GDPI Preparation Strategy

GDPI or the general discussion and personal interview form the crux as part of your MBA admissions. Your CAT or any other exam score provides only 60-70% weightage to the overall admission process. Therefore, it becomes crucial that you give appropriate time for your GDPI preparation.

Here, in this article, we have provided certain tips that you can utilise to ace your GDPI.

General Discussion (GD)-GDPI Strategy

The overall GDPI preparation strategy remains the same you adopted for your written ability test (WAT)

• Awareness of current issues: this is the cornerstone of your GD and WAT strategy. Most of the questions and issues provided at this stage will revolve around some important current affairs issues that you can easily ace if you are updated with the latest and significant news like through newspapers or magazines like The Economist.

For WAT, take additional note that apart from your knowledge of current issues, you need to have a logical flow in your written test, make sure that you have a proper introduction, body and conclusion. Do not digress, focus on the topic at hand. Also, back your answer with examples and statistics wherever possible.

• General Discussion, not a DEBATE! Many aspirants in the heat of the moment forget that they are participating in a civil discussion and not engaging in a vengeful debate. Make sure that you also listen apart from speaking at appropriate times. Basic etiquette needs to be followed.
• Coherent speech: it is important that you have your presence felt, not through aggressiveness but through the power of your speech reflected in its clarity and conviction. Your speech must present your ideas logically and coherently so that it is impactful. Your in-depth knowledge should be reflected.
• What if I do not know about the GD’s topic? In such cases, your best weapon is to listen attentively initially and try to form your own opinion on the matter. Give your opinion after sufficient thought to the topic in hand. However, it is highly unlikely for you to not know even a bit about the topic if you would have been updated with the news, you will always have at least something to contribute to the discussion.
• Listen attentively: apart from putting forward your own points, it is also important that you listen to others to get an idea about the level of answers that they are giving. If you feel that their answers are much more refined than yours then you need to match up to their level. Therefore, both listening and speaking are important for your GDPI preparation strategy.
• The conclusion is a must: near the end of the GD, it is important that you summarise the GD in a few sentences and provide your final thoughts on the topic. A well-framed conclusion will add points to your name.
• There might be people who would try to speak over others and make the discussion into a debate. In times like these, it is important that you don’t contribute to that fish market and can politely ask everyone to maintain the decorum.
• When to go first in a GD: make sure that you decide to go first only if you are confident of your viewpoints as well as any facts and figures that you might present therein. However, going first also makes an impact on the GD and other participants. So, use this option wisely.

What is a good GD performance?

3-4 valid points summarised with a proper conclusion at the end would be considered a good GD performance. However, make sure that the points you would have mentioned are significant enough to leave an impact or add to the value of the discussion.

The most common misconception is that speaking more would mean good performance. However, this is not the case. You will be positively marked only because of the strength of your points and the quality of your response. Try not to throw around useless points just for the sake of speaking.

Sample Questions for General Discussion

>How Covid-19 Pandemic is affecting the education industry.
>Critically examine the recently withdrawn farm laws.
>Rise of China, its impact on Indian and world economy and politics.
>Opportunities and challenges in the semiconductor industry.
>The politics of ‘rare earth minerals’.
>Is India prepared for Digitalisation?
>Future of EVs in India.
>Role of sustainable tech in helping halt climate change.
>The future of oil.

These were some of the questions to help you get an idea of the nature of questions provided for the GD round.

Strategy for Personal Interview

• Prepare some of the commonly asked questions in advance, like “please tell me about yourself”, “your hobbies”, etc.
• The next important thing to remember is to have information ready about your past academic and professional experience. Prepare well the answers that could be asked around them.
• Interviewers can also probe in your answers so be careful and mindful of the answers you give.
• When giving answers make sure that you provide them logically and coherently. Be concise, do not digress or drag the topic too much. Brevity in communication will be appreciated.
• You might also be provided with hypothetical situations to judge your response along the course of action you will provide. It is important to stay ethically correct with your answers.
• Also, maintain honesty while answering. There is no point in making false answers as the interviewers can catch it. Politely and clearly accept you not knowing the answer. It is natural to not know everything about the world.
• You can focus on providing facts and examples to provide credibility to your answers.
• And, most importantly, dress formally. It will make a good first impression, which is very important.

These were some of the tips that you can refer to for your WAT/GDPI preparation strategy. Make sure that you do not go underprepared. Preparing well in advance is effective in cracking the GDPI process. Best of luck!

For a structured GDPI WAT preparation with mock interviews and live GD preparation, click on the link below.

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