IIFT – 2013 Key & Analysis

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Exam Analysis – IIFT 2013

At the outset, the exam this year marks a slight departure from previous year papers with easier DI/LR, and VA/RC sections. The nature of questions in the GA section was on the more familiar side. There was a reasonable number of solvable questions in QA as well. Overall, it would be tempting to generalize that the exam is easier this year. However, before we draw any such conclusion, let us take a detailed look at the sections:

Exam snapshot

Exam Duration: 2 hours with no sectional time limit; sectional cutoff to apply.
Negative Marking: One third of the allotted mark.

* The suggested cutoffs are based on our assessment of the correlation of the difficulty level of the test with the earlier tests, the published information regarding the cutoffs for earlier tests, the feedback from the students, the changes in the pattern/distribution of topics within a section etc. Please consider these to be indicative only. You must exercise caution while drawing any judgement on the basis of these suggestions as the actual cutoffs may vary from the suggested scores.

Data Interpretation (19 Q – 1 mark each)

The section was similar to the earlier tests in terms of the quantum of calculations required. However, the questions were quite direct and with perseverance and concentration, one could have solved almost all questions. The set on characteristics of select Indian industries can be classified as difficult on account of the calculations needed. Most students would have attempted at least 15-16 questions in the section and would expect to get at least 80% of them right.

Logical Reasoning (20 Q – 0.75 mark each)

The questions from the LR area were easy-moderate in difficulty barring the first set (Professors and their contributions). The data in the set was inadequate to arrive at a definite arrangement and therefore some of the students may have spent a little extra time trying to be certain of our answer choices. However, going with the spirit of the test, one could have marked answers even without getting an exact configuration. The critical reasoning question on the number of employed youth may have a few of the students stumbling. Barring these, the remaining questions were quite doable. The average number of attempts in the section should be in the range of 15-17 with around 85% accuracy.

General Awareness (28 Q - 0.5 mark each)

Students who have seen the GA section of IIFT from yore would have been delighted with the familiarity of the questions. Statistics based questions were conspicuous by their presence. The cutoff in the GA section has always been the nemesis for a lot of otherwise high-scoring candidates with many students struggling with even the very modest cutoffs of 1.5-2.5 marks. Considering the familiarity of the questions, it would be reasonable to expect 15-18 attempts in the section with at least a 75% accuracy.

Verbal Ability (20 Q - 0.75 mark each)

This part of the exam was a good mix of Vocabulary based questions, idioms, grammar based questions and paragraph formation questions. There has been a larger emphasis on Vocab based testing than the other two testing areas. However, some of these questions could be answered by elimination (especially the match two columns questions). The paragraph formation questions had plenty of clues to help arrive at the right answer.

The three grammar questions were as good as sitters for a student who has prepared with T.I.M.E. The questions on idioms could be answered by elimination and one of the spell-check questions was a give-away. Overall, a student should be able to attempt 12-15 questions with 75% accuracy.

Reading Comprehension (16Q - 0.75 mark each)

The passages looked long but the questions were not very tricky. There were four passages with four questions for each. Most of the questions were based on a direct reference to particular parts of the passages. A student should not have spent more than 20 minutes to solve the section with 75% accuracy as there were no questions that required extensive analysis of the passages to draw an inference.

Quantitative Ability (25Q - 1 mark each)

The section was easily the most difficult of the sections – with questions ranging from sitters to very difficult. The performance in QA will possibly be the differentiator in the overall test. A few questions were particularly tedious and were best avoided:

Q1**: One may be tempted to minimize the number of red balls – and even end up with negative number of balls. But the answer was 'none of the above' even as option A was very close to the final equation.
Q4: The information given in the question can not be used to arrive at any combination of values that may satisfy both the conditions mentioned.
Q10, Q11: Most students would not be very comfortable with the application of conditional probability. Also, Q11 required one to assume that QA and LR are disjoint and collectively exhaustive sets.
Q19: The language of the question made it difficult to understand which part of the first alloy was being combined with which part of the second alloy.
The easier questions in the section were Q2, 5, 7, 8, 13, 14, 16, 22, 23 and 25. Several questions were very similar to the one's we may have solved as a part of our CAT prep or even school curriculum (smallest value of the expression, path inside a rectangle etc.). Another comforting element in the section was that the answer choices were not very close (barring the none of these options) and therefore one could have saved on unforced mistakes. One could have attempted around 15-17 questions in the section with 80% accuracy.

** The sequence of questions within a section was same for all the sets. Therefore, the question numbers may be correlated with any set in the same sequence.

Take Home for the upcoming tests:

1. If a test has sectional cutoffs, you are expected to show your proficiency in each area. The following things should be kept in mind:
   
   1. Take the first 3-5 min to go through the test and get a feel of the difficulty level of the test. The exams keep changing the difficulty/composition of the areas and it is strongly advised that you do not go with any preconceived notions regarding the same.
   
   
   2. Allocate 5-8 min for the General Awareness section. The questions in GA do not take a lot of time to solve.
   
   
   3. Apportion the remaining time among the sections keeping aside the last 15-20 min. The last 15-20 min can then be allocated to a section/area where you may be able to attempt more questions or where you may need to write additional questions to be on the better side of the cutoff.


2. You must exercise caution while drawing any judgement on the basis of the suggested cutoffs as the actual cutoffs may vary depending on the institutes' changing their admission criteria, increase in the number of seats etc.


3. The second stage shortlist for IIFT is common for both the campuses. Also, IIFT usually declares the written exam results in under a month of the written test. In the meanwhile, you may focus on other tests. The preparation for the GDPI stage may be taken up on a serious basis once the results have been declared.