Hi Arya,

Thanks for asking, Here it is:

3 reasons why you should take a drop:

1. If you’ve score more than 85% in your boards.
2. If you are a Maharashtrian candidate.
3. If the brand values more.

3 reasons why you shouldn’t take a drop:

1. If you’ve scored less than 85%.
2. If you’re not a Maharashtrian candidate.
3. If you really want to study architecture.

Allow me to tell you why.

I know JJ College of Architecture has been ranked as one of the top institutes to study architecture in India but that’s all a hype. The truth is that now, it’s now only a name and a brand and the quality of education has dropped a lot. I’m not saying all these in the air; my friend went to Mumbai last year to study architecture and according to him, the study materials in JJ are outdated and they don’t even cover modern architecture . Moreover, during college competitions, his college performed better than JJians. Yes, it was the first architecture college in India, but its days of zenith and glory are now over. So apart from JJ, there are a lot of architectural colleges to look out for in Maharashtra or elsewhere. It may not be a Tier-I or Tier-II college, but it’ll be worth it if you get the proper opportunities. Also, your boards' marks will matter here because admission to architectural colleges in Maharashtra happens through “Date Maharashtra” and they calculate your merit score by combining your 12th board marks and NATA score. So the higher you score in both, the greater are the chances of you being selected for JJ or any other college.

Another point to add here is that Maharashtrian candidates are preferred over non-Maharashtrian candidates due to the home state rule or whatever. So if it happens that two people have the same merit score but one of them is a Maharashtrian candidate, he/she will be referred first for admissions. So it also depends on that. And as far as taking a drop in NATA is considered, please don’t . The pattern this year has changed, so there’s no knowing how the paper will be. I gave NATA last year for the first time studying for only 7 days before that and got 127/200 easily. But I didn’t take admission in any college because I want to pursue architecture under the architecture branch of the University of Mumbai. Hence my taking a drop was okay. But if your maths is good and aptitude is doable, there’s no point in taking a drop. Drawings are not that hard if you practice them in these 10 days. The rest is a piece of cake as the mode of examination has also changed from half-online, half-offline to entirely offline.

So my take would be that don’t take a drop. Attempt it and see how you perform. It all comes down to that. Rest assured, may you get what you dream.

Please upvote!

Good luck!