IIFT - 2014 Analysis & Key-TIME

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here

EXAM

for

IIFT

ANALYSIS

2014

key

IIFT

2014

EXAM SNAPSHOT

Section Name (for Set-C. The

sequence of sets was different for
other sets.)

Question area

No of Qs

Marks/Q

Total

Section 1 - Part 1

Data Interpretation

15

15

Section 1 - Part 2

Quantitative Ability

20

20

Section 2

General Awareness

26

0.5

13

Section 3 - Part 1

Reading Comprehension

17

17

Section 3 - Part 2

Verbal Ability

20

0.75

15

Section 4

Logical Reasoning

20

20

Overall

118

Exam

Duration: 2

Negative
Let

us

hours

with

no

Marking: One
have

closer

look

sectional

third
at

the

time
of

individual

sections

100

limit;

sectional

the
before

we

cut-offs

allotted
discuss

the

apply
mark.

cut-off

scenario.

DATA INTERPRETATION (15 Q - 1 mark each) AND QUANTITATIVE ABILITY (20 Q - 1 mark each)
Of the three DI sets, the first one (travelling between different cities via different means) was solvable while the other 2 sets
proved to be very calculation-intensive and students would wish they played it smart and attempted 1-2 questions in the 2nd
and the 3rd sets which were doable with lesser effort. Since the cut-off applies to QA-DI section as a whole, sufficient attempts
in
QA
should
ensure
that
students
don't
miss
the
cut-off.
Quantitative ability section didn't throw too many surprises though the level of some of the questions was definitely a notch
higher than the previous year's. The questions in the QA section continue their legacy of being lengthy while at the same time
intertwining a mathematical problem with a real-life situation. Two questions in the section (8-digit telephone number question
and the question on the ferry carrying passengers to the Rock of Vivekananda) ended up being ambiguous and left the testtakers wanting for more information. Another question based on a pharmaceutical company warranted making a few
assumptions
during
the
process
of
solving
it.
Overall, a good candidate would have been able to attempt around 6-7 questions in DI and 9-12 questions in QA with 80%
accuracy.
GENERAL

AWARENESS

(26

0.5

mark

each)

The section had a bias towards current affairs at the expense of static GK. We could expect the section to have a higher cut-off
than last year. Someone who is not preparing for a competitive exam with GK in it but who casually skims through everyday
news
in
the
papers
and
online
articles
could
also
answer
a
good
8-10
of
those
questions.
VERBAL ABILITY (20 Q - 0.75 mark each) AND READING COMPREHENSION (4 Passages: 17 Q - 1 mark each)
The Verbal Ability part was greatly dominant in vocabulary questions, as was last year's, with as many as ten questions of
various types (Fill in the Blanks, Analogy, Odd one out, spellings and word formations). There were six grammar questions of
three types (Best replacement of the underlined part, Sentence formation and Select the correct sentence). The other
questions
were
the
usual
PFQs
and
Idiom
questions,
two
of
each
in
number.
Barring a few vocabulary questions (the word formation ones) and a couple of grammar questions (Select the correct
sentence), which were time consuming, the section, overall, was easy to deal with, when compared to the RC part. Most

questions could be answered with just quick thinking. An academic observation would not be out of place here: one of the
grammar questions, in which, the test takers were asked to identify the 'correct' sentence from among the given four, was
wrong. All the given sentences had grammar errors, though one was supposed to be grammatically correct.
In the RC part, he four passages were very easy to read and the questions were all direct. They were such that one needed
just to go back to the passages and 'locate' the answers. The flip side, though, was that the passages were pretty long, with
some of them as long as three pages. Also, some of the questions needed relatively more time than the others, as the answer
options
had
to
be
'dealt
with'
with
subtlety.
Overall, a good test taker could have attempted around 7-8 questions in RC and around 10-12 in VA part of the section.
LOGICAL

REASONING

(20

mark

each)

The section had a good mix of selection-based problems, puzzles, input-output problems and other questions that are known to
appear frequently in IIFT. The questions in the section are more difficult compared to the previous year's; a couple of sets in
the section were very lengthy and time-consuming. The cut-off for LR section is expected to come down as a result, as
compared
to
IIFT-2013,
which
saw
easier
caselets.
With the acumen for choosing the right kind of questions, a good student could have solved around 9-11 questions, by leaving
the
lengthy
sets.
Our verdict - Overall, we believe the heightened difficulty in the DI and LR parts of the paper undermines the advantage a
student may have had due to the reduction in the overall number of questions (118 vs. last year's 128). The overall cut-off was
around
47
last
year,
it
is
likely
to
be
in
the
range
42-44
this
year.
Note - 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 meantime, students are advised to focus on preparing for other
tests. T.I.M.E. wishes you the best for the remainder of the exam season.