Group Discussion

G roup Discussions are an integral part of the selection process of most of the top B-Schools.
While the weightage given to GDs varies between B-Schools, it is usually in the range of 10-15
per cent at the IIMs and other top B-Schools. In the light of the weightage accorded, it is
important that when it comes to GD preparation, you leave no stone unturned.

What is a Group Discussion (GD)? A GD is a forum to discuss and express your views about an
issue in a logical, coherent, and mature manner. The person who conducts the GD and assesses
your performance is called moderator.

The number of students in a Group Discussion varies between 8-10 at the IIMs to about 15-20
at other top B-Schools. Similarly, the time given to a group to discuss a given topic / situation /
case varies between 15 minutes and 45 minutes. Irrespective of the number of participants and
the time given, you should make sure that you perform to your full potential and to the
expectations of the moderator.

To prepare effectively for GD, it is important to understand the finer nuances of what a GD is
and what the performance evaluation parameters are.

METHOD OF PREP

A GD is unlike an elocution, which is a one-to-many situation. A GD is a many-to-many

interaction situation where any participant, at any time, may interrupt another to express her /
his idea(s) about the topic under discussion. While experience in public speaking helps, it does
not lend any special advantage over those who do not have such experience.

Another misconception that most students harbour is that only those who use flowery language
tend to do well in a GD. In fact, nothing could be further from the truth. A student who uses
simple, easily comprehensible language to convey ideas, will have an advantage over others.

TYPES OF GROUP DISCUSSION

Topic-based;
Case-based, and
Article-based.
In topic-based discussions, you will be asked to discuss a knowledge-based topic that may
pertain to society / social trends (including education), politics, economics, legal / judicial
system, information technology, sport or current events. Alternately, you could be asked to
discuss an abstract issue or an article from a newspaper.

Some top institutes, such as IIM-A, IIM-B, and IIM-I have Case Study GDs. Institutes like
SCMHRD, IRMA, and IMDR have, as a part of their selection process, been asking students to
enact role-plays and analyse situations.

The moderator in a GD sets the ball rolling by announcing the topic for discussion. Sometimes,
the moderator may ask the group members to discuss among themselves and come up with a
GD topic or the moderator may also provide the group with a choice of topics and ask the group
to choose any one topic for discussion. Often students are awarded marks on the approach they
take in selecting the topic and the reasons they cite for selecting the topic.

EVALUATION PARAMETERS
In a GD, members within the group are judged on four parameters. They are:

Content;
Communication Skills;
Group Behaviour, and
Leadership Skills.
(a) Content: Content refers to the quality of ‘what you say’. In a GD, unless you know
something about the topic, you will not be able to make a positive contribution to the topic or
give direction to the efforts of the group. The content that you use is the single most important
factor that determines your success in a GD.

(b) Communication: Here, you are evaluated on 'how you say what you want to say'.
Communication does not refer to use of flowery language. Rather, it means conveying your
ideas in such a manner so as to ensure that persons whom you are addressing, clearly
understand what you are telling them.
Listening: You are expected to be a good listener. Unless you are a good listener, you will find
it very difficult to add to the ideas expressed by the other participants. Moreover, you may be
asked to summarise the discussion and unless you are a good listener, you will not be able to
summarise the discussion effectively. Over the years B-Schools have been placing a premium
on this attribute. IIM-B has been asking participants for a written summary of the GD.

Language: While we have said that use of flowery language should be avoided, it is important
to note that marks are awarded for the confidence and ease with which you use the English
language. What also needs to be borne in mind is that unless what you say with regard to the
topic makes sense, no amount of good English will help you.

Body Language: Body language plays an important part in non-verbal communication. While
you need to keep this in the back of your mind, this need not impede your natural body
movements. Relax and be your natural self.

(c) Group Behaviour: The moderator expects you to make points logically and rationally as a
mature adult. Do not get carried away by passion or do not be stubborn while trying to make a
point in the discussion.

(d) Leadership Skills: You are not expected to physically lead a group by actions such as
thumping the desk, shouting, etc. Such actions should be avoided. Leadership, in the context of
a GD, means showing direction to the group when it is running out of points to speak on or
when it is straying from the given topic.

IDEA GENERATION TECHNIQUES

Find below three major techniques to generate ideas in a GD:

(a) Key Word Approach (KWA): In any topic, there will be keywords that are loaded with
meaning and open to interpretation. You should use these words to generate ideas for
discussion.
(b) Viewpoints of Affected Parties (VAP): The group should look at the pros and cons of the
topic, and try to bring forth their views on the parties which would probably be affected by any
decision (adverse or otherwise) taken.

(c) Socio-cultural, Political, Economic, Legal, and Technological (SPELT) angles to the given
topic: Students should analyse a given topic using this approach as this would help them look at
an issue from multiple angles.

You should bear in mind that it may not be possible to use each of the above mentioned
approaches in isolation for every topic. Rather what you should look at doing is to use a
combination of approaches so that you generate the maximum number of ideas.

HOW TO PREPARE FOR GD

‘Taking it as it comes’ is certainly not the right approach towards something as critical as a GD.
If you wait till you get a call, you will not be left with any time to prepare at all. You need to
understand that most students would have started their GD preparation already. By clearing the
written test, you would be clearing just one hurdle. From here, the competition would get stiffer
as each student who receives a call is as motivated as you to get into the hallowed portals of a
top B-School.

To improve your knowledge, you need to read a general newspaper and one business daily as
well as magazines including a business journal. In the different articles that you read,
concentrate on the main idea rather than dwell on its superficial aspects. Make regular notes on
every article you read and try to convert them into ideas, as this will help you remember them
better. Always read articles that cover a range of issues to increase your knowledge about a
wide variety of topics. Avoid sticking to articles whose areas / core issues you are already
comfortable with. If you are not doing this already, we recommend that start your preparation
today!

CHECKLIST FOR GD
Be prepared with a 15-20 second introduction which clearly states your name, the place you
come from, the degree and the name of the university from which you are pursuing / pursued
your degree. Most moderators ask students to introduce themselves to the rest of the group
before starting the GD.
Carry a small notepad along with a pen to the GD to take down notes. You might be asked to
summarise the GD verbally or in writing.
Do not address the moderator. Address the group. Once the GD starts, as far as you are
concerned, the moderator ceases to exist.
Do not try to start the GD just for the sake of starting it. Start the GD only if you are sure that
you are adding value to the topic straightaway.
Do not repeat a point that you / someone else may have already made in the GD. You get marks
for each idea only once.
Make your points in crisp, short sentences. If you get into a long sentence, there is every
possibility that you will be interrupted even before you come to the main idea.
Do not take a stance in a GD at the beginning. This, theoretically, halves the number of points
you could possibly make.
Make it a point to come into a GD (of 20 minutes) at least 4-6 times.
Do not address a GD participant by name. You are not expected to remember their names. “As
he / she said” will do.
Do not seek the assistance / intervention of the moderator directly / indirectly at any time during
the GD.
Always discuss the pros and cons of the topic given. Remember, it is a discussion and not an
argument or a debate where you need to take sides.
You do not get points for proving other participants wrong. Make your point and move on.
Do not point fingers at your co-participants or get aggressive with them. It won’t endear you to
them and certainly not to the moderator.
Do not use slang or vernacular.
Maintain eye contact with the group.
Do not show disappointment or disgust on your face in case you are not being allowed to speak.
Practice as often as possible with different groups, different topics, and in different situations.
Written Ability Test
Over the past couple of years, various b-schools have included 'essay-writing' in their post-
entrance exam selection process.

Different IIMs have different names for the Essay (writing skills) task.

(IIM Bangalore calls it 'Note'; IIM Indore, IIM Lucknow and IIM Kashipur call it 'Written
Ability Test'; IIM Trichy calls it 'Written Analysis Test'; IIM Raipur, IIM Rohtak, IIM Udaipur
and IIM Ranchi call it 'Written Analysis'; IIM Calcutta calls it 'Writing Ability Test'; and IIM
Kozhikode calls it 'Writing Task').

For the sake of the students' understanding and convenience, we have simply referred to it as
'Essay' throughout the GWPI Briefcase.

You could be presented with essay tasks to be carried out in periods ranging from 10 to 30
minutes. As such, the number of words in a typical essay could be in the range of 300-700
words (one side to two sides of an A4 sheet).

This note is designed to provide you with essential inputs on writing an effective essay. It deals
with how to: (a) generate relevant content, (b) come up with the right structure, and (c) write
effectively.

Remember the basic elements of communication that have relevance here, namely, clarity of
thought, empathy, and effective expression. Also keep in mind that a step-by-step method, with
a check list, would ensure efficient use of time spent on an essay.

We would suggest steps, and a check list, such as represented by the acronym CODER.

C - Collect ideas
O - Organise them
D - Develop them
E - Express them
R - Review

C - Collect ideas

Content - the topic itself - What are the key words? What is it about? What information does
one have? How does one gather further information? What ideas or views does one have (or
what views does one develop) on the basis of this information?

You would recall the ‘approaches’ we’ve suggested for idea-generation in GDs - such as the
Key Word Approach (KWA), Viewpoint of Affected Parties (VAP), and SPELT. These could
be used when you are writing an essay too, to generate ideas on the basis of information that
you have. Remember to make quick, concise notes (just words and phrases) as you brainstorm,
to ensure that you recall important ideas.

O - Organise them

Organisation of ideas - put random thoughts and ideas into coherent groups. What would be the
purpose or theme of the essay? What would be the appropriate ideas to start with (or to use for
introductory statement)? What are the further ideas that one could continue with, and what
would these ideas lead to? What ideas would be the right ones to end with?

Effective notes and careful thought on these aspects would help you put together properly
organised content.

D - Develop them

Explanation and elaboration - What sort of readership is the essay intended for (education, age,
gender, knowledge of the topic, attitude to the topic)? What sort of information would hold their
attention best? What sort of examples would they relate to? What pieces of information, what
sort of explanation, and / or what examples, would support the ideas, the theme and the
purpose? How long should the essay be?
In an essay intended to be informative only - you should be careful about the selection of
content to ensure that it is significant and relevant to the topic. Facts and examples used should
be of interest, but should not seem out of place.

In an essay intended to explain - you should have explanations that are clear and concise.

In an essay intended to express and opinion - you should sequence the ideas and viewpoints,
with supporting information and examples, in a manner that leads to the overall opinion that the
essay seeks to provide.

In an essay intended to analyse - you should present ideas and information with respect to
different aspects of the topic, so as to point to the relative strengths (or weaknesses) of these
aspects. The essay should be one that brings out questions on the topic and finds, or seeks to
find, answers.

E - Express them

Structure of an essay - A typical essay would start with an introduction, using statements and
information of general nature that provide some background to the topic and point to the nature
of the specific ideas that follow. The body of the essay would contain the specific ideas,
presented in a clear and coherent manner. Each broad idea or idea set would form a paragraph.
The flow, or sequence of paragraphs would lead to the conclusion which would sum up the
purpose of the presentation.

Effective expression - requires logical coherence and flow (as already discussed). Also requires
effective use of language. You must stay with sentence structure, vocabulary and idiom that you
are familiar with. Individual sentences should not include more than one idea. This way, you
have better control over grammatical construction, punctuation, etc. This works even for a
complex idea set, where continuity and flow can be established through the use of simple and
appropriate connectives and sentence starters (also called Discourse Markers - a few of which
are provided further on in this note).

R - Review
You must devote the last few minutes to reading through the essay to satisfy yourself that there
is logical flow and coherence, and that the language is error free. Correction, replacement or
repositioning, if any, should be carried out in a manner that ensures that the flow remains or is
improved.

We would suggest that, of the steps outlined above, you devote about 30 per cent of the allotted
time to steps C O and D, about 60 per cent to the actual writing, i.e. E, and about 10 per cent to
R.

Some Discourse Markers:

Introduction of a viewpoint - It is my opinion that..., My own view is..., As I see it..., I
believe..., and so on.

Structuring or classifying - To begin with..., First of all..., For one thing..., and so on.

Adding - Further..., Moreover..., Likewise..., In addition..., Besides,..., Equally,..., Another point

to be..., Apart from this..., and so on.

Giving examples - For example,..., For instance,..., A good example of this..., An appropriate
illustration of this..., and so on.

Generalising - On the whole..., In general..., Broadly speaking..., In most cases..., To a large

extent..., and so on.

Giving details, making things clear - In fact..., This is clear from..., This can be seen from...,
Considering this in greater detail…, and so on.

Analysing a point - What this means is..., In other words..., Translated into real terms,..., and so
on.

Concluding - In conclusion..., To sum up..., In short..., and so on.

Have a look at the two samples provided below, to see what a step-wise approach can result in.

Sample 1
Topic: The true measure of national development would be the reduction in economic
disparities, not the growth in national income.

Essay:

The term ‘economic disparity’ would literally translate to the differences in incomes and wealth
between different economic strata in society. In any economy, therefore, disparities are bound
to exist, since levels of skills, contribution, ownership and wealth do vary. This is as true of
fully developed economies as it is of developing and underdeveloped ones. In India, however,
we use the term very specifically, to point to the yawning gap that exists between the rich and
the poor. We acknowledge, with occasional embarrassment, (and opposition parties with
ostensible anguish), the fact that, even six decades after independence, this gross disparity still
exists. To us, it is a reminder that we have not yet been able to eradicate poverty - the state in
which more than a third of our population exists, without the minimum in food, clothing, shelter
and dignity.

There is no doubt that, as the economy develops, various economic determiners will show
increase at the national (or gross) levels - investments, assets, production, incomes, and so on.
This, in turn will progress to growth in national wealth to a point where, as a nation we are as
well off or 'developed' as any other. However, it must be remembered that a nation is but a sum
of the different strata of the society within it, just as a body is the sum of its parts. Looked at in
this manner, it can understood that only when all the parts have the minimum required
development (or 'health'), that the whole can be considered developed or healthy.

At first sight, it would seem as if there's a difficult choice to be made - that investing in
economic growth would mean the inability to devote national effort and finances towards lifting
the poor out of their morass. However, when we take a broader view, we understand that it is
through the first that the second objective can be achieved - while the benefits of economic
growth must first fuel further economic growth and then be shared by all economic strata, the
greater share must find its way to those at the very bottom of the pyramid, the economically
disadvantaged, till we achieve the banishment of poverty. This seems altruistic, and may be so.
However, it makes good economic sense too. Those lifted out of poverty would be freed from
the need to devote every moment to sheer existence and subsistence, and would therefore be
able to make positive contributions to social and economic productivity, to economic growth.
Both objectives - economic growth and poverty alleviation, are therefore related and should be
targeted together, for national development.

Clearly, then, it is only when we have eradicated poverty, that we should consider ourselves
developed in the true sense. This is why sociologists, and an increasing number of economists,
are of the view that true development is reflected not in cold economic indices such as GDP,
GNP or GNI, but in the HDI (Human Development Index) which takes into account three
critical ‘human’ parameters - life expectancy (that reflects nutrition and health), literacy (that
reflects employability) and standard of living (that reflects dignity). (518 words)

Sample 2
Topic: It is utopian to expect ethics in business. This is why business environments need laws.

Essay:

When we consider society, we normally think of it as a composite of human beings. In fact, the
word has much larger meaning. Society is a composite of ‘persons’ and here we mean not only
humans but all bodies that have presence in society, by virtue of their functions.

Businesses serve society and, in doing so, interact with other persons. Thus they are also a part
of society and their interactive behaviour, just like that of humans, is governed by entitlements
and responsibilities. When these entitlements and responsibilities are recognised and understood
by persons on their own and given effect to, through voluntary behaviour, we say the persons
are guided by ethics. However, there are times when persons may not be guided by ethics, or
where, ethics notwithstanding, rights and duties are to be determined. For such times, when
entitlements and responsibilities are to be laid down and enforced by authority, we have laws.

So, whether for individual humans, or for societal ‘persons’ in the larger sense, ethics and laws
are actually similar in objective - they seek to bring about that proper application of rights and
duties of persons that would enable society to function smoothly.

This holds just as true in the world of business which, as discussed earlier, is part of society.
Therefore, when we consider ‘Ethics versus Law’ in the area of business we cannot mean that
one opposes the other but that, depending on circumstances and situations, one is effective
where the other is not (or that one is more effective than the other.)

The application of ethics in business would mean that the parties in a business relationship
(whether the business itself, or customers, associates, authorities, employees or owners - anyone
who could be called stakeholders) recognise and do what needs to be done to see that others get
their entitlements, that their rights are not infringed, and that no harm or loss comes to them.
This is what we have in mind when we speak of 'fair' or 'honest' dealings - delivering value for
money whether in terms of price, quality, volume, time or support and ensuring that financial
commitments are met. As long as those in business are guided by these principles, they are
being ethical and this leads to comfortable, secure and long-standing relationships and goodwill.
These, in turn, form the basis for holistic growth.

However, just as there is no utopia, the world of business cannot run on voluntary behaviour
alone. There are situations where the focus on specific objectives, such as profit and monetary
growth, often leads persons to subjective perceptions of entitlements and responsibilities and
results in conflict of interest. This is where the various laws (commercial, revenue, and civil
laws) play their roles - laying down what would cause one perception to gain preponderance or
priority over another, thus determining the rights and duties appropriate to such situations.
Right-thinking and ethical businesses recognise this need, and their ethics therefore extend to
proper compliance with such laws. This is what earns them regard and reputation, also essential
for proper growth.

Then there are businesses and business situations where, sometimes, no heed is paid to ethics,
where persons seek to achieve objectives ‘at any cost’ or ‘no matter what it takes’, and the laws
(including, sometimes, criminal laws) are necessitated to enforce appropriate business
behaviour so as to protect the rights of stakeholders.

We have looked at three broad areas that indicate the relevance of ethics and law in business.
However, it must be kept in mind that the boundaries between these areas are neither sharp nor
immutable. Social behaviour is not the same all over the world or at all times. In the case of
humans, perceptions of what is ethical and what is not may vary in some aspects, depending on
culture, traditions and social attitudes prevalent in different societies. When it comes to
businesses, this variance exists because of political and economic ideologies and objectives that
have either gained social acceptance, or have been adopted through particular systems of
government or through policies that have been implemented by government. For instance, what
is considered unethical practice in a socialist environment may not be considered so in a
capitalist framework. Similarly, business activities that may not require regulation in a free
market situation may need regulation when they fall in the ambit of social responsibility or
social welfare activity.

It can be seen, then, that Ethics and Law are not contradictory, either in meaning, or objective.
They are both relevant to business, and have value and application in different situations and
circumstances. It is clear, however, that business that is guided by ethics is more likely to enjoy
harmonious existence and growth than business that is prodded by law. Businesses would do
well, therefore, to adopt ethical approaches on their own and willingly accept the application of
laws when in situations that present a conflict of interest. Such behaviour would make them
valuable and well accepted components of the social fabric they are part of. (835 words)

List of Essay topics at the IIMs:

The educational system is killing creativity in Indian children.
Should Nehru’s temples of learning remain elitist?
Indian women should take up their husbands’ surname after marriage.
Should India’s youth imbibe the positive aspects of western culture?
Both men and women need to undergo gender sensitivity courses.
NGOs are yet to get their due from society.
Studying pure science is a waste of time.
Industrialisation should not happen at the cost of human rights.
Indian politicians need training in communication skills.
Globalisation has failed to live up to its promises.
Pubs are anti-Indian.
It should be made compulsory for Indian politicians to be fit.
The resurgence of public sector companies in the current financial slowdown.
Obama will bring change, but only to the USA.
The Indian space programme is an ambition misplaced.
Personal Interview
Interviews play a very important role in the selection process of all management B-Schools.
Most top institutes take into consideration your performance in the written test, GD, interview,
academics, extra-curricular activities, and work experience (if any) before selecting you. In fact,
given that the top B-Schools award a weightage of 10-20% to Interview, your performance
could brighten or dim chances of selection. As the Interview is the last stage in the B-School
selection process, you cannot afford to leave anything to chance.

What is an Interview?

An Interview reveals among other things, how you “react” to various situations as it involves
thinking on your feet. An Interview provides an opportunity to the interviewer to peep into your
mind and understand your thought process. An Interview at a top B-School primarily tests the
attitude of the student towards various situations, as it is 'attitude' that determines the level of
success a person can achieve – be it in personal life or in professional life.

Interview Panel

The persons who interview you, collectively, form the Interview panel. Normally, the Interview
panel consists of two interviewers. However, there could be more than two interviewers.

The duration of a B-School Interview may vary between five and 45 minutes. The duration of
an Interview has no bearing on the final outcome. Simply put, a five minute Interview does not
mean that you have not done well. Similarly, a 40 minute Interview does not indicate that you
have done well. What matters is the ‘quality of interaction’ that you have with the panel,
irrespective of the duration of the Interview.

Most Interview panels comprise professors who work full time for that B-School. Sometimes,
the panel could also include a psychologist. Of late, some top B-Schools are also including an
alumnus / industry person in the panel.

While some management institutes have only one Interview, there are others which have two
interviews. While the first Interview is with the panel, the second Interview would normally be
with the Director / Dean of the institute.
TYPES OF INTERVIEWS

At management institutes, you will face an Individual / Personal or a Group Interview.

In a Personal Interview, you will face a panel and answer the questions put to you, while in a
Group Interview, a group of students are interviewed at the same time. In the case of the latter,
questions may be addressed to an individual or to the group as a whole. One premier B-School
which conducts Group Interviews is the Mumbai-based S. P. Jain Institute of Management and
Research (SPJIMR).

Based on the style of interviewing, Interviews at B-Schools can be classified into two types.
The first one can be referred to as 'Non-Stress Interview', and the second one, 'Stress Intervie'.

A Non-Stress Interview is a free-wheeling discussion with questions asked in a normal

business-like manner and the interviewee is given enough time to answer the questions. In a
Stress Interview, the candidate is deliberately put under a lot of stress by the panel.

INTERVIEW ETIQUETTE
There are some aspects that you, as a B-School aspirant, need to keep in mind and prepare for,
before taking the Interview.

(a) Dress code: As Interview is a formal occasion, you are expected to be dressed for the
occasion. Men should wear a freshly-ironed formal full-sleeve shirt and trousers, polished
formal shoes (black or brown), belt and a tie (knotted properly). Do not forget to sport a 'clean
look' on the day of the Interview. Use a mild deodorant.

Women can wear salwar-kameez / saree / skirt & shirt. If you have long hair, neatly plait it or
tend to it in a manner that it does not look unkempt. The bit about formal shoes applies to you
too. Of course, sandals meant for formal occasions are fine.

(b) Entry into the Interview room: You may be asked by one of the panel members or one of
their assistants to enter the room. At the door, ask for permission to enter, "May I come in, Sir /
Madam?" Relax control. Don't be in a hurry to rush to the table. Greet the panel (using the
appropriate salutations) with a smile. On being asked to sit down, thank them.

(c) Sitting posture: Sit comfortably in the chair. You may cross your legs if you wish to. Your
arms may rest on the arm-rest of the chair or on your lap. The folder that contains your
certificates and other documents should be kept on your lap, and not on the table. Remember,
the table belongs to the panel. Avoid postures that reflect a casual attitude. For instance, avoid
rocking the chair or placing one leg horizontally over the other leg.

(d) Body language: While a lot has been written and documented on body language, it will
suffice and will actually help you if you can be your natural self. While you might feel that you
need to 'project' yourself to the panel, the 'real you' will end up showing itself by way of your
body language.

Members of Interview panels are experts who can easily spot the inconsistency between what
you are saying and what your body language conveys. Use gesticulations. Lean a little forward
to show the panel that you are interested in what they are saying / asking. In doing so, do not
lean or rest your arms or elbows on the table.

(e) Language to be used: Use formal language and speak in English only. Some of us have the
habit of mixing up English with the vernacular. Avoid doing this in the Interview. Do not use
slang. Use short sentences that convey the meaning of what you wish to say. Avoid using
complicated sentences and long drawn-out explanations.

(f) Conduct inside the Interview room: Listen carefully and attentively to the questions asked. If
you are unable to comprehend the meaning / hear the question, request the panel member to
clarify / repeat the question. Always speak in a slow, measured tone in a manner that everyone
in the panel is clearly able to hear and understand what you are trying to say. There is no need
to 'spit out the answer' for the question(s) asked. Take a few moments to collect your thoughts
and then answer. Maintain eye contact with the panel at all times and convey a pleasant
disposition to the interviewers, irrespective of the mental state you are in. Remember, there will
be a certain amount of nervousness when you go for an Interview. But, you have to take care
that such nervousness does not get the better of you.

WHAT INTERVIEWERS AT B-SCHOOLS LOOK FOR

Interviewers chiefly look for students who are fit to pursue a management course at their
institute and whether they have the potential to become effective managers. They look for
candidates who have clear ideas, breadth and depth of knowledge, and the ability to look at
things in a balanced manner. They also look at the moral and ethical value system of the
individual concerned, and how the candidate will be able to contribute to the industry and the
society at large.

Some of the key qualities that you, as a B-School aspirant, are expected to possess are:

Good level of knowledge

Clear understanding of core concepts of various issues
Clarity of thought
Communication skills
Personality, attitude, and the way you react to situations
Thought process in terms of career planning
TYPES OF QUESTIONS ASKED IN AN INTERVIEW

Before getting into the types of questions that you could possibly be asked in an Interview, you
need to understand that the job of an Interview panel is to determine whether you are a suitable
candidate for that particular B-School. In this regard, they may put 'any question under the sun'
to you and you are expected to answer such a question. On being asked personal questions, you
are expected to answer in a mature manner, and not take the "this is a personal matter and since
I do not know you personally, I cannot answer this question" – Neither are you expected to give
flippant answers to seemingly innocuous questions. While you may not know it, every
interviewer asks questions with a sense of purpose. Make sure that you answer every question
with sincerity. Not doing so could jeopardise your selection prospects.

IMPORTANT TYPES OF QUESTIONS

Tell us something about yourself.
Why do you want to do a course in management?
Questions related to personal background
Questions related to one's personality (strengths / weaknesses)
Questions on academics
Questions on career planning
Questions on GK & current affairs
Questions on hobbies and extra-curricular activities
Questions on job profile and other organisation-related matters (for those with work experience)
Two important questions that are asked in most Interviews at top B-Schools are:

(a) Why do you want to do an MBA?, and

(b) Tell us something about yourself.

Since such questions are more-or-less a certainty, you should prepare for them well in advance.
Having a readymade answer for these kinds of questions will not help you as you could easily
falter in the Interview. What you would be better off doing is to have broad reasons which could
form the basis for your answers in the Interview. This would make your answer look more
natural than 'a mugged-up / by-rote' answer. Prepare well for a question like "Tell us something
about yourself". The question that would follow could well be based on what you say in
response to this question.

Personality-based questions like, "Tell us about your strong / weak points" are frequently asked
and you need to be prepared for them well before the Interview.

Most of the top B-Schools ask a large number of questions on the subjects you have studied
during your +two and your graduation. Most questions are essentially conceptual in nature.
However, it is seen at several Interviews that students are unable to answer these questions
successfully. By answering these questions correctly, you are sending out a message to the
Interview panel that you have taken the right amount of care to prepare thoroughly for the
Interview. Excuses like "I studied this a long time ago" will certainly not be appreciated by the
panel.

You could be asked questions on career planning such as, "Where do you see yourself five
years from now?". As well, you could also be asked questions on current affairs / general
knowledge, and the hobbies that you pursue. Answers to questions from these categories would
be a reflection of what you do in your leisure, and how deeply involved you are in what you do.
For instance, if you were to state that 'reading is your hobby', then be prepared for questions on
what books, magazines, and newspapers you read; who your favourite author is; what the last
book you read was; why you like the author and his style of writing; what are the other books of
the author that you have read; who the editors of the magazines and newspapers you read are;
what the cover story of the latest magazine that you have read is; what the headline in today’s
newspaper is, etc.

Applicants with work experience are likely to face a large number of questions on their job
profile, key learnings, the industry they work in, the organisation they work for, and the
competition in the industry. However, this does not mean that they will not be asked subject-
based questions at all.

In a nutshell, Interviews are as important as any other component in the selection process, and
possibly the most decisive. Be thoroughly prepared, for on this depends your future.
Extempore Topics
The list below is indicative only. As it goes, you could be asked to extemporize on any issue/idea. However,
the topics mentioned here have appeared in the past at b-schools across the country.

Newspaper reading as a habit Mobiles should be banned

in colleges

Before criticising anyone, put What are the winning ways

yourself into their shoes of success

Bungee jumping Mobile tech: boon on bane

Fear of the unexpected Positive attitude

Booming Bihar Does fashion influence

Indian culture?

Childhood Women are the weaker sex

Most memorable moment Women are better

managers

Funniest moment Pride & prejudice spoil

relationship

Population explosion Eve-teasing

Flyovers Your dream partner

Sachin Tendulkar China, the next world power

MBA education is a waste of Walking versus jogging

money

Saina Nehwal – the next youth IT jobs on the rise

icon

Trip to favourite holiday place Internet as a device for

marriage

The man who laughs last My reading habits

laughs best

Tough conditions don’t last, SRK versus Aamir

tough men do

Favourite company Kareena or Ash - who’s

 better?

Favourite serial Parents are demanding on

their children

Favourite actor Globalization

Your idol Co-education

Favourite business personality Dress codes in college

Is it possible to implement ‘one Catching Osama

child’ policy?

Foreign channels are a threat Ways to a healthier brain

to our culture

If you become invisible Ends justify means

Pepsi and Coca-Cola should Moods are a necessary evil

be banned

Favourite sportsperson Should India pursue

dialogue with Pak?

Favourite food TV commercials should be

banned

Kashmir issue – can it be Unemployment – What are

solved the remedies?

Privatization of universities Real learning takes place

through experience

Advantages of vegetarianism Brain drain

Women grow fatter after Love is essential for peace

marriage of mind

Most beautiful girl I have seen Unconventional Hindi

movies

Haste makes waste What I did during my last

vacation

Cycle – the best mode of Earth – my planet

transport among youth
Morning walk versus evening Education liberalized
walk

Beauties have no brains Two’s company, three’s

crowd

Laugh & the world laughs with Global village

you, cry & you cry alone
WAT & GD Topics
Posted on April 3, 2018 by admin
We have selected a diverse list of topics for Written Ability Test (WAT, also called essay-
writing) and Group Discussion (GD) administered in the recent past at some of India’s leading
b-schools.

Written Ability Test (WAT) topics

Will GST transform India’s economic landscape? (IIFT)

The Ninth Schedule of the Constitution of India is against the basic nature of democracy. (IIM
Kozhikode)
Some investors have noted that angel investors must invest in startups that solve country-
specific problems.
Share your opinion on this. (IIM Bangalore)
Cinema has deeply influenced the Indian society. Has the influence been detrimental or
beneficial? (IIM Calcutta)
Change the plan but never the goal. (IIM Kozhikode)
Religion divides us, problems unite us. (MDI)
Is globalization good for workers and their rights? (IIM Indore)
Would the concept of Smart Cities solve India’s economic and social problems? (IIM
Kozhikode)
Transformation in social and cultural values is the only way to prevent violence against women
in India. (IIM Kozhikode)
Can India become a cashless society? (IIM Lucknow)
The world got ‘Trump’ed! (IIFT)
Is free market a prerequisite for growth? (IIM Lucknow)
Should income tax be abolished in India? (MDI Gurgaon)
Aadhaar – opportunities and challenges ahead. (IIM Indore)
Is establishing an IIT and an IIM in every state a right move? Will it affect the brand value of
these
institutions? What challenges will it present? (IIM Bangalore)
‘Free Basics’ by Facebook can be seen as a disadvantage for the digital have-nots. (IIM
Bangalore)
Mass Media – a boon or bane? (IIM Kozhikode)
Is terrorism something which originates because of religion or deprivation? Or is it that some
people with vested interests want to leverage their personal benefits out of it? (IIM Kozhikode)
Your young cousin is confused about what she should pursue for higher studies. How will you
guide her? What factors would you consider before giving her advice? (IIM Indore)
What skill set should be imparted to Indian students to ensure that they become force to reckon
with in the job sector? (IIM Indore)
Earlier people did not fear people who migrated to their city, but nowadays they look at them
with suspicion. Is migration raising fear among locals? What can the state do to avoid this
conflict? (IIM Calcutta)
Private sector promotes employability and public sector promotes employment. (IIM
Kozhikode)
Can a developing country afford to preserve its monuments, natural wonders, living heritage
like culture and
performing arts? Do you think they should be preserved? Share your views. (IIM Calcutta)
Is cricket killing other sports in India? (IIM Indore)
The best way to destroy your enemy is to make her/him your friend. (IIM Kozhikode)
I love India and detest Indians. (IIM Indore)
Is obesity becoming a problem of urban India? (New IIMs)
One plus one cannot be two. (IIM Indore)
What do you think has an immediate impact on humans – an economic disaster or
environmental destruction? (IIM Kozhikode)
The Supreme Court ruled that national anthem should be played in cinema halls. Is it the only
way to promote patriotism? What is your opinion? (IIM Indore)
GD Topics

Can the world economy bank upon India for growth? (IIFT)
Can India achieve 9% GDP growth rate? (IIFT)
Democracy is hampering progress in India. (MDI Gurgaon)
Should violent video games be banned? (MDI Gurgaon)
Women in politics: empowerment or tokenism? (MDI Gurgaon)
Is Third Front the future of Indian politics? (MDI Gurgaon)
Smartphones: boon or bane? (MDI Gurgaon)
If companies are cozy with the government, then it promotes them. (XLRI)
Inclusive growth in India is a myth. (XLRI)
Are foreign managers better than their Indian counterparts? (XLRI)
Hard work or smart work – which is better? (NITIE)
BREXIT. (IIFT)

Democracy in India cannot be successful until equal representation is given to each state.
(XLRI)
If beauty is skin deep, then how can truth be beautiful? (XLRI)
Is secularism still relevant? (XLRI)
The golden rule is that there is no golden rule. (IIM Lucknow)
Patents on medicines should not be applicable to underdeveloped countries. (IIM Lucknow)
Is a college degree required for achieving success in today’s life? (IIM Lucknow & IIM
Kozhikode)
Mangalyaan is not a breakthrough in science but just a nasty kick to diseased economy. (IIM
Kozhikode)
Should capital punishment be abolished in India? (IIM Kozhikode)
As long as cricket is there, betting will be there. (IIM Kozhikode)
Cyber law bill has failed. Cyberspace patrolling is just not possible. (IIM Kozhikode)
Entrepreneurs cannot be produced inside business schools. (IIM Lucknow)
Should the budget for space programme in India be invested in poverty alleviation? (IIM
Lucknow)
‘What do I want to do in life’ is the least pondered question for most of us. Your thoughts on
this issue. (IIM Lucknow)
Grass is always greener on the other side. (NITIE)
Business and ethics – can they go hand in hand? (NITIE)
Recession is the mother of innovation. (NITIE)
Is love marriage better than arranged marriage? (Goa Institute of Management)
Is honesty still the best policy? (FORE Delhi)
Should school children be allowed to use and own mobile phones? (Goa Institute of
Management)
Should mobile phones and tablets replace text books to save the trees? (NITIE)
Joint Family is the solution to today’s ailing society. (LBSIM Delhi)
Should Income Tax be abolished in India? (XLRI)
Can all good individual performers definitely transform into good leaders? (XLRI)
Discuss the influence of the media on the society? (XLRI)
Can there ever be peace with Pakistan? (NITIE)
Should local language be the medium of instruction in primary schools? (NITIE)
Can the world economy bank upon India for growth? (IIFT)
Can India achieve 9% GDP growth rate? (IIFT)
What should India do to have its own Facebooks, Alibabas & Googles? (IIMK)
Reading after a certain age reduces creativity. (IIMK)
The government ban on Maggi noodles was not justified. Discuss. (IIFT)
Whistle blowers or disloyal agents? (NITIE)
Secularism in India: Challenges & concerns. (TISS)
Try not to be a man of success but a man of value. (IIMK)
B-School Interview Experiences
Interview for: IIM Ahmedabad
Qualification: B. Tech. (CSE)
Work ex: 20 months
Hobbies: Literary prizes, working with NGO.
Anything extra: Working on business plan.
The number of panelists: 3, to be called P1, P2 & P3.
P1: Tell me what your company does?
P1: What kind of financial data?
P1: You seem to be uncomfortable with financial fundamentals? Do you want me to move to
computer science directly? (Sir, let me put it in a better way again.)
P1: We don’t have much time over here.
P1: Okay, now explain in two lines why your project is crucial to your company?
P1: This is easy work to do. (P1 remained unconvinced.)
P1: Okay, so why do you want to do an MBA? (Sir, I want to become an entrepreneur. I am
already working on this project – explained the b-plan in brief; asked permission to use paper
and pencil to explain all the verticals of the b-plan using block diagrams.)
P1 (looked interested): Why do you think you have the skills to do this? This plan is rural in
nature. You are completely in the IT corporate world. (Sir, I believe, it is not about skills, it is
about passion.
P1 (Sarcastically): Do you really think so? What is the percentage of people dependent on
agriculture in rural areas? What is the revenue model of your planned venture? Why do you
think it will work?
P2: So, you are from DB team, explain normalization.
P2: What is the full form of BCNF?
P2: Explain 1 NF, 2 NF, 3 NF.
P2: Okay, why do you have this interest in mythology?
P2: What is the name of Hanuman’s son? (Unable to recollect the name.)
P2: Who was his father? (At that time, it just struck me that Hanuman never married.)
P2: Okay, now tell me, who was his son? (Sir, he did not marry, so technically, he should have
no son.)
P2 started laughing, saying that he loved the word ‘technically’.
P2: This is fine, but I believe that at your age, spirituality and mythology don’t suit you. You
should go around girls. Do you have a girlfriend? (No, Sir, but I am in a search mode.)
P2: (laughing) Of course, if you go around telling girls about mythology, what else do you
expect? (Sir, in that case, my second hobby – writing Hindi poetry – would be useful; the two
professors smile.)
P3: What is your favourite subject? (DBMS)
P3: Tell me about Boyce-Codd normal form.
P2: Thank you, we are done. Please take a toffee.
**
Interview for: IIM Lucknow
Qualification: B. Tech. (ECE)
Work ex: 30 months
Hobbies: Kathak, glass painting, & rangoli.
Number of panelists: Two, P1 & P2
P1: How do you spell your name?
P2: How do you spell your surname?
P1: Is it your father’s name or something else? (My community’s name, Sir.)
P1: So, you are from Andhra. Is it? (Telangana, Sir.)
P1: Ya, ya, you guys fought for it for many years.
P1: Can I have a look at your file, please?
P1: What is this? (I had my passport placed in the file.)
P1: Why is it called Republic of India?
P1: Is India a republic or democratic? (I said ‘democratic’.)
P1: Then why is it a Republic?
P1: What is the U.S.?
P1: Really, I’m shocked! (raised his voice)
P1: Where do you get good biryani? (Discussion on various Hyderabad restaurants; the student
is from Hyderabad.)
P1: Do you know how to cook biryani?
P1: Please give me the recipe.
P1: Is there something called a vegetable biryani? (Yes, there is, Sir. I’m a vegetarian but my
parents are non-vegetarians.)
P1: Why did you stop eating non-vegetarian food?
P1: Tell me about your parents, their work.
P1: What is your father’s salary?
P1: Where is your brother’s college? Give us the address of your college.
P1: Tell us about your work.
P1: What tools do you use? What are the other uses of the technology?
P1: What are your hobbies? (I’m a trained Kathak dancer in Lucknow Gharana.)
P1: You are from Hyderabad. So, where did you learn Kathak in Lucknow Gharana?
P1: Explain the differences between Bharatanatyam and Kathak.
P1: Can you dance for us? (Yes, Sir; I was about to get up – but was asked to sit and show some
mudra.)
P2: Why is it called Kathak?
P1: What are your other interview calls? (Calls from IIMs B, I, K and the New IIMs.)
P1: So, which one will you join? (Non-committal answer)
P1: You are familiar with Lucknow Gharana and you can cook biryani, why not join IIML?
(Both the panellists laughed hard when the student said ‘yes’.)
P1: Please take a toffee and leave.

**

Interview for: IIM Ahmedabad

Qualification: B. Tech. (CSE)
Work ex: 33 months
Hobbies: Quizzing & watching magic tricks.
The number of panelists: Two, female professor (FP) and male professor (MP).
MP: Where do you work? (Company X – we have deliberately left the company’s name out to
make such questions universally applicable.)
FP: Who are the competitors of Company X?
FP: What is the market capitalization of Company X?
FP: What is its share price?
MP: What is its revenue?
FP: How much did Company X pay to acquire Company Y? Has the acquisition worked well
for Company X?
MP: Draw the graph of |x| / (1+|x|).
MP: Is it differentiable at x=0?
MP: Is it continuous at x=0?
MP: How do you find the differentiation at a point?
MP: Draw the graph of x / (1+x).
MP: Is it differentiable at x=-1?
FP: What are your hobbies? (Watching magic tricks and quizzing.)
FP: Share some tricks.
MP: As an engineer, which trick appealed to you the most?
MP: Share a quiz fact you learnt recently. (Morarji Desai won Pakistan’s highest civilian
award.)
MP: What is the exact name of the award?
FP: Did any Pakistani get Bharat Ratna?
FP: Name another famous Indian who received an award from Pakistan.
FP: Why was there a controversy then?
MP: Just as India has tensions in Kashmir, Pakistan has some issues – which part/state?
FP: How do I go from Mumbai to Mount Kilimanjaro?
FP: If I want to see penguins, where do I go? (Antarctica or New Zealand, Sir.)
FP: If don’t want to go to Antarctica or New Zealand, then?
FP: What’s the capital of Chile?
FP: Is Chile a democracy?
FP: Who is Augusto Pinochet?
MP: Thank you, you may go now.

Reading Ladder: A Guide to Mastering RC

The importance of the reading skill cannot be overemphasized. It is an integral part of

management entrance tests such as the CAT. In addition to the Reading Comprehension (RC)
segment of any management entrance test, many question types in the Verbal Ability (VA)
segment, such as para jumbles and para completion, test your ability to read and comprehend
well. The other sections of management entrance tests, viz. Quantitative Aptitude, Logical
Reasoning and Data Interpretation, also require you to read and assimilate vast amounts of text.
RC is an area that bothers almost everyone. While students do recognize this, they are confused
as to how they should start working on this area. The paradox is that the recognition of the
imperative role of reading in reaching the goal is not matched with or accompanied by the effort
to embark on the journey. In this article, we present a road map which will help you not only
become aware of the route to the destination, which is mastering RC, but also recognize that the
road blocks are all in the mind. This road map is designed not just to enable you to excel in the
RC section of the CAT but also to hone reading skills that can help you in manifold aspects of
your life or career.
The fear of reading
The main issue here is the inherent fear of reading. The first thing you need to tell yourself that
reading is an enjoyable activity. Most students fear reading. Throughout their childhood, they
have had the single-minded devotion to ‘mugging up’ whatever they read so that they could
perform well in exams. Further, most reading was confined to text-books with the objective of
cracking exams, which, of course, kills the pleasure of reading.
You will be glad to know that the CAT does not require you to remember vast quantities of
information that needs to be reproduced verbatim in the examination to score marks. What is
being tested is the ability to read and interpret the written word. When you read a newspaper, do
you ever try to memorise its contents? So, whenever you are reading, do not try to memorise;
focus on understanding the issue and that will automatically make you remember the contents.
Reading will become an enjoyable and rewarding activity. As a wise man said, “Reading a good
book is like conversing with a great man”. Take up reading as you would take up a pleasurable
activity to fill the empty spaces of your mind, or as a committed friendship, because reading is,
after all, a silent conversation.
The need for a road map
As a discerning traveller on the ‘Reading Comprehension Journey’, carry a backpack of
patience
and perseverance with you. Start with the curiosity of a traveller, not the idée fixe of a tourist.

A roadmap can help you:

1. know your level of preparedness, which, in turn, would give you a starting point for the
journey;
2. show the way forward, and
3. evaluate your progress and make mid-course corrections, if required.
The basic premise of this road map is that if you are trying to improve your reading speed and
comprehension, you should read at a speed slightly higher than your current speed, without
compromising much on comprehension. Your current speed of reading is the fastest that you
can read, while understanding much of the stated ideas in the content. If you push your reading
speed considerably up, you may not comprehend much of the content. This will only leave you
feeling dejected. Aiming for incremental improvements in your reading speed will not, to a
large extent, adversely affect comprehension. If this is done on a consistent basis, both reading
speed and comprehension can improve.

How to read correctly

Reading is effective only when there is conscious participation from the reader. Keep a pencil
handy when you read and whatever you find difficult to understand, underline the difficult
portions or words. Once you have read the article, look up the difficult words in a dictionary.
Understand the related and difficult-to-understand general awareness concepts by browsing on
the internet. Then, read the article again. This ensures that you understand the words in the right
context as well as get the complete meaning of the article. Many students find the meanings of
the words in the dictionary, but do not read the article again. This is only semi-productive. This
exercise helps you sharpen the valuable skill of decipherment, a priceless art in comprehension.
Additionally, try to summarise the contents of the article, focusing on the important ideas.
Writing summaries will help you become a better reader. This can be done better if, as habit,
you note (mentally or on paper) the focal ideas in each paragraph, thereby understanding the
author’s flow of thought. Both these pieces of advice are for students at all rungs of the reading
ladder (discussed below).

The roadmap a.k.a. The ladder of reading

The Bottom Rung
1. The bottom rung of the reading ladder consists of students who come from a background of
Non-English medium of education at school or college level and are not able to read English
newspapers. If you fall in this category, then start with simple magazines, books and
newspapers. Keep a basic dictionary handy.
1.1. Read The Hindu and other similar comics in English. Tinkle is a simple and informative
magazine with good quality English. You will understand simple conversations through comics
and informative panels. If you find Tinkle tough, then you can even start reading Champak in
English. After some time when you become comfortable with Champak, you can shift to
Tinkle. You can read some simple and basic novels such as Chetan Bhagat’s works.
1.2. Read NCERT books for Classes VI to X. You can read English, Science and Social Science
books. Start with the books for Class VI and finish them in whatever time it takes. Then move
to books of Class VII and so on. Later, you may read English books of Classes XI and XII and
the course books in English medium for whatever subjects you had chosen in those classes. For
example, students who studied Commerce in Hindi or Tamil medium may re-read commerce
books in English. This will build a lot of basic vocabulary since the books are designed to
improve the students’ vocabulary and knowledge.
1.3. Read parts of newspapers meant for beginners/children. Some newspapers, like The Hindu,
carry supplements for young children (8–14 years age group). These are yet another good
source of simple vocabulary, simple sentence structure as well as good comprehension.
1.4. Once again, bear in mind that when you read, you are not trying to memorise anything. Just
read along for understanding and enjoyment. Continue these exercises, till you are comfortable
with this reading material. Then move to the next step.
The Second Rung
2. The second rung consists of the students who enjoy basic comfort with the English language
but find it difficult to understand the moderately tough sections in English newspapers/other
reading material. If you come in this category, then you can do the following:
2.1. Start by reading a quality newspaper completely. You can choose from TOI or Hindustan
Times or Indian Express or any similar publication. Read news articles on national and
international issues, and, of course, the editorials.
2.2. Read magazines like India Today, The Week, Outlook, Swarajya and Reader’s Digest.
MBA Education and Careers (ME&C), published by T.I.M.E., will help a lot.
2.3. Read works of fiction by authors such as R. K. Narayan, Mulk Raj Anand, Khushwant
Singh, John Grisham, Jeffrey Archer, Arthur Hailey, Sidney Sheldon, and Fredrick Forsyth. V.
S. Naipaul’s fiction is also doable at this level, but not the non-fiction. That is for later.
2.4. Read the ‘Harry Potter Series’, which is pretty good for beginners.
2.5. Start with simple non-fiction, like The Hindu .
2.6. Many students perceive Philosophy to be tough. ‘Sophie’s World’ is highly recommended
in this case.
The Third Rung
3. The third rung consists of the students who are fairly comfortable with the English language
but find it difficult to understand the tough sections of reading materials. If you fall in this
category, then here’s what you have to do:
3.1. Start reading a quality newspaper. The Hindu is possibly the best newspaper for you. Start
with the main news page and then read the middle two pages completely. It could be initially
challenging to read serious issues and articles dealing with society’s problems but that is what is
required! Read the editorials, articles, and opinion pieces completely.
3.2. Read Frontline and foreign magazines like TIME, Bloomberg BusinessWeek, Forbes, and
Fortune; look up their websites.
3.4. Try reading non-fiction. Books on self-help make for good reads. Start with basic books in
the areas of Sciences, Psychology, Sociology, Arts, History, and Philosophy. Here are some
recommendations: How to Win Friends & Influence People (Dale Carnegie), The Road Less
Travelled (Scott Peck); The Third Wave, Future Shock, Power Shift (all by Alvin Toffler),
Lateral Thinking (Edward De Bono), India Unbound (Gurcharan Das) and India After Gandhi
(Ramachandra Guha). A Brief History of Nearly Everything (Bill Bryson) and Sapiens (Yuval
Noah Harari) can excite one’s interest in the sciences. Biographies are also recommended – The
Story of My Experiments with Truth (Mahatma Gandhi), Iacocca (Lee Iacocca), and Made in
Japan (Akio Morita).
3.5. Start with simple poetry. Ogden Nash and Nissim Ezekiel are good choices.
The Top Rung
4. The fourth rung is of the students who are pretty comfortable with the English language and
want to peruse even tougher work/texts to ensure that their CAT preparation is up to the mark.
4.1. Along with the material mentioned in the last rung, you can start to read The Economist
(www.economist.com) and the McKinsey Quarterly (www.mckinseyquarterly.com).
4.2. Start to read difficult fiction, like ‘Catch-22’ by Joseph Heller, works of Salman Rushdie,
Arundhati Roy, and Vikram Seth. Ayn Rand (We the Living; Fountainhead, and Atlas
Shrugged) is a perennial favourite at this level. J. R. R. Tolkien’s ‘The Lord of the Rings’
trilogy is a good choice.
4.3. In non-fiction, Robert Pirsig (Lila: An Inquiry into Morals; Zen and the Art of Motorcycle
Maintenance), Bertrand Russell, and
J. Krishnamurthy are recommended for philosophy. You can read Carl Jung and Sigmund Freud
on psychology. Fritjof Capra (The Tao of Physics) and Stephen Hawking (A Brief History of
Time) lend a strong base for an understanding of the sciences.
4.4. Try modern poetry. Don’t overdo it. Poets to read are Rabindranath Tagore, Robert Frost,
W. H. Auden, T. S. Eliot, James Joyce, Marianne Moore, Ezra Pound, and William Butler
Yeats. You can search for their poems on the internet.
4.5. Supplements of The Hindu and articles from Frontline are a good source of critiques and
reviews of fine arts, including paintings and other cultural aspects. Book reviews of non-fiction
works provide good practice for strengthening your RC capability.
Computer Based Test – CAT
Due to the CBT nature of the CAT, you should be comfortable with reading on a computer.
You should practice the RC material on the student homepage on www.time4education.com.
Additionally, you can make use of the following websites:
a. www.aldaily.com (Arts and Letters Daily) – a good website for moderate to tough articles on
a variety of areas like philosophy, ideas, criticism, and language.
b. www.magportal.com – a website that is essentially a link guide to articles on the web.
c. www.indiatogether.org – a good collection of articles on issues faced by India.
d. www.atimes.com – good articles on international affairs from an Asian perspective.
e. www.nytimes.com – excellent op-ed section.
f. www.edge.org – a blog/website on technology and its interplay with society.
g. en.wikipedia.org – you can always read Wikipedia for the articles on topics you are not
familiar with. You can click on the bibliography articles (listed at the end of most articles) to
see tougher articles on the same topic.
h. You can download apps of various newspapers. Additionally, good news aggregators, like
inshorts, can improve your GK and reading.
What next?
If you believe you have already crossed/aced stage 4, then start re-doing stage 4 in
comparatively less time. It will automatically increase the pressure, e.g., the RC passages in the
AIMCATs and the CAT are expected to be between levels 3 and 4. You can redo some of those
in less time, say 75% of the time allocated earlier. That is sufficient to create the desired stress
while reading.
Use library facilities at your T.I.M.E. centre where you may see quite a few books from the
recommended lists. Good reading is linked to good writing too. As you read more, it will help
you write better, which will help you write impressive essays. Share your thoughts on reading
with a like-minded peer group as discussion helps broaden perspective. Remember that the
destination is made worthwhile by the journey that shows not just places but also new paths!
ESSAYS NEEDN’T BE YOUR WATERLOO!
Posted on March 27, 2018 by admin
There’s an interesting quote about novelists, to the eff ect that novelists are but failed essayists
who started to write novels because they didn’t know how to write essays. The person who said
that obviously considers the essay the ultimate test of written expression.

Those of you looking at the post-CAT phase of the selection process of b-schools would
probably think the same way too, considering that the most frequently seen literary works,
nowadays, are those that appear on cell-phone screens and go by the word ‘texting’!

But ESSAY needn’t be an ominous word. Go through this article. Put the suggestions to use in
some practice. You’ll find that writing an essay isn’t as diffi cult as it’s made out to be.

Over the past few years, various b-schools have included ‘Essay tasks’ in their selection
processes. Candidates could be presented with essay tasks to be carried out in periods ranging
from 10 to 30 minutes, and essays could therefore range from 200 to 700 words (1 side to 2
sides of an A4 sheet).

Why do b-schools test writing skills?

It’s no surprise that business schools would like you to demonstrate effective writing skills.
Remember while there are many reasons to have good writing skills, the most important one is
communication, in any situation. Much though we may like to think that most business
communication is over the phone, this is not so. Reports and correspondence (including by e-
mail, nowadays) play a major role in business communication. Good writing must be engaging,
yet direct and to the point.

Without good writing skills the business world would be in anarchy and chaos. While bad
writing skills can lead to misinformation by way of wrong or ambiguous messages, good
writing skills can lead to a much needed confi dence boost, to both the individual and the
organisation.

If you want to possess good writing skills, start by reading regularly. When you do, you will
learn to tell the diff erence between good writing and bad writing. Learn to tell the diff erence.
When you get down to writing, remember simplicity of style and structure: subject, verb, and
predicate. Emulate Ernest Hemingway, who said that his ultimate goal in writing was to create
the perfect sentence.

Good writing skills are important in professional and personal lives. Don’t let their absence be a
thorn in your side. You can develop good writing skills if you set your mind to it.

What’s a well-written essay like?

An essay is a creative piece of work, an organized collection of your thoughts on a particular

topic. While the length or forms of essays may vary, it is possible to distinguish several types of
works, such as narrative, descriptive, comparative, analytical, critical, argumentative, rhetorical,
and so on. Depending on the type and purpose of essays, their structure may diff er greatly – yet
it is possible to distinguish introduction, main body and conclusion.

The introduction and the conclusion, although very important, are often relatively short. The
bulk of an essay, both in form and substance, is contained in the main body.

The introduction is intended to lead the reader into the topic and clarify what the essay will
specifically deal with. It usually consists of one paragraph, but this depends on the length of the
essay and the amount of background information the context requires. The introduction will
contain a key sentence (or, if necessary, more than one).

The main body deals with the major ideas that support the statement. Each main idea is
presented in a separate paragraph and developed with supporting ideas in the form of
explanations, definitions, and illustrated with examples where appropriate or necessary.

The conclusion brings the reader back to the purpose of the essay and draws all the points
together before making a final comment on the result of the discussion/argument. Often this
final comment will point towards some consequence the discussion may have for the future or
make some observation about what the discussion has revealed on a general level.

In short, an essay will show a progression from a general level (in the introduction) to the
specifi c (the statement and body) and then to confirmation (conclusion).
That’s what the essay would be. But what goes into it? Let’s step back a bit and have a look at
what needs to happen, even before you launch into your essay.

The essays that you are expected to write would fall, broadly, into one or the other of the two
categories described below:

I. When you are asked to consider an issue and present your suggestions/views on it, your task
is to analyse the statement(s) presented, consider various perspectives and develop your own
position on the issue. You are expected to recognise and deal with the complexities of the issue
and support your ideas with reasons and examples

II. Sometimes you may be asked to examine suggestions/ viewpoints offered or expressed. In
such case, the task is not to present your views on the topic, but to examine the stated
suggestions/viewpoints for their logical soundness and for the strength/weakness of the
evidence offered in support. You are expected to identify and analyse the elements of the
suggestions/viewpoints offered and to support your evaluation with reasons and examples.

So, how is it done?

Here are a few steps that you could take.

Think about your content – the topic itself – what are the keywords? What is it about? What
information do you have? How do you recall all your information? What ideas or views do you
have (or what views do you develop) on the basis of this information? Remember to make
quick, concise notes (just words and phrases) as you brainstorm, to ensure that you recall
important ideas.

Effective notes and careful thought would help you organise your content. Put random thoughts
and ideas into coherent groups. What would be the purpose or theme of the essay?
What would be the appropriate ideas to start with (or to use for introductory statements)? What
are the further ideas that you could continue with, and what would these ideas lead to? What
ideas would be the right ones to end with?

Consider how you would explain your ideas – what sort of readership is the essay intended for?
What sort of information would hold their attention best? What sort of examples would they
relate to? What pieces of information, what sort of explanation, and/or what examples, would
support the ideas, the theme and the purpose? How long should the essay be?

With this ‘brainstorming’ done, you would have in hand a brief sketch in the form of your
notes, with an idea of how you want your essay organised.

Now you start to write. Use the intro-body-conclusion sequence mentioned earlier in the article.

Since you’ve done all the thinking, you can focus on the effectiveness of expression. This
would mean the effective use of language. You must stay with sentence structure, vocabulary
and idiom that you are familiar with. Individual sentences should not include more than one
idea. This way you’d have better control over grammatical construction, punctuation, etc. This
works even for a complex idea set, where continuity and fl ow can be established through the
use of simple and appropriate connectives and sentence starters.

Devote the last few minutes to reading through the essay to satisfy yourself that there is logical
fl ow and coherence and that the language is error free. Correction, replacement or
repositioning, if any, should be carried out in a manner that ensures that the fl ow remains or is
improved.

Tips for preparation

If essay-writing isn’t quite your cup of tea, you may be unsure of how you should go about your
preparation. It goes without saying that you must prepare and practice. It’s like swimming –
reading (or being told by someone) about what you should do isn’t enough. You have to get into
a pool and try it!

Here are our suggestions:

Start by reading some well-written articles and essays. Look at the way they’ve been structured,
especially now that you have an idea of what goes into a good essay. You don’t have far to look
– the articles and essays that we have provided links to, on our website (Links to RC passages
on the Student Home Page), are appropriate for such practice. You could also look at the
(serious) articles in news magazines.

Next, try rewriting. Once in a while, of the articles and essays that you read, take one that
you’ve understood well, read it again, put it away, and try rewriting the content in your own
words. This would help you get familiar with writing as an activity. Since you are reproducing
ideas that you’ve read, you can concentrate on the aspects of written English. This will help you
gain confidence in your ability to write.

Then, get started on your own essays, using the methods that you’ve gone through in this
article. For the first few, do not worry about the time you take. Gain practice and confidence in
being able to write effective essays of 400 to 600 words in length.

Thereafter, progress to writing essays in limited time. Try essays in 20 and 30 minutes. You
should aim for approximately) a fivepara essay (300 to 400 words) in 20 minutes, and a seven-
para essay (500 to 600 words) in 30 minutes. Once you’re reasonably comfortable with these,
try writing essays in 10 minutes. You should aim for (approximately) a three-para essay (150 to
200 words) in 10 minutes.

Remember, it’s the practice and self-assessment that help you do it. Go for it. A decent amount
of practice will surely help you do well in the selection process. And, who knows, you may gain
enough confidence in your written expression to aim to be, if not the perfect essayist, at least the
next Chetan Bhagat!
Cracking the B-school Interview
Posted on March 27, 2018 by admin
Interviews play a very important role in the selection process of all management schools. Most
top institutes take into consideration your performance in the written test, GD, interview,
academics, extra-curricular activities, and work experience (if any) before selecting you. In fact,
given that the top b-schools award a weightage of 10-20% to Interview, your performance could
brighten or dim chances of selection. As the Interview is the last stage in the b-school selection
process, you cannot aff ord to leave anything to chance.

What is an Interview?

An Interview reveals, among other things, how you ‘react’ to various situations as it involves
thinking on your feet. It provides an opportunity to the interviewer to peep into your mind and
understand your thought process. An Interview at a top b-school primarily tests the attitude of
the student towards various situations, as it is ‘attitude’ that determines the level of success a
person can achieve – be it in personal life or in professional life.

Interview panel

The persons who interview you, collectively, form the Interview panel. Normally, the Interview
panel consists of two members. However, there could be more than two interviewers.

The duration of a b-school Interview may vary between fi ve and 45 minutes. The duration of an
Interview has no bearing on the fi final outcome. Simply put, a fi ve minute Interview does not
mean that you have not done well. Similarly, a 40-minute Interview does not indicate that you
have done well. What matters is the ‘quality of interaction’ that you have with the panel,
irrespective of the duration of the Interview.

Most Interview panels comprise professors who work full time for that b-school. Sometimes,
the panel could also include a psychologist. Of late, some top b-schools are also including an
alumnus/industry executive in the panel.
While some management institutes have only one Interview, there are others which have two
Interviews. While the first Interview is with the panel, the second Interview would normally be
with the Director/Dean of the institute.

Types of Interviews

At management institutes, you will face either a Personal or a Group Interview.

In a Personal Interview, you will face a panel and answer the questions put to you, while in a
Group Interview, a group of students are interviewed at the same time. In the case of the latter,
questions may be addressed to an individual or to the group as a whole. One premier b-school
which conducts Group Interviews is the Mumbai-based S. P. Jain Institute of Management and
Research (SPJIMR).

Based on the style of interviewing, Interviews at b-schools can be classifi ed into two types:
‘Non-Stress Interview’ and ‘Stress Interview’.

A Non-Stress Interview is a free-wheeling discussion with questions asked in a normal

business-like manner and the interviewee is given enough time to answer the questions. In a
Stress Interview, the candidate is deliberately put under a lot of stress by the panel.

Interview Etiquette

There are some aspects that you, as a b-school aspirant, need to keep in mind and prepare for,
before sitting for the Interview.

(a) Dress code: As Interview is a formal occasion, you are expected to be dressed for the
occasion. Men should wear a freshly-ironed formal long-sleeved shirt and trousers, polished
formal shoes (black or brown), belt, and a tie (knotted properly). Do not forget to sport a ‘clean
look’ on the day of the Interview. Use a mild deodorant. Women can wear
salwar-kameez/saree/skirt & shirt. If you have long hair, neatly plait it or tend to it in a manner
that it does not look unkempt. The bit about formal shoes applies to you too. Of course, sandals
meant for formal occasions are fine.
(b) Entry into the Interview room: You may be asked by one of the panel members or one of
their assistants to enter the room. At the door, ask for permission to enter, “May I come in,
Sir/Madam?” Relax. Don’t be in a hurry to rush to the table. Greet the panel (using the
appropriate salutations) with a smile. On being asked to sit down, thank them.

(c) Sitting posture: Sit comfortably in the chair. Your arms may rest on the arm-rest of the chair
or in your lap. The folder that contains your certifi cates and other documents should be kept on
your lap, and not on the table. Remember, the table belongs to the panel. Avoid postures that
refl ect a casual attitude. For instance, avoid rocking the chair or placing one leg horizontally
over the other leg.

(d) Body language: While a lot has been written about body language, it will suffice and will
actually help you if you can be your natural self. While you might feel that you need to ‘project’
yourself to the panel, the ‘real you’ will end up showing itself by way of your body language.
Interviewers are experts who can easily spot the inconsistency between what you are saying and
what your body language conveys. Use gesticulations. Lean a little forward to show the panel
that you are interested in what they are saying/asking. While doing so, do not lean or rest your
arms or elbows on the table.

(e) Language to be used: Use formal language and speak English only. Some of us have the
habit of mixing up English with the vernacular. Avoid doing this in the Interview. Do not use
slang. Use short sentences that convey the meaning of what you wish to say. Avoid using
complicated sentences and long drawn-out explanations.

(f) Conduct inside the Interview room: Listen carefully and attentively to the questions asked. If
you are unable to comprehend the meaning or hear the question, request the panel member to
clarify/repeat the question. Always speak in a slow, measured tone in a manner that everyone in
the panel is clearly able to hear and understand what you are trying to say. There is no need to
‘blurt out the answer’. Take a few moments to collect your thoughts and then answer. Maintain
eye contact with the panel at all times and convey a pleasant disposition to the interviewers,
irrespective of the mental state you are in. Remember, there will be a certain amount of
nervousness when you go for an Interview. But you have to take care that such nervousness
does not get the better of you.

What interviewers at B-Schools look for

Interviewers mainly look for students who are fi t to pursue a management course at their
institute and whether they have the potential to become effective managers. They look for
candidates who have clear ideas, breadth and depth of knowledge, and the ability to look at
things in a balanced manner. They also look at the moral and ethical value system of the
individual concerned, and how the candidate will be able to contribute to the industry and the
society at large.

Some of the key qualities that you, as a b-school aspirant, are expected to possess are:

good level of knowledge;

clear understanding of core concepts of various issues;
clarity of thought;
communication skills;
personality, attitude, and the way you react to situations, and
thought process in terms of career planning.
Before getting into the types of questions that you could possibly be asked in an Interview, you
need to understand that the job of an Interview panel is to determine whether you are a suitable
candidate for that particular b-school. In this regard, they may put ‘any question under the sun’
to you and you are expected to answer such a question. On being asked personal questions, you
are expected to answer in a mature manner, and not take the “this is a personal matter and since
I do not know you personally, I cannot answer this question”. Neither are you expected to give
fl ippant answers to seemingly innocuous questions. While you may not know it, every
interviewer asks questions with a sense of purpose. Make sure that you answer every question
with sincerity; not doing so could jeopardise your selection prospects.

Types of Questions asked in Interviews

Tell us something about yourself;

Why do you want to do a course in management;
Questions related to personal background;
Questions related to one’s personality (strengths/ weaknesses);
Questions on academics;
Questions on career planning;
Questions on GK & current affairs;
Questions on hobbies and extra-curricular activities, and
Questions on job profi le and other organisationrelated matters (for those with work experience)
Two important questions that are asked in most Interviews at top b-schools are:

(a) Why do you want to do an MBA?, and

(b) Tell us something about yourself.

Since such questions are more-or-less a certainty, you should prepare for them well in advance.
Having a readymade answer for these kinds of questions will not help you as you could easily
falter in the Interview. What you would be better off doing is to have broad reasons which
could form the basis for your answers in the Interview. This would make your answer look
more natural than ‘a mugged-up/by-rote’ answer. Prepare well for a question like “Tell us
something about yourself”. The next question could well be based on what you say in response
to this question.

Personality-based questions like, “Tell us about your strong/ weak points”, are frequently asked
and you need to be prepared for them well before the Interview.

Most of the top b-schools ask a large number of questions on the subjects you have studied in
your Plus Two and graduation. Most questions are essentially conceptual in nature. However, it
is seen at several Interviews that students are unable to answer these questions well. By
answering these questions correctly, you send out a message to the Interview panel that you
have taken the right amount of care to prepare thoroughly for the Interview. Excuses like, “I
studied this a long time ago,” will certainly not be appreciated by the panel.

You could be asked questions on career planning such as, “Where do you see yourself five
years from now?” You could also be asked questions on current aff airs/ general knowledge,
and the hobbies you pursue. Answers to questions from these categories would be a reflection of
what you do in your leisure, and how deeply involved you are in what you do. For instance, if
you were to say that ‘reading is your hobby’, then be prepared for questions about books,
magazines, and newspapers you read, like your favourite author; why do you like the author and
her/his style of writing; other books of the author; last book you read; names of the editors of
the magazines and newspapers you read, and headlines in today’s newspaper.

Applicants with work experience are likely to face a large number of questions about their job
profile, key learnings, the industry they work in, the organisation they work for, and the
competition in the industry. However, this does not mean that they will not be asked subject-
based questions at all.

In a nutshell, Interviews are as important as any other component in the selection process, and
possibly the most decisive. So, be thoroughly prepared. Best Wishes!
Getting the best out of the AIMCATs
Posted on March 27, 2018 by admin
By now, you would have appeared for a few All India Mock CATs (AIMCATs) – and probably
got results which are less than what you would hope for. If that’s the case, then you would most
probably be asking yourself a simple question: “How do I really improve my performance in
the AIMCATs?” or “How can I move from almost clearing the cut-offs to consistently making
it to the toppers list?”

The key to making this possible lies in how much you can extract from the AIMCATs that you
are taking. The AIMCATs are undoubtedly one of the most valuable tools you have to help
fine-tune your performance. It is most widely acknowledged that the AIMCAT series is as close
to the real thing as is possible – in terms of the quality of the paper, the crowd taking the test,
the results and the accompanying analysis. However, you can make all of that work for you
only if you are really prepared to put in what it takes to extract the maximum out of each
AIMCAT.

This article is intended to help you in doing exactly that, i.e., in getting the most out of each and
every AIMCAT that you take, so that you can move ahead in your endeavor to score high in the
AIMCATs and subsequently in the CAT itself.

Perspective

The first aspect that we shall consider is your perspective on the AIMCATs. In order to gain the
most out of the AIMCATs you need to have the right perspective about what they are intended
to be and how they can help you.

Firstly, the AIMCATs are intended to be a benchmarking tool, i.e., to help you measure the
level of your preparedness for the actual CAT and discover your strong and weak areas. They
are definitely not intended to scare or discourage you and therefore you should never treat them
with fear.

Secondly, the AIMCATs are also designed to help you develop the right test-taking
approach/strategy for the real CAT through a proper analysis of your performance in each
AIMCAT. In short, practice makes for perfection.
Finally, the AIMCATs are also intended to help you actually learn some advanced techniques,
i.e., you may sometimes find new and better ways of applying basic concepts.

Before and during each AIMCAT, you should consider it as if it were the actual CAT itself and
believe that your performance

in the AIMCAT actually matters. Without such seriousness you cannot hope to either perform
well in the AIMCATs or to gain any serious benefit from them.

However, it is very important that every time you take an AIMCAT, you need to look at the
overall test-taking experience not just as giving a mock-CAT but as an opportunity to learn and
improve your performance.

Also, do not miss out on any AIMCAT unless it is absolutely unavoidable. And finally, though
you take each AIMCAT seriously – as if it were the actual CAT itself – remember to take the
results with a pinch of salt, especially on those occasions when they are not up to your
expectations! In short, always give your best shot at it but never let it get to you.

Preparation and Practice

The next aspect that matters is your preparation, which primarily includes practice. Remember
that, over the past few years, with increasing amount of time available per question in each
section, the CAT has been placing increasingly greater emphasis on conceptual clarity and the
sheer ability to tackle a question and solve it, when compared to resorting to shortcuts, speed,
selection of questions, etc.

Therefore, for each AIMCAT, you need to be completely up-to date with the basics of the
topics, which you would have already covered in class till then.

If your preparation is lagging or is below par currently, then you should immediately plan for a
complete round-up of the syllabus within a set timeframe so that you have at least a couple of
months to go before the CAT for fine-tuning your performance.
The Online Sectional Tests (OSTs), available on the Student Home Page on
www.time4education.com, should be used to top-up your preparation through extensive and
high-quality practice.

Performance

The third aspect you need to understand is your performance in the AIMCATs. The three most
important things to look out for here are time management, selection of questions, and
accuracy. Firstly, time management is all about planning your available time so that you can
display your proficiency to the fullest, while maximizing your score, making the best use of the
time available, without being forced to leave any question unread. The issue of time
management, generally speaking, involves two levels: across sections and within a section.

In fact, with the sectional time limits in place, the issue of time management across sections is
automatically resolved and, thankfully, you need to focus on only the issue of managing your
time within each section. Time management within a section mainly calls for self-discipline in
ensuring that you never spend an inordinate amount of time on any question and judiciously
move away from questions that turn out to be more time-consuming than expected. With 32-34
questions and about 60 minutes per section, the time available per question is comfortably
adequate. This makes the selection of questions to be attempted definitely easier but not any
less important.

Also, you would have noted that in any AIMCAT the order in which the sections appear is
fixed, i.e., VARC first, DILR second and then QA. This is since the order in which the sections
appear is the same as in the CAT. Therefore the order in which you can attempt the sections is
fixed and you cannot navigate to any section of your choice. This means that you must, through
practice and careful planning, get accustomed to the given order of attempting the sections
irrespective of your strong/weak sections.

A tried and tested approach to optimum utilisation of your time in any section is to first invest
about 5– 6 minutes in rapidly scanning through all the questions in the section and classfying
the questions as easy, moderate and difficult, based on your judgment of if and when you
should attempt them during the time spent in the section. The ‘easy’ questions should be
attempted first, ensuring a decent amount of time still left in the section. After this, you should
move on to the ‘moderate’ ones and attempt as many of them as time permits. Later, if you
actually have some time left, you may consider the difficult ones too. One important thing to
bear in mind throughout is that you should consciouly avoid spending undue amount of time on
any single question, which most often involves resisting the urge – especially if you consider
yourself to be very good at any subject – to puruse any challenging question till you crack it.

It would help to plan for a buffer time of 5 to 10 minutes in each section, to review or attempt
some of the unattempted questions, and also tackle any unexpected issues, like mismanagement
of time, that may crop up while attempting the section.Spending time on the ‘wrong’ or a more
difficult question than is required can, in fact, prove to be a costly mistake, since even one
opportunity lost at answering another easier question correctly would mean about a three
percent (3%) decrease in the maximum possible score in that section, resulting in a high impact
on your percentile per question answered correctly or incorrectly.

The art of selecting the right questions to attempt comes from a combination of a solid
grounding in the basics and an ability to quickly see through the situation given in the question
and also visualise the broad steps involved in the solution. This inevitably requires considerable
amount of practice, both during mock tests and individual study.

Finally, the accuracy of your attempts in the AIMCAT needs to be taken care of. For the same
reasons as explained above, any sort of compromise on accuracy, can lead to a drastic reduction
in your percentile score. Hence, an accuracy of 85 per cent or more is strongly recommended.

Performance and Analysis

The fourth aspect that needs to be considered is the analysis of your performance in the
AIMCAT (i.e., after you have attempted it). After each AIMCAT, spend at least two to three
hours in analysing each section of the paper. This is undoubtedly the most enriching experience
that you can extract out of the AIMCATs.

You should first try to work out each and every question in as many different ways as you can
think of and only then look up the solutions. It is in this phase of your preparation that you can
expect to significantly improve your understanding of the basics and more importantly, your
ability to apply them in an exam scenario. This analysis should be done in different steps.
In step one, attempt all those questions in that section that you had left unattempted during the
AIMCAT, by giving yourself a limited amount of time, which can be decided on a pro-rata
basis, depending on your speed in the actual test and the number of questions left unattempted.

After this step, try to solve questions that may still be left over. Here, you would most probably
need considerable amount of time since the questions are bound to be the more difficult ones.
Only after giving all the questions a good try, check the answer key to find out which questions
you could answer correctly and re-attempt all those questions that you answered incorrectly.
You would be able to learn a great deal through this approach since you would actually be
pushing yourself to think harder and find out where you have made mistakes. Do not refer to the
solutions until you are finished with this step.

After this, you can refer to the solutions and compare your approach with that given in the
solutions. You should keenly observe and learn anything new that you may find in the
solutions. Also, ensure that you approach your faculty for clarifying any doubts that you may
still have regarding the solutions or the questions themselves. At the end of this stage of your
analysis, you should try to categorise the questions into levels of difficulty based on the amount
of time that you would take to solve each of them in an exam situation. This is a very important
step that will help you in identifying the difficulty level of a question in an AIMCAT, and
eventually in the actual CAT – a critical input required when trying to choose the right
questions to attempt during a test.

Another important part of your post AIMCAT analysis, is to carefully look up the extensive
analysis – Section-wise, Area-wise, Difficulty Level-wise and much more – that is provided on
the Student Home Page along with the results of each AIMCAT.

The AIMCAT results and analysis, available on www.time4education.com, are meticulously

designed, comprehensive, and personalised analyses that are intended to give you valuable
feedback on your performance. This feedback will guide you toward better, more focused and
effective preparation and can set you on a path of continuous improvement.

Another practical way to boost your learning is to sometimes study, if possible, with your peers
in small groups of not more than three to four members. You can analyse and discuss each
AIMCAT as a group, after each member is through with their part of individual analysis. This is
a very good approach to maximise your learning. The group should ideally be formed with
members with strengths in different areas so that there is scope for everyone to gain from the
joint effort.

Progress

One critical aspect that often gets neglected is keeping track of one’s progress in the AIMCATs.
You should continually keep checking your performance parameters.

The key performance parameters are your sectional and overall percentile scores. Remember
that absolute scores do not necessarily reflect your performance since it is a competitive exam,
where only relative performance matters.

You should actively keep track of how often you cross the sectional cutoffs and also the times
that you make it to the toppers list or how often you cross a certain overall percentile figure that
you may be aiming for.

Observe any trends, like a steady improvement or stagnation in any one section, and try to
remedy any issues that may need attention. Failing to keep track of and continually adjust your
performance and preparation can seriously undermine your preparation.

Also, setting short term and long term goals for your sectional and overall percentiles, and other
parameters, like identifying and attempting all the easy questions in a section, is strongly
suggested since such short-term targets will keep you focused and motivated.

Perseverance

On a final note, never forget the principle of perseverance. Know and remember that the
competition is bound to intimidate you on more than one occasion over the coming months and
things will not always go the way you want. Also, be prepared for occasional spells of self-
doubt, despair and discouragement – they are all part and parcel of the game – which you will
eventually become accustomed to, overcome and, hopefully, use as stepping stones to scale up
your preparation and performance in the AIMCATs and also your career in the long run.
Let me conclude with the famous lines of the song ‘Sunscreen’ by Baz Luhrmann: “Sometimes
you’re ahead, sometimes you’re behind…the race is long, and in the end, it’s only with
yourself.”

Best wishes!