Hello Rakesh,

AP PGECET, Andhra Pradesh Post-graduate Engineering Common Entrance Test, is conducted by Andhra University, Visakhapatnam on behalf of APSCHE, for admission to ME/ M.Tech/ M.Pharm programs. This year, 2019, the exam is scheduled from May 1 to 4 in computer-based test mode.

• Total no. of questions: 120
• Duration of test: 2 hours
• Difficulty level:

In 2018, a total of 29,012 candidates out 32,323 appeared for the exam. A high percentage of candidates cleared the examination i.e. out of 29,012 candidates, 26,577 candidates qualified the examination. The percentage was even better for engineering aspirants. 23,565 candidates appeared for engineering test, out of which 22,133 candidates qualified, thus making a pass percentage of around 93%. On another hand, Pharmacy exams delivered a pass percentage of around 83%. Hence, APPGECET is reputed to be an overall easy EE.

But the catch here is, the top colleges like JNTU, AU, ANU, etc, give preference to GATE candidates over PGECET candidates.

Why?

There are two ways to apply for MTech in government colleges:

Through,

• GATE
• PGECET

And for both exams, there are different cutoff marks.

Now, I've already mentioned about the difficulty level of PGECET. Now, coming to GATE 2018:

• Total number of registered candidates: 9,34,461
• Total Candidates appeared for the examination: 7,87,148 (85%) writing the exam
• Candidates qualified for the examination: 1,29,149 (16%) qualifying, including general, OBC, SC, ST, or people with disabilities.

These GATE candidates were particularly aiming to get admission into IIT's, NIT's and International colleges, whereas those who took PGECET had JNTU, AU and other top colleges within AP in mind. Which suggests, GATE candidates were more qualified to get admission in those colleges than PGECET's, because of the competition faced and exam difficulty.

When an exam is simple, there are more qualified candidates and even more people with ranks required to get admission. When an exam is tough but more popular and taken by better candidates who spent more hard work into preparation for the same, they get preference over the weaker links.

To be precise, here is an example:

Suppose there is only one seat left in JNTU and two eligible candidates- A and B- are on the wait. A has written GATE and had secured rank 5298, and B had rank 49 in PGECET. If you're wondering whom of the two will walk out of the college with admission letter in his hand, it will be GATE candidate. Despite B being the higher rank out of the two, it's not the ranks that particularly matter here. It is the exam instead. GATE is prioritized and preferred over PGECET.

Most of the seats are filled through GATE in JNTU, so even a top 50 rank provides no guarantee. If you get a rank among the top 50, then you might have chances with unpopular choices like biochemical engineering and mechatronics. In fact, sometimes getting the first rank isn't enough because preference is given to GATE students.

So, even if this isn't the answer you were looking for, this is the truth. Every year cutoff is different so even if you get rank within the cutoff (always go for top 100) there's no guarantee that you'll get admission as preference given to GATE students over PGECET students is great.

You better prepare yourself to get rank within top 100 if you are opting to get admission in universities like AU, JNTU, etc for Mtech Civil Engineering.

Best of luck!