If you are preparing for the written test and interview for MS(R) in Mechanical Engineering at IIT Madras, here are some tips that can help you:
Preparing for the written test and interview requires a thorough understanding of the syllabus, brushing up on fundamentals, practicing previous years' papers, using standard textbooks, preparing for the interview, showcasing your projects and research, and being confident and calm.
I have a few friends from IIT Madras and they have shared some preparation tips with me. Which are as follows.
Written Test:
You can go through the GATE Syllabus as they won’t ask you beyond the syllabus. Their main focus would be on SOM, TOM, design, manufacturing, and thermal.
For the online written exam, there will be respective or sub-screen questions where you will have compulsory questions from mathematics. The questions from mathematics constitute 2 of the total 15 questions. They will be quite straightforward and not complicated. They will not be as difficult as those of the GATE level but a little confusing. All the questions will be in multiple-choice form. The total time provided to answer this would be 30 minutes.
Interview:
Once the written exam is over, the results for it will be declared the next day in the evening and the interview will be conducted on the next day. The interview panel mostly has 4 to 5 members and there is always the one who is very much interested in mathematics.
Just as a written test, the interview will also be around the topics of your best knowledge along with a particular field that you applied for and a bit of mathematics knowledge.The panel will try to confuse you. You should be thorough with the major and minor projects of your BTech.
If you are working in an industry you should be aware of its workings. You will be asked questions based on your work-related areas. Rest, only basic questions will be asked with that.
Hope this helps.