Priyanka Agrawal
Graduation: Computer Science
Institution: NIT, Surat
GATE score: 1000/1000
Rank: 4
PG option: ME Computer Science, IISc at Bangalore
Research interest: High performance computing
IN her school days Priyanka was always fascinated by computers. Securing BTech (Computer Science) at Sardar Vallabhbhai National Institute of Technology (NIT) served as an ideal opportunity for Priyanka to explore the subject further.
“Since the beginning of my BTech I was interested in research and decided to prepare for GATE in my third year,” she says. She advises those aspiring for research to pursue it only if they are passionate about it. “Preparation for GATE is not a matter of a month or a day,” she feels. Instead, consistency and a focused approach towards academics over the four years is what works, coupled with intensive hours of preparation just before the exam.
Priyanka started preparing in December 2009 and intensified her pace beginning January, According to her, to begin with, you must make sure your basics are clear. Go back to your books and question papers to get an idea about the kind of questions asked. However, questions can be framed in different ways, hence clear concepts are necessary, she said.
Priyanka, who has already interned at Indian Institute of Science (IISc), wants to pursue research in high performance computing there. An active participant in coding competitions, she was among the 22 finalists for the ‘2010 Google India Women in Engineering Award’ and was invited to the Conclave at Google, Hyderabad. In the future, she wants to create innovations using computers to benefit the society.
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Prep mantras (Computer Science)
- Operating system has considerable weightage, with deadlock and scheduling being more important.
Prep mantras (Computer Science)
- In compilers, parsers are more important. Try memorising their different categories.
- In DBMS, apart from normal query-based problems, normalisation and transaction control are central.
- Practise the numerical in networks.
BOOKS
Introduction to Algorithms - Corman, Lieserson and Rives
Computer Networks- Tanenbaum
Operating Systems - William Stallings
Data Communication and Networking - Behrouz A Forouzan