Exam Day Strategy for IIFT Toppers

Exam Day Strategy for IIFT 

As we step into the exam season, the anxiety is palpable and with a window of just 7 days between CAT and IIFT, it is important to set the right strategy for IIFT. While CAT is the ultimate exam to crack for any MBA aspirant, it is important to focus on a few other exams as well (XAT, IIFT, SNAP, TISSNET, NMAT) as the colleges accepting these scores are among the best B Schools in the country.

The main differentiation between CAT and IIFT is the exam taking strategy and time management, with 4-6 sections and sectional cut-offs getting the right strategy is very important in IIFT. Over the years I have seen many students having very high overall scores but fail to clear all the sectional cut-offs.

What to expect in IIFT Exam Paper

6 Sections making up 120 Questions to be solved in 120 Minutes, while the difficulty level of questions is lower in QA, VA and LR compared to CAT, students tend to struggle in the GK and DI Section in IIFT.

Assumptions – The below mentioned strategy has been made keeping in mind that the aspirant is decent in GK, Good in either of LR or VA and exceptional in QA. The Author recommends marking all the answers simultaneously with each question on the OMR Sheet.

Focus Sections

Some sections in IIFT have more marks/question than others hence prioritising questions from these sections will help you score higher.

·         QA, RC – 1 Mark Each – 40 Questions (RC should be targeted), although DI is also 1 Mark each but it takes more time to solve hence should not be an area to maximise score.

·         VA - .75 Mark – 20 Questions – These 20 Questions are direct and involve basic Grammar, which does not require a lot of solving time (Maximum time taken/Question should be 30 Seconds)

·         GK - .50 Mark – 25-28 Questions – This should be one of the score maximising sections, a decent attempt would be 20 and above in this section within 5 minutes. Always mark the answer which strikes your mind in the first thought, guessing is a strict no; do not ponder over a question for more than 15 seconds as more often than not the second answer is wrong.

How to Ace the IIFT Exam in 120 Minutes! (Read till the end)

Pre Exam strategy – The question papers are distributed 5-10 minutes before the scheduled start of the paper, if you get time write down the important Squares, Cubes, Percentages and Ratio’s at the back page of the question paper which is given for rough work (Helps immensely in the DI Section)

0:00 – 5:00 (Minutes : Seconds)

Strategize - It is important to strategize before you get into the battle mode, spend the first 5 minutes to make a quick glance of the entire question paper and select the easier questions which you would attempt first.

VA – Identify the RC’s which have direct questions (Ideally 2 of them would have direct question sets)

QA – Identify questions from your comfort area of VA – In case Arithmetic happens to be your favourite section, mark all the arithmetic questions in the first glance.

LR – Identify the easier sets like Arrangements, or anything else with which you are confident.

5:00 – 5:30 (Minutes: Seconds)

Gain your focus, close your eyes and take a few deep breathes (In case you noticed the paper is difficult, keep in mind it’s difficult for all so just regain focus and get ready to make your move)!

5:30 – 12:30 (Minutes: Seconds)

Start with GK, solve around 20 questions in this section to have a good start to the exam. 10 Marks in 5-7 odd minutes is a great way to start. Considering the overall cut-off revolves around 50 scoring 20% marks in the first 10 minutes leaves a lot of breathing room to score in the other sections.

12:30 – 13:00 (Minutes: Seconds)

Regain your focus; close your eyes and take a few deep breathes. I would twist the Quote from Abraham Lincoln to highlight the significance of these small 30 second breaks; you should always sharpen your axe before the next strike.

13:00-28:00 (Minutes: Seconds)

Move to QA Section, since your mind is still fresh it is better to solve Quant and provide some workout to your brain to keep it going. Solve around 8-10 Questions which you would have marked in the initial 5 minutes in the first round of the section. Considering you have solved 10 Questions with an accuracy of 90%, you have secured 18.33 marks in the first 28 Minutes of the exam! Not bad.

28:00-28:30 (Minutes:Seconds)

Break Time!

28:30 – 43:30 (Minutes:Seconds)

Move to RC’s, solve 3 sets of RC’s in these 15 minutes. IIFT Reading Comprehensions are straight forward hence the strategy should be to read the questions first, identify the key word in each question, scan the passage to find the word or context and read the preceding 2-3 lines and succeeding 2-3 lines to get the answer.

You can easily score 12-13 Questions out of the 15 (3 sets) in the first round. We have ensured approximately 30 marks in 43 odd minutes. Good Going!

43:30 – 44:00 (Minutes: Seconds)

Take another break!

44:00 – 64:00 (Minutes: Seconds)

Next attempt the dreaded DI Section, do not try to solve the entire set to pacify your ego, pick 2-3 Questions from each set of 4 Questions which can be solved in 2-3 Minutes each to clear the sectional cut-off. This section is not meant for maximising your score.

Solve 8-10 Questions in this section in the allotted 20 Minutes from 3 or 4 sets.

We have secured approximately 37-38 marks at around half time mark.

64:00-65:00 (Minutes: Seconds)

Take a break of around a minute, DI is exhausting and hence the break should be prolonged.

65:00:75:00 (Minutes: Seconds)

Move to VA and solve atleast 15-18 questions in 10 minutes. It does not require much solving time hence should be done fast, on an average you should spend around 30-45 seconds per question.

We have secured 48-50 Marks already (Isn’t that the cut-off! Time to maximise your percentile now)

75:00- 75:30 (Minutes: Seconds)

Take another small break.

75:30 – 95:30 (Minutes: Seconds)

It’s time to put on your thinking hats and solve the Logical Reasoning section. Pick around 15 Questions which can be solved in the allotted time and go for it. The LR Sets are easy to moderate and it is important to select the right questions to attempt.

We have secured approximately 58-60 Marks by now, good going Topper!

95:30 – 96:00 (Minutes: Seconds)

Take the last break! Your brain is fatigued by now with all the work it has done in the last 90 odd minutes and is bound to get tired, so breathe and relax. It’s time to go for the touchdown!

96:00 – 116:00

By now you have ensured that all the sectional cut-offs are cleared and you have achieved a decent score, time to go for the final kill.

Move to your stronger sections, QA or RC’s and solve the remaining doable questions to maximise score.

In the last 20 minutes the efficiency reduces a bit and hence a decent attempt would be another 8-10 Questions (Also you have already solved the easier questions in round 1 so these questions would require higher solving time)

So we have achieved 68-70 marks (Wow! How did I do it? Well you have, Congratulations!)

116:00-120:00

Check your OMR Sheet and verify whether all the answers are marked correctly or not in the final 3-4 minutes.

You have done it! With a good strategy and up to the mark time strategy you have achieved the Top Score (100 Percentile score ranges from 70-75 in IIFT)

Some Pointers – You can switch sections based on your comfort and ease of preparation. There will be slight variance in the time taken based on your speed which is acceptable. Take this article as a guide to effectively manage your time for the IIFT Entrance Paper and achieve a score of 99 and above percentile. Share your thoughts in the comments below.

About the Author : Ashish Mishra secured AIR 73 in IIFT 2014 and is an Alumnus of IIFT Delhi. Apart from his regular 9-5 Corporate engagement, he is the Co-Founder of an Online GK Portal for MBA Exams (www.bquest.in). He loves Quizzing and enjoys all forms of Outdoor Sports apart from being an experimental Cook!