Indian Institute of Foreign Trade (IIFT) conducted the Admission Test 2015-2017 for admission into its two-year program in International Business, on Sunday, November 22, 2014. The test was conducted across various centers in the country between 10 am and 12 noon.
Unlike a relatively easier CAT, IIFT did not prove to be a cakewalk. The hard work done for CAT would have paid off in this paper. IIFT, this year, saw some major changes with respect to both, the pattern of the paper and the difficulty level. While the total number of questions went down from 128 last year to 118, the difficulty level of the paper as a whole went up. This is likely to pull down the cutoffs by at least 8-10 marks.
There were a total of 118 questions spread over four sections with a negative marking of 1/3rd of the maximum marks allotted to that question. The details of the sections are given below:
|
Section |
Total no. of |
Marks per |
Total Marks |
Good Attempts |
Achievable Score |
Sectional |
Ideal Time |
Section 1 |
General Awareness |
26 |
0.50 |
13 |
12-15 |
4-5 |
2-3 |
10-12 |
Section 2 - Part 1 |
English Usage |
20 |
0.75 |
15 |
20-22 |
11-13 |
5-6 |
35-40 |
Section 2 - Part 2 |
Reading Comprehension |
17 |
1.00 |
17 |
||||
Section 3 |
Logical Reasoning |
20 |
1.00 |
20 |
10-12 |
9-11 |
6-6.5 |
20-25 |
Section 4 - Part 1 |
Data Interpretation |
15 |
1.00 |
15 |
14-16 |
11-12 |
6-7 |
40-45 |
Section 4 - Part 2 |
Quantitative Ability |
20 |
1.00 |
20 |
||||
|
Overall |
118 |
|
100 |
56-65 |
38-40 |
35-36* |
120 |
General Awareness
This section of the paper was mostly dominated by current affairs with more emphasis on Business and Sports Personalities. A few questions from Economy were based on Human Development Index (HDI), Census, etc. The remaining questions were largely on expected lines. So, those students who follow GyanDhara and Daily GK Update provided by CL Educate Ltd. on its SIS page would have easily attempted at least 16-18 questions.
The sectional details are as given below:
Topic |
Number of Questions |
Level of Difficulty |
Current Affairs |
16 |
Moderate |
Business and Economy |
9 |
Easy |
Miscellaneous |
1 |
Moderate |
TOTAL |
26 |
Moderate |
Reading Comprehension and English Usage
This was a section that the students could have capitalized on by judiciously selecting the right questions. While RC passages were expectedly lengthy, at least 7-8 questions, which were specific information based, could have been attempted without reading the passages completely. It was not wise to attempt time consuming questions that required evaluation of all the options since the passages were replete with information.
English Usage questions were relatively simpler with moderate level of vocabulary and grammar based questions. A candidate could have easily attempted around 14-15 questions in about 20-22 minutes.
A detailed breakup of the section is given below:
Part |
Topic |
Number of Questions |
Level of Difficulty |
Part 1: Reading Comprehension |
Passage 1: Wigan Athletic |
5 |
Easy-Moderate |
Passage 2: Jemubhai |
4 |
Easy |
|
Passage 3: Garibaldi |
5 |
Moderate |
|
Passage 4: Credit Disbursement |
3 |
Easy-Moderate |
|
Part 2: English Usage |
Grammar |
6 |
Moderate |
Vocabulary |
8 |
Moderate |
|
Spelling |
2 |
Easy |
|
Para Jumble |
2 |
Easy |
|
Sentence Jumble |
2 |
Easy |
Logical Reasoning
Apart from the 4 questions on Verbal Logic and one on sequence, the rest of the questions were difficult and/or time-consuming. There was a particular set of questions which was an ideal set to leave. Most of the aspirants who attempted this set would have ended up squandering 10-15 minutes and thus, would have got under some avoidable pressure. One needed to be extremely careful in selecting questions in this section. One of the sets, here, is present in our preparatory material for MBA entrance exams. An attempt of 10-12 questions in 20-25 minutes is a good attempt in this section.
Topic |
Number of Questions |
Level of Difficulty |
Selection Criteria |
4 |
Easy-Moderate |
Arrangement |
9 |
Moderate-Difficult |
Input/Output |
2 |
Easy |
Series |
1 |
Easy |
Verbal Reasoning |
4 |
Easy-Moderate |
Data Interpretation and Quantitative Ability
Almost all the sets in DI were lengthy and calculation intensive. Unless one is was very fond of attempting DI, this section should have been largely left un-attempted. There was only one set that could have been attempted.
The QA part of this section was reminiscent of CAT of yore. Though there were 5-6 sitters in this overall difficult section, these sitters were camouflaged in lengthy text. There were a couple of questions which could be done by just looking at the options carefully. Overall, the recipe of this section would have been delectable to Quant enthusiasts.
Part |
Topic |
Number of Questions |
Level of Difficulty |
Data Interpretation |
Table based |
10 |
Moderate-Difficult |
Mixed Graph |
5 |
Moderate-Difficult |
|
Quantitative Ability |
Arithmetic |
7 |
Moderate |
Algebra |
4 |
Difficult |
|
Geometry, Mensuration and Trigonometry |
5 |
Moderate-Difficult |
|
P&C and Probability |
3 |
Easy-Moderate |
|
Set theory |
1 |
Easy |
Team CL
Disclaimer: The analysis given above has been prepared by Career Launcher experts. The information given here has no bearing on your actual score. Career Launcher does not take responsibility for any discrepancy between information in this document and the actual result.
B-schools accepting IIFT scores
IIFT entrance exam scores are accepted by IIFT Delhi and IIFT Kolkata. Those aspiring for a career in Foreign Trade should aspire to crack this exam.
CL extends its best wishes to all IIFT aspirants
All the very best!!