Indian Institute of Foreign Trade (IIFT) will conduct the entrance test for admission to MBA (IB) 2016-18 batch at its Delhi and Kolkata campuses on Sunday, November 22, 2015 in 20 cities across India. The entrance exam will be paper pen based and will be of two hours duration from 10.00 A.M. to 12.00 Noon.
IIFT entrance exam is considered a bit more difficult than any other MBA entrance test like CAT/XAT/SNAP. But despite the difficult and lengthy entrance examination, more and more aspirants register and apply to grab one of the 360 MBA (IB) seats that IIFT offers. IIFT proposes to offer admission to 360 students to its flagship MBA (IB) 2016-18 programme at Delhi (220 seats) and Kolkata(140 seats) campuses.
Ratio of IIFT aspirants is even higher than the CAT aspirants. The 2.18 lakh CAT 2015 aspirants compete for a few thousand MBA seats, whereas there are about 60000 test takers for 360 seats in IIFT 2015, reflecting the importance of MBA(IB) at Indian Institute of Foreign Trade.
The 100 percent placement record of MBA (IB) students getting high compensation packages makes IIFT more fascinating than any other MBA/PGDM entrance exam.
Difficulty level
According to Prof S K Agarwal expert on IIFT test preparation, the written admission test to MBA (IB) Programme in IIFT 2015 is expected to have moderate to high difficulty level. The test paper has variety of questions based on almost all the topics. What an aspirant might miss in CAT 2015 may find prominent in IIFT 2015 entrance test. Interestingly, IIFT 2015 entrance test is going to be conducted just a week before the exam date of CAT 2015 to be held on Nov 29, 2015.
4 sections with varying number of MCQs
IIFT 2015 MBA(IB) entrance test will be divided in 4 sections consisting of multiple choice objective type questions. The 4 sections comprise the questions covering English Comprehension, General Knowledge & Awareness, Logical Reasoning and Quantitative Analysis.
There is no fixed number of questions in IIFT 2015, total or section wise. While total number of questions could be anywhere in a range of 120 to 130, section wise pattern could go anywhere from 25 to 40 questions in each section.
Quant: High weightage & LOD
IIFT 2015 exam proposes to award higher weightage to Quant section. IIFT 2015 exam may club DI part to Quant as was done in its last entrance test since the weightage to each question in both the sections is equal. The difficulty level of questions in Quant section is supposed to remain high. In case Quant and DI form single section, it will have maximum number of questions and highest weightage in the entrance exam.
25 questions on Quantitative Analysis are expected in IIFT 2015 exam. The difficulty level of questions in this section is high and aspirants are advised to practice specific IIFT type of questions. Synchronising the preparation for IIFT with CAT will accelerate the preparation pace with less effort for both the tests.
Quant questions are expected to carry a weightage 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. Hence the importance is more in the test.
According to IIFT Quant prep expert following topics should be covered while preparing for IIFT 2015 test- Permutation combination, Geometry, Log theory, Mensuration, Algebra, Arithmatic questions on Percentage, Interest, Time, distance, speed/Time & work. Aspirants may also find questions on Integers and Probability in IIFT 2015 exam.
DI - reasonably high LOD; covers 20%
DI has 20% weightage in IIFT entrance test and requires a consistent preparation. 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. This can be done if they have studied and practiced such problems well.
Data Interpretation is expected to carry high weghtage in IIFT entrance test. Expected number of questions on Data interpretation in IIFT 2015 entrance test is 20 with a weightage of 1 mark each. 20 marks out of 100 if scored will help you get a meritorious standing to get shortlisted in IIFT admission 2016.
Strong English Fundamentals
IIFT 2015 entrance test is expected to have more questions based on English grammar including parts of speech and tenses in core form. The difficulty level of such questions may not be rated very high but still the IIFT 2015 aspirants should not only know the usage but also must know how differently they are used.
According to Prof S K Agarwal, IIFT 2015 aspirants need clear and better understanding of concepts and are supposed to devote more time on practicing various topics of English Language Comprehension.
The English Language comprehension section in IIFT 2015 entrance test is expected to be divided in 2 parts – Verbal Ability usage and Reading Comprehension passages. The first section may have 20 questions while the second section may carry 15-16 questions based on Reading Comprehension passages.
English comprehension in IIFT 2015 is supposed to have 35-36 questions with a weightage of 0.75 mark per question. Although questions are not very difficult, the preparation strategy requires constant study and practice on different topics. Total weightage to this section with 35+ questions is expected to be around 26 to 28%.
Logical Reasoning covers 15%: practice well
Difficulty level in Logical reasoning is fairly high but the questions are doable and IIFT 2015 aspirants, if prepare well, as they must be doing, can crack this part with a little more practice.
Preparation for this section can be well synchronised with the CAT 2015 preparation. The best part of preparation is that most of the candidates who have applied for IIFT 2015 are also the CAT 2015 aspirants. While IIFT 2015 will be over on November 22, CAT 2015 will be on November 29, 2015 just a week after. For most of the IIFT aspirants, no separate study and practice on LR will be required.
Logical Reasoning may have 20 questions with a weighatge of 0.75 mark per question in IIFT 2015. The total score comes to 15. LR may or may not be clubbed to the DI section in IIFT entrance exam. It can be a standalone section with 20 questions.
Major topics to be prepared on LR are blood relations, seating arrangements, series, analogy, sets, statements, arguments, conclusions. All the above are IIFT favourites and require more in depth study and logical thought process to solve. Topics on Logical Reasoning can be prepared well with more practice and natural human instincts.
GK in IIFT: Score improving tool
IIFT 2015 aspirants can expect 28 to 30 questions on General Knowledge with a weightage of 0.50 mark per question. It is supposed to cover 14 to 15 percent of total weightage in IIFT 2015 entrance test. The good amount of weightage to questions on General Knowledge can improve your scores with a regular reading of news papers and periodicals. According to Prof S K Agarwal, expert on IIFT preparation, the difficulty level is not high except for the fact that aspirants should keep themselves updated about the current affairs.
IIFT aspirants are advised to go for conventional reading of General Knowledge as well as current affairs. While the 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. More GK questions on Business, economics and international trade can be expected in IIFT 2015 exam.
Marking with 1/3 penalty
IIFT entrance test is the only highly reputed management entrance test which has varying marking pattern for every question. The marking weightage in IIFT 2015 may vary from question to question or from section to section in the range of 0.5 to 1 mark per question.
Penalty of one third marks will be awarded for every wrong answer. The candidates therefore have to be careful to avoid this negative marking by choosing the answer options with well calculated thought process.
Prof S K Agarwal, expert and mentor on IIFT 2014 preparation shares that the varying weightage in each section of IIFT 2014 entrance test can guide IIFT aspirants to plan their preparation strategy during next 1 month. IIFT 2015 aspirants have to clear the sectional merit along with overall merit. Accordingly Prof S K Agarwal advises the aspirants to focus on balanced sectional scores while aiming for good scores across sections.
Related Article
IIFT 2015: Don't underestimate importance of GK; Know the 2 month preparation strategy
IIFT 2015: English Comprehension to play major role; 5 key topics to Prepare for success
IIFT 2015: Registration closes tomorrow on Sep 3; no extension in deadline proposed
Puzzled! How to synchronise CAT 2015 & IIFT 2015 preparation; expert advice
IIFT 2015: with or without a changed structure and content; be careful in preparation
IIFT 2015 Registration; offers online & offline process; Complete in 3 steps in few minutes
IIFT 2015 Registration opens for MBA (IB) Admission 2016; Entrance Test on Nov 22, 2015
Will IIFT 2015 have changed face like CAT 2014: History and experts say 'No'
Stay tuned to MBAUniverse.com for more updates on IIFT 2015 preparation
