JKLU has one of the best design programs in India, both at Bachelors level (B.Des.) and Masters level (M.Des.). Since the beginning of our Design program in 2019, our philosophy has been that the admission process should identify students with creativity and interest in Design and not a process which will find ways to reject students because of mismatch between demand and supply. We do this by having an entrance test that tests the aptitude, and have a portfolio round where there is an interaction with one of our faculty members. We also look at school performance and any extra-curricular activities that the student may have been involved in. So, overall a holistic evaluation of each student. We have been very selective about the design aptitude and creativity as seen through portfolio. And even if our batch-size was only 45 when we were preparing our infrastructure for 60, we would not admit students just to fill seats and collect tuition income.

In the past, we used to offer entrance tests through an online testing partner who would do the online monitoring through webcam, etc., and hence students could take the test on any day from their homes or any place of their choice. With increasing number of applications for our design programs, it was becoming difficult to manage testing 2-3 times every week. So we announced this year that we will have our Design Entrance Test (JKLU-DET) on fixed dates and in centers across the country.

We have multiple test dates since students have different constraints and one date does not suit them all. Also, the student may be unwell or have other issues on a particular day. So we want students to take the test when it is most convenient for them to do so. Also, they should have the option to repeat the test, if they are taking a test on an earlier date, just like the Joint Entrance Exam (JEE) for engineering admissions. Hence we have decided that the tests will be conducted on February 4th, March 18th and April 15th. Some people prefer early admissions (and there are many advantages in early admission at JKLU as discussed in my previous blog on scholarships for Design). They would have already registered for the test on 4th February. 18th March is in the middle of board exams and hence no other university is conducting its entrance test then. But a large number of students in the country drop a year and take college admission next year. These students should find the 18th March date as the most suitable for them. And those who want to worry about college entrance after their board exams are over, may find 15th April as the most convenient. Of course, there will be some who want to take the test more than once.

The test would be for a duration of 90 minutes. It will consist of 30 MCQ questions and two subjective questions which may involve drawing by hand. The answer will be scanned at the center and submitted.

As I write this blog, the deadline for filling application for the first test is about to be over. But you can fill up application form for the second or third instance of the test. If you are interested in studying Design, you should fill in the application at the earliest. As I have mentioned in the earlier blog, earlier rounds have a much more liberal scholarships. Second, while we will certainly keep some seats vacant for the third round, it will be lot more competitive. Third, early admissions give everyone a peace of mind and there is no risk in the sense that the entire advance fee paid is fully refundable till mid-July. Only a small admission fee is non-refundable. And the refunds are processed fairly quickly by us.

Our first batch is graduating this year and they got absolutely fantastic summer internships last summer and now have joined top places for their 8th semester project (also known as Graduation Project), which means that the placement of the first batch will be at great places. This is creating waves already and the number of applications for our Design programs till Jan 31st this year are more than what we had till March 31st last year. So the expectation is that the third round will be much more competitive than the first two rounds.

Here are some important links for more details:

Institute of Design, JKLU

Admissions to Institute of Design, JKLU

Admissions site of JKLU