The online applications for the Graduate Aptitude Test in Engineering (GATE) 2021 will begin from September 14 and the application process will be closed on September 30. This year IIT-Bombay is conducting the exam and interested students will have to apply at gate.iitb.ac.in.
The number of applications in GATE 2020 had hit a five year low in 2019. Later, IITs had announced a hike in fee for MTech courses to discourage the non-serious candidates. The decision was later roll backed. IITs had citied a huge drop-out ratio from MTech as students go for government jobs. All these aspects might affect the GATE 2021 as well.
This year, there has been a change in the exam format as well as revision in the syllabus. The entire exam will be held computer-based format. The exam will be held for 27 subjects. The two new introductions being environmental science and engineering and humanities and social science. In humanities and social science students can opt for economics, English, linguistics, philosophy, psychology, and sociology exams.
Also read: 10 Ways to handle GATE exam
While there is no upper age limit for GATE, the eligibility criteria has also been relaxed. As opposed to fourth-year graduation students, from this year on those studying in the third year of an undergraduate degree or having completed a three-year degree can also apply. This could be introduced because most humanities courses are of three-year while engineering degree duration is four-year.
