MBA admission 2014: GD-PI Recall - How I cracked FMS, Delhi!

Meet 22-year-old Ravi Kumar Singh, MBA candidate at Faculty of Management Studies, Delhi. Ravi pursued his Bachelors of Technology (BTech) in Computer Engineering from Zakir Husain College of Engineering & Technology, Aligarh Muslim University, where he was also awarded a gold medal for academic excellence. During campus placements, he had the option of working with IT firms like CSC Noida and TCS, says Ravi.

“During this time I was pondering over ‘what after BTech?’ I knew I wouldn’t be satisfied being a software engineer. I needed more freedom to execute my thoughts and be a part of decision-making process. After a lot of thinking and discussions with friends, I went for one-year CAT preparation program at a coaching institute in Delhi. I started preparing for CAT in the latter half of my third year during engineering. I would travel from Aligarh to Delhi each weekend for an entire year.”

Ravi appeared for CAT 2011 on November 11. “The results were declared on January 11, 2012 and my score was 99.73 percentile. I got GDPI calls from IIM Calcutta, Lucknow, Indore, Shillong, FMS-Delhi and IMT Ghaziabad.” The final list of converts included IIM Indore, Shillong, FMS-Delhi and IMT Ghaziabad

Ravi decided to do his MBA from FMS. “There was no confusion in choosing FMS. The ROI, the placements, location, brand, alumni base - everything was just great!”

Here’s Ravi’s preparation strategy and run-up from application stage to final admission call.

Application Package

The application package for FMS included the following thing:

-          Statement of Purpose

-          Academic details

-          Professional details (Not applicable for Ravi as he is a fresher)

-          Extra-curricular activities

Preparation Strategy

“Goal clarity and preparing for typical HR questions or ‘personals’ is very important for any interview. As a result, I spent a lot of time pondering over what I want and how I should use it to my advantage. Being a fresher, I focused on my engineering subjects.

“As far as news and current affairs are concerned, I read only those topics that interested me. This turned out to be a disadvantage in certain situations. I would advice aspirants to read as much as they can. For extempore, study previous years’ experiences and gather a list of topics. Then practice speaking promptly on those topics. The key is to give a structure to your thoughts,” informs Ravi.

Group Discussion

Topic: There is no place for honesty in Indian politics.

The group had 12 candidates. Time given: 12 (for GD) + 1 (to think) minutes for the entire session.

“I did not do as well as I expected. The GD became a fish market within two minutes. I presented only three points in total. Two other candidates were asked to summarise the GD,” recalls Ravi.

Extempore and PI

There were three professors in the interview panel – one male and two female. One of the female professors just kept observing me and did not ask anything throughout the session. The entire session lasted for roughly 7-8 minutes including extempore.

Extempore topic: ‘Day Dreaming’

Time: 1 minute

“At FMS, one has to start speaking immediately after a topic is given. I was asked to speak on Day Dreaming. Slightly taken aback, it took some 5 seconds to gather my thoughts. Describing day dreaming, its implications, advantages and disadvantages, I stopped speaking after 30 seconds. They asked me to continue speaking as the clock was still clicking. But I did not have any more relevant thoughts. So I told them, ‘I am done’,” says Ravi.

The PI began after the extempore. This is what happened:

Q: So Ravi, tell us what happened in your IIM A interview?

Ans: (Smiling) Sorry sir, I did not have a call from IIM A.

Q: Oh! Why not? You have a very good percentile?

Ans: I did not score well in my 12^th standard. They require minimum 80% marks.

Q: So, what all calls did you get?

Ans: I got calls from IIM Calcutta, Lucknow, Indore, Shillong and FMS.

Q: Ok Ravi, tell us about your experience of IIM Calcutta interview.

Ans: They concentrated on my academics and current affairs. I replied well to the academic questions but could not do so well in current affairs. I did not get a final call.

Q: Why couldn’t you do well in current affairs?

Ans: Well, I don’t really read newspapers that much.

Q: What? Why don’t you read newspapers?

Ans: Because they are very boring. I am more interested in technology news and read up lots about them on the net and from magazines like Chip and Digit.

Q: But our students here at FMS read business newspapers. How will you compete with them?

Ans: As I mentioned, I am more interested in the technology field and my target is...

(I wanted to continue speaking and tell them more about long term plans but was interrupted by the professor)

Q: So tell us what do you know about ICBM?

Ans: (ICBM is Intercontinental Ballistic Missile. I read about AGNI-5 just a day before and told everything I knew about - ranging, who headed the operations to the impact of this technology on India and the world)

Q: Do you know about .NET?

Ans: (Spoke all that I knew, compared it to JAVA, explained relative advantages and disadvantages)

Q: That’s all from our side, Ravi. Would you like to ask anything?

(I asked some questions related to faculty for Information Technology)

Final Result

GD: 5/10

Extempore: 8/10

PI: 8/10

Verdict: Converted

Ravi’s Take on his PI

“It was a very short PI, the entire session lasting about 7 minutes. It felt like a normal conversation with no pressure at all.”

Tips

For GDs, you have to read! Read as much as you can on relevant topics and try to form an opinion on everything. Take mock GDs.

During PI, have a clear answer for why you wish to go for a management degree. Connect it to your life goals and show how an MBA will help you achieve them. Prepare well for typical HR questions such as:

                - Tell us something about yourself (use it to try to guide your PI towards your strong areas)

                - Strengths/weaknesses/values (with incidents to quote as examples)

                - Short term/long term goals, be very thorough with your SOP

                - Major achievements/failures

                - Bobbies, idols, dream company

If you are a fresher, revise your graduation core subjects, brief description of your past projects.

Read about current affairs and try to build your opinion on them.

And for extempore, practice speaking promptly. No one expects you to deliver a perfect speech in an extempore. Just give a structure to your thoughts. It’s okay to take some initial seconds to organize your thoughts.