“Pursuing Design was my dream”, shared Arkita who has cleared NID Entrance Exam 2017. She has secured Rank 8 in Strategic Design Management and Rank 11 in Universal design course offered at National Institute of Design (NID). Although she has made it to the rank list of both these courses, this design aspirants revealed that she would be opting for admission in Strategic Design Management (SDM) course offered at NID Gandhinagar.
Arkita has pursued BArch course from School of Planning and Architecture and she shared that her bachelor’s programme helped her realise her interest in design. A passionate sketch artist, Arkita loves to paint and sketch anything and everything.
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Arkita has already shared the NID DAT (Prelims) prep strategy that she followed to crack the written exam and in this article she will shed light on her experience of appearing for NID DAT (Mains) 2017.
Q. What was the most difficult part of the NID DAT (Mains) 2017 exam?
Ans: As per me, the most difficult part about the Mains exam for NID admissions in to “read between the lines”. The questions put to you are not that simple and straight forward.
Q. How did you prepare for the Studio Test and Interview round?
Ans: So, NID DAT (Mains) has two parts which is the Studio Test and the Interview. So, for the NID Studio Test I tried to explore as many stream specific topics as I could. For the NID Interview round, I would recommend that students remain honest, presentable and humble.
Q. Could you explain the entire process that you went through in the studio test?
Ans: So, I appeared for NID DAT (Mains) twice because I applied for two courses. I appeared for the Studio Test for SDM course at NID Gandhinagar. It was a 3 hours exam and we were made to sit in an auditorium which was thankfully air-conditioned, it was very hot outside. The auditorium was full of chairs and tables. During the exam there was strict surveillance. We were not allowed to talk or borrow things or even getting up from our seats for the three hours.
The three questions that I was asked in my NID Studio Test for SDM course admissions were:
Question 1: A page containing statistical data regarding girl child education and adult literacy and female foeticide. We had to understand it and make it a visual representation so that a layman can understand.
Question 2: We had to list good and bad effects of demonetiation and represent it visually
Question 3: “To control your cow give it bigger pasture”. We had to understand the meaning, explain it in my own words in my own context with an example and represent the same visually
For the Universal Design course, my Studio Test was held at NID Bangalore’s R&D Campus
Question 1: Design a toilet for differently-abled and draw its different views/angles
Question 2: Design signage for given categories (list was given) on transportation to be put up as stickers
Question 3: Make a model of a mobile for grandmother and another one for a child with given material (thermocol) and state the difference in approach in design and elaborate
Q. Any advice for NID aspirants
Ans: I would just like to say that students should be honest, curious and always strive to better themselves.
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Student Forum
Answered a month ago
If there were any clashes of the interview dates with the college/ university exam, then candidates could inform the NID before February 23, 2026. Candidates needed to attach a copy of the timetable attested by the principal and a letter from the principal confirming that the examination dates clash
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Contributor-Level 10
Answered a month ago
NID will not release any Answer Key for B.Des or M.Des programme. It opens a rechecking window with the result.
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Contributor-Level 10
Answered a month ago
Yes, NID has a rechecking Window for the NID Result. This window will check whether all answers are checked or not, and whether the total is correct.
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Contributor-Level 10
Answered a month ago
NID will release the result for B.Des on April 07, 2026. The result be released on the website of NID.
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Contributor-Level 10
Answered a month ago
NID Studio Test for M.Des carries 40% of wieghtage and Interview carries 60% wieghtage. More emphasis is given on the interview by NID.
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Contributor-Level 10
Answered a month ago
No, there is no negative marking in the NID Studio Test. Candidates will be evaluated based on their thinking and creative skills. Studio Test will carry 40% of the total Marks for the NID Mains Exam.
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Contributor-Level 10
Answered a month ago
Yes, NID Studio Exam is a bit tough because it will check your creativity and imagination. You can learn some formulas here and apply them to get the answer. The main objective is to evaluate technical skills and critical thinking skills. So, it is said to be a bit tough.
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Contributor-Level 10
Answered a month ago
It is not at all necessary to take coaching to get a good rank in NID Entrance Exam. It is because the entrance exam will test creative, drawing, and innovative skills of the candidate. Now, a coaching institute can't teach you to be creative or become innovative. But you can take coaching classes f
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Contributor-Level 10
Answered a month ago
National Institute of Design (NID) will release the NID DAT 2026 admission cut-off for the B.Des and M.Des programmes at the time of seat allotment, around May-June 2026. The cut-off will be released as the rank and score of the last candidate admitted to the M.Des program.
NID DAT cut-off for B.Des
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Contributor-Level 10
Answered a month ago
NID DAT, along with NIFT and UCEED are among the most competitive national-level entrance exams in the country. The fact that there are only 425 seats for the B. Des and 347 seats for the M.Des programme makes it very competitive. But that being said, if the candidate prepares well and with the corr
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Contributor-Level 10
Result - 2 Apr '26 - 4 Apr '26
I have my college exams on the day of NID Interview 2026, what should I do?