How to prepare for IIFT exam 2024 in 3 months? Get Tips and Tricks

Indian Institute of Foreign Trade Entrance Exam 2025 ( IIFT )

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Vipra
Vipra Shrivastava
Senior Manager - Content
Updated on Aug 1, 2023 16:25 IST

If you start IIFT preparation in September 2023, you will have three months to prepare until the exam day. Know how you can prepare for IIFT 2024 exam in 3 months.

IIFT preparation in 3 months
Cracking IIFT exam 2024 is possible in three months if you focus on key topics and practices a good number of sample questions. If you are simultaneously preparing for other MBA entrance exams such as CAT, GMAT or NMAT then you need to only work on practice questions and mock tests. IIFT 2024 exam will be held in the third week of December 2023, and you start the exam preparation even in September 2023, you can crack it with high scores. All you need to do is make a  study plan keeping in mind the syllabus of IIFT exam. Apart from English, Logical Reasoning, Data Interpretation, Quantitative Ability, you will have to prepare for General Awareness section too. However, since the topics and study material are common for IIFT and other entrance exams such as CAT and XAT, it is easy to prepare. In this article, we have discussed IIFT preparation plan for three months. Read on.

IIFT Preparation in Three Months

Start your IIFT 2024 preparation by creating a phase-wise plan. The IIFT exam preparation should have three phases: Completing the syllabus, practicing mock Tests and revision. Refer to the table* below:

IIFT preparation phases

Month

Number of days

Phase 1: Completing the syllabus

September to mid-October

45 days

Phase 2: Practicing Mock Tests

Mid-October to November

30 days

Phase 3: Revision

December to exam day

15 days

*This division of days is not ideal. You may want to allot number of days to each phase according to your own IIFT exam preparation level so far.

How to Prepare for IIFT Exam in Three Months

IIFT exam needs focused preparation. Candidates need to mainly practice questions from the previous year IIFT question papers so that they are well acquainted with the type and difficulty level of the exam. Let’s take a look at how to prepare for IIFT exam in three months:

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IIFT Preparation 2024: Phase 1

Get hold of the latest IIFT exam syllabus 2024. Check the topics that are your strengths and the ones that are not. List them down and start with the topics you find tough. Gradually move on to less tough ones and then to the ones you find easy. Allot more time to tough topics but don’t ignore easy topics. Keep revising them. The overall IIFT score will depend upon your sectional score.

Q:   If I am preparing for CAT, do I need to prepare separately for IIFT?

A:
Hello, Most of your task is done for IIFT if you are preparing for CAT. Difficulty level for both the exams is at par. The only difference is the General Knowledge section which can be easily covered by Reading newspapers on a daily basis. Ensure to solve mock papers for IIFT to get a look and feel of how the pattern is, what the difficulty level of the exam is. Focus on your CAT preparation and IIFT preparation will follow. Remember, do not try to put your leg into both the paper as far as preparation is concerned. Just focus on your CAT preparation. Try to complete your syllabus well before time so that you have time to agile yourself to set for IIFT also. Hard work and smart work will definitely make your way for both of the entrance exams.

Q:   What is the difficulty level of IIFT exam?

A:

The difficulty level of IIFT exam is usually high, with tricky VARC and calculation intensive Quants. The IIFT 2023 question paper was also of moderate difficulty level. VARC was moderate to tough, so was the DILR section. The Quant section was tougher than VARC, DILR and GA.

The IIFT entrance exam is considered one of the high difficulty level MBA entrance exams in India. The syllabus and pattern are prescribed by the institute. It also sets the test paper. Considering IIFT is one of the top colleges for MBA in India, the only moderate to high level questions are selected to prepare the test.

Q:   Will the difficulty level of the IIFT question paper affect the cut offs?

A:

Yes, the difficulty level of the IIFT question paper may affect the admission cut offs.  If the difficulty level of the IIFT question paper is high, the admission cut off may be lower and if the question paper is easy the admission cut off may be high. The IIFT cut offs also depend upon overall scoring trend and pass percentage of the given year.

 The difficulty level of IIFT 2023 question paper was moderate to high, similar to IIFT 2022, thus the cut offs were in same range as previous years. 

Also Read: IIFT exam pattern 2024

To Do:

  • Download mobile apps for MBA exam preparation, these apps offer time based preparation plans and assistance. The benefit of using these apps is that you can study on the go, thus allowing you to spend more hours on studying in a day.
  • Join online study groups on YouTube, Facebook, Quora, etc. You can ask, discuss and share your queries on these platforms with other aspirants and MBA mentors. You can do group studies and learn from each other. Immediate give and take of knowledge is important for you as you don’t have much time to cover the entire IIFT syllabus.

Also Read:

Get Previous Years IIFT Question Papers for Practice

Download Now

IIFT Preparation 2024: Phase 2

Once you have covered the IIFT syllabus and feel confident about it, move on to practicing mock tests. Practicing IIFT mock tests and previous year IIFT question papers will help you assess your preparation level and your grasp on each of the topics.

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The main motive of practicing previous year IIFT question papers and mock tests is to get speed and accuracy in control for the actual exam. IIFT exam is of two hours and the number of questions is 110. Which means you get just over one minute to read, think and solve each question. Thus, you may not want to appear for the actual exam without any experience of a speed based test.

To Do:

  • Attempt at least 25-30 mock test series along IIFT previous years’ question papers in this one month. Attempt a variety of questions - tricky, tough, easy, lengthy and confusing - so that you are prepared for any surprise in the IIFT exam 2024.
  • Assess your performance after every IIFT mock test. Don’t get disheartened if you don’t perform well initially. Keep practicing, your performance will improve. With each mock test, your speed and accuracy should increase.

IIFT Exam Mock Test will help you to get an idea about the type of questions asked, the exam pattern and marking scheme. After taking the test, you can immediately check your score. You can also download the Question Paper along with answers and their explanations for Free. Click below to start the free online test now.

Free IIFT Exam Mock Test

IIFT Preparation 2024: Phase 3

You should keep at least 15-20 days for revision for the syllabus of IIFT exam is vast and you don’t want to go blank on any question during the exam.

To Do:

  • Revise tougher topics twice including questions, theorems, concepts, formulae, tricks and shortcuts. Given ample time to each section during revision.
  • Complete your revision a day before the IIFT 2024 exam and allow your mind to relax before the big day.
  • Prepare for the IIFT exam day beforehand. Plan out how you will use the 2 hours of the exam. Solving all questions is not mandatory so determine how many questions you need to solve for a good score.
VARC Questions with Answers for Practice DILR Questions with Answers for Practice Quantitative Aptitude Questions with Answers for Practice

Also Read:

IIFT Preparation 2024: What Should be the Main Focus? IIFT Syllabus or Mock Test?

If you are planning IIFT exam preparation in three months, you should be ready to put about eight hours into it every day. Time is less and IIFT syllabus is vast. Moreover, you cannot leave out any topic. So what should be the IIFT preparation plan 2024?

Q:   Which section of IIFT exam has maximum weightage?

A:

The Verbal Ability & Reading Comprehension section of IIFT entrance exam has the maximum weightage. There are 35 questions in this section and total marks is 105. Each question carries 3 marks for correct attempt and -1 for incorrect attempt. This section is usually of moderate difficulty level. The questions are asked from Reading Comprehension passages, Identify the Synonym, Identify Grammatically Correct/Incorrect Sentence, One Word Substitution, Jumbled Paragraphs, etc. The Reading Comprehension passages are simple and fact based so there's not much pressure on candidates to get the gist right. Verbal Ability and Grammar questions are usually easy and can be completed within minutes.

Q:   How many months are required to prepare for the IIFT exam?

A:

Ideally, a candidate must prepare for the IIFT exam for at least six to nine months. They must study for the exam diligently for six to eight hours every day and the daily plan should include studying a chapter, solving related sample questions and memorising formulae. The first few months should be spent in covering the IIFT syllabus. An important aspect of IIFT preparation is practicing sample questions that are based on the important topics of IIFT syllabus. After that candidates must spend about two months in solving practice questions and mock tests. In the last month before the exam, candidates must make time for revision of all the important chapters and have problem solving sessions to tie up the loose ends. In the last month, keep the focus on important topics from which maximum questions are asked.

Q:   How many questions should I attempt to get a decent score in IIFT?

A:

If the IIFT question paper has 110 questions, you should attempt 65-70 questions with 100 per cent accuracy for a decent score. Ideally, candidates must attempt to solve about 2/3rd of the total questions in each section to be able to meet the sectional as well as overall cut off.

Since, there is negative marking in the IIFT exam candidates must make sure that they don’t waste marks by choosing incorrect options. If they are not sure of the answer, they should skip the question instead of making a guess because there is no negative marking for skipping questions. Negative marking can severely hamper your overall score.

Q:   Which is the best book to cover IIFT Verbal Ability syllabus?

A:

The Pearson Guide to Verbal Ability & Logical Reasoning by Nishant Sinha and Verbal & Non-Verbal Reasoning by RS Aggarwal, are highly recommended for IIFT exam’s Verbal Ability preparation. Candidates must study from books which are recommended by experts and toppers only as this exam requires focused preparation and you can't afford to waste time.

The Verbal Ability section of IIFT includes Reading Comprehension. The Reading Comprehension passages of IIFT are long and tough so it is important that you have a good control over English comprehension and reading speed. For this, you need to start preparations early on by reading books, novels, magazines and newspapers. Target reading about 20 pages of a book every day. Do it for six months.

Q:   How is the infrastructure of IIFT Delhi?

A:

Indian Institute of Foreign Trade offers various facilities to postgraduate students. Currently, over 60 students are residing in the newly constructed hostel. IIFT has computer centres and offers various other facilities to the students. One of the major USPs of Indian Institute of Foreign Trade (IIFT Delhi) is its Foreign Trade library which is a knowledge bank for several resources in the field of WTO-related issues, Foreign Trade, Management, and others. IIFT's library has 84,000 volumes and subscribes to around 800 journals. There are 17,581 bound periodicals and 255 periodicals. 

  • Since you don’t have the luxury of completing the entire IIFT syllabus first and then start with sample papers or mock tests, these two should go side by side.
  • Attempt an IIFT mock test and assess your knowledge of IIFT exam topics.
  • As suggested above, list down the IIFT topics according to your strength and weakness. This will give you visibility of which topics need to be covered afresh and which ones require only revision.
  • Go through previous year's IIFT question paper to know the weightage of each topic. There is negative marking in IIFT exam, which means if your answer is incorrect, marks will be deducted, but if you skip a question, no marks will be deducted. So, what should you do? Focus and capitalise on the topics that are your strength. Don’t ignore any topic, though. You need to be prepared for surprise questions.
  • Try to cover syllabus in one and a half months and then move to full length IIFT mock tests. Analyse each performance and tie up the loose ends. Attempt a mock test every alternate day.
  • Make short notes while studying difficult topics so that you can refer in the last two weeks before exam.

All the best!

Read More:

Check IIFT cut offs and predict calls from IIFT Delhi, IIFT Kolkata, IIFT Kakinada for admission. Check Fees, Placement Reviews, Admission, Shortlist Criteria and Eligibility of all IIFT institutes by clicking the link below:

Predict IIFT Admission Calls
About the Author
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Vipra Shrivastava
Senior Manager - Content

Vipra is a massive Breaking Bad fan. When not watching crime drama series, she spends time in updating the list of places she wants to visit and people she wants to meet, but she is happiest in the company of dogs. ... Read Full Bio

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