IIFT 2016 student reaction & analysis: DI section difficult, errors reported in questions

Students

As IIFT 2016 exam concluded at 12:30 pm, most students Shiksha spoke to had similar reactions. Everyone agreed that the Data Interpretation (DI) section was quite difficult but the overall exam was easy and manageable.  

True to its reputation, IIFT churned out a paper which was lengthy with speed being the crucial factor. Aspirants complained that the paper was quite long with many students failing to attempt questions by the end of two-hours of IIFT 2016 exam. 

Like each year, IIFT paper had four different sections: 

According to Isha Dhingra, who appeared for the paper at Delhi center, "The paper was easy but lengthy. I couldn't attempt quite a few questions at the end. DI was the most difficult part. I ended up missing questions mostly because of this section. Rest was fine." Dhingra is pursuing BA (Hons) Economics, final year, from Amity University Haryana.  

English section had four reading comprehension (RC) passages accompanied with four questions. So in total, the RCs has 16 questions. Then there were other questions related to English and Grammar.  

Vedansh Singh, sales and marketing professional with four years of experience, also found DI difficult. But it was General Knowledge section that stumped him. 

"DI was no doubt difficult. But I was more unhappy about GK section. There were very few questions from my GK notes and whatever I prepared. However, I still attempted 8 questions. Let's see what happens," said Singh, without sounding too enthusiastic about the paper. 

Both Singh and Dhingra prepared for the exam from IMS coaching centres. 

According to Rahul Agrawal, who appeared for the IIFT exam from Ahmedabad, "All sections were quite easy. A well prepared candidate will be able to score more than 40 in each section. When compared to all sections, DI emerged as the most difficult part. There was no change in pattern from last year." Rahul Agrawal has more than two years of experience as mechanical & production engineer in manufacturing sector. He took coaching classes from Endeavour Careers. 

Chandan Sharma, faculty member at Endeavour Careers, says that the overall paper was easy. "Quant was manageable with moderate difficulty level. DI was very difficult. Verbal was moderate and LR was easy. About 8 to 10 correct attempts in GK is good. Overall, the paper was moderate. An average student can score well in the paper. GK section was similar last three year's question," he says. 

Errata – A few Incorrect Questions 

One of the experts we spoke has reported an error in one of the reading comprehension passages. Another student also reported that Quantitative section had some wrong questions. Shiksha is still trying to confirm the fact.  

However, getting wrong questions in IIFT exam is not a new phenomena. IIFT has traditionally thrown up wrong questions to stump the aspirant and act as a speed breaker. A smart student will leave these questions and move on to the next question.  

"This might seem strange but, the IIFT exam, on a regular basis, has a few incorrect questions. Either these questions are unsolvable i.e. incorrect or none of the options match the correct answer. It can be understood that these questions are merely there to check the student’s ability to handle chaos and still keep his/her boat afloat. Since IIFT is an exam of speed, be vary of these dead-ends and move on immediately if a question doesn’t strike you," Gautam Bawa, MBA Head at Career Launcher, had mentioned in 5 things to keep in mind for IIFT 2016-18. 

IIFT 2016 Analysis: Speed, Selection, Strategy, Cutoff

Conclusion 

Meanwhile, all MBA aspirants are gearing up for the biggest management entrance exam of the country -- CAT 2015. All students Shiksha spoke are appearing for both CAT and XAT exams. With just a week to go for CAT, it's a tense and anxious period for MBA aspirants. All the best to students appearing for various MBA entrance tests.