After the Common Admission Test (CAT) 2016 results were declared on January 9, 2017, other MBA entrance exam results were also out. This meant a hectic schedule for students had started. Many MBA colleges are conducting their Group Discussion/Personal interview (GDPI) rounds now. Students shared their GDPI experiences on PaGaLGuY. Here is a glimpse of topics which colleges are asking this admission season.
Essay
Colleges conduct Written Ability Test (WAT) or essays for evaluation purposes. Students are asked to write on a topic presented before them within a given time. These topics may be drawn from current affairs or issues that companies deal with.
A list of topics asked from current affairs are:
- Budget
- Smart cities
- Demonetisation/black money/cashless economy
- Brexit
Topics asked on company matters were:
- Telecom companies take longer to earn profits if they give calls/messages free
- Mergers done secretly, (without knowledge of employees) is good or bad?
- Will Reliance Jio go Tata Nano way?
- Impact of social media on education
Group discussions
Group discussion or Case discussion is a test where leadership qualities of candidates are evaluated. An important topic asked in this year’s GD was- News to views on social media. Social media has seen unprecedented growth and is the main source of news. Impact of social media on us as a society also needs to probed. Some cases were also given to students for them to solve. Students had to come up with a group solution. Here are a few:
- Google know more about you than your mother
- News to views in social media
- How long queues in canteen can be reduced
- You are the only group of passengers on train with no cell phone connectivity, no station for 200 kms, deserted stretch. And train driver suffers heart attack. What would you do?
- Ad film for cola brand
- Your car is full. You see an old lady and an injured young woman. Whom will you save?
| Colleges | GD topics |
|---|---|
| IMT Ghaziabad | Telecom companies take longer time to earn profit if free calls |
| | Mergers done secretly, good or bad? |
| | Smart cities lead to faster rural urban migration? |
| | Demonetisation |
| | Cashless economy |
| Great Lakes Chennai | Smart cities, online advt-indian perspective |
| | Will Reliance Jio go Tata Nano way? |
| | Role of IT & cybersecurity in preventing money laundering |
| | Climate change and effect of trump’s policy |
| | Impact of social media on education |
| | Impact of gender on social intelligence and career |
| | Improving condition of developing countries |
| | Critical analysis of budget |
| | Issues faced by rural women in india |
| IIFT New Delhi | Illiterates in 21-century are those who cannot unlearn, learn, relearn |
| NMIMS Mumbai | Affordable healthcare in india |
| IIM Lucknow | National anthem to be played in cinema halls |
| IIM Ahmedabad | Social drinking is okay |
Personal interview
Personal interview is where students are grilled about their past mistakes, present choices and future. This is the part which scares many students. But the best way to tackle PI is by being confident about yourself. Be clear about why you want to pursue MBA and how it will help your career grow. Questions that students were repeated asked this time like previous years are:
- 95 percent of students who have attended GDPI and shared their experience on PaGaLGuY said that they were asked the following-Why MBA/ why this institute?
- 65 percent of these students were quizzed about their hobbies.
- 40 percent of them were asked about their educational/family background.
Best wishes to all MBA aspirants!!