Impact of COVID-19 on MBA admissions - Digital competitions and modern solutions

COVID-19 has largely affected the admission process of all the B-Schools. Due to the norms of social distancing, physical presence of students and interviewers seems difficult. In response to the impact of COVID-19 on MBA admissions, the selection process might see the involvement of digital competitions - artificial intelligence(AI), augmented reality (AR) based aptitude tests and spot case-study competitions that last 4-7 minutes.

To get into top B-Schools of India, one needs to appear for and qualify entrance exams like CAT 2020. After the candidate is qualified, they need to go through the selection process involving group discussions and personal Interviews. But due to the Impact of COVID-19 on MBA admissions, the whole process needs to be digitised which has added a new layer to it. This added layer would help in testing the candidates’ agility, responsiveness, problem-solving ability and analytical thinking.

What is the additional layer of Digital Competition?

The impact of COVID-19 on MBA admissions has led to certain modifications in the process. Along with the previous admission procedure involving extensive group discussion rounds and personal interviews, there will be - 

1. An additional layer including spot case-study competitions and AR-based aptitude tests.
2. These games would usually last for 4-7 minutes. It helps in testing candidates' agility, responsiveness, problem-solving ability and analytical thinking.
3. Games that involve predictive analysis could also be a part of the process.
4. Candidates might be divided into groups of 3-5. Then each group will either be given a quick case study or a group of games.
5. As per the admission director, quick case study simulations could also be part of the process to judge the analytical skills of the candidates.

The admission director also added that the technology will be provided by third-party assessment companies. The internal recruitment team at B-Schools will review the videos. 

Will it make the process Lengthy?

It could extend the usual duration of 1-2 day processes to 3-5 days. Management institutes are carefully taking into account any technical glitch in the system that could lead to temporary suspensions of the admissions modules online. 

According to Nikhil Sindhwani, B-school admission process advisor, "The time taken could increase by one to two days. But students will save costs since they can take part in these competitions from home. For institutes as well, this will help understand the candidate profile in-depth".

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