How To Get Into National Institute of Design (NID) | National Institute of Design, more popularly known as NID is the most sought after Design School in India. Established in 1961, NID is the only other Indian design college other than IDC, IIT-Bombay to be featured in Business Week’s Top 50 Design Schools in the World. Known for its expert faculty, amazing learning environment, notable alumni and of course, its long lasting legacy, NID is also known as the most difficult design school to get into. With only 100 seats in its B.Des programme and a mere 275 seats in its M.Des programme, NID is one of those elite colleges you want to be in if you want to be a well-known designer!
How to Apply
NID’s application procedure is quite simple and the candidate is expected to download the application form from NID’s admission dedicated website. Once filled, you must post/personally handover the completed application form with a Demand Draft drawn on any nationalized bank in favor of ‘National Institute of Design’ (Rs.1500 for General and Rs.750 for reserved categories like SC/ST and PH). The fees is non-refundable on rejected applications and those applications selected for the admission tests will receive the hall ticket/call letter somewhere in the month of December. Both B.Des and M.Des programs require that the candidates selected for tests carry their hall tickets, eligibility certificates, birth certificate and other supporting documents like category certificates.
Eligibility Criteria
B.Des- A General category candidate shouldn’t be more than 20 years old and this age limit can be extended to another 3 years for Reserved categories. The candidate must have completed or must be completing his/her Higher Secondary education or equivalents like AISSCE/IB/ISC.
Entrance Exam
NID’s entrance exam Design Aptitude Test (DAT) which is also popularly known as the National Entrance Examination for Design (NEED) is one of the most regarded entrance exams for design in India and also one of the most difficult ones along with IDC’s CEED. There is no particular syllabus to prepare for DAT or NEED and the questions are framed on basic topics like Communication Skills, Composition, Creativity, Drawing Skills, General Mental Ability, Sensitivity to Environment and Subjects of Design.
B.Des Design Aptitude Tests (DAT) comprises of two phases, the first being a written test and Phase 2 being a Studio Test
B.Des
Phase 1: This 3 hour test is for 100 marks and the questions are both visual and textual in type. The test is conducted to gauge the candidate’s aptitude for Design Problem Solving, Visual Sense, Observation & Perception, Environmental Awareness, Mental Ability and Communication Skills.
Phase 2: Phase 2 comprises of a Studio Test followed by Personal Interview and Portfolio Presentation. The Studio Test is further divided into 3 parts- Doodling, 3D Modeling and Observation Test.