NIFT 2015 exam analysis for test held on February 22

The NIFT entrance examination held on February 22, 2015, was almost similar with respect to the test pattern of the entrance exam held on February 8, 2015.

View exam anaylsis of NIFT entrance exam 2015 held on February 8.

To start with the paper based test of design, the Creative Ability Test (CAT) paper was similar in previous format. The first question required the students to create a visual communication on any one of the three given topics (a) Education for Girls (b) Environment Protection (c) Road Safety. Evidently the three were social issues which aim at looking into the student’s social consciousness and their ability to identify the root causes plaguing the issues and addressing the same with interesting and creative solutions.

The second question aimed at looking into the student’s ability to remember, recollect and effectively reproduce an impactful/ noteworthy incident for his/her life narrating the same through a picture narrative using line drawing or cartooning in four frames. Here along with the narrative, the choice of incident would also reflect a lot about the psyche of the student. The mood that the incident carries will indicate if the student has an inclination for positivity, negativity, humour, satire, fear, courage et al. It is advisable that the students pick the incident which has depth, leading to a constructive impact on their personality and their outlook towards life.

The third question, this time too, required students to create a mascot for any one of the given campaigns and create a poster for the same. The choice of topic was from among: (a) Sports Promotion (b) Women Power (c) Jan Dhan Yojna (the scheme by GOI to open bank accounts and link subsidies directly to the same). Here I hope, the students were able to maintain the difference between logo & mascot and not confuse between the two. Also it required the students to be updated with the latest happening around the country, their update about the current affairs, understanding of the issue and forming their own view point on the same.

The General Ability paper, for both paper based test (PBT) & the computer based test (CBT) was relatively more approachable this time as compared to the 1^st round. This time the focal segment was comprehension as there were eight passages of considerable length, which seemed a little flummoxing to the students. The business domain segment, as I had hoped, was on the conventional lines, unlike February 8^th. The questions were largely based on brands, Grammy awards, brand associations, pageant titles besides other current affairs & general awareness questions.

As the cycle 2 was not a surprise departure, which though was on unexpected lines, the students felt more confident of handling the same. The cycle 1 not only gave them ample idea of what to expect from the exam but also good two weeks in between to gear up for the same. NIFT also proved quite helpful by not experimenting enough with the pattern the second time round, even picking the general ability content from some very common sources, which today every student has an access to. Wish they had shown some more creativity and novelty in setting a paper for an examination they hold only once a year! Good for students who hope to better their scores with a second attempt for they certainly have no reason to complain. Let’s all now look forward to a tough competition and higher cut offs.

About the Author:

Shipra Anand is the Founder Director of Academy for Fashion Careers in Lucknow