Updated on September 9, 2014

IIFT 2014 MBA(IB) entrance test will be divided in 4 sections consisting of multiple choice objective type questions

IIFT entrance test has 4 core components and out of these four sections GK is an important one that can add 15% more marks to the total score.

One of the top rated B schools, Indian Institute of Foreign Trade (IIFT) conducts separate admission test for MBA(IB) programme. IIFT will conduct the entrance test for admission session 2015-16 on Sunday, November 23, 2014 for its Delhi and Kolkata campuses in 20 cities across India. The conventional paper pencil mode test will be of two hours duration from 10.00 A.M. to 12.00 Noon. Registration and Application process for IIFT admission test 2014 closed on September 3, 2014.

IIFT Exam date Announced: Prepare and Discuss

IIFT entrance test has 4 core components and out of these four sections GK is an important one that can add 15% more marks to the total score.

Sectional division of IIFT 2014 test

IIFT 2014 MBA(IB) entrance test will be divided in 4 sections consisting of multiple choice objective type questions. The 4 sections comprise the questions on English Comprehension, General Knowledge & Awareness, Logical Reasoning and Quantitative Analysis.

Sectional weightage and number of questions

IIFT entrance test doesn’t have any fixed number of questions on any topic. Besides marking pattern varies from section to section and from questions to question. However going by the past trends and since there is no anticipated change in the test pattern, following trend is expected in IIFT 2014

English comprehension is expected to have 36 questions on core verbal ability and on Reading comprehension passages. Total weightage to this section is expected to be around 28%.

Quantitative Analysis is expected to have 25 questions with 25% weightage in IIFT 2014 exam. The difficulty level of questions in this section is comparatively high.

DI & LR section is expected to have 38 questions divided in 2 parts. The DI part will have more weightage than logical reasoning.

General Knowledge and awareness is expected to have 30 questions with a weightage of 15 marks. It is expected that each GK question will carry 0.50 mark.

GK can add 15% with no special skills

Total maximum marks in IIFT are 100 out of which General Knowledge and awareness is awarded 15% marks. GK is the section that can give you an edge. It requires neither any special skill to study nor any concept building to understand the type of questions.

The good amount of weightage to questions on General Knowledge can improve your scores with a regular reading of news papers and periodicals.

It’s not only conventional pattern of GK but also analytical and current environmental awareness of your surroundings which is needed to crack GK in IIFT 2014. In IIFT 2013 the weightage to this section in the test was 14% and a sectional cut off was also needed. The same pattern will be applicable for IIFT 2014.

General Awareness will play the same role in pushing up your merit position in IIFT as other sections can do.

Keys areas of General Knowledge and Awareness

Important components of General Awareness in IIFT entrance 2014 would be as follows-

A. Conventional (Inventions, discoveries, books, authors, personalities, capital, currency)

B. Business, Finance & Economy based

C. Current Affairs India (Political, Social, Sports, Films, awards etc.)

D. International (personalities-Present, global events etc.)

Each part needs due weightage. Conventional GK is available in books; Current GK is based on current reading of newspapers and periodicals; Business & Economics GK reflect the changes in Fiscal and monetary policy, CRR, Repo Rate, Devaluation and up valuation of Rupee.

Please remember current GK-whether Business, national and international has an on-going preparation method and thorough reading of the newspaper only can keep you updated.

Abbreviations: be clear

There may be certain confusing names, events and the aspirants tend to forget the exact description which means you may not be so good to manage the future affairs with this weakness. So have clarity and understand the difference, for example difference among the abbreviations like OPEC, OAPEC, OECD, OIC, APEC, ADB, ASEAN, EEC, EU, EFTA, SAARC, WCC, should be well understood and remembered in context so that you may not forget the same in the testing room.

What to study

Study of any subject is not so vast but easy as the study of General Knowledge or as you put it General Awareness. The best part on preparation for this section is that you do not need any special skill set as required for Quant and Verbal. What you need is your inclination and interest in regular reading of books and periodicals.

Conventional –Books on GK are available in the market and may be considered the best to prepare in a short time like Manorama Year Book, General Knowledge refresher, General Knowledge by S. Chand & Co. and so on. Devote a few minutes every day and try to learn this type of GK as much as possible. Questions based on the topics like Authors of the books, Historical facts & events, Personalities, places, questions based on inventions, discoveries and Geography, Physics, Chemistry, Biology etc

Business, Finance & Economy –This is one of the most favourite sections of GK that appear in the IIFT entrance examination. Business and finance oriented General Knowledge improves your understanding of economic environment, strengthening your IQ and making you better equipped to face the Group discussions and Personal Interviews. Try to cover hot topics in Business, Finance and Economy. Going through them will help you to prepare better for your forthcoming IIFT examination.

Tips to cover Business & Economy

You may confront these questions in different manner like ‘ What is the current CRR’, ‘Difference between CRR & SLR’ ‘ Instruments for money control’, “The authority that can change the Bank Rate of the Country” , ‘Which is the petroleum product from which subsidy has been fully withdrawn’, ‘Budget speech of the President marks the beginning or the conclusion of budget session’ ‘ Where the budget is presented first in Loksabha or RajyaSabha’, ‘Which company is not included in the NAVRATNA companies of India’ and so on.

Regularly read the business, economy page of newspapers like Economic Times periodicals like The week, India Today, The Economist – mark the striking events, read editorials and other articles analyzing various national and international events. Year books, purchased by you, will also be a good help in the preparation.

Current Affairs

Recent announcement by Government, Commonwealth games, creations of additional states, appointments – Private and Public sector, awards. Global happenings that mark their impacts in the country must be well read. Although there is no syllabus for GK, you must brush up whatever you have read. Draw a quick plan to revise and learn.

Regular reading of the national events in the newspapers like The Hindu and the above mentioned ones will be quite advantageous. You need to spend around 15 minutes a day to it and one event will link you to another. Read the associated events as they are also the probable questions.

Experts say

-The time for crawling preparation is over and the need is to shed the human nature of waking up at the eleventh hour.

-Two months are sufficient to prepare, revise, refresh well in this area. The tips to various areas of preparation are appended. You are required to meticulously follow the guided path and rest assured- if you do it, you will succeed.