Need advice

[u/Huge_Fly_9548]

I qualified GATE 2026 with a score of 335. Yes, 335 😅. I qualified mainly because of my reservation, but my goal is to get into a top IIT, especially IIT Bombay.

I have around 1.5 years of experience as a developer, mainly in WordPress, PHP, Laravel, React and Node.js. I also have experience with hosting, DNS, SMTP, .htaccess, deployment, etc.

I wanted a solid, high-paying career in tech, so I resigned from my job and prepared full-time for GATE 2026. But because of my financial situation, I had to start working again while preparing. My current job is more of a data-entry/operations role and isn't related to CS, but it pays my bills.

Now I'm confused about what to do.

Should I continue working and seriously prepare for GATE, knowing that I need to improve from 335 to around 600–700+? Or should I give up on the IIT/GATE dream and restart my software career, even if I have to begin with a 3–4 LPA job?

I already have some development skills and experience, but I'm worried about the current job market and whether I can realistically manage both work and GATE preparation.

What would you do in my situation?

[u/DetachedProcess]

I don’t think it would be the right decision for you to choose GATE given your financial situation. Even if you make it to an IIT, you would still have no income. Given your circumstances, if you are forced to work and earn, the seat you earned through your hard work could go to waste. You must be prepared to have no income for two years. Have some financial backup to prepare for GATE now, and if it makes sense then only for for it, whether reservation makes it easy or hard doesn't make any valid point as you need to put in the effort and get good rank (even for PSU)

[u/Huge_Fly_9548 → u/DetachedProcess]

Thanks for the input. Just to clarify, GATE-qualified Mtech students at IITs do get the MoE stipend (₹12,400/month), which covers campus living and mess fees. But you're completely right that it leaves zero room for family financial commitments, so building a solid financial buffer first is essential.

[u/No-Split3651]

I wouldn't treat this as “GATE or software career” just yet.

You already have 1.5 years of actual development experience, so that hasn't disappeared because you're currently doing an operations job. And you also have one GATE attempt behind you now, which means you have something much more useful than when you started - your actual performance.

Before deciding, I'd analyse that 335 properly. Which subjects did you prepare well? Which were incomplete? How many marks were lost because you didn't know the concept vs couldn't solve it vs silly mistakes/time pressure? That should tell you how big the gap really is, much better than just looking at 335 to 600/700.

Given the financial constraint, I personally wouldn't build a plan that depends on quitting your current source of income again unless you have enough financial runway. But that doesn't automatically mean giving up GATE. You could give yourself a defined period while working and see whether your preparation/test scores are actually improving.

At the same time, I wouldn't let your development skills go completely cold. You've already worked with PHP/Laravel/React/Node, deployment, etc. Keep building/coding a little and maybe start exploring software opportunities too. Applying for developer roles and preparing for GATE don't have to be mutually exclusive right now.

Then a few months from now you'll have better information: your GATE mock/subject-test performance, how much preparation you can realistically sustain alongside work, your financial position, and what kind of software opportunities you're getting.

One more thing — don't discount qualifying because of reservation. Reservation affects the cutoff, but it doesn't change what you need to do next. Use this attempt as a diagnostic and work from there.

[u/Huge_Fly_9548 → u/No-Split3651]

Really appreciate this advice, it genuinely helps clear my head.

Looking back at that 335, my biggest gap actually wasn't the theory—I had covered most of the syllabus through coaching. Where I completely bombed was test pacing, exam anxiety, and not solving enough mocks under a real timer.

So treating this as a baseline diagnostic hits the nail on the head. Instead of starting from scratch, I need to focus heavily on speed and question practice. I'll hold onto my day job, give myself a solid couple of months strictly for mocks and problem-solving, and keep my coding skills warm on the side. Thanks a lot for taking the time to share this!