This year 2018 , the Achievers Round was held in January over 2 week window .I had my interview 28 Jan 2018 .

The reporting time was 8:30 AM at GIM ,Sanquelim Campus , Goa . I had stayed at Panjim since it was the centre of Goa and traveling to various parts of Goa was easy . Please note that GIM also offers accommodation to students (Only students,Parents are not allowed) having interview call at subsidized rates at their campus . I started from Panjim around 7:00 AM and reached GIM campus at around 8:15 AM

• Arrival , Document Verification

At around 8:30 AM we were welcomed by the Admissions committee Chairman and briefed a little about how the day will pan out . The first 20 students to arrive at the campus were also given an opportunity to attend a class with the then 2nd year students .For other students Document verification took place . For those who were selected for attending the class , the document verification took place post the class

• Director Speech and Classroom session

At around 09:30 AM the Director of the institution gave an introductory speech regarding the college and answered all the queries that were posted by the students present .All information regarding the campus , academics , the student clubs and the campus life were discussed

The 20 selected students were were split into 2 batches of 10 students each . Each of the batch was allowed to attend different classes with the then 2nd year students .The class lasted for around 75 minutes

I got an opportunity to attend the class on “Goods and Services Tax “ by an visiting faculty .

• Group Discussion and WAT

At around 12:00 PM the Group discussion round started . The 40 people who were invited that day were split into 4 groups of 10 students each . The group discussion was moderated by a 2 member professor panel , each from different specialization .The discussion started by giving 2 minutes to each of the participants to make their opening remarks in clockwise direction . Post which the topic was thrown out for open debate . Everyone had to take a side , neutral stand was not accepted . In our group the topic was changed for the last 2 minutes just to see how we respond to change in topic . Finally the GD concluded by giving two minutes to each member to conclude , this time it started from last person and went in reverse direction of how it was started . The whole process lasted around 15 minutes

Finally we were asked to summarize and write our views on the same topic .during the written process we could take any stand irrespective of the stance taken during GD , and could even add additional points that we had missed or observed during the GD. We were given 5 minutes for this process . The word limit was to a single side of the sheet provided .

The topic for our group was “ MBA is a waste of time “

for the last two minutes it was switched to “ Under graduation is a waste of time “

This was “Non Elimination round “ during our batch

• PR session and Lunch

Post GD , we had an informal session with the students who briefed us regarding the various clubs in the campus and had also answered our queries from an student point of view . Most of the discussion was regarding the campus life and the various activities in campus

Post the PR session we broke for lunch from 1:15 to 2:00 PM

• Personal Interview

At exactly 2:00 PM , the personal interviews started . Those who had their numbers first went to their respective panels for the interview . While the rest of were made to wait in the waiting rooms .

I had a panel of two professors. One of the professors took the file containing my documents to ask questions relating to the achievements , while the other interviewed on the general and profile basis . Questions ranged from Personal life , Work Experience , Marketing .

Few of the questions asked were as follows

1. Introduce yourself
2. Tell me about your work experience
3. Questions related to work experience
4. Why MBA ?
5. What are the things you will do , if you become the Marketing Manager of GIM ?
6. What are the strategies that can be developed for promoting an MBA college ?
7. Why should we give you an admit ?
8. Questing relating to the hobbies
9. What is Brand management , Market intelligence?
10. Difference between sales and marketing

This round lasted for around 15 -20 minutes

Post the personal interview I was asked to wait . Post 5 minutes i was told that i was selected for the Director’s Round . Out of the 40 students , 18 made it to the director’s round

• Director’s Round

The director’s round consisted of the director and the members of Admission Panel. Here again one of the panel member took my file and asked questions relating to my academics and profile . I was asked questions from various topics ranging from Current affairs , Engineering Basics and application , Work related questions , New Technologies , Personal questions . Few of the questions are as follows

1. What was your role in your previous organisation ?
2. Further drilling on work experience
3. What is heat transfer and Mass transfer ?
4. Explain the working of Refrigeration and Air Conditioning
5. Application related question on heat and mass transfer in refrigeration
6. What is PERT and CPM?
7. How is product management different from Brand management ?
8. What different will you do if you are selected for a Brand management role given you already have the product management experience ?
9. What do you know of the Mandovi River dispute ?What is do you think is the solution ?
10. What are the latest technologies where the Brand is not as famous as the technology itself ?
11. What are the environmental issues plaguing Bangalore ? What are the solutions ?

Post the interview i was asked to wait for few minutes and was handed a “Spot offer “ by the Director of admissions committee

The Director panel interview lasted around 30 minutes.

For me , the process got over around 5:00 PM , However many had interviews going on till 8:00 PM . Depends on your slot for interview .

The Cutoff to clear once you get a spot offer for Admit in 2018 are as follows (Any one )

CAT/XAT : 80 Percentile

GMAT : 600 Marks

CMAT :93 percentile

All the best guys . Be calm , patient and speak the truth, you are bound to convert it easily . Be thorough with your Work Experience , Academics and Current affairs .