Almost 22,000 aspirants appear for the entrance exam for undergraduate admissions every year. Around 7,700 candidates crack it. Nearly 2,400 seats are allotted to the candidates on merit basis. Owing to acute competition, you need to follow an effective preparation plan to ace the NIFT exam.
Before you start preparing for the NIFT entrance test with gusto, you need to keep in mind some useful tips to crack it. OPUS keeps alive the tradition of mentoring aspirants for a resplendent future in the realm of fashion and design. Valuable tips are meant to make the journey to success less difficult.
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OPUS EDGE
OPUS Kolkata trains the top rankers in the NIFT exam every year. It also boasts of the highest number of its students qualifying in the entrance exam. Industry experts share their wonderful experiences during the special workshops conducted by OPUS in order to enrich aspirants with industry insights. Their sessions provide inspiration to candidates who wish to emulate them. OPUS candidates feel proud of this real-life exposure provided by no other training institute.
OPUS COURSES
Several courses are available for candidates who look for long term, short term or a crash course. Those students who want to start early can pick up the long-term unlimited course with 1.5 – 2 years preparation time. If you have just passed class X, with plans to foray into a career in design, a super long-term course is a power-packed curriculum that will help you build your foundations in design. The long-term comprehensive test is apt for those with 6 months to 1.5 years preparation time. If you are in class XI / XII and you have realized that you are passionate about design, then it is not too late. The comprehensive course will expose you to the right set of concepts held necessary to crack the NIFT. For those with less than six months to prepare, crash course speed up is the ideal choice to brush up the fundamentals with the help of mock tests.
NIFT Syllabus
Make sure you have a proper and clear idea of the syllabus first. This will ensure you do not squander time studying any irrelevant matter. Stick to the prescribed outline of the NIFT entrance exam. Remember, this enables you to focus deeply on the specified content.
Paper Pattern
In order to prepare well for an examination, it is important for candidates to know the paper pattern and style. You need to attempt the type of questions asked in the entrance test, solve previous year papers and take mock tests in order to make yourself comfortable with the question pattern. The entrance test comprises two main parts – Creative Aptitude Test and General Aptitude Test.
Creative Aptitude TestÂ
Assesses intuition skill, the power of observation, innovation in developing a concept and design ability of the aspirant. A key aspect of the test is the creative and innovative use of colour and illustration skills.
General Aptitude Test comprises Quantitative Ability. Communication Ability aims at testing the language ability of the candidates. English Comprehension requires understanding and answering questions regarding a specific passage. Analytical Ability tests the candidate’s inference and logic ability from given information. General Knowledge and Current Affairs test your awareness of recent events and how much you know about world affairs. A Case Study test uses a situation to evaluate your style of response to discern your managerial ability.
How to Prepare for GAT
The GAT paper comprises academic subjects like Reasoning, Mathematics (class X level), English Language and Comprehension. The Business Domain segment needs a three-pronged approach with studies in static GK, current affairs, and fashion and industry awareness.
The academic subjects can be studied through classroom contact programmes at a trusted and reputed place like OPUS or through self-study with the help of good competitive preparation books available from OPUS. Opt for individual subject books instead of some all-in-one format.
One should work on overcoming one’s weaknesses while enhancing the strengths and always work and prepare in a time-bound manner. Here is a comprehensive list of topics to prepare:
English:
The questions are based on grammar and syntax. Questions are based on these areas – synonyms, antonyms, idioms & phrases, spot the errors, cloze test, fill in the blanks, sentence correction, analogies, spelling errors, one-word substitution and ordering of sentences/passage. Try to build your vocabulary extensively.
Reasoning:
Verbal and non-verbal – series, coding-decoding, directions, ranking, sitting arrangement, syllogism, calendar, clocks, eligibility criteria, blood relations, cubes and dices, line counting, graph, puzzles etc.
General Knowledge and Current Affairs (Fashion GK included):
It comprises static GK and current affairs, with a focus on fashion-oriented GK for which candidates need to have updates from the fashion firmament. Read newspapers and fashion magazines. Watch TV for brand endorsements and taglines. The GK section mainly carries fashion, brands, logos, fashion terms, entertainment events, celebrities, Miss World and Miss Universe titles, fabrics, and questions related to recent fashion trends. Learn about sports, culture and the history of India. Be knowledgeable about current affairs related to political developments of national importance, social issues and a bit about the economy.
Mathematics:
Number system, ratio proportion, averages, ages, profit and loss, speed time, upstream & downstream, mixtures & allegations, pipes, and cisterns, work time, simple interest, compound interest, mensuration, set theory, trigonometry, height & distance, permutation n combination and probability.
NIFT 2022 General Ability Test (GAT) for Bachelor of Design (B.Des.)
| Programme | B.Des. |
| Paper name | GAT |
| Language | English |
| Test duration | 2 hours |
| Exam mode | Paper Based Test (PBT) |
| Sections: English comprehension Quantitative ability Communication ability Analytical ability General knowledge and current affairs | Number of questions 25 20 25 15 15 |
| Total | 100 |
Weightage for NIFT 2023
| Programme | Test | Weightage (In percentage) |
| Bachelor of Fashion Technology (B.F.Tech) | GAT | 100% |
| Bachelor of Design (B.Des) | GAT | 30% |
| CAT | 50% | |
| Situation Test | 20% |
Objectives
Fix goals and objectives – the ones you want to accomplish. Have an idea of time – how much time you require to achieve the target set. You must know how much time you should spend on each section. Plan your schedule of preparation accordingly. And remember, practice makes you perfect and successful.
Sketch a lot
Make it a point to sketch whatever you feel like. Be varied and take it as a challenge – try out new stuff sans discrimination or predilection. Rummage through dailies, journals, magazines, and websites. Extract clues from advertisements and posters you view.
Sketch free
As highlighted, sketching is crucial. Your creativity and ideas need expression on paper. While you practice sketching, make it a point to hide your eraser. This will help you to sketch with more confidence and your lines will become bolder, sharper, and cleaner.
Sketch light
Does it make any sense to sketch dark and then find mistakes? You have to erase a lot and it becomes time-consuming. Moreover, it affects your mental frame. Begin with a light sketch and darken it later once you grow confident about it.
Detailing
A work of art and beauty gets enriched with detailing. Pay adequate attention to detailing wherever required – whether it is the human face or the outfit. Nuances, intricacies and minute observations in a designer’s work are signs of a good professional in the making.
Illustration
Put efforts to master the skills of human illustration. Focus more on proportions and forms. Dexterity is rewarding in more ways than one.
Calligraphy
If you know calligraphy well, it is useful in designing banners and posters. In case you are not an expert yet, make it a point to learn different styles of lettering as they enable you to execute a lot in a refreshing manner.
Planning
If you have not planned it, sketching involves waste of resources as you do not know what to execute and how. Therefore, first plan your ideas and visualise them before you begin to execute them. Poor or cluttered vision will not lead to good sketching.
Start simple
Begin with simple stuff – logo design or T-shirt design. Avoid scene drawing in the beginning. You have limited time to answer the questions and you need to be quick while solving the problems.
Speed
Improve your speed. Your outstanding design skills and creativity are futile in case you cannot execute quickly. The main purpose is to present your imagination and uniqueness within a limited time frame. Make sure you are able to do things smoothly without getting nervous as anxiety slows you down.
OPUS brings you closer to success as it equips you with proper knowledge of the NIFT Entrance Exam and how to crack it with ease. With more focused practice, you are able to make the cut. OPUS maintains the lead in grooming the highest number of candidates who attain success in the NIFT entrance exam. The right advice from expert faculty coupled with sufficient practice material puts the aspirants in the winning league.
Wish you good luck!
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