NIFT Topper Interview 2018: Anmol loves reading, painting & cooking

Anmol Venkatesh completed his Class 12 from MES Pre University College in Bangalore. He scored 83.90/100 marks in NIFT Entrance Exam and secured Rank 46 for Bachelor of Design (BDes) course admissions. Avery happy Anmol shared that that he would prefer joining BDes course at NIFT Delhi or NIFT Mumbai. Aiming to apply for BDes in Fashion Design, Anmol shared that he rigorously started preparing for NIFT entrance exam three months before the exam was scheduled to be conducted.

Shiksha spoke to Anmol to find out how he prepared for the exam, his time management skills as well as mistakes to avoid in the design entrance exam. Read the complete interview below to know how Anmol Venkatesh cracked NIFT Entrance Exam 2018.

I was satisfied with how I performed in both round 1 and round 2 for NIFT admissions but I didn’t expect to get a rank within 50.

My rank in the general merit list is 46 while in the category merit list it is 42. My score out of 100 was 83.90.

I joined DQ labs for both NIFT and NID Entrance Exam coaching.

I actively began preparing about 3 months before the exam. I had enrolled for NIFT coaching at DQ Labs, we had extensive classes that covered the required syllabus apart from providing routine mock tests. I also solved a lot of questions online. I was aware that I was weak in numerical ability and hence I spent a lot of time with the math faculty, solving questions and getting my doubts cleared.

At DQ labs, the material handling classes helped me tremendously for round 2. I practiced working with several materials such as cardboard, wire, Popsicle sticks etc on my own and also attempted several past years’ questions while timing myself to get used to the exam pattern.

I would suggest that applicants go through the past years’ papers of NIFT to familiarise themselves with the kind of questions that come. The time required to do well varies from person to person, I actively began preparing 3-4 months before the examination for DAT while I spent a year working on my drawing and creative skills for CAT. I began preparing for the situation test the day I found out that I had been shortlisted.

The time I spent preparing increased as the exam approached. In the month that preceded the exam, I spent around 2-3 hours every day.

Apart from referring to the study material that my coaching class provided me with, I routinely solved question from a book titled “NIFT, NID/IIFT Entrance examinations” by Arihant publications. I also solved questions from the online material that my coaching centre had provided me with.

Scoring well depends on being proficient in all the required sections. It’s essential to identify one’s weaknesses and to work on them. For instance, I was strong in general knowledge and mental ability while I needed to work on numerical ability. Hence I spent more time solving math problems. I’d suggest applicants to also write mock tests and to time themselves while solving such tests.

I would say that one must be consistent with the preparation and must focus on their weaknesses. It’s necessary to not ignore any section. Solving mock papers helped me a lot.

Applicants must also be aware of how many questions come from which section in order to prepare effectively.

Ignoring the time is a mistake that one must avoid at all cost. Not solving past years’ papers is also a mistake that students might do while preparing.

With the help of the study material I had, I allocated preparation time to all the sections, I spent more time on numerical ability, as mathematics is my weakness. I spent lesser time on mental ability, analytical ability, English and general knowledge as I was confident in these sections.

A month before the exam is when I stopped preparing and focused on doing mock tests to revise what I had studied.

For DAT I ensured that I didn’t spend more than one minute on each question. This gave me enough time to revise and to focus on the math questions that I found to be difficult. It’s essential to carry a timer to the exam. I first solved all the questions that I was confident of and left the difficult questions for the end.

Panicking during the exam prevents us from doing our very best.  It is important to stay calm and to attempt the difficult questions in the end.

Numerical ability was the most difficult part for me

I wouldn’t say that any one section is the deciding factor to do well. One must be proficient in all sections. Although it is hard to be completely be confident about general knowledge as it is so vast.

I’ve always been creatively inclined and hence design appealed to me.

I made it a point to try and not ignore any section of the exam and to approach the creative questions in a novel manner that ensured that my answers would stand out.

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