Essay writing will replace group discussions (GD) during admissions to IIM Bangalore this year. According to sources at IIM Bangalore, "Yes, scrapping GD in favor of essays has been approved." Candidates will have to write an essay in 30 minutes on any topic related to the current political, economic and business scenario or on topics such as sports and those that require more creative thinking. IIM B has not disclosed any conclusive reasons behind this decision. Note that IIM Ahmedabad had also eliminated the GD from its admission process in 2007. Update: The essays will be evaluated on the basis of their 'content' and 'style'.

One of the criterion to be eligible for taking the test in the second phase of CAT, according to the CAT-IIM website states: 'Those who could not take the test due to planned or unplanned closure of their test lab and were not rescheduled later in the first phase. (This does not include voluntary no-shows.)'. Looks like it wasn't an important one after all. Ankit Arora, an employee in the sales division at PaGaLGuY.com was able to reschedule his CAT test after he voluntarily did not take it in the first phase.