Design at IIT - A student leads a collaborative design community for entrance exams

Design is a field that has been growing exponentially. Terms like Industrial Design, UI/UX and Visual Communication have started becoming prevalent, However, there is a lack of information about design entrance exams and the entire process on the internet. Entrance exams for IITs like CEED (Common Entrance Exam for Design) do not have enough spotlight on educational applications or public platforms like Youtube. If you cannot afford expensive coaching classes, you are left all by yourself, with hardly any guidance or help. Facing the same problem during his preparation, Dhanish Shah, who is currently pursuing his M.Des at IIT Delhi, chose to help design aspirants by sharing his experiences via Youtube videos for FREE. He also started a community called The Dream Team, where he could interact with students one on one and guide them personally.

"The Dream Team is a dedicated focus group of design aspirants that are on a mission to crack IIT and NID", says Dhanish. "I gave my CEED in the year 2021, with a category AIR 9 and an open rank of 355. Also, in the same year, I cleared the NID prelims and mains with an AIR 2. I run the Podcast, Living the Dream, where I invite design students from other IITs /NID. The main motive, is to help as many design aspirants looking forward to the entrance exam, to share all the knowledge, all the struggle that I went through in the last one year. I did not have enough guidance, and I never want any other aspirant that cannot afford expensive coaching classes to feel helpless. It's inspired by Super 30 you can say!", said Dhanish.

This year, The Dream Team mentored by Dhanish had exceptional results. Out of the community that has 1500+ members, over 250+ students cleared the exam and 100+ aspirants got admissions in IITs and NIDs. One of the rankers, Jairaj Meta said, "Due to the COVID pandemic, many aspirants were unable to pay for coaching, but with his help a lot of students have qualified for CEED 2022 for free, he has an extraordinary skill set in the area of teaching design, he managed to guide hundreds of aspirants every day for design relevant as well as personal problems." 

Topper of CEED 2022, Suraj Singh shared, "Dhanish Shah has never demanded any monetary benefits against his work for helping the future aspirants and made sure quality material and information that won't misguide the viewer, is published. His videos along with so many others have helped me a lot in my journey and I was fortunate enough to secure an AIR 1."

CEED 2022 AIR 4, Aparajita Prasad shared, "I had the pleasure of being mentored by him to give shape to a common goal- which was to secure a good rank in the CEED 2022- A gateway for admission to the country’s top institution; Which he was able to crack, and now manages to contribute and give back to the community by mentoring thousands of aspirants realise and achieve this goal." 

Sukhdev Kumavat who got into IDC shared, "In those crucial phase of my exam preparation, Dhanish has given so many insights about the exam. The zoom meetings, strategies, portfolio preparations, and weekly tasks have always been useful to me as well as all the fellow aspirants. Dhanish has guided me throughout the journey without anything in return. I just wanted to be into a good college but now I have got a seat into IIT Bombay. He has been more like a friend to me than a mentor who is ready to take my ups and downs as well. I'm really grateful for him!"

Abhijeet Mooley, who got into IIT Delhi shared, "Dhanish has been a huge help to me and other countless aspirants who were striving to get into the country's top design schools. Having discovered Dhanish's Youtube playlist regarding design exam preparation and I became part of his design community. Dhanish, with the most benevolent of intentions, started this venture to give back to the design community by sharing his knowledge, learnings, and experiences. He has been a true mentor and support system to all the aspirants." 

The results were declared in the month of July, almost 1 year after Dhanish started The Dream Team. "All the sweet messages, positivity and overflowing love that I have received in the last 2 weeks has just been so overwhelming!", says Dhanish. “Since the results have been out, all I've been doing is shedding a tear, on every admission. Thank you to everyone who was a part of the podcasts, this couldn't have been possible without you! Obviously, all the credit goes to my warrior mother, who has been a strong pillar of support throughout this entire process. Next mission - CEED & NID 2023. Here we come!”

Youtube - https://www.youtube.com/c/DhanishShah 

Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/dhanishshah/

Linkedin - https://www.linkedin.com/in/dhanishshah/