NIFT BDes 2018 Topper shares tips to perform well in NIFT Situation Test

Sirigowri Kambalimath secured All India Rank 2 in NIFT Entrance Exam 2018 with an overall score of 89.6/100. Belonging to the General category, she has secured Rank one in her category in NIFT admission test. Being an extremely creative person, Sirigowri put in a lot of hardwork to prepare for NIFT Entrance Exam.

Apart from giving the admission test for NIFT, she also appeared for other popular entrance exams such as – NID Entrance Exam, UCEED, MITID DAT, SEAT, PESSAT DAT, Woxsen and SEED. She prepared for these design entrance exams by undertaking coaching at DQ Labs.

Sirigowri has completed her schooling from Sri Kumaran Children’s Home, Mallasandra and she spoke to Shiksha detailing how she prepared for NIFT written exam and thereafter elaborated on her prep strategy as well as experience of appearing for NIFT Situation Test 2018. Go through the interview Shiksha had with Sirigowri Kambalimath regarding her experience of giving the NIFT Situation Test below:

NIFT Entrance Exam is not difficult. Honestly speaking, it is a very fun test and I enjoyed taking it. The situation test is very interesting and you won’t even feel like you’re taking an important exam.

Some tips to prepare for NIFT Situation Test are as follows:

1) Get as much creative inspiration as you can. I recommend Pinterest, it gives good ideas on model making and related things. You can also opt for DIY’s on youtube.

2) Practice at home. Grab the first 10 materials/objects you see and try to make something out of it.

3) Familiarise yourself with different materials. Most materials would be common ones, but make sure you know what they are and what they can do.

4) Do a quick read up on paper folding and origami. This may help you create more variety of things. It helped me.

5) Every day, take a common object and list various other uses for it. It will help you look at objects differently and help you be more creative.

6) But most importantly, practice. The key to this is being good and familiar with materials.

The situation test is the second round of the exam. It takes place at the NIFT campus of your choice. You just enter the campus and check your roll number and find out which room you are in. Then wait until they allow you to enter the room. You will have to leave your bag and electronics outside and just carry your NIFT hall ticket and the instructed materials.

Some tips to keep in mind during the exam are:

1) As soon as you receive the material, analyse it carefully. Think about the properties of the material, whether it is strong, flexible, sharp etc. Understand the strengths of each material. Make sure you notice every material.

2) Once you are allowed to open the cover in which the materials are packed, lay them out on your table. Keep every material in sight. There are many small materials that may go unnoticed so I would suggest have everything placed in clear view.

3) Figure out which materials are going to be your base. Keep them right in front of you.

4) Make sure your own materials such as glue, tape etc are in good working condition.

5) Once you get your question paper, read it carefully. Be very clear on what they are asking. Don’t go out of topic.

6) Work fast, but maintain neatness. Try to find the fastest way of building your model.

7) Make sure your model stays in place. It must be sturdy by the time the examiners inspect. Don’t use materials that would make your model unsteady or flimsy.

8) Keep the last 15 minutes to describe your model. Do not leave the exam hall without completing the write-up. Even if your model isn’t finished by the last 15 minutes, stop and atleast explain your idea on the paper. Make sure they understand what is in your model. If there is something special about the model that may not be seen at first sight, please mention it in the write-up.

9) Keep a constant eye on the time, don’t hesitate to ask examiners the time constantly.

Honestly, I am not sure about that. But not more than 150, I think.

This year the situation test happened on two days. Both days had different papers, but the questions were similar. On the same day, everyone gets the same paper and there are choices between the questions. You can select any one. There were multiple rooms based on roll numbers.

Yes.

Not really. We were just asked to clear the desk and leave our model and write-up on our assigned seat.