How Difficult is IIFT Exam as Compared to CAT Exam?

A: Some of the key differences between IIFT and CAT are listed below:

• IIFT exam has General Awareness section while CAT exam doesn’t have it.
• The marking schemes of both the exams are also different.
• CAT exam is held in three slots whereas IIFT exam is held in only one slot. 
• Difficulty level is high in both exams
• IIFT has 110 questions to be solved in 2 hours, CAT has 66 questions to be solved in 2 hours
• CAT has sectional time limit, IIFT doesn't have sectional time limit

A: Both the exams are of moderate to high difficulty level but in IIFT, candidates have to solve 110 questions in 120 minutes while in CAT, candidates have to solve 66 questions in 120 minutes. The Quantitative Aptitude section of IIFT is usually tough whereas in CAT, this section is moderate. Thus, for some candidates IIFT may come across as a tougher than CAT.

A: IIFT exam score is accepted by only IIFT Delhi, IIFT Kolkata and IIFT Kakinada for admission to the MBA in International Business programme offered at all three campuses. The institute has launched MBA in Business Analytics programme too, for which IIFT exam score is valid.

A: CAT exam is conducted on the last week of November. CAT 2023 exam will be held on November 26, 2023 and the registration process will begin from August 2, 2023. The CAT 2023 registration last date is September 13, 2023. The exam will be held in three shifts. There will be 400 test centres in 155 cities where the exam is held. 

A: IIFT exam is conducted by the National Testing Agency (NTA) on behalf of the Indian Institute of Foreign Trade. The NTA conducts the entire process of IIFT entrance exam, from online registration till answer key and result announcement. Post the result announcement, NTA has no role with respect to IIFT admission. Candidate shortlisting, personal interiview, group discussion,cut off determination, etc. are done by the institute.

A: Yes, the eligibility criteria of IIFT and CAT are same i.e. graduation with minimum 50 per cent aggregate. Final year candidates are also eligible to apply if the aggregate of their first and second year score is 50 per cent. For Reserved category candidates, the minimum score required for both CAT and IIFT is minimum 45 per cent in aggregate.

A: Yes, since the syllabus of both the exams is same, CAT books are sufficient to prepare for IIFT exam as the syllabus is same for both exams. Candidates will have to only study GK separately for IIFT. However, the candidates must solve IIFT mock tests and sample papers to practice exam specific questions.

A:  CAT exam has 66 questions to be solved in 120 minutes while IIFT exam has 110 questions to solve in 120 minutes. The difference between CAT exam pattern and IIFT exam pattern is that of number of questions and marks allotment to each question.

A: No, IIFT exam is conducted in Computer Based Mode. Till 2018, IIFT was conducted in pen and paper mode, but in 2019, when NTA took over the responsibility to conduct the exam, it changed the test mode to computer based mode. Candidates have to visit a exam centre to appear for the test. At the exam centre, each candidate is alloted a computer system and candidates have to punch in their answers with the help of mouse pad.

A: In IIFT, the Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension (VARC) section has maximum weightage of 35 questions and 105 marks. In IIFT exam 2024, it is expected that the test pattern wil remain the same, thus in the upcoming exam too VARC will continue to have maximum weightage.

A: The Reading Comprehension (RC) passages of IIFT exam are often fact based unlike CAT in which the passages are inference based. Questions of fact based RC passages are easier to solve as you can note down the data while reading the passage. In inference based RC passages it is not possible to note down data. However, one can note down importtant sentences which can help them in answering the questions.