GATE - 2012 IIT kanpur Experiences

Hi Friends,
I got AIR - 150 in GATE-2012(CS/IT). I applied for IIT Kanpur M.Tech program and got a call for Interview.The interview dates are 7th and 8th May,2012(I dont remember exactly but I hope these are correct :P).


I started my journey from Guntur,Andhra Pradesh on 4th MAY as it takes around 30 hours of journey in train.This is the first time I got a chance to visit North India till now.I started to Kanpur alone not knowing anything in the city but thanks to Google maps.I was able to plan how to reach IITK campus. The 30 hours train journey was so exciting because I had had a chance to see how diversified our India is.I kept on staring from the window.Awesome scenarios : so many lakes,green fields,barren lands,some rivers,villages and many more.I cant explain how beautiful they are.One must experience that on their own if they get a chance.



After reaching IITK railway station I got into an autorikshaw and reached IITK campus.It was 8 o'clock in the evening..I thought i will be the only student who reached so early(around 1 day early). But I am totally wrong.So many candidates(by so many I really mean so many :P) reached the campus by that time.After waiting for around 40 min we got accommodation in Hostel-2.
The next day we took rest.I have taken many books to prepare for the Interview but i read none :P.The written test is scheduled on 7th.

The written test consisted of 50 questions(Objective type) and the duration was 150 min.There is more concentration on mathematics and very very less number of questions were given from other subjects.After the written test was completed we went to have our lunch and returned.All the students were eagerly waiting for the written test results.I have a very little hope that I will clear the written test since I am very poor at mathematics.But I was totally surprised by seeing my name was shortlisted(actually its me who is shortlisted not my name..:P)

My interview is scheduled on 8th May.I am not having any ideas to join Kanpur.So I wanted to be tested to the core.So I decided to tell T.O.C,Data Structures and Algorithms as my interesting areas even though I am not well prepared in those subjects.

The Interview(8^th MAY,2012 11:00 A.M.)

I entered the H.O.D. room.There they are 4 professors sitting in their chairs waiting for their turn to play.They took my application and the interview started just like that.

Q1) Your B.Tech performance is gradually decreasing(seeing my marks list). Do you need M.Tech?
Ans - I smiled wt the professor and said yes sir.I want to do M.Tech.I didn't pay much attention for the marks in B.tech but rather worked on understanding my subjects well.

Q2)What are your interesting subjects?
Ans - T.O.C. , Data Structures and Algorithms.

Q3)Tell me Some ting about turing Machines...
Ans - blah blah blah !!!!

Q4)Do you agree that Turing Machines and Real computers have same Computational power??
Ans - Yes sir!

Q5) Perform Quick sort using Turing Machines..
Ans - I tried for some time but cannot give a good answer.

Q6)Explain about Context Free Grammars...
Ans - I started with CFG and shifted my topic to Push-down automata(Unknowingly)!The professor asked to talk about CFG not PDA.....(Another professor supported me that PDA is another for of CFG so let him tell...:P)

Q7) What is the value of 1234 * 9898?
Ans - I went to the board took the pen and wrote an awkward computation in tension...1234*(10000-200-2) and then I released it is wrong and corrected it to 1234 * (10000-100-2). I didn't perform the computation.They wanted my approach that's all.

Q8)Explain the Pumping lemma for Context Free Language without missing a single word in the statement..
Ans - I managed but i was unable to tell the exact definition to them(didnt revise the lemma statement for so many days...:P)

Q9)Explain Booth's Algorithm...
Ans - blah blah blah!!!

Q10)Write a non-deterministic algorithm to find the sum of first n natural numbers..
Ans - Tried for some time and said I dont know sir!!(I havent prepared to this kind of algorithms at all)....

And some other simple questions were also asked but I dont remember them properly.....

And when the results are released I saw that I am not selected (I expected this to happen.There are so many other people who did really well in the interviews).

I hope this post will give an idea for the people who are preparing for the interview in IIT Kanpur.

Guys if you are going to Kanpur dont just go without proper preparation.The professors are waiting there to play with the students in the interview if they dont give proper answers!

I am not frightening you but just suggesting you to prepare well!!!!