To get admission in a B arch college one has to crack NATA, The National Aptitude Test in Architecture. It is conducted by National Institute of Advanced Studies in Architecture which is under Council of Architecture, New Delhi. It is a national level common entrance test which when successfully qualified provides the doorstep to seek admission to the 5 years undergraduate course in Architecture. Criteria for application of NATA are:
- Candidate must pass Senior Secondary Examination (10+2) with at least 50% marks.
- Candidate must have Physics, Chemistry, and Mathematics as the subjects of 12th standard.
- Candidates who have (10+3) diploma with an average of 50% marks in aggregate in any stream from Central or State Government.
While NATA is a compulsory examination conducted by Council of Architecture, JEE Mains Paper 2 is for admissions to B. Arch/ B. Planning courses at NITS and other Technical Institutions founded by the Centre. Most Colleges/ Institutes accept only NATA scores. It is almost as difficult as JEE Mains Paper 2. There are 2 papers in the exam. Paper – 1 contains General Aptitude and Mathematics. Paper – 2 consists of Drawing Test. The total duration of the 2 papers is 2 hours and 15 minutes, from 10 am to 1:15 pm.
One can apply in top architectural colleges of Pune through NATA. NATA sample papers are available. The difficulty level of the paper can well be understood. The first 90 minutes are allotted for General Aptitude while the last 90 minutes for the drawing section. Forms can be filled up online, but the exam is basically of offline mode. There are 60 questions of a maximum of 120 marks. Negative marking is not there.
Best architectural colleges must have the following:
- Practical based innovative teaching.
- Experimental learning.
- Site visits for Technical Exposure.
- Educational Tours to gain a creative edge.
- Interaction with renowned architects.
- Industrial visits to acquire first-hand knowledge of Real-World
- Participation in National Design Idea Competition.
- Workshop to enhance the student’s skill.
Top 10 Architecture College in India are :
- IIT Kharagpur
- IIT Roorkee
- School of Planning and Architecture, New Delhi
- College of Engineering, Trivandrum
- School of Planning and Architecture, Bhopal
- Anna University, Chennai
- JNAFAU School of Planning and Architecture, Hyderabad
- Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi
- National Institute of Technology, Hamirpur
- Manipal Academy of Higher Education ( Architecture), Udupi.
Candidates must score 40% or more marks in NATA in order to qualify. 80 marks out of 200 should be scored. However in 2018 the cut off was 50% with at least 25% in MCQ and at least another 25% in the Drawing section, that is, a total of 50% marks. The NATA cut off marks varies from year to year and from college to college. The cut off is evaluated on the following factors:
- The number of candidates who have appeared in the NATA exam.
- The number of passes candidates.
- The difficulty level of the question paper.
- Percentage of marks obtained in the 12th
Top Architectural colleges of Pune through NATA are:
- Singhgad College of Architecture
- Dr Dy Patil School of Architecture
- Marathwada Mitra Mandal’s College of Architecture
- College of Architecture, Pune
- Allana College of Architecture.
- Bharti Vidyapeeth College of Architecture.
