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Hi,
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Happy to inform you that Ms. Nazreen P M of CEC 2010 EC Batch (nazreen.pm@gmail.com) has brought another feather in the crown of CEC, by getting into IISc, Bangalore in Ph.D Course in Signal Processing, through GATE 2011. This is a wonderful achievement, of course, of which all the CECians can ever be proud of! She’s joined IISc Bangalore last day. Congrats! 
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N.B: You can read another interview with GATE 2010 topper at CEC – Reuben Stephen-CEC-2009-EC: Here
Another interview with GATE 2011 topper at CEC – Arun M-CEC-2010-EC: Here
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I had conducted an interview with the geek, which follows:
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Name in Full: NAZREEN P M
CEC Passed out Year: 2010
Branch: Electronics and Communication Engineering
GATE 2011 Paper and Reg. No: EC 7078353
GATE 2011 All India Rank: 1459
GATE 2011 Marks (out of 100): 53.33 (98.94 percentile)
GATE 2011 Score (out of 1000): 636
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- Have you taken GATE earlier and how was your performance in it?
No.
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- Can you recollect when you started preparation for GATE 2011?
A well planned preparation started only after June 2010.
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- When you started your preparation, what was your aim in GATE?
Definitely my aim was to get a decent score. But as far as my score is concerned I don’t think it is enough to get into an IIT without any hurdles. Definitely POST GATE PREPERATION had to do an important role. I guess a thorough knowledge of all subjects is a must for this so that one can pass those interview questions which will be based on fundamentals.
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- Which were the subjects you felt were tough (for EC)?
Electromagnetic theory
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- Which were the subjects you felt were easy (for EC)?
Signals and systems, digital electronics and communication systems
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- Which books and material did you refer to in your preparation?
1. Signals and Systems:
“Signals and Systems”; Alan V. Oppenheim, Alan S. Willsky with S. Hamid Nawab (PHI).
2. Electronic Devices and Circuits:
i. “Solid State Electronic Devices”; Ben G. Streetman, Sanjay Banerjee (Pearson
Education)
ii. “Integrated Electronics”; Jacob Millman, Christos Halkias, Chetan D Parikh (Tata McGraw Hill)
3. Analog Circuits:
“Electronic Devices and Circuit Theory”; Robert L. Boylestad, Louis Nashelsky (Pearson Education)
4. Communication Systems:
“Communication Systems”; Simon Haykin (Wiley)
5. Electromagnetic Theory:
i. “Elements of Electromagnetics”; Matthew N O Sadiku (Oxford)
ii. “Engineering electromagnetics”; William Hart Hayt, John A. Buck (McGraw-Hill )
6. Digital Circuits and Microprocessors:
i. “Digital Design”; M. Morris Mano, Michael D. Ciletti (Pearson)
ii. “Modern Digital Electronics”; R P Jain
iii “Microprocessor Architecture, Programming and Applications with the 8085”; Ramesh Gaonkar.
7. Control Systems:
“Control Systems Engineering”; Norman S Nise (Wiley).
8. Network Theory:
i. Network Analysis VanValkenburg
ii. Engg Circuit Analysis Hayt & Kemmerly9. Engineering Mathematics:
i. Higher Engineering Mathematics, Dr. B. S. Grewal
ii .Advanced Engineering Mathematics ,Erwin KreyszigAnd of course the class notes where of immense help.
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- How did your institution (ACE Coaching Centre) help in your preparation?
The lectures where definitely helpful to get an idea about the fundamentals.
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- Do you find that CEC’s lectures helped you in securing GATE? Up to what extend?
Yes of course, the lectures given by Reju John sir, Deepa J ma’am, C.V. Anilkumar sir and Manoj sir were really helpful. I would also like to thank Nisha kuruvila ma’am for her guidance.
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- In your opinion what are the major reasons for your success in GATE?
As my mother always says, “just do the maximum you can and never think about the result”. From my experience what I learned is that no matter whatever failures you face, whatever hurdles you have to cross but if you have that passion in you then nothing can stop you. I would never say that iisc was my dream, because I never thought that I could reach for it. But I did what I have to do and always hoped to give my best. And I strongly believe that whatever you get is not only because of your luck but because God thinks you worth it. Without God’s grace you can reach nowhere.
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- What was your methodology while preparing for GATE?
There were no hard core rules. Just tried to understand what I read and learn it. Worked out as many problems as I could. But I would suggest gaining some speed in your calculations and to practice doing problems without the help of calculators because I think that was the major flaw in my preparation.
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- When did you complete the syllabus? And were you able to revise? (how many times)
I did cover the major topics. But strictly speaking I did not complete the entire syllabus.
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- How did you prepare in the last 2 months before GATE?
As I already told there was no hard core rule. But yes I always made short notes so that I could brush up those important formulae.
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- What suggestion and preparation tips would you like to give to GATE aspirants?
Try to “learn” a subject. Always stick to the fundamentals. Try to refer standard text books and do maximum number of problems under each topic you learn. It would be better if you start your preparations in the second year itself. And I would advice never to go for shortcuts because they may help you to crack many problems and even secure a decent rank but ultimately it will not take you anywhere.
The reason why I am saying this is that except for IISc and IIT madras all the remaining IITs conduct interviews for Mtech admission which has got 30% weightage. So if you are not thorough with your fundamentals you will have to face problems. Also selection for research programs in IISc and IITs are based on interviews. Above all just love what you do and success will be yours.
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- Which institute and specialization/course/degree are you admitted to?
PhD Engineering (system science and signal processing) at Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore.
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