Is it necessary to take coaching classes or is self-study enough?

A. Self-study is obviously the most crucial part of the whole preparation. However, one may require some guidance to get initiated for which coaching classes may be helpful. Mr. Kishore Kashyap of Logic Gate Studies helped me a lot and directed me on the right path. Test series are also very important as they tell you where do you actually stand and hence help you to improve.

Q. How long have you been preparing for the exam?

A. I started the preparation after my second year. But, I had to manage both my college studies and Gate preparation simultaneously.

Q. What was your study plan like?

A. I started it very early as I said before(after my second year). So, I went slowly but steadily. As a topic was taught to me, I used to read it from the standard books focussing on getting my concepts very clear. My complete syllabus was covered by November 2014 and the only thing left thereafter was practising more and more questions and revising the concepts. Practice is the key to score well in the GATE Examination.

Q. What is the difference between your UG exams and GATE 2015?

A. GATE is a competitive examination. So it differs from the UG exams. Here, you need to focus more on the basic concepts and problem solving.

Q. What do you plan to do next?

A. I will be pursuing post graduation in Microelectronics branch of study.

Q. When did you decide to take GATE? And why GATE?

A. I had it at the back of my mind from the very beginning of my B.Tech. course. But, I decided to take it as a serious career option just after the second year. I am very much interested in the field of electronics and therefore want to gain as much knowledge in this branch of study as possible. Therefore, I decided to go for higher studies and hence chose GATE.

Q. Any tips for students taking the exam next year?

A. I will suggest the future GATE aspirants to focus mainly on getting the concepts. For this, one must go through the standard books. Then, one must practise a lot of objective questions including the previous year GATE questions. Appearing in online tests also helps a lot.

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