First of all, let me congratulate you on making it this far. I am hoping your preparation for the interviews are in full force and this article will help you to shape it even better. Here, I have made an attempt to collate interview experiences of my friends who are from various backgrounds and are currently, first-year students at MDI Gurgaon. This article is a continuation of the previous one where I have shared 4 more interview experiences. You can go check it if you haven’t.
Last year, groups were formed for the Group Discussion round. Then we were called to the interviewers’ room and were given a topic. The topic is common for GD as well as WAT. First, we were given 10 minutes to write on the topic and then we had to start our discussion.
In my previous article, I have shared all my thoughts including 16 most important questions for PI that helped me prepare for GD-PI process last year.
Saimi Arora –
10th (90%) – 12th (90%) – B.A English (H) (7.20 GPA) –
CAT Percentile (95.19%) - General Female Non-Engineer Fresher
GD WAT Topic: “
Reservation in higher education is a risky proposition”
Panel Composition: Two male professors from the institute. I was the second last in my panel to be interviewed.
Interviewer 1: From how many IIMs do you have a call? (Answered) Which is the oldest IIM and in which year was it established? (Answered correctly)
Interviewer 1: So you are from Ranchi! How far is Ranchi from Kolkata? (
My GD PIWAT process was at Kolkata)
-- I had no idea about the distance so I replied “9 hours by Kriya Yoga Express”. I had travelled from this train and so the first thing that clicked me, I answered.)
Interviewer 1: You come from English Hons. background. Which is the area you would like to teach at a B-School keeping in mind your background?
-- Answered “Organizational Behavior” and explained how Harvard Business School has a course on OB and leadership and the teaching methodology they adopt is centred on works of literature. I was trying to validate the relevance of literature in the field of management.
Interviewer 1: Business Communication could be another area.
(I nodded on his suggestion.)
Interviewer 2: What is your take on the idea of the English language and its impact on other languages in India?
-- I started by mentioning the relevance of English as a language but also presented why regional languages are very important from cultural perspective as well as from an identity perspective. I referred to the work, HIND SWARAJ by Mahatma Gandhi and his view on language and education. (The discussion went on from both the ends. Interviewer 1 narrated his own experience on the subject matter)
Interviewer 1: So what other calls do you have and what is your percentile?
-- I mentioned my calls and percentile. This is how my interview ended!
Verdict: Converted.
Tip to aspirants: I was very anxious when I got a call from MDI considering that only 98 and above percentiles are able to convert the call. But this is a myth. At a 95.19 percentile, I converted in the first list and finally pursuing my PGPM course at MDI. Be original and stay confident. Best of luck!
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Also Read: What Makes MDI Gurgaon The B-School Of Choice?
Sameer Tiwari
10th (8.8) – 12th (90%) – B.Tech (83.6%)
CAT Percentile (99.07%le) - Work experience of 1 year in Deloitte USI
General Non-fresher Engineer Male
GD WAT Topic: “
The Sabrimala Verdict: Progressive or a threat to traditions?”
Panel Composition: One male and one female interviewer. I was the second in my panel to be interviewed
Interviewer 1: So Sameer, you are an IT engineer. Can you tell me the difference between CS and IT?
The professor who asked me this question grilled me for a long time on this where he was basically just disagreeing with whatever I was speaking.
Interviewer 1: What do you mean by cloud? (Answered)
Interviewer 1: What are the different types of Cloud? (Answered)
Interviewer 1: What are the security concerns vis-a-vis cloud technology? (Answered)
Interviewer 1: What do you mean by IoT? (Answered)
All this time, the other professor was quiet and was just observing me. In the second half of the interview she started asking me question related to tech companies like Apple, their products, what makes them so good, why are they priced so high, how are Chinese brands pitted against them and how are they able to sell their products so cheap etc.
(Answered to all her questions)
Verdict: Overall this interview lasted for around 10-15 minutes. Converted my call.
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Also Read: How To Answer 'Why MDI Gurgaon?' In Your Interview
Shreya Jain
10th (CGPA-10) – 12th (95.6%) – BTech (CPI-8.33)
CAT Percentile (97.57) - Work ex of 15 months at Opera Solutions
General Female Non-fresher Engineer
GD WAT Topic: Ayushman Bharat
Panel Composition: Two female interviewers. I was the last in my panel to be interviewed.
Interviewer 1: Tell me about yourself.
Interviewer 1: So why do you want to do MBA? Do you think you have the required orientation towards it?
There was a stream of cross-questioning. And this went on for next 6-8 questions. For the follow-up questions, I had to explain the reasons for not continuing in my field of study and for shifting my career path. I told them that I had expected more creative space and analytical thinking but that was not present in the technical job. And so I pursued a career in data analytics and had thoroughly enjoyed it, it also gave me an opportunity to learn more about real-life business scenarios.
Interviewer 1: So you have done civil engineering. Why did you take up civil engineering? Since you are talking about creativity, did you find creativity there? Why not?
Interviewer 1: What do you think are your 3 biggest weaknesses? (Again it went on for long where they were trying to understand me more)
Interviewer 2: What do you generally read in the news? Which section is your favourite?
International news, I answered.
Interviewer 2: What do you understand about Brexit?
To avoid verbosity, I answered in a structured manner in this order: Definition of Brexit, critical stakeholders, how did the issue start, and the current scenario.
There were2-3 follow-up questions on Brexit and its possible repercussions. I didn't know the answer to one of the questions, and it's okay to tell them I don't know instead of giving an irrelevant or incorrect answer. I also mentioned the latest news about Brexit which had come just the day before, so it's important to stay updated with the news.
Verdict: A grilling interview of sorts. Converted my call in the first list.
Tip to aspirants: It's always helpful to remember keywords and bullet points. The answer just comes to the mind even when a new question is presented. Mine was a grilling interview but I stayed calm and confident in my answers and sounded sure of what I was speaking.
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Recommended: MDI Gurgaon Student's Guide To Crack The GD-PI Process
Raunak Agarwal 10th (95%) – 12th (96%) – B.Com (80%) – CAT Percentile (98.64); General Male Fresher Non-Engineer
WAT and GD topic: Opportunistic coalition governments are an insult to mandate.
Average WAT maybe at best. Terrible GD; couldn’t speak more than twice. One guy had to stop others so that i could be heard and not crossed by others while speaking.
Panel Composition: 2 Male panelists. P1 was there for the entire time and was also the GD coordinator and so knew how terrible my GD was. P2 came in right at the end for 3-4 minutes.
Interviewer 1: You are also from St. Xaviers? So many people here are from St. Xaviers!
Me: Gave a smile and agreed.
Interviewer 1: what is your cat percentile?
Me: answered.
Interviewer 1: so you are specialising in marketing. I am always confused between sales and marketing. Can you please explain the difference to me.
Me: Answered.
Interviewer 1: what do you know about Gurgaon Raunak, have you been there?
Me: No sir I haven't been there.
Interviewer 1: what do you know about Gurgaon?
Me: Sir you can ask a question and test.
Interviewer 1: have you been to Delhi?
Me: Yes sir. Once or twice. Once for a marriage. And once when I was very small. So I don't remember.
Interviewer 1: Where is Ayodhya?
Me: sir in Uttar Pradesh
Interviewer 1: Uttar Pradesh or Madhya Pradesh?
Me: (I got confused and said) sir it is either one of them. I think it may be UP.
Interviewer 1: Where is Babri Masjid?
Me: Sir, Ayodhya and Babri masjid are the same things.
Interviewer 1: okay tell me which 3 got the Bharat Ratna this year.
Me: I don't remember sir.
Interviewer 1: did anyone get it or I am making it up?
Me: sir definitely 3 people got it this year. It is just that I don't remember who.
Interviewer 1: Bharat Ratna is the highest civilian award right?
Me: yes sir. I don't know exactly. It is either that or the Padma Bhushan.
Interviewer 1: that is a different thing. Bharat Ratna is the highest.
Me: Ohh. So Bharat Ratna is the highest?
Interviewer 1: Yes it is.
Me: Alright, Sir.
Interviewer 1: What do Bollywood celebrities get as their highest award?
Me: Sir, the National Award.
Interviewer 1: No, No.
Me: sir I think it is the National Award or Filmfare.
Interviewer 1: Those are organised events.
Me: I don't know sir.
Interviewer 1: Have you heard of Dada Saheb Phalke?
Me: yes sir.
Interviewer 1: where? What did he do?
Me: I don't know sir but I have definitely heard the name.
Interviewer 1: Who is the AIF chief?
Me: don't know sir.
Interviewer 1: Who is the army chief?
Me: sir I don't know that but I know that the defence minister is Nirmala Sitaraman.
Interviewer 1: yes yes I know that you are interested in women. 😒😏
Me: Haha
Interviewer 1: who is the Chief Justice of India?
Me: Ranjan Gogoi
Interviewer 1: who is the RBI Governor?
Me: Shaktikanta Das
Interviewer 1: who is the CAG?
Me: Rajiv Mehrishi.
Interviewer 1: tell me that the candidates outside have told you to prepare this answer because I have already asked the same 1 or 2 questions to them. 😒
Me: no sir. I have been following the Rafael News so I know the CAG and PAC.
Interviewer 1: okay tell me about the Rafael deal.
Me: sir should I start from the very beginning?
Interviewer 1: whatever.
(P2 enters now)
Me: I start explaining and stating facts. Somewhere i said that the SC had said that the government had submitted the Rafale File to the CAG and PAC took a look into it. This is where I was stopped.
Interviewer 1: this never happened. SC never said such a thing
Me: sir it did. Sir......
Interviewer 1: okay leave it.
(I am pretty sure that I was correct. I was left mumbling and not allowed to answer. P2 took over now.)
Interviewer 2: so you are studying marketing. What is the difference between mass marketing and customised mass marketing?
Me: (heard it for the first time in my life so started mumbling with the answer)
Interviewer 2: think and and tell the answer.
(I took some time to think and started guessing the answer)
Me: sir I think.....
Interviewer 2: I want to know the exact answer and not what you think. Which subjects did you have?
Me: answered.
Interviewer 2: what was your favourite subject?
Me: principles of marketing where the basics were taught.
Interviewer 2: what I asked you just now was very basic. Okay, tell me what is the sales process?
Me: (did not remember what it was, so I went on with the marketing process)
Interviewer 2: What you are saying is the marketing process. I want the sales process. There are stages to it. What are they?
Me: Sir, I think.....
Interviewer 2: I want the stages. Not what you think.
Me: Sir, I don't know.
Interviewer 2: Okay.
Interviewer 1: Thank you. What is your CAT percentile?
(asking for the 2nd time as if he was disgusted how such an unknowledgeable person got such a percentile in CAT)
Me: Answered.
Duration: 15 minutes maximum.
Verdict: Converted my call in the second list.
Tip to Aspirants: Consider your interview as a normal conversation between 2 adults. Results can be anything; you never know what good thing interviewers spot in you. So don’t speculate much until the final results are declared.
This is the first part of the interview experiences. To read the remaining parts, head over to: Part 2 | Part 3
Hope this was helpful! If you wish to know anything further, let us know in the comments below.
Wish you all the best for your preparation!