MBA | PGDM 2025 : GD PI Feedback – FORE School, GIM Goa, IMI Delhi and TAPMI

Timeline: MBA PGDM 2024-2025

Profile : 

Name: Shivalika Sharma

CAT’24 : 90 Percentile 

Profile: Female, General Category

Academic Scores : Class 10: 90%;  Class 12:80%                

Grad: B Tech Food Technology from University of Petroleum and Energy Studies (UPES), Dehradun, CGPA: 8.2

1. FORE School of Management, New Delhi | Gurgaon

Offline

PI Timeline : Second week of  Feb, 25, Afternoon slot  (Offline) 

Result Timeline : 1st week of April

Interview Panellist: Three panel members were present, two male and one female. All of them maintained a calm composure throughout the interview.

Extempore topic : Impact of GST on the economy (1 min ) 

Interview questions:

1. Introduce yourself.
2. Why an MBA after doing a BTech in food technology?
3. What do you prefer to do when you have free time?
4. The difference between Coke Zero and Diet Coke ?
5. Name some synthetic things which are used in making processed    food ?
6. Why international management ?

Overall Interview Summary :

So, my Personal Interview, or PI, was conducted offline. I walked into the room, and there were three panelists. I was a bit nervous, but they were incredibly friendly. They even offered me some water, which really helped me settle down. 

The initial part was quite conversational; they asked questions about me, my background, and my experiences. I felt I was able to answer them pretty thoroughly.

Then came the extempore round. They asked me to pick a chit, which had my topic written on it. I was given 30 seconds to gather my thoughts before speaking for a minute. However, there was a slight miscommunication. I had mistakenly thought I had a minute and a half, so I was really caught off guard when they told me my time was up. I felt disappointed because I was in the middle of my piece when the time ran out.

Despite that hiccup with the extempore, I’d say the overall experience was positive. It felt more like a friendly conversation than a rigid interview. I appreciated the panelists’ approach; they made me feel comfortable.

2. Goa Institute of Management

Online & WAT, GAAT and PI

WAT timeline : 12th February,25

WAT Topic : Standup comedy as a career and Polarised world

GIM Analytics Aptitude Test (GAAT) : It’s an analytical online test for a BDA course. It was moderate; covered statistics, RC, Basic coding, Probability, DI, LR.

Interview Timeline : 24 Feb, 25 Morning slot (Opted by me)

Interview panellists: There were two panelists, one male and one female. The male faculty was asking more generic questions and the female panelist was focusing more on the technical part.

Interview questions :

1. Brief introduction about yourself?
2. Why did I choose Food Technology as my major ?
3. Why MBA ?
4. Why BDA after a technical degree with no prior experience in this field?
5. Different types of Databases?
6. What is big data ?
7. Difference between AI and ML ?
8. Do you know any programming languages ?
9. Name five labeling things which should be mentioned in a food packet ?
10. Name regulations in the Indian food body ?
11. Any other calls you have ?
12. Any questions for us ?

Overall, PI summary :

My second interview with GIM was an online one. I’d selected the morning slot, so I was scheduled to join the Zoom link at 8 AM. When I logged in, we were informed of our individual interview times and asked to join 15 minutes beforehand. Mine was set for 10:30, so I logged back in at 10. 

There were two panelists – one male and one female. When the interview started, I noticed a clear division in the panelists’ questioning. The male panelist was asking more general questions about my background and experiences, while the female panelist was definitely more focused on the technical aspects.

Then, things got a little chaotic. I ran into some really serious network issues right in the middle of the interview. They were having trouble hearing me, and at one point, they suggested I leave. But I was determined to see it through. I knew I had to complete the interview, so I kept trying to fix the connection. Thankfully, after a few attempts, it stabilized, and we were able to continue.

However, all that network trouble definitely made me even more nervous than I already was. I felt like I was scrambling to regain my composure. 

Overall, I’d say the interview went satisfactory except for the part when they asked me about any programming languages.

3. IMI (International Management Institute) Delhi

Online

PI Timeline : 8th March, 25 afternoon slots

Interview panellist : One female panelist and she was very calm and friendly which helped me a lot.

Interview Questions :

1.   What are your hobbies ?
2.   Favourite drummer and songs that you know?
3.   Why MBA ?
4.   Which specialization will you opt for ?
5.   Why marketing ?
6.   Favourite advertisement and why ?
7.   Why do companies promote tobacco and alcohol but never   cannabis and marijuana ?
8.   Any questions for me ?
9.   Any other calls you have?

Overall Interview summary :

So, my third interview was another online one, this time in the afternoon via Zoom. I joined the link at the scheduled time, and there were two other candidates waiting in the virtual room. We ended up waiting for about an hour before a female panelist joined. She then gave us our individual time slots, and I was told I was second in queue.

When my interview finally started, she began by asking about my hobbies. I mentioned that I enjoy playing drums in my free time. And it turned out, her brother plays drums too! We actually spent the next five minutes or so chatting about that. It was a really nice, unexpected connection.

After that, the whole atmosphere of the interview just felt incredibly calm and friendly. It really helped me relax, and I think I was able to give much better answers because of it. The interview went really well. It was a very positive experience.

4. T. A. Pai Management Institute (TAPMI)

Offline

PI Timeline : 5th March, 2025

Interview panellist : Two male panellists and one female panellist.

WAT Topics:  Green Buildings and Demographic dividend in India: Myth or Reality?

Interview questions:

1. Brief introduction about yourself.
2. Why do you think we should give you an admission letter?
3. What is that one quote that you live by ?
4. What are 7 Ps of marketing ?
5. Did you find the guerilla strategy of KitKat useful in terms of their sale?
6. What are the list of government regulations that one has to follow while opening a distillation plant in India?

Overall interview summary: 

When I entered the room I could see that the panellists were in a rush so they were just bombarding me with questions and not giving me a chance to complete my answers which made me quite anxious. 

But the questions were relevant to my profile so I was familiar with them. My interview only lasted for 4 minutes. That made me wonder whether I gave them the right answers or not. 

For my fourth interview, it was a pretty intense experience. As soon as I walked into the room, I could tell the panelists were really pressed for time. They were firing questions at me one after another, and I barely had a chance to finish my answers before they moved on to the next one. It was definitely a bit nerve-wracking.

On the bright side, the questions themselves were all very relevant to my profile, so I was familiar with the topics. But the whole interview was over in just four minutes! That’s it. It left me feeling a little uneasy, wondering if I’d managed to convey everything they needed to know in such a short time. Not very sure whether in such a short time it was possible to judge someone’s merit. Left me pondering .. was it just a formality ? Will I get a call ?