M.S (by Research) in IITs - Part 1

This is for those who are keen in getting into the prestigious institute like IIT Madras for pursuing M.S (by research). First I will let you know recruitment process. First and the foremost thing is you should be a GATE qualified candidate. The cut-off percentile differs from year to year. Notification will be announced around starting of march every year. Applications can be downloaded from websites. Note that M.S (by research) is offered by only two IITs (IITMadras, IITDelhi). Application along with the DD of around Rs 250/- is to be submitted either personally or by post. The call for exam and/or interview varies every year for each department. They also look for the percentage of your undergraduate (B.Tech, B.E etc). They will intimate for exam/interview in the month April/may. Second and the most common thing is What is the pattern of Exam? What sort of difficulties in the questions?. Usually the exam pattern is multiple choice questions and the questions are as good as GATE questions. They may straight away give you some questions from OLD GATE Papers. Criteria for selecting for the interview is based on "exam score" as well as "B.Tech percentage". GATE score has nothing to do now. Usually this is they will select fifty percent of the total for the interview. The most tough part of M.S recruitment is the interview. Facing IIT Professors (for the first time) is like going for an adventurous voyage. The toughness of interview depends on the choice of research area you specify in the application form. If you are lucky enough (like me) you will be asked to choose yourself the subject that you prepared and they will ask questions only in that subject. Don't forget to go through your under graduate project one more time before coming to exam/interview. They will ask some questions from your project also. The more depth you go in answering the more impression you get and also bonus questions !!!!. If you are good enough in getting through the questions and also if the requirement for that particular Prof is there, there are more chances in getting into IIT. You will get the intimation letter in the month of July or so (but before August). thats it abt the recruitment process into IITs for M.S (by research).

PS: 1.The cut off GATE percentile varies from 90% to 99% again depending on the department.
2.The details furnished above are to the best of my knowledge ( as I got through the same recruitment process).
3. It is not compulsory that both IITs and all departments follow the same process.