MBA Admissions 2015: WAT GD topics at IIMs

The second round of MBA admissions for academic session 2015-17 has commenced in various business schools across the country. This round mainly consists of Written Ability Test (WAT), Group Discussion (GD) and Personal Interviews (PI).

While some B-schools are still continuing with GD, some have done away with it.

We spoke to some candidates and visited online forums to know the actual WAT and GD topics that have come up during admissions at various Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs).  Here’s a list of various topics across the IIMs:

MBA colleges accepting CAT 2014 scores in the following cities:

MBA institutes accepting CAT scores in Mumbai	MBA institutes accepting CAT scores in Pune
MBA institutes accepting CAT scores in Bangalore	MBA institutes accepting CAT scores in Delhi-NCR
MBA institutes accepting CAT scores in Hyderabad	MBA institutes accepting CAT scores in Chennai
MBA institutes accepting CAT scores in Ahmedabad	MBA institutes accepting CAT scores in Kolkata

 

IIM Ahmedabad AWT topics

• “Many Bollywood movies grossed more than 100 crores in 2014.
  2014 was a golden year for Bollywood." Analyse the statements.

 

• Discuss the problems faced by illiterate people. What steps should be taken by Indian government to increase literacy in adults?
  
  
• The telecom and communications sector is planning to levy a toll charge for Voice-over-Internet and messaging applications such as Whatsapp, Skype, Viber, etc. Their argument is there’s a huge investment and infrastructure cost which these apps don’t have to bear. Analyse this and present two arguments – one in favour and another against the telecom company.

 

• ‘Car for All’ is a company that sells entry level cars. It is now thinking about acquiring a luxury brand. Though exciting, the company fears that their association with low-cost car may turn down customers. Analyse

 

• Ancient Indian scientists haven't received due recognition. According to ancient scriptures, Indian scientists had developed aviation technology long ago. But the Wright Brothers are unduly credited with the invention of the airplane. Analyse.

 

• Human achievements can be measured in two ways – intrinsic excellence and via assessing the impact on life. Without the likes of Beethoven, Bach and Shakespeare, etc life today wouldn’t  be very different. However, without Galileo, Newton and Faraday, life today would be very different. Analyse.
  
  
• There are mainly two kinds of human work – one requires physical labour, while the other one is to ask someone else to do it. The first one is unpleasant and underpaid while the second one is comfortable and well-paid. The second one has the privilege of becoming an advice or order. For perfect happiness as human beings, one should aim for the second type of work. Discuss the robustness of the author's view or criticize.

 

• Students’ union should not be affiliated to any political party. Affiliation to political parties is the root cause of violence, unrest and disruption in academic ambience. Analyse.

 

 

 

IIM Calcutta WAT topics

• Young people are spending lesser time reading books. Examine the reasons behind this trend. What can be the negative consequences arising out of this?

 

• The new government has decided to do away with the Planning Commission. Why was it established in 1950? Did it serve its purpose? Why do you think it has been replaced with a new body?

 

IIM Lucknow GD & WAT topics

 

• Should the budget for space program in India be invested into poverty alleviation?

 

• Nothing is right, nothing is wrong, everybody has a different opinion.

 

 

New IIMs WAT topics

 

• In future, families will be disconnected across geographies but connected through the electronic media. What in your opinion will be the effect of this on family life?

 

• Is there a need for Human Intervention to preserve nature and wildlife? What steps should the government take to preserve natural resources?

 

• Current lifestyle accounts for rising depression and feeling of dread among youth. Analyse.

 

IIM Kozhikode: GD/WAT topic

• Ecological concern is not a luxury for a country like India.

 

• Politicians should be asked to go to business school.

 

• Discuss the negative effects of animal conservation practices

 

• Commercialisation of sport inevitably leads to malpractice.

 

• Package and remuneration should not be the sole criteria while deciding a job.

 

• Knowledge without character is dangerous.

 

• Real learning in B-school takes place outside the classroom.

 

• South Asia should have common currency like Europe.

 

• India should shift its focus from IT to infrastructure