What are some good preparation and test taking strategies for cracking the GATE exam in India?

First thing, Are you serious about it(GATE)? Do you really want to make it? Is that the only thing in your life you look forward to? or are you at least capable of convincing yourself so?
ONLY If your answer so far is yes,continue reading GATE 2016.

1) PLAN:  Stop thinking, Stop Internet searching, stop seeking advice.
Lock yourself in a room . Take a pen,paper, calendar,and a copy of your  GATE Syllabus.
Count how many weeks you have before exam. Not months, not days, Count WEEKS. Subtract 4 from that.
Now count number of  Subjects , excluding gen. aptitude.
Now count Number of weeks per subject.
(There will always be more important,less important,stronger and weaker subject, but it’s better not to consider all that initially. you’ll have much better insights later once you are thoroughly into studies. So for the time being, divide time equally). 
Now divide each subject into chapters/sections, count number of  Chapters and see for yourself if  the number of weeks allotted to that subject are going to suffice. Plan accordingly and allot chapters to each week.
You can switch subjects every week, to keep mind fresh or sometimes continue same subject for 2 weeks for a lengthy topic. And aptitude can be solved on a daily basis so as not to make your everyday study monotonous.

The moment you’ve done this, a realization will start creeping that NOW is the time, your countdown has already begun. If that gives you goosebumps, you stand a good chance making it.

2) Open Internet Search for ‘previous year’s GATE  “Stream Name”question papers’.Search for the site  that has at least last 10-15 years’ papers. Don’t waste your time reading reviews and searching for the best book. There isn’t any.

For Your Reference  : Click To Download Previous 10-15 Year Papers 

3) From day 1, start solving papers. They’re going to look scary. Accept it. Don’t actually sit and work out every question initially, just mark every question with the name of the chapter it belongs to. Believe me it’s a fun game. Keep doing it light heartedly to break your heavy study sessions and see how enormously it helps you in later days.

4) Refer books which are absolute bibles on that subject. This is a secret,trust me on this. It’s a game of building your concepts,and there are no shortcuts. Itwill  take time, but just once. Try this for yourself. Read a chapter from an ordinary textbook, and then read it from a book where it’s really thoroughly and nicely explained. The kind of inner peace and confidence it’ll give you is uncomparable. For a book which scares you for its size, remember that you can always omit chapters/subtopics which are not in the syllabus. And next time onwards, while seeking advice, re-frame your question from ‘how to prepare?’ to ‘which are the really good books to refer to?’

5)Initially, don’t try to remember anything. Just pick a topic and read everything about it. And MAKE NOTES, about 1/3 rd in size of what you read. Again, this is a secret. Your notes are going to work like some secret gear in final stages of preparation that will take you ahead of others and help you win the race.

6) Apart from your absolute essential daily activities like eating,sleeping etc, Abandon absolutely everything that consumes your time for more than 10 minutes. In extreme scenarios/ do or die situations, make it 13.

7)To satisfy your cravings for internet and other entertainments, join good forums,good meaning those where you’re likely to seek help for your difficulties and are likely to get a feedback. Also,allow yourself some time to go through some inspiring and motivational articles/videos/songs etc. You have to keep yourself motivated and devise your own ways of doing it. Be absolutely stupid here and make it filmy. Yes that’s what it is, Make it filmy. Read great motivational quotes. Listen to inspirational songs. Watch silly videos demonstrating How to study effectively. Read about the same. It’s just about building up the right kind of environment for your mind to realize that what you want it to work on is very very important and great so that it stays focused. So sort of keep cheating it with this and that. (Again not more than 10 min. at a time).

Once again, all this applies only if you are tooo serious. To the extent of a climax scene bollywood hero chasing heroin’s murderer in the second birth. Otherwise there are too many interesting tasks awaiting you. Enjoy yourself!

From : Arvind Devaraj, IISc , Gate Rank 7