Everything you need to know about the admission experience at SPJIMR

SPJIMR evaluates all aspects of an applicant to fit the objective of value-based leadership of the institute during its admission process. Whether it is academic intellectual readiness or emotional readiness, work experience, and extra-curricular activities all the factors play an important role in the selection criteria. Here is a compilation of admission experience at SPJIMR of two MBA aspirants to make the process easier to comprehend. 

Quick bytes: 

• Applications are shortlisted on the basis of profiles

• The applicants are sorted into the category of Profile-based and Profile-cum-score based

• The qualifying score in CAT 2019, XAT 2020 and GMAT is 85 percentile

• The program can admit a total of 240 students

• On top of that, 36 seats are available for PIOs, OCIs and foreign nationals

Admission Process 2020-22

The admission process at SPJIMR for the batch of 2020-22 PGDM program consists of 4 rounds:

1. Psychometric test
2. Writing ability test
3. Group interview-I
4. Group interview-II

Psychometric Test and WAT

The psychometric test was intended to measure the mental capabilities of the candidates based on the required aptitude for admission into its campus. The round was of about 15 minutes with questions focusing on ethics and values. Psychometric test was followed by a WAT round to assess writing skills and thought processes. 

Some topics as shared by candidates appearing for the admission process at SPJIMR:

Candidate I: Does social media have a more positive or negative effect on society?

Candidate II: Do you think the recent regulation to levy heavy fines to deter traffic rules violation is effective? Give reason.

Tip: Recollect all data, information, quotes, reactions, etc before beginning to write to make a crisp and coherent essay.

Group Interview I

It was an elimination round that involved a group of 5-6 eligible candidates. The round continued for around 30 minutes. The questions were related to specializations selected by the candidates (Finance, Information Management, Marketing, and Operations & Supply Chain). Let’s take a quick recap of the candidates’ admission experience at SPJIMR.

Questions as posed to Candidate I: 

The group consisted of 5 candidates (Marketing: 2, Finance:2 and IM: 1) 

• Introduce yourself.

• Tell us about your work.

• How is that related to Machine learning?

• Explain supervised and unsupervised learning.

• Explain reinforcement learning.

• If there is a post of a company you want to get to, what would it be?

• Explain the difference between CTO and CIO.

Finance and marketing candidates were mostly asked about technical questions like IRR, break even point, the difference between selling and branding. The questions were basic and nothing out of the box.

Result: 2 candidates were selected from the panel of 5 (1 each from IM and Marketing)

Questions as posed to Candidate II: 

The group consisted of 6 candidates (Marketing: 2, Finance:2 and IM: 2) 

• Introduce yourself.

• Why this specialization?

• Why S.P. Jain?

• Tell us about your graduation college.

• Do you have calls from other colleges? 

• What are your hobbies?

The candidates who opted for Finance were asked about questions related to budget and Sensex. Another question that I can recall is “How is Sitharaman as a Finance Minister?” 

Result: All 6 candidates were selected

Group Interview II

This seemed to be the most critical round as they asked a series of behavioral and situational questions. The questions were primarily projected to check the problem-solving aptitude and critical thinking of the candidate. The panel consisted of 2 interviewers (1 male and 1 female). 

Questions as posed to Candidate I: 

• Let's say you have found a security flaw in your company. It has been there for the past 5 years but no one knew about it. You have fixed it. You can choose not to say anything or you can choose to talk about it, but that would mean the company would suffer huge losses. What would you do?

• You have been overlooked for a promotion. What will you do? How will you feel? Do you feel resentful?

• Non-vegetarian food is not allowed on the SPJIMR campus. Do you think this is a proper thing for the college administration to do?

• Waste in most houses is not segregated as biodegradable and non-biodegradable. While disposing of, it is clumped together. What can you do to change this?

All questions were discussed at length with multiple chances given to candidates to supplement their answers.

Questions as posed to Candidate II: 

• Three qualities that you want and don’t want in your manager.

• Suppose your younger brother has an exam tomorrow and your mother is going out and asks you to ensure that he studies. Now your brother wants to watch TV and then study. What will you do?

• You caught your brother smoking for the first time. Will you tell your mother or not?

• You are not included in a movie plan with your teammates. How would you feel and react? Will you invite them the next day to a match if you have tickets?

• A teammate made a mistake in the project thus causing a delay. He requested you not to tell the manager. Will you tell your manager about it?

• A teammate came drunk at work due to some personal problems and he confided in you. Will you report him to your manager?

• In a college project, one of the team members is not putting effort and making excuses due to which you are likely to get lower marks. Will you inform your mentor?

• You come to know from someone that the same teammate made 2 mistakes earlier and had hidden them from you. And the project is now delivered. Will you tell your manager about all the three mistakes including one which you didn't report to him earlier?’

Tip: Always follow the concept of problem, solution, and benefits to deal with situational questions smartly!

If you have diversity in your resume or have that X-factor, this institute is meant for you. Good Luck!