Hello aspirant,

To be eligible and get an interview call from IIA you need to either have a good percentile in GATE. Above 96 percent is what thet expect. You could also appear for IIAST exam. Either of the two will make you eligible.

Also, as I checked there are only two programs available at IIA that is integrated Mtech-PhD program and Phd Program. Students who have completed their Msc, ME/Mtech (for PhD) are welcome to apply for the above courses, provided that you have cleared GATE/JEST/IIAST/CSIR-NET.

Now coming to your GATE preperation, If you are thorough with the course subjects during your 4-year course, you need not have have to put in that much effort while preparing for GATE exam. Do not mug up things, understand the concepts, practice numerical type questions as much as you can during the college years.

With an absolute zero knowledge if you start preparing for GATE firstly, it takes a lot of effort, secondly you will have to join coaching which will cost you money. Just learn and not mug up during the college years. When preparing for GATE analyze your strong subjects as well as the weak ones. Start with the weak ones, and then proceed to your strong subjects.

Also, as now pre-final and final year students can sit for the GATE exam, start giving test series or mock test during those years. Test series help you understand the pattern and the difficulty level for the exam. Tips and tricks for GATE questions are available on the internet. Use Youtube if possible.

I would also suggest NPTEL if you want to clear you basics. The videos are not that long now, you can easily  sit for an hour if not more. You will have to devote if not much then at least 2 hours apart from your college curriculum, to revise the concepts daily and practicing the numerical type questions.

Do not forget General aptitude, if you are weak in aptitude start with a basic book like RS Agarwal. There will not be difficult questions for aptitude section. So for beginners this book is enough. After you get hold of the concepts you can buy Quantum CAT by Sarvesh K. You need not solve CAT level questions.

I hope this helps!

Thank you.