IIFT 2014: 50 days to go preparation strategy

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MBAUniverse.com News Desk |
October 1, 2014
50 days are left to prepare and take the IIFT 2014 to be conducted immediately after the CAT 2014 is over
Comprising 4 sections, number of questions can be from 115 to 130 in IIFT 2014 entrance test

Indian Institute of Foreign trade (IIFT) is going to conduct admission test on Sunday November 23, 2014 for its prestigious 2 years full time MBA (International Business) batch 2015-17 at Delhi and Kolkata campuses. Registration for IIFT MBA entrance test was closed on Sep 3, 2014. 50 days are left to prepare and take the IIFT 2014 to be conducted immediately after the CAT 2014 is over. The preparation for CAT 2014 will extend a great help for IIFT aspirants.

IIFT 2014 Exam date Announced: Prepare and Discuss

IIFT is a deemed University and MBA (International Business) at IIFT is a six trimester management programme with a focus on International Business for developing a competent cadre of business executives to meet the country's growing requirements for trained personnel in the field of International Business Management. Special attention is given to developing proficiency in one of the three foreign languages French, Spanish and Mandarin.

IIFT MBA(IB) is the specialized MBA programme, admission to which is sought after in such a big way. Ratio of applicants is higher in IIFT than any other MBA/PGDM entrance test. The MBA at IIFT provides a good learning experience and secured future with a legacy of 100% placement. The competition therefore can be rated as tougher than any other MBA entrance test. While there are around 1.70 lakhs CAT 2014 takers for a few thousand seats, the test takers to IIFT-2014 for approximately 220 seats are near about 60 thousand.

IIFT 2014 and other exam have different pattern

While CAT 2014 will be a Computer Based Test, entrance test to IIFT 2014 MBA programme will be a paper pencil based multiple choice question type examination.  Comprising 4 sections, number of questions can be from 115 to 130 in IIFT 2014 entrance test. It generally consists of questions covering English Comprehension, General Knowledge & Awareness, Logical Reasoning and Quantitative Analysis. The time duration of the test will be 2 hours from 10 AM to 12 noon.

Time Management and scoring high are crucial

Time management in IIFT 2014 entrance is a crucial factor as you have approximately one minute per question to answer.

Another feature about this test is that there would be varying number of questions in different sections with varying marking system in the range of 0.5 to 1. The aspirants can expect to get through if they score 45 to 50 percent.  One fourth negative marking is also very important factor to keep you on your guard and avoid any guess work.

What and how to prepare

The need is to focus on preparation strategy for IIFT 2014 in a concerted manner. IIFT despite being a lot competitive is a crack able exam and if aspirants are able to devise a well planned preparation strategy for next 50 days, they can score high in the test.

4 sections in IIFT Entrance test

IIFT 2014 entrance test on November 23, 2014 is supposed to be divided in following sections and number of questions

Section-1 – English comprehension- Part-1 – 20 questions; part-2-RC passages-16 questions

Section-2- Quantitative Ability- 28 questions

Section-3- Logical Reasoning and Data Interpretation – 18 questions on LR; 17 questions on DI

Section-4-General Awareness- 28 questions

Although LR and DI were clubbed in 2012, DI could be separated from LR and might be clubbed to Quantitative Ability, in the forthcoming examination.

The preparation tips for next 50 days

IIFT 2014 aspirants have rare opportunity to prepare for CAT 2014 and IIFT 2014 simultaneously. CAT 2014 will be over on November 22, 2014 and IIFT 2014 will take place on November 23, 2014. Whatever is learnt for either of the two exams will help in another exam.

Those who are preparing and taking mocks well but have missed a few topics should revisit them and gear up for IIFT 2014 entrance.  In fact, the preparation pattern to achieve a high percentile in IIFT is a lot similar to CAT. The test like CAT is full of unpredictable questions based on lesser studied topics.  The advantage is that the preparation topics, practice questions are to be kept on the same line as that of CAT and this strategy will give an edge to the aspirant. 

The add on section is General Awareness which can improve or reduce the percentile, if not taken care of.  Frame a good preparation strategy of topics for next 50 days

Type of questions on English Comprehension in IIFT entrance

What we call Verbal Ability in CAT is the English Comprehension in IIFT 2014 with the difference that it is divided in two parts.  Part-1 consists of Language usage, vocabulary, jumbled paragraphs with 20 questions and part-2 has 3-4 passages of 600-700 words, each followed by 4 questions. Following are the major areas of  preparation and need is to practice everything in both these parts

Part-1 – 2 questions expected on each of following topics

- Para jumbles: You may find two questions based on it. The difficulty level is less than CAT still they consume your time which is very precious in IIFT entrance. Practice them more

-Rewriting of sentences and/or paragraphs: The questions are a reformed version of error correction questions in CAT and if you know simple grammar rules you can crack them.

They are to be placed in grammatically correct order.  The tip is to practice more of them.

- Analogy: 2 questions may be found on similar relationship of words (analogy). The idea is to have the knowledge of vocabulary words and their corresponding usage.  Apart from synonyms, you should focus on more practice of analogy problems.

-One word substitution: 2 questions are expected on this topic.   A few words are given and out of the given options correct option describing the expanded meaning of the same, have to be picked out.  You have to learn, recall the words and practice them.

-Identifying the grammatically correct sentences:  2 questions are likely to appear, asking to identify grammatically correct sentences. It needs understanding of usage of fundamentals.  

- Fill in the blanks:  2 questions might be based on fill in the blanks in 4-5 sentences with correct words/phrasal verbs/vocabulary words.

-Identify correct figures of speech:  2 questions may be found to identify correct figures of speech like simile, metaphor, personification, oxymoron, onomatopoeia, hyperbole, and apostrophe. Suggestion is to practice questions on 20-25 figures of speech, understand their key words that help to identify them.

- Synonyms/antonyms:  2 questions on core synonyms/antonyms may also be found in the test. IIFT asks you to find out the antonyms of the given words. The clue is to learn and practice.

- Correctly/incorrectly spelt words:  2 questions on correctly/incorrectly spelt words may be encountered in the test. Aspirants have to find out the answer options with correct/incorrect spelling in the words.  The tip is to read more and more.  Use in context the similar sounding and confusing words, pronounce them and write them to have the practice.

- Odd words: 2 questions on picking out the odd words in the series may be present in the examination.  Out of the four words three are synonyms and one has some other meaning.  Given to understand that vocabulary is being  prepared well for other exams also,  these questions shouldn’t pose much difficulty.

Part-2 Reading Comprehension

The passages are not very difficult. All the four passages have different difficulty level and are based on business, economics, social and historical events, sports, TV serial etc.

Answers to the questions can also be fairly understood, if the passage has been understood.  The tip is to go for versatile reading especially the articles and editorials in the newspaper to improve the speed of reading with good understanding.   

Quant, DI and Logical Reasoning

These sections need more and more practice apart from understanding the concepts.

Quant prep expert suggests that following topics should be covered while preparing for IIFT 2014 test- Permutation combination, Geometry, Log theory, Menstruation, Algebra, Arithmetic questions on Percentage, Interest, Time, distance, speed/Time & work. Aspirants may also find questions on Integers and Probability in IIFT 2014 exam.

Quant questions are expected to carry a weight age of 1 mark each. 1 mark in IIFT entrance is the highest mark awarded to any question. The 25 questions on Quant therefore carry 25 marks out of total 100 marks meaning that ‘Quant’ covers one fourth part of the entire test.

  Expected number of questions on Data interpretation in IIFT 2014 entrance test is 17 with a weight age of 1 mark each. 17 marks out of 100 can be scored with a little more concentration and close reading of the given data twists in the questions.

The  score will help you get a meritorious standing.

DI requires a consistent preparation and practice.

Maximum questions are based on the Information in tables, charts, graphs, bar diagrams.

Candidates are required to study the Same, understand it well and arrive at the right answer option. 
 
Logical Reasoning may have 18 questions with a weight age of 0.75 marks per question  in IIFT 2014.

LR is the second part of DILR section in IIFT entrance exam.

Topics on  Logical Reasoning can be prepared well with more practice and natural human instincts. 

Major topics to be prepared are blood relations, seating arrangements, series, analogy,  sets, statements, arguments, conclusions. LR in IIFT may not be rated as rather difficult,

uestions are doable and IIFT 2014 aspirants can crack this part with a little more  practice. 
  

General Awareness: Prepare well and score high

Expect 28 to 30 questions on General Knowledge with a weight age of 0.50 mark per  Question. It is supposed to cover 14 to 15 percent of total weight age in IIFT 2014 entrance 
Test.

General Knowledge section can improve your scores with a regular reading of news papers and periodicals.

Aspirants are advised to go for conventional reading of General Knowledge as well as Current affairs. Conventional GK can be learned from Books, year books and other sources. focused reading of news papers, periodicals is required to have the up-to-date knowledge of current affairs.

Important points

IIFT entrance test is a paper pencil test, so practice on MCQ sheets available in market Avoid wasting time on one question. You may have less than one minute per question as against in CAT where you have approximately 3 minutes per question.  Time consuming, confusing questions with doubtful answer options may not be attempted to save time and to avoid the penalty.

Every section is important since sectional cut off is also applicable in this examination.

Do not be panicky, maintain you’re cool. If the examination is too difficult or lengthy, it will go for lower cut off and vice-versa.

Read all the options carefully before going to darken the circle.

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Stay tuned to MBAUniverse.com for more tips on IIFT 2014 preparation