IIFT 2016: .01 score loss can throw you out; why and how to manage

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MBAUniverse.com News Desk |
September 1, 2016
IIFT 2016 entrance test for admission to MBA (IB) 2017-19 will recognize the significance of even minute decimal fraction of scores to a great extent
One of the CAT toppers in 2015 with 98.01 percentile could score 95.86 percentile in IIFT entrance with a raw score of 48.26 and missed the cut off by 0.24 mark only

IIFT 2016 entrance test for admission to MBA (IB) 2017-19 will recognize the significance of even minute decimal fraction of scores to a great extent. If you lose even a minute fraction of 0.01 mark, you may go out of admission race to MBA (IB) 2017-19 batch. The exam is not about number of questions but it is all about score weightage awarded to each section. This is the reason that despite containing more than 120 questions, the total maximum score is restricted to 100 marks in IIFT entrance exam.

Don’t lose even .01 score: CAT topper missed
Those who have earlier appeared in IIFT entrance or know its features well are aware that scoring 49 or 50 marks in IIFT 2016 can get you through the exam and may open the gates of the institute for you.

Harshit Goswami, student of IIM Udaipur and one of the CAT toppers in 2015 with 98.01 percentile could score 95.86 percentile in IIFT entrance with a raw score of 48.26 and missed the cut off by 0.24 mark only. So if you score 48 you may be out of the admission race but if score 48.8 marks in IIFT 2016 exam, you can expect to be shortlisted by the institute for final selection round.

Attempt questions selectively
It is not necessary that more number of questions in IIFT entrance test will carry more marks. Even the fewer questions in one section can carry higher scores as compared to other sections which may award lower scores despite consisting of more questions.

Different Exam and scoring pattern
The written test for admission to MBA Programme in IIFT comprises 125 to 130 questions with maximum score of 100 marks awarded to more than 125 questions. Accordingly, while there are certain questions which carry less than 1 maximum mark, answers to number of questions are awarded full 1 mark. This creates difference in sectional weightage.

According to Prof S K Agarwal, expert on Verbal Ability and mentor on IIFT preparation, if you do not focus on sectional weightage during your preparation and while attempting the exam, you may go low on merit despite attempting more questions with 100% accuracy in case the weightage awarded to each question in that section is low.

IIFT consists of multiple choice objective type questions (in English). The exam comprises the questions covering English Comprehension, General Knowledge & Awareness, Logical Reasoning and Quantitative Analysis. The candidate may attempt any question from any section during the time allotted to attempt the test in the examination.

Understand the Marking pattern
Marking pattern in IIFT entrance is unique. Questions in different sections and sub sections in IIFT entrance exam carry different marking pattern. While overall maximum marks are 100, the maximum marks allotted to different questions vary from 0.5 to 1. Sectional cut offs also play an important role and a candidate has to clear them as well.

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.

Expert Advice: Keep Balance among sections
Prof S K Agarwal, expert and mentor on IIFT 2016 exam preparation, shares that the 4 sections and their sub sections in IIFT entrance test carry different weightage in calculation of overall score. While it is very important that you must prepare in the manner to get the minimum cut off in each of the 4 sections, it is also necessary that you score overall high score in the exam. This is possible when you attempt more questions from the high weightage sections with speed and accuracy.

Please note that each section needs minimum qualifying score, so take care to target high balanced sectional score in IIFT 2016 entrance exam. Interestingly, the cut off marks for admission to IIFT MBA (IB) programme remain less than 50%. So you need to be accurate while attempting the well selected questions from your strong areas.

Indian Institute of Foreign Trade (IIFT) will conduct the entrance test for admission to MBA (IB) 2017-19 batch for its Delhi and Kolkata campuses on Sunday, November 27, 2016 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. Registration window for IIFT 2016 entrance test is open till September 5, 2016.

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