Esha Singh's Review On NIF Global Andheri, Mumbai

NIFT is amongst the best design institutes in India. One has to clear an all India NIFT entrance examination to get through. There are 13 NIFT(2010) centres across India. The quality of infrastructure and exposure differs from city to city. Delhi, Mumbai and Bengaluru are the most preferred centres.

College placements as far as internships are concerned weren't great. Getting a stipend is tough, considering the field is such. Working under Stylists, art directors, or photographers does not pay much. The internships range from pro-bono to 15,000 a month. One internship is compulsory after the third year.

As mentioned above, college placements weren't great. We had brands like Shopperstop and HUL offering a 4-lakh package with a one year lock-in for visual merchandising. The highest package offered was 6 lakhs. My starting salary at a fashion house as a graphic designer paid 30,000 in hand.

There were many small events in college from time to time. The college fest SPECTRUM being the most important one. Unlike other college fests of Bombay, the NIFT fest is not very popular. Since the college is in Navi-Mumbai, it does not attract too many people from main city.

On an average, the fees were Rs. 60,000 per semester. A side from that getting a subsidy (scholarship) was extremely difficult. The fees included tuition, library fees and medical insurance. Apart from that, the hostel fees were approximately Rs. 36,000 per year including meals.

Since this was a government college, the scholarships were in the form of subsidies. These were extremely hard to come by, and applicants had to go through a thorough screening process.

Alumni meets are few and far between, but they are easily accessible through the alumni social media network. Since it is one of the only colleges in the field, you tend to meet seniors and alumni in the course of your professional career.

Exams were practical submissions. Very interesting. Extremely hectic. I believe the best bit that everyone remembers about NIFT, is the submissions. From tedious deadlines to having absolutely no text books, the exam structure helps inculcate time management and team skills in students.

The NIFT preliminary round used to be a 6 hour exam divided into two halves. The first half was a General Ability Test (GAT-mental aptitude test)- divided into three sections- Maths(basic), Logic and General Knowledge. The second half was a creative ability test (CAT)- questions based on colour theory, memory drawing, visual communication.