Hello Aspirant

The Creative Ability Test (CAT) is the national level test for admission in courses of design. This is applicable for both undergraduate and postgraduate courses. CAT is designed in such a way that the individual is assessed on his/her drawing skills, observational skills, creative ability and knowledge about the field of design. This entrance test is conducted by NIFT every year.

For the overall good performance in the exam, one should research well before the exam and manage their time properly. The students should focus on the exam step by step and not jump to other situations.

Students should get previous papers and practice repetitively. This will help them to get the hang of it.

There are many ways to improve drawing skills -

1. Draw anything

One way to be good at drawing is to keep drawing. You can draw any random image or a random abstract drawing. This would help you to use your drawing tools efficiently.

2. Understand art and drawings

If you try to understand a bit of art history and the thoughts that run behind any artwork, you might be able to draw better, Your thought process is reflected by your drawings.

3. Draw from professional sketches

This would help you to understand the technical aspect of drawing. Every line drawn has an impact and you must understand its value.

4. Draw from your surroundings

Observe around yourself and fix scenarios in your mind and then try to draw certain parts of the scenarios. This is not just a drawing exercise but also a memory exercise and it would help you to create drawings more quickly,

5. Join a drawing class

This should be your first step actually. A drawing teacher can help you in many ways that self-drawing practices can't. A routine drawing session also will improve your skills drastically.

Drawing is not a very technical skill and it can be learned through time, effort and practice. Buy some beginner level drawing book and keep on practicing on it. Try to finish one page every night before sleeping.

Have an open mind. Imagination can lead to very beautiful drawings. Also, observe everything around. Ideas mostly come from your environment.

I hope that you are able to clear your CAT exam.

If you have any queries then please post them in the comments section.

Thank You

Hi,

You don't really need drawing skills to clear CAT exam. CAT (Common Admission Test), is the computer-based test held in India. CAT has 100 questions to be answered in 180 minutes. CAT has three sections:

1. Quantitative Ability (QA): There are 34 questions in this section. The questions test your mathematical and mental skills. The mathematics required is only class 12th level maths and it is not really tough. There are different topics like time & distance, probability, Number System etc.

2. Data Interpretation & Logical Reasoning (DILR): This section has 8 sets of 4 questions each which make 32 questions in total. It has two types of questions. First, data related questions where you are given certain data in the form of a table, histograms or pie charts and you have to analyze the same to answer the questions.

3. Reading Comprehension(RC): This section has 34 questions. For the past few years, 24 questions have been asked based on some unseen passages. Typically, 6 questions each on three long passages and 3 questions each on short passages. Rest of the questions are based on grammar and vocabulary like forming a paragraph from different sentences, identifying the correct summary of the given passage.

Speed and accuracy are the two keys for success in CAT.

You can first learn the concepts for QA and DILR on every topic from any of the standard books for CAT. Then, once you learn the concepts, try applying those to answer the questions. you will reach a level after solving 50-60 questions on every topic after which you will be able to answer most of the questions on that topic.

For the RC section, you should develop a reading habit. You can start reading novels and editorials from newspapers like The Hindu which will develop a skill in you to identify relevant information from readings. And for grammar and vocabulary part, again you need to practice the questions from any standard book.

You will gain the skill to answer the questions correctly from the above-mentioned steps. But to gain speed, you should give timed mock tests of CAT. I would suggest taking at least 25 mock tests before the actual examination.

I hope this gives you some idea on how to prepare for CAT exam. you don't really need drawing skills.So, you don't need to worry about that.