How should one prepare for the IIFT?
IIFT (Indian Institutes of Foreign Trade) is a highly reputable college that offers a post-graduate program in management. The college has a limited intake of around 450-500 students per year, and the admission process is based on an online exam conducted by NTA. The exam is of 2 hours duration and provides the flexibility to switch between sections at any time.
When preparing for the IIFT exam, it is important to develop a tailored preparation strategy that takes into account the exam date. For example, if you decide to take the exam six months in advance, you should create a six-month preparation plan, and if you decide to take the exam with only three months or less left, you should create a plan accordingly.
Regardless of when you decide to take the exam, the essential aspects of an IIFT preparation plan include:
- reviewing the IIFT syllabus
- obtaining the appropriate study material and IIFT preparation books
- downloading previous years’ IIFT question papers and online mock tests for practice.
The IIFT exam has four sections: General Knowledge (GK), Verbal Ability & Reading Comprehension (VARC), Logical Reasoning & Data Interpretation (LRDI), and Quantitative Aptitude (QA). When studying for the exam, it is advisable to start with the section that you find most challenging and work your way through to the easiest section. It is also important not to leave any topic incomplete, and to avoid studying multiple topics simultaneously to avoid confusion.
To prepare for the VARC section, focus on developing your reading speed and strengthening your grammar. Read newspapers, editorials, online blogs, novels, short stories, business reports, etc. To prepare for the GK section, read newspapers, and current affairs magazines, and watch business news. To prepare for the LRDI section, focus on understanding the concepts and formulae and practice solving sample questions at least three times. To prepare for the QA section, focus on understanding the basics of Algebra, Geometry, Trigonometry, and Mensuration.
It is also important to keep in mind that there is a negative marking in the IIFT exam, so you should only attempt questions that you can solve with 100% accuracy.
Comments
There is one thing in common with almost all MBA tests i.e. basics. If you are preparing for CAT already then preparing for IIFT will not be a problem. In IIFT, you can skip between the sections and attempt as per your strengths. But, as always, according to the requirement of the exam, you only need to modify the methods.
IIFT is now administered by NTA and conducted through online mode, just like every other MBA entrance exam! There are two pros including –
- We don't have to waste our time circling around the answers.
- From now on, we don't have to get used to the paper based format separately.
Examination Pattern
This examination consists primarily of six parts -
|
Comprehension Reading |
Logical Reasoning |
|
Verbal Skills |
Quantitative Ability |
|
Interpretation of Data |
GK |
The difficulty level of each category is pretty much the same, every year. The number of questions varies from year to year. It's not specified — 114 questions were in 2018, while 123 questions were in 2017. Regardless of the number of questions, the duration of the exam is the same i.e., 2 hours.
This informs that, if we want to seek out the maximum number of questions, we should not spend more than 1 minute on a question.
Section-wise Tips
The suggestion would be that you pick up your strongest section and drill into it, in order to maximize your score there.
- Read articles primarily from different sources such as Aeon, Daily, etc. These could be based on business, economics, top brands and many more. Your habit of reading papers everyday will make you well prepared.
- You do not need to do anything special apart from GK, if you are planning for CAT already. Read daily newspapers like The Hindu for GK and current affairs.
You should concentrate on your strengths, optimize your score there, quickly cross 40 marks and aim for 50. This is what comprises the IIFT exam.
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