Over the last few days, a lot of our students have been asking for tips and strategies to crack IIFT 2016. While it looks to be a straightforward paper with no surprises and a consistent pattern (with minor variations every year), almost every serious aspirant knows what to expect. In this post IIFT 2016 Strategies and Tips – by IIFT 2015 100%iler, I would be taking about how to make use of that knowledge and get a score that will boost your chances of not only getting a call but also converting it.
IIFT 2016 Strategies and tips by IIFT 2015 100 percentiler
Overview
By now, you would have realized that IIFT consists of 6 parts, generally condensed into 4 sections. This is how the paper looked like in the last three years:
As we can see, the pattern has remained pretty much the same with a couple of questions being moved from one section to the other. However, the cut-offs have varied by a significant amount, rendering a rigid strategy moot. The overall cutoff for general candidates was 38.5 in IIFT 2014 and 48.5 in IIFT 2015.
The test has traditionally consisted of 4 sections:
- General Awareness
- Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension
- Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning
- Quantitative Ability
However, in 2014, the Quantitative Ability and Logical Reasoning sub-sections were merged and Data Interpretation was a standalone section.
How to prepare for the non-GK part?
Content-wise, the preparation does not differ significantly from CAT and if you have your basic Verbal and Quant formulas in place, you should be fine. The key part here is to manage your time well and judge the level of difficulty of the questions quickly. You might also need to practice for slightly different question types like those based on input-output strings, vocabulary, syllogisms, series based questions and puzzles which do not appear in CAT.
So, solving around 5 mock tests (doesn’t matter whether in paper pencil or CBT mode) with an eye towards perfecting the time allocation and solving a few questions from the above-mentioned special topics should be enough practice.
Mock Test Series for IIFT 2016 (6 mocks at Rs. 299 only)
How to deal with the variable marking?
Simple. Ignore it! Now, the question a lot of people ask is whether attempting a 1 pointer would be more rewarding than attempting a 0.75 pointer. The answer does not lie in the absolute marks obtained but the time invested. If we look at it mathematically, we can see that attempting four 0.75 pointers would be as good as attempting three 1 pointers. But the time taken would generally be disproportionate and would skew it in favour of the 0.75 pointer (in other words, if you take 1.5 – 2 minutes to solve a 1 pointer, you can solve almost two 0.75 pointers in the same time).
So, do not take the 0.5 vs 0.75 vs 1 conundrum seriously and attempt each question on its merit.
How to tackle the GK section?
While GK is a pain point for a majority of the test takers (including yours truly), the good thing is that, it is a pain point for a majority of the test takers. IIFT GK cutoffs are typically low (1 mark or so) and even by attempting 4-5 static GK questions, you can be sure of clearing the cut-offs. So, I would suggest that instead of going through yearbooks and 250+ page compendiums, you browse through relevant pdfs and articles and have a limited set of knowledge ready. The things to read are: Oscars and other major awards, countries – currencies – stock exchanges – rivers – presidents and heads of state, power plants and SEZs, authors, monuments, organizations and headquarters, and common abbreviations.
You may look at the articles we have been putting up for tackling static GK and we are pretty sure that you would clear the cut off if you read this material.
Strategy
As would have been obvious till now, you can expect the Data Interpretation and Reading Comprehension parts to be extremely time consuming. In a test that requires you to solve around 120 questions in 120 minutes, it would not really be a great idea to focus much on these sections considering that you are almost sure that the numbers in a DI set are random and that a 4 question RC runs into a couple of pages at least. So, as a general rule, your mindset should be to skip the DI part altogether and do only a couple of easy RC passages irrespective of the marks per question. A lot of students have gambled in the past and have faltered and I am sure a lot of students will continue to do so.
What generally works for students is forming a rigid sectional time allocation and adhering to the upper limit. You need a lot of discipline to do this bit and even a moment of indulgence can lead to a lifetime of repent. So, be ready with your strategy before the test and visualize the various scenarios beforehand (a difficult section, one section extremely easy compared to the rest, doable DI sets, etc.).
Remember that you should clear your cut-offs in the first 100 minutes. Whatever you do after that should build your score so that you have an advantage come the GDPI process. So, it is recommended that you finish off the easier sections right at the beginning and keep RC and DI for the very end when it doesn’t really make a difference to your fortunes of getting a call.
Time allocation
I used to go for a 10 – 20 – 30 – 30 – 30 split which meant that I solved the GK section right at the start in 10 minutes (I don’t trust myself to recollect global happenings after 1.5 hours of solving other sections). During this time period, I made sure that I gave the entire sub-section 2 rounds. In the first round, I marked only the ones that I was 100% sure of (which will be some 5-6 questions). Now, if I know that I have cleared the cut-off in the first round, I will go for a few intelligent guesses (The US recently announced that its redesigned ten dollar bill to be issued in 2020 will include the face of a _________; a. Lion b. Elephant c. Woman d. Dragon; what are the chances that it will not be a woman) and a few questions I am unsure of but have come down to the last couple of options. So, sample this: In my first round, say I have solved 6 questions. My guess is that the IIFT paper is of the same level as that of last year and so, the cutoff would be 1-1.5. Now, I have 1.5 bonus marks to gamble. So, I can afford to attempt another 9 questions through intelligent guessing. Even if I get say half of them wrong, I still have around 4 marks to show for my efforts
Coming to the next part, 20 minutes is more than enough for the VA section, considering that you will get a lot of vocabulary based, fill-in-the-blanks questions and a few easy parajumbles. It is highly recommended that you crack this section as almost all the good candidates would score well here. Typically, if you have a paper like last year with 15 marks for 20 questions, you can hope for around 10-11 marks here.
Next 30 minutes slots can go to either Quant or LR depending on your preference. Just make sure that you adhere to the 30 minutes limit and not over shoot it. In these 30 minutes, you have to go through all the questions and solve all those that could be graded as easy. Considering last year’s paper, you would need to solve around 15-18 questions in Quant and LR each thereby scoring around 30 marks in around an hour.
If you look at your score at this point in time, you would be at around 45 marks which would ideally be the cutoff for a paper of last year’s level of difficulty. The last 30 minutes will invariably be spent in solving RC passages or DI sets and will further boost your score. As a general rule, I recommend solving the easiest couple of RC passages (8-10 minutes each) before even thinking about DI. If you have any time left post this, you can always go to LR/QA questions that you figured out were doable but needed time.
The science behind cut-offs
Generally, the cut-off for an IIFT paper starts around the 40 mark. Over the last decade, it has been made amply clear that IIFT will give you incredibly random and difficult DI sets and long RC passages. So, the cut-off will be dependent on the QA, VA and LR sections. During the test, the indicator that the paper is easy will be the fact that you will tend to finish off the section before your 30 minute window ends. So, the middle hour of the test is extremely crucial and will most definitely decide your fate.
As a benchmark, in an easy paper, like last year, one can hope for a 15-15-20 split across the three big sections (which will typically be the score of someone who would have cracked it last time). If you can get a 20+ in 2 sections, you can be assured of a 99+ percentile. Three scores of 20+ and you know where you end up.
In a moderate paper, the split will fall down to 12-12-15 and the cut-off would be around 40. Similarly, in a difficult paper (circa 2008) the split would be 10-10-10 and the cut-off around 30.
Surprises, if any
While it looks like IIFT has settled over the last few years, you never know what might turn up this year. As a candidate, you should be aware of a few situations from past year IIFTs so that you can be mentally ready for them:
1. Multiple correct options: IIFT 2006 had a paper with the possibility of more than one option being correct. While it has not happened since then (the cutoff was around 20 and so, we can be sure that it will not happen anymore) it won’t hurt to be prepared for such a scenario.
2. Independent sections for DI and RC: IIFT 2008 had a 6-section paper which was a nightmare for the students who went in with a rigid mindset. If such a thing happens, the sectional cut-offs would either be extremely low (~3 marks per section, except GK) or you would need to get a positive score in each section. Your strategy won’t change by much in any case. You might need to do a DI set instead of the extra RC that you were aiming to do at the end.
3. Unusual clubbing of sections: IIFT 2014 had clubbed QA and DI instead of LR and DI and had a standalone LR section. It won’t make a difference at all if there is such a case as you have the option of doing the non-DI part to clear your sectional cut-off.
4. Easy DI and RC: While this has not really happened in the past, there is always a possibility of messing up with the aspirants’ heads that have gotten used to frameworks propagated by various gurus. Looks unlikely though.
Why IIFT is probably the most important test?
For many, it is the first real test of the season (not like an NMAT where you ‘know’ that you can afford a slightly below par attempt) and there is bound to be some nerves. There is no normalization and so, things are pretty much under your control. You can probably see people outside the center fiddling with GK compendiums and know that they are as scared of GK as you are if not more. IIFT is one of the first ones to conduct the GDPI process and so, you can be sure that a lot of your co-call getters won’t be fully prepared. Your written score gets a good weight (60-65%) and so, every mark above the cut-off would be worth 0.6-0.65 marks during your GDPI (so, if you are 10 marks above the cut-off, you are 6 marks above the borderline candidates come the next stage). The waitlist movement is significant and even with buffer calls, you have a good chance of getting into IIFT Delhi if you convert IIFT Kolkata in the first round. I could go on and on but I think I have made my point.
I hope that these tips would have cleared a few doubts and would help you with the test. So, go ahead and rock the IIFT 2016!
You can join our test series for IIFT (6 mocks) and SNAP (6 mocks) at extremely discounted prices (Rs. 299 for each package) here (powered by Testfunda)
Mock Test Series for IIFT 2016 (6 mocks at Rs. 299 only)
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You may check out our static GK articles and download the pdfs from last year: IIFT 2016 and SNAP 2016 GK Preparation
Also check out our free resources and downloads.
A few links that you might be interested in:
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