Overview:
This year IIFT brought in multiple shockers for students. Instead of 4 sections and two subsection in two of the four sections, it was 6 sections flat. Weightage for Data Interpretation section reduced from 1 to 0.75. Reduction in questions of GK from 25 to 18. Difficulty level was certainly higher than last year and mention of sectional cut-off for every section would have caused panic in some students. There were different variety of questions in Verbal Ability and General Knowledge.
Here's a video analysis for the same -
Section Wise Analysis:
Section 1 – Analytical Reasoning: 20 questions X 1 mark each
The section was divided into 1 set of 5 questions, 5 sets of 2 questions, 1 set of 4 question and a single question set. Except for 1 set of 4 questions on Data Structure, all sets were easy. Areas like arrangements of 5 X 4 format, Sports Tournaments, Direction sense, and Statement and Conclusions were evaluated. This can be called as the only scoring section in the complete paper. Nearly all the sets & individual questions were doable. 15-16 can be said to be good attempts and approximately 12 marks can be considered a good score in this section. A section worth spending 25 mins in and a section that won’t disappoint a test taker.
Section 2 – Data Interpretation: 20 Questions X 0.75 marks each
There were 4 sets, out of which 2 sets were manageable, one was time-consuming and one difficult to interpret. The set on moving average was an aberration and hence possible that students would have left that set considering it calculative. However, a smart test taker would have approximated the values and could have tried closing 2 out the 5 in that set. Otherwise, if a test taker puts in 7-8 mins into each set, each set could have been solved. Just because the return on investment of time for this section isn’t as good as the AR or the Verbal Ability or the Quant section, it is a little not-so-much-worth to overspend time in this section. All in all, putting in 20 mins into this section to fetch 11 attempts to eventually fetch 4-5 marks in this section can be considered a good score.
Section 3 – Reading Comprehension: 16 questions X 1 mark each
4 RCs, 4 questions each. Length of RCs was 1000 to 1200 words. So, it was more or less like last year’s IIFT section. Even the intensity and difficulty level matches that of last year. The RCs on Group On Business and Economics by Raghuram Rajan were doable. Other two on Business Statistics and Reading Philosophy was difficult. Again, because it is not a great return on investment on time (the realisation is not more than 1 Question per min) and hence RCs may not be a glamorous steal. Still spending 25 mins and attempting 3 RCs can be considered ideal. In all, making a comfortable 10 attempts with a net realisation of 7-8 marks can be considered a good score.
Section 4 – Verbal Ability: 20 questions X 1 mark each
This is the section where most of the innovation was done. Five questions on identifying the nature of phrase/clause, 3 questions on inserting commas, and 3 questions on arranging the jumbled words were completely new question types for the students required a lot of patience and reverse thinking ability. Only respite was 3 questions on Analogy which was also tricky if not tough. Moreover, the return on investment of time was good. Students who have a good hold of reading and grammar would still be able to manage the section, every test taker ideally would have taken around 15 mins to close this sections. A good score in this section can be around 6 marks with good attempts being around 12-13 questions.
Section 5 – General Knowledge: 18 Questions x 0.5 marks each
Weightage of GK has been reduced from 12.5 marks to 9 marks. Only 5 questions direct, rest of 13 questions were in trivia format. Questions based on finding out mistakes in the news article would have shocked most of the students as these kinds of questions were never seen before. There were typical three questions match the columns as per the IIFT trend. There were questions on Government policies, International Business, Currency, Sports, Logo identification, Taglines, CEO’s etc. All in all, 12 mins spent in this section is enough to see through the length of this section and to go through every question. A person with good awareness will be able to attempt around 9 questions. 2-3 marks can be considered a good score in this section.
Section 6 – Quantitative Ability: 20 Questions X 1 mark each
The spread of the section wasn’t as good. Arithmetic had unprecedented weightage with 10 questions from it. Algebra had just 2 & Geometry had 5 questions each. Modern mathematics had a representation of 3 questions. Log based question on ex series was slightly time-consuming whereas question on finding the area of the shaded portion was confusing because of the diagram. With 9 questions being easy, 5 moderate and 6 tough, we can classify this sections as Moderate to Tough. Ideal attempts in 27-28 minutes can be 13 and a good score can be 9.
Overall, this is how it seems:
| IIFT 2017 Analysis |
| Section |
No. of Questions |
Weightage |
Marks |
Difficulty |
Ideal Time (Mins) |
Ideal Attempts |
Good Score |
Sectional CutOffs |
| 1 |
Analytical Reasoning |
20 |
1 |
20 |
Easy to Moderate |
25 |
16 |
11 |
4 |
| 2 |
Quantitative Ability |
20 |
1 |
20 |
Moderate to Tough |
28 |
13 |
9 |
3.5 |
| 3 |
Data Interpretation |
20 |
0.75 |
15 |
Tough |
20 |
11 |
5 |
1.5 |
| 4 |
General Awareness |
18 |
0.5 |
9 |
Moderate to Tough |
12 |
9 |
2.5 |
0.75 |
| 5 |
Verbal Ability |
20 |
1 |
20 |
Moderate |
15 |
12 |
6 |
2.5 |
| 6 |
Reading Comprehension |
16 |
1 |
16 |
Moderate |
20 |
11 |
7.5 |
4 |
| Overall |
114 |
NA |
100 |
Moderate to Tough |
120 |
70 |
41 |
NA |
Expected Overall Cut-off: 38.8
Best wishes!
Team Endeavor