Two Boxes Checked, One Left Empty

Sunday turned out to be one of those days that doesn't fit neatly into the "productive" or "unproductive" category.

I studied. I completed something important. I took a test. I also spent a few hours with my girlfriend and came home tired enough that question practice was simply not happening.

So, if I had to describe the day honestly, I'd say it was a balance between productivity and recovery.

And honestly, that's probably a more accurate description of real GATE preparation than pretending every day is going to be a 10-hour study marathon.

Computer Networks: MAC Address Finally Done

The first major target for the day was completing the remaining MAC Address chapter in Computer Networks.

That actually happened.

The three remaining lectures were completed, which means the MAC Address chapter is now finished.

This is important because I'm trying to get Computer Networks into a much better position before October begins. The next chapter I'll be moving into is Routing Protocols.

The timing matters because I don't want Computer Networks hanging around indefinitely while October's much more aggressive syllabus-completion plan begins.

C Programming Subject-Wise Test 3

The second major task was my C Programming subject-wise test.

I took the test for 90 minutes.

There were 30 questions in total, and my result was:

• 24 correct
• 1 incorrect
• 5 skipped
• 33.33/45 marks

I'd call that a decent score.

But there is something more important here than the number.

The AI Problem Is Still There

I still have the bad habit of checking my answers with AI while taking the test.

I've mentioned this before, and unfortunately, it hasn't disappeared magically just because I know it's a bad habit.

It's something I need to work on seriously.

If I'm using AI to verify my answers during a test, then the score isn't really telling me how well I can perform independently under exam conditions.

That's exactly the kind of habit that needs to disappear before I start taking serious GATE mock tests.

Apart from that, I also have five skipped questions that I need to analyse.

So the next step isn't simply recording the 33.33/45 score and moving on. I need to go back and understand why I skipped those questions and why I made the one incorrect answer.

The Weekly Question-Practice Numbers

This week, from 21 September to 27 September, I completed a total of 53 questions.

Out of those, 42 were done independently.

Here's the breakdown:

The target was roughly 50–100 questions for the week, so crossing 50 is a small but meaningful win.

More importantly, I've now got an actual weekly record of question practice across multiple completed subjects.

That's something I want to continue building because eventually the numbers should help me identify where I'm actually weak instead of relying on the very scientific method of "this topic feels scary."

The Missing Third Box

My plan for Sunday had three main study targets:

1. Complete MAC Address.
2. Take the C Programming test.
3. Do additional question practice.

I completed the first two.

The third one didn't happen.

After finishing the test, I spent the evening with my girlfriend from around 6 PM to 9 PM. We had originally planned to meet on Saturday, but that got postponed to Sunday because of studies and her being busy.

The meeting was good, and I enjoyed spending those few hours with her.

When I came back home, though, I was pretty tired.

So instead of forcing myself to sit down and solve mixed questions while barely functioning, I just went to sleep.

I don't think the day was a failure because of that.

It was simply a day where I couldn't check every box.

Two Out of Three Isn't Bad

Looking back, I think the day was fairly balanced.

The productive part was clear:

MAC Address completed + C Programming test completed.

The recovery part was spending the evening with my girlfriend and getting some rest afterward.

The only thing left incomplete was the additional question practice.

So I'm not going to pretend this was an exceptionally productive day. It wasn't.

But it wasn't a wasted day either.

Sometimes the preparation journey is going to look exactly like this.

A New Week Begins Tomorrow

Tomorrow is Monday, which means a new week of preparation begins.

My immediate goal is to start the next Computer Networks chapter, Routing Protocols.

I also need to analyse the C Programming test, particularly the questions I skipped and the one I got wrong.

And there's a bigger deadline sitting behind all of this.

October 1 Is Coming

From 1 October, I want to move into a much more rigid phase of my GATE CSE 2027 preparation.

The goal is to complete the remaining syllabus by 30 October.

The remaining major subjects I need to deal with include:

• TOC
• DBMS
• Compiler Design
• TOA

And before I properly enter that phase, I want to push Computer Networks forward as much as possible.

So tomorrow isn't just another Monday.

It's the beginning of the final few days before the preparation schedule gets considerably more intense.

The first week of October is going to be a very different kind of preparation.

For now, though, I finished two boxes, left one unchecked, spent a good evening with someone important to me, and ended the week with 53 questions practiced, 42 independently solved.

Not perfect.

But real.

And that's what this GATE preparation journey is supposed to document.