Guys follow this thread to share and introspect the latter and more important aspect of selection. Let's cover up some good topics and content for the forthcoming selection process. We could also share interview experiences and case specific queries.
What are your dream IIM calls?
- Indian Institute of Management, Sirmaur
- Indian Institute of Management, Indore
- Indian Institute of Management, Amritsar
- Indian Institute of Management, Sambalpur
- Indian Institute of Management, Nagpur
- Indian Institute of Management, Kozhikode
- Indian Institute of Management, Bodh Gaya
- Indian Institute of Management, Visakhapatnam
- Indian Institute of Management, Udaipur
- Indian Institute of Management, Kashipur
- Indian Institute of Management, Trichy
- Indian Institute of Management, Raipur
- Indian Institute of Management, Ranchi
- Indian Institute of Management, Rohtak
- Indian Institute of Management, Shillong
- Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta
- Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad
- Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore
- Indian Institute of Management, Lucknow
0 voters
A concise checklist. Keeping the following points in mind while reviewing your essays will help.
- Does my essay have one central theme?
- Does my introduction engage the reader? Does my conclusion provide closure?
- Do my introduction and conclusion avoid summary?
- Do I use concrete experiences as supporting details?
- Have I used active-voice verbs wherever possible?
- Is my sentence structure varied, or do I use all long or short sentences?
- Are there any clichés, such as "cutting-edge" or "learned my lesson"?
- Do I use transitions appropriately?
- What about the essay is memorable?
- What's the worst part of the essay?
- What parts of the essay need elaboration or are unclear?
- What parts of the essay do not support my main argument?
- Is every single sentence crucial to the essay? This must be the case.
- What does the essay reveal about my personality?
Some good WAT topics to ponder upon. How many of these are you comfortable writing about?
National affairs:
- India has the largest pool of talented manpower but very few innovations and patented products
- Allowing Foreign Universities in India is bad for India's education system
- India versus Bharat: a divided nation
- How should women empower themselves?
- More than one billion Indians: A gigantic problem or a sea of opportunities
Political Issues:
- Voting should be made compulsory
- Banning politicians with criminal records from contesting elections is against their right
- Fight against corruption
- Women's Reservation Bill
- Union Budget is useless and recession puts it off track
Economy/ Business Issues:
- Recession is the mother of innovation
- Should Petroleum Subsidy go away?
- Discuss the role of Public Private Partnership in India's Economic Growth
- Foreign direct investment will revitalize the education system
- Businesses should concentrate on making profits and not address social and environmental Issues
International Issues:
- India to become a superpower in near future
- China's relations with India vis-a-vis Pakistan
- Does India have a role in Afghanistan? Discuss
Hello, I have always been poor when it comes to essays & all!!..Any suggestions on how someone like me should go about his WAT prep.
Want to know about the Essay / WAT topics that have been asked in the recent past at IIMA?
Here's an indicative list :
- There was a debate about school exams getting easier. One group said pass percentage above 98% so easier. Other group quoted analogy from Mt. Everest climbers and the number of people ascending the mountain now as compared to mere 2 in 1953. Identify and evaluate the assumptions made by the speakers and also suggest a method for checking.
- You recently came to know that the school in which you have studied is planning to replace book-based library with Computer Systems based library. Their argument is that students find books boring and time taking. But you feel books are the best method to learn, so you write them to reconsider their decision. Identify and evaluate the assumptions made by the school and provide strong enough points to validate your views so that they change their decision.
- "Car for All" company which sells entry level cars is thinking about acquiring a luxury brand. "Car for All" company is very excited about it but they fear that their association with low cost car brand will turn down the customers. Analyze.
- Telecom sector is planning a toll charge for Voice-over-internet and messaging applications like Skype, Whatsapp, Viber, since they have huge investments and infrastructure cost unlike these apps. Asked to analyze the reasons/arguments given and assumptions by telecom companies, and give arguments to weaken their argument, and arguments which can strengthen their argument.
- Ancient Indian scientists haven't been given the due recognition. The ancient scriptures tell that Indian scientists had long before developed aviation technology. The Wright Brothers are unduly credited with the invention of the airplane. Identify the reasons, assumptions and analyze as to how rational the argument was.
The below essays/WAT topics are the ones been asked at IIMB. Have a look!!
- Recently in India, the closing time of Bars from 11 PM to 1 AM. Reasons behind this and consequences/ramifications?
- International/ IB schools in India required by the society?
- Do celebrities have a responsibility towards consuming and believing in the products and causes they endorse?
WAT and Essay topics of IIMC :
- Young people are spending less and less time reading books. Examine the reasons behind this trend. What can be the negative consequences arising out of this?
- Reasons for disproportionately low number of women in top managerial positions, and how this issue can be solved.
- Very few women are at Top Management in Companies, your views. Reasons and suggestions.
Dear Puys I really appreciate the idea of posting the WAT and Essay topics of esteemed IIMs ,It would be really beneficial to all the Aspirants if anyone can post/discuss tips/suggestions starting from the basics to the advanced level regarding the structure and analysis, writing of Analytical Essays ? Should we pick a topic then fix a particular frame of time say 20 mins or 30 mins so that we can jot down the ideas and Write the Essay in that time after which we can share ideas/ discuss/ Analyze/ Reframe/Critical points/Conclusions/Assumptions/References , I hope this can improve our Essay skills, Any one can share their views on this.
Guys won't it be better if we posted topics everyday on different genres related to current/static events and issues. Because practicing everyday will help and who knows we may get one in an actual WAT or GD!
General GD/PI/WAT Gyan
Congratulations to all who have belled the CAT! It only gets challenging from here. So, the rejection process is over and selection procedure starts now. Harsh words but true!
1. Group Discussions - GDs happen in a less number of colleges now. Follow the basics - Body language, good temperament, be calm and composed and make 3-4 entries. These things are known to everyone but still 80% of the people get them wrong. For preparing, if you are good at speaking then cover current affairs so that you can quote some examples. Practise speaking also if you fumble a lot. Trick - Prepare a 20-30 sec point in your mind, wait for someone to fumble or everyone to get a little low. Shoot! Repeat the same process again. Start a GD only if you think you can lead one. Else it counts as negative
2. WAT - Read a lot. Quote examples in your essay.
3. PI - Get the general set of HR questions. Should be around 50 questions. Write detailed answers for all of them. Quote your life instances and experiences in all the answers. Read your answers and predict follow up questions. Whatever you have done till now, write it down. Make an entire story how things happened one after the other and what were your driving forces that you ended up in a B school interview. Have a decent idea about your future plans. Never lie. Exaggerating and modifying the truth a little to your advantage is unethical too but helps a lot in PIs.
All other basic stuff you will know gradually. I have quoted the most important stuff that came to my mind in one go.
All the best guys! May the force be with you.
This is one written by me. Criticism invited!
"Corruption in sports committees and government interference are degrading the quality of sports in India. Elaborate and provide remedies." (IIM Calcutta, 2013)
Sports Quality in India has been below par. A major reason for this is the corruption in various sports committee and the increasing negative interference from the government in sports activities.
India is a country of second highest population. It has abundant untapped potential in various fields such as Arts, Commerce, Music and also in Sports. The question then remains is why that potential is untapped? The reason is the increasing corruption in Sports committees. We do not need to look further than the recent IPL corruption scam to realise its true extents. IPL is the biggest platform for aspiring Indian cricketers to showcase their talent. A fixing scam in such an important tournament goes a long way to deny them that chance. And it isn't about the fixing alone. Recommendations are considered for selection of players in team regardless of their abilities. For eg. Stuart Binny, son of former cricketer Roger Binny is just an average player with no expertise in either bowling or batting, and he still somehow finds a way into the National team. In the end such corrupt decisions lead to poor performance of our national team.
Corruption in some cases has also indirectly affected Indian sports. The biggest example is the high scale corruption in the Commonwealth Games. It spoiled India's image as a competent and able nation to host such a big event. This also leads to a decrease in respect for athletes from our country.
Government has had negative influences and interventions in sports. It has been biased about some commercially profitable sports and ignored other important sports. Cricket brings high revenues to the board and is also most followed sport in the country. Government has promoted Cricket extensively, going as far as announcing prize money of Rs. 1 crore to all players after the world cup triumph. On the other hand, our national game Hockey has received not even half the attention that the former receives. Hockey National Team players are largely underpaid compared to the cricketers. This has led to a decrease in hockey aspirants in our country. Unfortunately it is the same case for all other sports in our country other than Cricket.
The situation is worsening. But there are remedies to this problem. The biggest remedy can be the transparency of the selection process for various sports. All the aspirants have a right to know why they weren't selected. The sports committee has to be transparent throughout its hierarchy, right from the top to the bottom. Government has to give the sports committee complete freedom, and should only intervene in emergency situations. Equal attention should be given to each and every sport in the country. Leading sportsmen in various sports should be asked to campaign for increasing followers for the sport. Instead of splashing money on cricketers, added incentives should be provided for athletes participating and performing well in other sports.
Thus, such measures need to be taken to discover the untapped potential of Indian sports. It is high time to prove it to the world that India is much more than a cricketing nation in Sports. But for that the corruption in Indian Sports needs to end once and forever.
In my previous post, I posted an interview question set. From here on, I will post one question each day with how to go about it and frame a decent answer as per my understanding. Get ready to stimulate your nerves puys!
Que.1 Tell us about yourself OR Tell me something about yourself that is not there in the form OR Introduce yourself in one minute
Now to begin with, basic idea is to frame an entire story with 100% truth value to it. Start from how things happened in your life and one thing led after other. Quantitative career details are there in the form so try to focus more on your qualitative side. If you tell them your achievements then do tell what did you learn and how did it help you evolve. The entire story should cover your personality and major events in your life. Frame this in such a manner that MBA as the next option seems like a wise choice.
I don't support cramming interview answers as they kill your natural flair. But learn this first questions pointwise as you don't want to miss upon on important information here.
If you don't want to be grilled on something then simply avoid mentioning it in the first place.
For work ex people, don't go into the technicalities of your job right away. Tell him the overview and again how have you evolved in that work place. Interviewer will anyway talk about your job.
Next, always keep a subtle smile and be ready to be stopped at any point of time. Suppose you get stopped in between, do remember to bring up all the unsaid important things later in the interview one way or the other.
This is all I could remember in one go. You guys can add things in the comment and make it even better. ATB
PS: Frame different answers for all three questions.
I have one question. It might sound silly.
WAT is computer based or pen paper based?
Dear Aspirants,
Follow the below mentioned link for discussions regarding admission queries for IIM Raipur :
First essay of the season. Any sort of criticism would be much appreciated. Thank you.
"Corruption in sports committees and government interference are degrading the quality of sports in India. Elaborate and provide remedies."
In an ideal world a country of 1.25 billion people would be expected to produce and nurture world class athletes and win a plethora of medals yet in India we celebrate the elusive and rare gold. While we are vying to be among the best in world economy and military dominance it is in the global sports arena that we fail to leave a mark. The reasons for this lack of glory are many and a prominent one among those is the level of corruption in sports governance.
What is common between suresh kalmadi, lalit modi and N srinivasan? apart from the fact that they have all been accused of malpractices in office they also share the fact that they are not even closely related to the sports bodies they govern. Now a logical person would say that it is illogical to assume that a person isn't capable of governing a sports body just because he has not played the said sport and he would be right. But the fact that these offices have been given a political ring to them doesn't exactly bode well. They have become a breeding ground for both budding and veteran politicians.
The level of corruption coupled with the step motherly treatment by the Indian government towards other sports has turned India into a one sport nation. You don't get to see MPs competing to become the president of AIFF but the BCCI chief is highly sought after. Funding and promotion also follow along similar lines.lack of enthusiasm,funding and rewards by the government have stunted the rise of other sports in India. An arjuna award at the end of ones career is not akin to promoting the game. The government needs to do much more than what they are doing right now.
Would removing government interference and appointing relevant sports persons into administrative roles help? Maybe, maybe not but it is certainly worth a try. Scrutinizing the boards for discrepancies on a regular basis would go a long way in achieving transparency. The step motherly treatment needs to stop as well, direction of funds needs to be fair. Government authorities should stick to the administrative roles and leave the sporting decisions to the relevant people. The first step to becoming a great sporting nation is finding the right talent and nurturing it, this happens at the base level and corruption at this level is usually thought of as petty and inconsequential. This needs to be remedied.
Eradicating corruption in sports should at the very least bring out the best talent and provide them with the right resources. This I believe should be enough to turn India into a powerhouse in a number of sports.
Treatment of Women is improving in India
India, being a patriarchal society since centuries, has huge challenges when it comes to treatment of women. Considering women based on their position in society, let us broadly classify them as rural-uneducated-homemakers and urban-educated-working women.
The typical challenges the former category still continues to face is domestic violence, sexist discrimination and objectification. Though the latter category has moved on from these, they still face challenges like eve-teasing, work-place discrimination, sexual harassment and the like. In mid-20th Century Europe, when most of the men were out fighting wars, women came into the workforce and drove the economy to unparalleled heights. Unfortunately, India couldn't reap any of these benefits as she was never full-fledgedly involved in the wars and hence lost the opportunity to handle this challenge together with the world. While Janet Yellen's decisions are lauded the world over, Indian media is still focussing on celebrities' private parts, which shows that chauvinism in India still exists in leaps and bounds. This also highlights the contrast between treatment of women in India and at the world stage.
While urban-educated-working women like Indra Nooyi and Sushma Swaraj are held in high respects and inspire the younger generations, treatment of celebrities like Deepika Padukone and Sunny Leone hasn't been very good. Also, increasing rapes and women trafficking continue to rise without restraint which poses a huge threat to women's place in society.
In short, the primary measure to counter this effect is a change in the mindset of Indians. Unless people accept women's place in society and give them independence, nothing can be changed. Though treatment of women has been improving at the top of the pyramid, its affects haven't trickled down to the bottom stratum of society yet.
What is the time allotted for IIML WAT round??
Hi guys, please evaluate my essay. Any kind of feedback is welcome.
Hate Speeches: Politics at a new low
Where there is diversity, discrimination is inevitable. In a country like India, this diversity is used by politicians for their vested interests by making hate speeches against other communities. Such speeches have many repercussions in the socio-economic sphere.
Leaders are supposed to inspire people with their vision and improve the conditions of people in a society. But unfortunately, our leaders tend to make speeches that enrage religious sentiments and inhibit social progress. Such un-parliamentary activities disrupt social harmony and widen the existing religious divide among people. For example, the rise of Bharatiya Janata Party in the late 80s followed the same formula. Prior to their Ram-Mandir-in-Ayodhya incident, the religious polarity in our society was never this wide. Due to the lack of strong presence of visual media in those days, BJP politicians resorted to public hate speeches against Muslims and gave out a clarion call for Hindus to unite. This eventually led to Hindu-Muslim riots in many parts of the country including metropolitan cities like Mumbai.
Politicians rage hatred amongst communities for their vested interests. By this segregation of people on the basis of their religion and caste, it becomes easier for the politicians to cater to the people's religious appetite and convert them into vote banks. Such vote-bank politics is not new to India but resorting to hate speeches publicly and leading people to such violence is against our stability as a nation. Akbar Uddin Owaissi was accused of hate mongering in 2013 for his speech against Hindus in Hyderabad. This was done just before the elections so as to unite all the muslims against Hindu political competitors. Politicians can get away with it sooner or later but it is the people who fight for such silly causes and endanger their future by locking themselves in such hatred. Such parties have gained acceptance all over the country. ShivSena in Maharshtra is another example. Their ideology of misunderstood Hindutva is increasing polarity and disrupting social order.
This instability creates a fear among businesses and loss of trust in the foreign investors' community. No investor would like to do business in a country where there is religious turmoil unless the Govt clarifies its stand against such illegal and un-parliamentary speeches. This impedes our economic progress. Legal action should be taken against the perpetrators should be prosecuted so as to set an example.
In short, politicians resort to hate speeches for their vested political interests .These are examples to what levels our leaders can stoop to in their quest for power.
WAT TOPIC : WILL GST BE INSTRUMENTAL TO THE ECONOMIC GROWTH OF INDIA?
The goods and services tax popularly known as the GST is proposed as the 122nd amendment to the constitution of India. It will be a national level value added tax which will eliminate all other indirect taxes such as excise duty , service tax etc. Gst will be collected at each level from production or manufacturing till the product is sold. This comprehensive indirect taxing tries to make our country's tax structure congenial for investment and industrial growth.
'MAKE IN INDIA' which is the brain child of our honorable prime minister MR NARENDRA MODI will hugely get benefited by GST. The concept of MAKE IN INDIA needs a lot foreign direct investment. Gst will encourage foreign companies to invest by providing a crystal clear taxation system. Gst tax modelling makes it a destination based tax
which is much easier to comprehend than a source based tax which .Surveys done so far have shown that if proper implementation of Gst takes place then our country's economic growth can jump from 0.9% to 1.7% which is perfectly desirable. As the cascading of taxes reduce , the price of raw materials and manufacturing goods will decrease, prompting the manufacturers to produce more . Effectively this enhances the competitive nature of the market , proliferating the GDP of the nation and in turn decreasing inflation.Moreover as their will be a single taxing body it removes the concept of middlemen , hence decreasing corruption . In all possibilities Gst is a welcome change but as we know every coin has two sides , similarly Gst also brings in few cons with its pros.
With the application of Gst the 1.5 cr exception limit on revenues will be removed. This will adversely affect the small scale enterprises. The small scale enterprises will loose their security as the 1.5 cr exception directed that any produce which generates revenue less than 1.5 cr is non taxable, but now every bit of their income falls under the purview of gst. Adding to the above points gst has to be paid just after you have received your invoice without any guarantee of payment, which is another black dot in the white cloth. Corruption less country is an utopia , hence lack of proper implementation might in turn increase the prices of goods which will reverse all its good effects.
Our country is going towards the industrial age . Concepts like MAKE IN INDIA , DIGITAL INDIA need a good economic framework for proper execution. Certainly GST is the way to go!