MBA Admission 2017: GD-PI Trends in MBA colleges; Get ready for the unexpected

IIM Ahmedabad has concluded its PI-WAT process for admission 2017 and has declared the final admission result. FMS Delhi has already started its Extempore and PI round for admission to MBA 2017-19 batch.
IIM Bangalore, IIM Calcutta, IIM Lucknow and other top B-schools have either completed the process and are in the middle of their GD-PI-WAT process. However the trends in final selection round this year are different from earlier PI rounds as candidates are getting different topics for WAT and GD and focus has been shifted to the coherent thought based process from earlier only facts based discussions where no opinion or problem solving skills could be evaluated.

Group Discussion (GD) in top B-schools
GD topics that have been making appearance in top rated B schools are also shifting the focus from abstract type to current issues and are more growth oriented one.
Recent GD topics in MBA colleges have been - Should India focus on Renewable energy more than thermal and nuclear energy; Is corruption a failure of the system; Social media is a waste of time for students; Can young generation provide leadership to the country; Can India sustain its growth over long run.

Trending GD topics
Accordingly you should expect the Group Discussion round to focus on topics such as
-Demonetization 2016 in India will adversely impact adversely on Indian Economy.
-Make in India the idea will make India a manufacturing hub
-Corruption is the root cause for Indian Economy slowdown
-Should business lobbying be made legal in India?
-GST will propel the business & economic growth
-Making Aadhaar Mandatory is not a good idea
-Gender bias in portraying Women in Advertisements
-Smart City Project will give wings to growth
-Net Neutrality is essential to make India Digital
-Too many obstacles in implementing the Climate Change Summit resolutions
-India needs a uniform civil code

WAT replacing GD in B-schools
A few B-schools have started focusing more on Written Ability Test followed by Personal Interview while a few of others have introduced Psychometric tests, situation analysis, GD on caselet followed by summary writing and PI, Group exercises and so on.

More focus is now being placed on current affairs, business and economics in the Writing Ability Test (WAT) round. Candidates writing essays in IIMs have found topics like Business lobbying in India; Mission to Mars; Redefining democracy; Relevance of exit polls among others.

Trending WAT topics in B-schools
Final admission round in MBA admission 2017 in highly ranked B schools is passing through a different innovative trend than what continued in the past. Number of times candidates find themselves trapped in the jugglery of words in WAT which may or may not be a part of Group discussion.
- Indias 1.2 billion population is an asset for the country
- Corruption is the root cause of current economic and social woes in India
- India has more skilled Human Resource
- Is ASEAN a defunct Group
- FDI in multi brand retail is a boon or bane
- Ethics and morals cannot be taught in classrooms only
- Indo-US relations; how much beneficial for India

Demonetization in India: Decision is more appreciated than criticized
Your Personal Interview: Weightage is high
This is the last component of GDPIWAT session. It is the test of verbal communication skill as well as your knowledge. On the top of it you must be able to make the deliveries in a systematic, to the point and coherent manner. No bluffing will do, on the contrary it may bleak your chances of getting through the final admission round.

New trends in PI round have emerged in various B schools. While new IIMs have conducted Common Admission Process (CAP), a few of other B schools are conducting group interviews. Some of the B-schools like FMS Delhi need 1 or 2 minute extempore speaking by the candidate before or after the Personal Interview round. Some current spot topic is given and the candidate after thinking for 15-30 seconds or a minute on it, has to speak for 2 minutes. Apart from this questions on General awareness are becoming more prominent in PI round.

When observed closely, you will find that the GDPIWAT round in MBA admission 2017 has become more focused on putting the candidates to show their writing skills in one or other way and the weightage to the same is gradually increasing.
These observations clearly indicate that now candidates have to improve their writing and verbal communication and analytical skill.

IIM Ahmedabad, Bangalore and Calcutta conduct WAT followed by PI and award a higher weightage to both these components of final admission round.
Get ready for the unexpected
The methodology is slightly different among the institutes but since a candidate applies to various institutes and expects to convert the call in final admission round, he or she has to prepare and remain ready for all the components of GD-P-IWAT round.

The GD-PI-WAT round is a selection as well as elimination round before the final admission to the B-school. If two candidates out of the group of eight candidates are selected remaining six are eliminated. It implies that the winner in this round is one who can make the best impact on the group.

Winning tips for GD-PI-WAT
To win in this round you require effective expression power and utilizing the knowledge in a systematic manner. For the caselet, how do you present yourself will amount to your approach in solving the issue.
Take positive stand even if you are critical to the topic. Your criticism should suggest how to overcome the problem. You may support your views with facts and figures to some extent.
You should not only be a convincing speaker, good analyst of situation but also a patient listener otherwise you may interpret the topic or question in your own way, losing your chance. It is therefore assessed well whether you can listen to others attentively and put forward your views when the person in front of you has spoken.

You should show a good knowledge when you begin speaking, your quotes, facts, figures coherent delivery of ideas, let them become the measuring points of subject knowledge and outstanding personality.
Stay tuned to MBAUniverse.com for more updates on GD-PI-WAT for MBA admission 2017