GATE 2026 | How to Score 55+ Marks with the Easiest CS Topics

Who speaks in this episode?

• Nishhata (Host)

What is discussed, and when

1. 0:00 – 3:00: GATE CS exam, general aptitude, 390 challenge, Nishhata
2. 3:00 – 6:00: C programming, data structures, digital logic, engineering mathematics
3. 6:00 – 7:05: Nishhata

Notable quotes from "GATE 2026 | How to Score 55+ Marks with the Easiest CS Topics"

• Eligibility, IIT and IT short listing or getting a good score without a burnout, this strategy is just for you. The GATE CS exam, it's a 100 mark paper, but not all marks are…

  about GATE CS exam · at 0:23

• So, what is this 390 challenge? Well, it's simple. Choose any tech course of your choice and achieve 90% completion within the first 90 days of enrolling in that course. And…

  about 390 challenge · at 2:10

• And complete. So, enroll now. Then we have our next section which is basically engineering mathematics. It's low effort, high return because maths is not scary if you play it…

  about engineering mathematics · at 3:08

• Programming with small syllabus and direct questions. C is underrated. So focus only on pointers, arrays, functions and output based questions.

  about C programming · at 4:09

• Section being somewhere around six and eight marks. Again section seven is computer networks which is formula plus logic based and this is very predictable. You should focus on…

  about computer networks · at 5:12

• Score, but they can actually push you forward. So, if you find the time to do them, you should do them. And my final advice before I conclude this video would be very, very…

  about Nishhata · at 6:14

Who and what is mentioned in this episode?

People

• Nishhata — Person · Host · 2 mentions · first at 0:15
  Host of the episode, providing strategies and insights for the GATE CS exam.

Companies & orgs

• IIT — Company · Referenced organization · 1 mention · first at 0:21
  Referenced as a target for students aiming to excel in the GATE CS exam.
  Nishhata and you're watching GFG, your one-stop solution for all coding related problems. If your goal is PSU eligibility, IIT and IT short listing or getting a good score…
• Geeks for Geeks — Company · Referenced company · 1 mention
  Introduced the 390 challenge to encourage course completion among learners.
  Because they study more but because they optimize what they study. Hi, I am Nishhata and you're watching GFG, your one-stop solution for all coding related problems. If your…
• Nation Skillup — Company · Referenced organization · 1 mention · first at 1:31
  Mentioned as a platform that provides free courses to learners.
  You shouldn't. 2025 is a breakthrough year for learners with nation skill up.

Concepts & topics

• GATE CS exam — Concept · Core topic · 2 mentions · first at 0:00
  Central to the discussion as the episode focuses on strategies to excel in the GATE CS exam.
• general aptitude — Concept · Core topic · 3 mentions · first at 0:38
  Identified as a high ROI section in the GATE CS exam with predictable patterns.
  Mark. A smart selection of easy plus predictable topics can easily take you past 55 marks. The first section that we have is the general aptitude. These are your free marks…
• engineering mathematics — Concept · Core topic · 3 mentions · first at 0:40
  Discussed as a low effort, high return section in the GATE CS exam.
• digital logic — Concept · Core topic · 2 mentions · first at 3:43
  Highlighted as an easy and high-scoring subject for the GATE CS exam.
  High scoring areas being boolean algebra, K maps, flip-flop circuits, combinational circuits, and flip-flops and counters. And the reason it works is because it's visual formula based, and.
• C programming — Concept · Core topic · 2 mentions · first at 4:07
  Discussed as a key subject area in the GATE CS exam with specific focus areas for scoring.
• data structures — Concept · Core topic · 2 mentions · first at 4:32
  Discussed as a selective but powerful subject area for the GATE CS exam.
  It's selective but powerful. But the thing about this is you don't need all of data structures. You only need to do array stack and Q lingless basics and trees where we talk…
• operating system — Concept · Core topic · 1 mention · first at 4:53
  Highlighted as a scoring subject if approached selectively for the GATE CS exam.
  Somewhere around 6 to 8 marks. Now then we have our next section which is operating systems which is scoring if done correctly. OS might look huge but it is actually very…
• computer networks — Concept · Core topic · 1 mention · first at 5:16
  Discussed as a predictable and formula-based subject for the GATE CS exam.
• 390 challenge — Concept · Referenced initiative · 2 mentions · first at 2:01
  Introduced as a motivational strategy for learners to complete courses with a refund incentive.
• IT short listing — Concept · Referenced concept · 1 mention · first at 0:21
  Mentioned as a potential outcome for students performing well in the GATE CS exam.
  Nishhata and you're watching GFG, your one-stop solution for all coding related problems. If your goal is PSU eligibility, IIT and IT short listing or getting a good score…
• PSU eligibility — Concept · Referenced concept · 1 mention · first at 0:21
  Mentioned as a goal for students taking the GATE CS exam.
  Nishhata and you're watching GFG, your one-stop solution for all coding related problems. If your goal is PSU eligibility, IIT and IT short listing or getting a good score…

Full transcript with timestamps

0:00 Let's declare one thing first. Securing 55 plus marks in GATE CS exam does not necessarily mean you have to complete the entire syllabus. It requires choosing the right battles. Every year toppers and rankers score big not because they study more but because they optimize what they study. Hi, I am Nishhata and you're watching GFG, your one-stop solution for all coding related problems. If your goal is PSU eligibility, IIT and IT short listing or getting a good score without a burnout, this strategy is just for you. The GATE CS exam, it's a 100 mark paper, but not all marks are equal in difficulty. So, if you go to a breakdown of this thing, we have 15 marks for aptitude which are highly scoring, 13 for engineering mathematics, that's formula based, and 72 for core CS subject. But here's a secret. You do not need that entire 72 mark. A smart selection of easy plus predictable topics can easily take you

0:54 past 55 marks. The first section that we have is the general aptitude. These are your free marks with a 15 out of 15 potential and the highest ROI in all of the sections. Why? Because there is no syllabus overload and they're very repeated patterns with very low competition effect. Focus on no verbal reasoning with synonyms and sentence correction and numerical aptitude with ratios, averages, time and work. A realistic target for this section would be 12 to 14 marks. One tip is that a lot of student lose marks in this section because of overconfidence.

1:26 You shouldn't. 2025 is a breakthrough year for learners with nation skill up. 10 lakh plus started their learning journey with access to free courses. Thousands of them gained real skills, landed better roles, and took control of their careers. However, a much bigger chunk struggled to complete it fully learning, finishing, and applying what they've learned. Nation Skillup taught us a very important truth. Skills aren't built by enrolling in courses. They're built through discipline, accountability, and committed learning.

1:55 Completion is where real transformation happens. And that's where most learners fall behind. That's why Geeks forge Geeks has now launched the 390 challenge. A first of its kind initiative designed to help you start strong, stay consistent, complete your learning, and earn back what you invest. So, what is this 390 challenge? Well, it's simple. Choose any tech course of your choice and achieve 90% completion within the first 90 days of enrolling in that course. And once you're done, you get 90% of what you pay refunded back to your bank accounts. And that's right, that's the 390s. 90% completion in 90 days to get a 90% refund. Another important question many of you would have is why take this challenge? It's still enrolling in a course. How will it help you stand out and achieve your career dreams? Well, this challenge isn't just about motivation. It's about completing what you started. Every

2:43 organization doesn't look just for employees. They look for completion, dedication, and results. And that is what the 390 challenge sets you up for. When open-ended learnings fail, clear deadlines don't. Completing 90% of a structured course means you've gone beyond the basics. You've practiced real skills, and you've built discipline. The 390 challenge forces you to finish what you start, and that's a rare skill in itself. This is the year you'll commit and complete. So, enroll now. Then we have our next section which is basically engineering mathematics. It's low effort, high return because maths is not scary if you play it smart. The must do topics in this section are linear algebra with matrices, ranks and values, probability and discrete maths with logics, relations and graphs. And why these topics? Because these are direct formulas with limited concepts and heavily heavily repeated in the PQS. A

3:34 realistic target for this particular section would be 8 to 10 marks. And you can achieve this without touching the calculus heavy sections. And then we talk about a section three which is digital logic. The easiest core subject. If there's one subject that almost everybody should do, it's digital logic. High scoring areas being boolean algebra, K maps, flip-flop circuits, combinational circuits, and flip-flops and counters. And the reason it works is because it's visual formula based, and the questions are predictable. A realistic target for this particular section would be 7 to N mark. This is one of the best marks for our studied subject. Then our next section is C programming with small syllabus and direct questions. C is underrated. So focus only on pointers, arrays, functions and output based questions.

4:18 Avoid deep memory models and over complicating things. And C it's very easy marks because it not only has short programs, it has very clear wrong and right answers. A realistic target for this particular section would be somewhere around five to seven marks. Section five is our data structures. Now it's selective but powerful. But the thing about this is you don't need all of data structures. You only need to do array stack and Q lingless basics and trees where we talk about its height or its traversal. Skip advanced hashing and amortized analysis. A realistic target for this particular section would be somewhere around 6 to 8 marks. Now then we have our next section which is operating systems which is scoring if done correctly. OS might look huge but it is actually very scoring if you're selective with your topics. So the topics that you should do are process versus thread uh CPUuling deadlocks

5:06 paging and segmentation and you should avoid the rare edge case theory with realistic marks with this particular section being somewhere around six and eight marks. Again section seven is computer networks which is formula plus logic based and this is very predictable. You should focus on OSI versus TCP IP, flow control, error detection, IP addressing and subnetting. The reason why it works is because it has repeated numericals and clear theory questions. A realistic target for CN would be somewhere around five to seven marks. So if you put it all together, we have the 55 plus strategy. So let us add all the marks from the sections that we talked about with general aptitude giving us somewhere around 13.

5:44 Engineering mathematics giving us nine marks, digital logic with eight marks, C programming with six, data structures with somewhere around seven, OS also giving us seven marks and CN giving us six marks. This would make the total approximately 56 marks. And notice what we didn't rely on to get this particular score. We didn't rely on compiler design. We didn't rely on TOC. We didn't rely on detailed DBMS in depth. We also didn't rely on the advanced algorithms. All of these things that we didn't rely on, they're not mahandi for a 55 plus score, but they can actually push you forward. So, if you find the time to do them, you should do them. And my final advice before I conclude this video would be very, very simple. You need to give more emphasis to PYQ's than you give to the notes. You need to ensure that you focusing on accuracy over attempting each and every question. You need to revise fewer topics multiple

6:34 times instead of trying to do everything just once. And you need to ensure that mock analysis are non-negotiables. Gate rewards clarity, not coverage. So if you're starting out right now and you're a bit late to the bandwagon, it's still not a problem if you follow the strategy with all of your heart. But this would only work if you execute it very sincerely and extremely consistently from this day onwards. So let us know in the comments how far along you're in your gate prep and all the very best for your exam.

Questions about this episode

Who speaks in "GATE 2026 | How to Score 55+ Marks with the Easiest CS Topics"?

Nishhata (Host).

What is discussed in "GATE 2026 | How to Score 55+ Marks with the Easiest CS Topics"?

In order: 0:00 GATE CS exam, general aptitude, 390 challenge, Nishhata; 3:00 C programming, data structures, digital logic, engineering mathematics; 6:00 Nishhata.

What is mentioned in this GeeksforGeeks episode?

15 people, works and ideas are mentioned, including GATE CS exam, general aptitude, Nishhata, engineering mathematics, digital logic, C programming. Each one on this page links to its own page with every episode that mentions it.

How long is "GATE 2026 | How to Score 55+ Marks with the Easiest CS Topics"?

The episode runs 7 min; the transcript is about 1,322 words in 10 timestamped sections.

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