NID Entrance Exam 2019 for B.Des or GDPD: Dates, Syllabus, pattern, Registration, and Results

Overview

The NID exam is an admission gateway to all design courses at the National Institutes of Design (NID’s) which are located at Ahmedabad (100 seats), Vijayawada (60 seats), Kurukshetra (60 seats), Bhopal & Jorhat. It is estimated that there will be around 280 - 340 seats in total for 2019.

NID DAT Prelims is slated for 6th January 2019!

Last year, about 25000 students applied for NID 2018 for which 220 seats are available. Only about 700 students qualified NID DAT Prelims and were eligible for NID DAT Mains. So only the top 1% get through!

Design Aptitude Test (DAT) prelims will be conducted at test centres across India. Candidates should note that appearing for the DAT Prelims or being ranked in the shortlist does not guarantee automatic entitlement to admission

The NID exam has 2 stages i.e.

Stage 1: Design Aptitude Test (DAT) Prelims: The B.Des. DAT prelims is a 3 hour test of 100 marks which evaluates the Design aptitude of the candidate. It comprises of a mix of objective and subjective questions. The question paper is in English.

Stage 2: Design Aptitude Test (DAT) Mains: Candidates shortlisted after the DAT Prelims will be invited to appear for the Stage 2 DAT Main exams at Ahmedabad or at any of the campuses of NID viz Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Gandhinagar, Kurukshetra & Vijayawada.

The DAT mains will consist of tests in multiple formats such in a studio set up. The tests will be conducted over two days. The total marks of the test will be out of 100. The tests will be conducted in English only.

Weightages of DAT Prelims & DAT Mains for final Selection into NID’s

The Final marks of the candidate appearing for the BDes/GDPD programme will be determined based on the weightages of the marks obtained in the DAT Prelims & DAT Mains as follows -

Note: Only candidates who have appeared for all the tests in both the stages will be considered eligible for the merit list.

Note: Only candidates who have appeared for all the tests in both the stages will be considered eligible for the Merit List.

For more information on applications to each institute, you can refer to the websites for NID Vijaywada & NID Kurukshetra. The brochures for NID Jorhat & NID Bhopal have not yet been released.

Let’s start by understanding the exam pattern-

DAT Prelims - January 2019

Candidates need to cross 2 stages in the NID exam i.e. DAT Prelims & DAT Mains (Studio Test & Personal Interview). NID DAT Prelims is divided into two parts i.e. I and II.

Part I is objective & consists of Multiple Choice Objective Type (MCQ) questions and is 70  marks. On the other hand Part II has subjective type questions & is 30 marks.

Its a 3 - hour exam with a total weightage of 100 marks & is pen & paper based, additionally the medium of instruction of NID DAT Prelims 2019 is English.

DAT Mains - May 2019

Based on DAT Prelims scores, merit lists will be prepared and only shortlisted candidates will be eligible to appear for DAT Mains exam as per the schedule announced. NID DAT Mains is also commonly referred to as Studio Test or Round 2.

DAT Mains has a duration of 3 hours, with a total of 100 marks. The structure is unpredictable and could comprise of questions in drawing/sketching, hands-on model making, group discussions, presentations, personal Interview, portfolio etc.

This is a basic outline of the NID exam pattern, according to which a candidate needs to prepare.

Syllabus for NID DAT Prelims

Having understood the NID exam pattern, its also imperative to familiarize yourself with the pattern of questions in the NID exam.The pattern is as follows-

Mental ability: Here questions can range from coding -decoding, blood relations, distance & direction sense, puzzles, seating arrangements, analogies, paper folding & cutting

Analytical Reasoning: Statements & arguments, statement & assumptions, statement & conclusions, course of action, passage & conclusions, assertion & reason, cause & effect, syllogism

Visual spatial ability: Counting of figures, mirror & water images, 2D shape perception, 2D verbal translation, counting of cubes, development of surfaces, 2D to 3D & 3D to 2D identification, sciography, counting of edges & surfaces

General Knowledge: Audio video terminology, famous art & artists, famous designers, business personalities, logo study, performance arts

Maths: Geometry, mensuration, statistics, permutation & combination

English: Literature, idioms & phrases, grammar & language, vocabulary, reading comprehension, spelling errors

Design sketching: Perspective, 2D, 3D, shading, texturing, rendering, human figure drawing, 3D composition, theme sketch, objects in perspective, animal figure drawing

Syllabus for NID DAT Mains

There is no syllabus specified in the official NID brochure. However, in the past, students have been asked questions in areas like

• Material Handling - Tasks given to effectively manage materials like Clay, Thermocol, Paper, Wire, Fabric etc.
• Observation Exercises - Tasks given to check candidates Audio & Visual observation skills etc.
• Personal Interview

In earlier years, candidates were asked to bring their portfolios as well. However, since recently, this has been discontinued. It is suggested to work on a portfolio anyway, since it helps structure one’s thoughts, gives direction and goals to a candidate.

As part of the NID exam preparation, an understanding of the above is very crucial in order to stand out from the rest!

As an aspirant of the NID 2019 entrance exam, you should be in the thick of things in your preparations & must have a strategy in place that works for you!

It’s important to remember that while an understanding of engineering drawings is helpful, NID focuses on aesthetics & an understanding of how design is created & works. Cracking the exam is also about how good the examiner thinks you are!

You can also use our online study platform i.e. DQ Edge for your exam preparations. DQ edge is a state of the art online learning tool for design, architecture & fashion entrance exams - CEED, UCEED, NIFT, NATA, JEE P2 & NID. It’s a direction & focus based online learning tool that helps students crack entrance exams easily, by giving them suggestions based on their performance, the importance and competitive difficulty level of exam topics. Using our AI-powered suggestion framework always work on the topics that are important based on your performance & improve your ability to score high by focusing on the most important aspects of the syllabus.

Some of the features you can access are -

• Use the daily quiz

• Attend the webinars on DQ Edge

• Reach out to us on discuss

• Schedule a webinar counselling with us.

Find below some basic tips on the same -

1. Balancing skills: It’s not imperative for one’s sketching to be excellent, a balance of skills is important & the ability to generate ideas which were out-of-the-box. Just make sure that the sketches you make are up to the point and express what you have in your mind

1. Be prepared for weird questions and showcase your creativity: The questions actually show the creativity that you will be taught in the college. One must be cocksure when asked to sketch weird stuff. Similarly, weird questions can be a golden opportunity for you to showcase your creativity

1. Intrinsic understanding of design symbolism & conventions: Questions here are  open ended with no clear insight to what could be a so-called right answer to it, only to test whether one can present their designs well. It's crucial to know the design conventions such as gestalt principles, meaning of colors, applications of different materials, etc, as well as design symbolism like speech bubbles, zoom in gestures, graphical symbolism, etc.

1. Choose media carefully: One must stick to dry media which includes colour pencils, pastels, etc. Media like ballpens & fineliners are preferred by some, but use them only if you are quite confident of what you are going to make. Also, in your practice sessions, practice only on A4 papers

1. Develop your sketching style: Developing an individual style here is key to getting selected. One must experiment with different types of shading & use pencils instead of  markers, use thick & wide strokes of pencil to give your design a dynamic look. Make sure you develop one style and practice it till you perfect it

1. Observation of things: NID DAT tests one’s ability to analyse things from users’ perspective & even asks questions directly related to current affairs. Updation on events in the design world & knowledge of products are rated as good design examples will help you have an edge

1. Plan & sketch, but be fast! Always think thoroughly before sketching & never rush into it. In a nutshell, if you have great concepts, decent but fast sketching skills and your own individualistic sketching style, you will score well in NID DAT

     8. Time management: One must set aside equal time for both the sections.

On a final note, if you can also prepare yourself with the following & you will master the exam!

• Believe in yourself
• Cultivate a success mindset
• Overcome procrastination
• Hard work
• No excuses
• Perseverance



Finally all aspiring students must remember “Success is no accident, it’s hard work, perseverance, learning, studying, sacrifice & most of all, love of what you are doing or learning to be.”