Mar 19, 2013

GATE - 2012 : IISc(SERC) M.S. Interview

Hi friends,
         In this post I am going to share my IISc, Bangalore interview experiences.I have applied for IISc M.S. course in SERC(Super Computer Education and Research Center) department.I got an interview call from the department scheduled on 6th June 2012.The M.S. interviews will be generally spread over several days and they will divide the students into batches and interview the candidates.So they will have plenty of time to interview a candidate if they want.But believe me,even it is an M.S. interview the questions will not be very difficult.The professors there are very friendly to the candidate.The interview panel will be cool and nothing to get worried about.

         My written test + Interview slot is 2 P.M. on 6th June 2012.There are around 35 to 40 candidates I think.First we have to face a written test and the candidates who are through the written test will be interviewed.The written test will be a bit new to many(not because of the questions but because of their filtering criteria). For us the written test pattern is as follows :

    There are 8 questions from different subjects(Maths,Programming,O.S. etc.,). We have to attempt 5 questions out of the 8.And here come the twist.If you attempt more than 5 questions then the professors will consider the marks of worst 5 questions you have answered.Means if you have answered 5 questions correctly and tried for 2 more questions(as choice) and answered them wrongly then your score is 3/5 but not 5/5. (So be careful)
      After the written test is completed they took around 40 min to evaluate them and the shortlisted candidates are called for interview (In our slot, a candidate is shortlisted only if he gets 5 out of 5 questions correct). I was shortlisted for the interview.

The Interview (6th June 2012,around 4:30 P.M.)

I entered a room  where there are around 7 professors waiting for me.I sat in a seat and handed over my certificates.

Q1)What is your name?
Ans - answered it !

Q2) In which areas you are comfortable?
Ans - I said Computer Networks and Data Structures.

Q3) (A Lady Professor) So since you are comfortable with Computer Networks, tell me something about IP addresses..
Ans - (To have a clarity) I asked should I explain about IPv4 or IPv6(Actually I dont know much about IPv6 addresses...:P..These kind of questions cost very much if things dont go in our way)

Q4) Tell about IPv4!!
Ans - (felt very happy because if she asked IPv6 I will be doomed) Explained the format and some other things.

Q5) What are classes in IPv4 addressing?
Ans - Answered very very comfortably..

Q6) What is loop-back address?Explain its significance?
Ans - I said everything I know about loop-back address and its significance.

Q7) Explain about OSI model?
Ans - (Very very happy to listen the question) Do i need to tell anything about the answer ?? :P

Q8) (This question confused me totally) How are routing tables  stored in the router's memory?
Ans - I started the general format of how the routers store the routing table.

Q9) I dont want about the storage format tell me how they are stored?
Ans - (Now I understood that they are asking about the process of gathering the routing information) I started with DVR algorithm...and within no time she said : dont tell about any algorithm..
I am totally confused by this...Unable to give a satisfying answer.

Q10) How a packet travels in the internet?
Ans - I have explained the process in the OSI model..

Then the Data Structures professor asked...

Q11)How can you store a matrix in memory?
Ans - I have explained the data structures : Arrays,Linked lists.

Q12) What is an efficient approach to store Sparse matrices?
Ans - I struggled a little bit but managed by telling that we can use Adjacency lists for memory efficiency.

Q13)If the graph is a weighted graph, where will you store the edge weights?
Ans - I gave very bad explanation(i think this answer led for my rejection)

Also there are many other good candidates who performed very well compared to me.Lack of proper presentation skills and communication skills also my drawbacks.Generally for M.S. interviews people with Industry experience also come who will be having very good communications skills(most probably). Even if you have very good understanding of subject, if you cannot express that you cannot have a good chance to get through the interview process.

So along with knowing the subject the students attending the interviews should be good in communication also.


  1. Thanks for sharing your experience...
    Which type of question are ask in written test ? Are they based on formulas or require to proof it.

    1. Generally they dont prefer ready made formulae! But in some cases they may ask you questions which need formulae to answer.And also they will be asking you to prove/support your answers.
      But all the questions will be related to basic concepts(especially if you are a fresh college grad.)

  2. Regarding the router part, Perpahs he was asking the type of memory which is used to store the routing tables (regarding the hardware part). A simple answer

    "If the graph is a weighted graph, where will you store the edge weights?"
    My answer would have been "In the edge class itself."
    I didn't understand what he was asking.

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