NIFT Entrance exam: Last-minute preparation tips

As per students who appeared in the NIFT 2024 exam, the diffiulty level of the GAT paper was easy to moderate. Students also found the CAT paper to be pretty easy.

There were some students who found the GK ans Math sections a bit difficut, but the overall sentiment is the NIFT 2024 exam was easy.

Students mainly found the GK section difficult because it contained a number of history-based questions.

Note that Shiksha will also do exam analysis of the NIFT 2025 exam.

It will cover various aspects like overall and sectional difficulty, expected cut-off, section-wise weightage of questions asked, and other key insights. 

There are no fixed number of sample papers that the candidate needs to solve for the NIFT exam. That being said the candidate must solve as many sample papers as possible to improve ones problem-solving and time-management skills. To get the most out of the sample papers, it is recommended that the candidate starts solving sample papers as early as possible. For instance, the candidate may solve sample questions after completing a chapter. Along with solving the sample papers, it is also important for the candidate to analyze their performance. This exercise will help the candidate identify weak areas or pain points and fix them at infancy.

The Creative Ability Test or CAT will evaluate the intuitive ability, power of observation in concept development, and design ability of the candidate. To prepare for CAT the candidate must develop their observation skills, learn the basics of geometrical shapes, understand conceptualization, learn product drawing and shading. Additionally, the candidate must also work on their line quality. For instance, the candidate needs to ensure there are no jittery or multiple lines. To imporve ones drawing skills, one may start with simple drawings, and then move on to complex shapes. Also, while shading is not so important for the exam, shading skills can definitely help the candidate get a positive nod from the evaluator.

While there is no shortcut to success, it is always possible to achieve more by being smart and making judicious use of ones time. 

Here are some useful tips that will help you prepare for NIFT 2025 exam. 

1. At the outset, quickly go through the NIFT 2025 exam pattern and syllabus. Make sure that you follow the official syllabus and pattern when preparing for the exam.
2. You need to take note if there are any new topics that are being added. Also, check if any old topics are dropped.
3. Ensure you follow only the updated syllabus.
4. Next, get hold of best books that cover the entire syllabus.
5. Make a time table taking into account the difficulty level of each topic and also weightage carried by them.
6. Take notes during study; these notes will come in very handy closer to the exam when you need to do quick revisions.
7. Solve sample papers and previous years question papers.
8. Take mock tests.

NID DAT and NIFT are two of the most important design entrance exams in the country. Both exams have a design aptitude test and many topics that overlap.

So, you can safely solve NID DAT sample papers as well. That being said you first job will be to complete the NIFT sample papers.

The General Ability Test GAT along with the CAT is the 1st stage of the NIFT exam. The test is conducted in a computer-based mode and includes objective-type questions. To prepare for the GAT exam, the candidate must carefully go through the exam syllabus and make a study time table. Next, the candidate has to gather the best books available for the test. When studying for the exam, the candidate must ensure that they not only clear the concepts, but solves all the related problems to better understand the concepts and develop problem-solving skills. Also, after completing a chapter, it is mandatory to do frequent revisions. Another important tool for NIFT GAT exam preparation is sample and previous years question papers.