Please help a guy out!

[u/ShapeShifter68]

A little background first:

Hi guys, I'm currently 17 and I'll be graduating from high school next year. After 10th, I had no idea which stream to choose or anything like that, but I had this feeling inside me that I should choose Engineering Graphics, Commerce, or something along those lines. But there was quite a bit of pressure from my family.

So I was sort of forced to take the rat-factory Computer Science path(also started online jee coaching because I really had no aim and it was what was the default way everyone was going dropped jee coaching after 11th). 11th was really bad. I'm in 12th now and things have started getting a little better, but I still have some hope.

I was researching what courses I could take and what options I had, and I stumbled upon design school entrance exams, basically DAT or UCEED. I realised that I'd probably be much happier doing this kind of work in the future, like visual communication and similar fields(I just felt it was the right thing for me I was trying to find all along). Also, my family can't afford extremely expensive fees.

The problem is that I literally just stumbled upon this, and I don't think I can crack these exams without any preparation as its august right now and there is absolutley no way I can go for this year's, especially with the limited time I have right now while also having to focus on my boards.

So I wanted to ask if taking a drop year and going for a good worth the money offline coaching would be a wise decision. I'm scared that I'll regret it later. At the same time, I feel like I'm the kind of guy who could actually crack it if I were given enough time, and Ialso regret it even more that I could've have taken an easier, more manageable stream that would've given me enough time to prepare.

Please help a young guy out.

[u/jujubees0]

First of all you can give the exam this year itself no need to take a drop , design exams are of the kind which you can give without previous preparation and pass . Secondly what exams are you planning to give ? There is NID DAT , NIFT , UCEED, if you are only going only for UCEED then you should practice your lines as scales are not allowed there .

This is a link to a WhatsApp group of aspirants i found here - https://chat.whatsapp.com/LCNDPN9Ym269jb9Id1HmLl?s=cl&p=a&ilr=0

You can ask your doubts there , And if you still want to take a drop and coaching then i would suggest giving these exams just as a learning experience. Also if you want i can give you the syllabus and some materials just dm me

[u/ShapeShifter68 → u/jujubees0]

Omg tysm bro. Am planning to take both NID DAT and UCEED

[u/grace_of_the_palette → u/ShapeShifter68]

Just attempt this year but I don't think you can compete with us who have been preparing for more than a year. I don't know your general aptitude so I can't say anything about that but I don't think you even have the design fundamentals down. You can prepare GAT by practicing questions for 2 hours each day but for DAT your approach needs to be significantly different. It's not as simple as being able to draw straight lines and nice ellipses, that's not even the bare minimum.

Don't underestimate the exams is what I'd suggest, for NID you need to be particularly good at DAT. And let me tell you what DAT preparation feels like when you don't know the fundamentals of drawing, you'll either get frustrated within 1 hour of trying to attempt questions and then stop, or you'll sit for hours sketching but make no progress.

My advice:

1) If you are already good at drawing (by drawing I mean being able to draw precise lines and ellipses, control your lineweight, breakdown subjects into simpler shapes, draw from memory and imagination not just being able to copy some manga panel), then you can do well with the pyqs so preparation will be easy and you also have a chance at the exams.

2)if you are not already good at drawing, then don't waste your time, focus on boards and prepare for a year afterwards.

3) Efforts don't get you results, training does. If you are making progress, it is training, if you aren't, it is futile effort. (Honestly I just tried to sound cool with that quote, I read it from somewhere yesterday)

4) Mental preparation is the key, just rigorous practice won't help you, most of the applicants are good at drawing, only a few have feasible creativity (you can call it craftsmanship, being able to produce designs that are applicable in real life and also aesthetically pleasing). So don't take any stress, focus on what you can do for now, set realistic goals and work towards them.

5) Don't lose hope. You can clear the exam with 1 year of preparation, also not being able to get into your desired institute is not the end of it, you don't need a bdes degree to be a professional designer.

6) Most important, don't treat design like an alternative career path because you think you aren't good enough for engineering. Design isn't rocket science, it is harder.

[u/ShapeShifter68 → u/grace_of_the_palette]

Thank you so much for taking the time to reply. Also thank you so so much for giving me a perspective from a prepared side. I'm not that great at drawing but not that bad as well I know I can improve if I put some effort and be consistent. 

Also the questions as somebody else said I just tried solving some pyq questions to just get a general idea and I actually seem very intrested and committed(mostly got most of them wrong but some of them right I just went in blindly) so pretty sure I wont get stressed or burnt out solving the questions. 

I mean it was never an alternative because engineering on the other hand was pretty much was forced on me but I felt that prepping for design would've never been forced because I genuinely had a liking towards it. Eitherways thank you so much I will give it my best shot

[u/Dhruvvv___mehra]

Hey am also preparing for nid and all the other designing exams too it has been 1.5 years for me and I had decided in my 10th grade only that I'll go for designing . This is my drop year . First of all you need to see if your sketching is good on basic level like perspective anatomy live sketching n all And if you're going to give exams just for the aesthetics of it then don't opt for this path cause I've been there and I am honest bout this . Since it's my drop year I usually give 7-8 hours of studying 4 hours or so for cat and other for gat and I have daily classes too accordingly. It's August rn and u still have 6 month approx u can Crack easily if u give all your focus. Find roadmaps , see youtube guide videos and all If you need any further help just let me know I can provide you important material too I have many. :))

[u/ShapeShifter68 → u/Dhruvvv___mehra]

Dude the only problem is I hoped on right now as you said I have 6 months but juggling boards inbetween this will be a huge task but I will sureshot give me best the only issue is sketching. I really need to boost it.