T. A. Pai Management Institute (TAPMI) is a part of Manipal Academy of Higher Education (MAHE), one of the leading universities of India.TAPMI extends General MBA programme, MBA in Banking and Financial Services (BKFS), MBA in Marketing, and MBA in Human Resource Management (HRM). It shortlists candidates on the basis of their CAT/XAT/GMAT score, and also, considers profile-based criteria in the case of highly experienced candidates. The final admission is granted as per the cumulative score composed of factors like entrance test score, past academic profile, work experience, and performance in further selection rounds.
Selection Process
MBA ‘22 admission procedure at TAPMI was carried out in the following steps:
- Shortlisting (based on CAT/XAT/GMAT score and work-ex profile)
- Moderated Group Discussion (MGD)
- Personal Interview
- English Proficiency Test (EPT)
MGD Topics
MGD round is held to evaluate the candidate’s proficiency in problem-solving, assertiveness, collaboration, and communication. For this, the candidates were organised in groups of six members each, and the topics were fetched froman event or issueof the past five years. The discussion was moderated by one or two panellists.
Each MGD lasted for 45 minutes, where each candidatewas to make an opening statement for 2 minutes, then the discussion went on for 20-25 minutes and finally, every candidate was given 30 seconds to make a final closing statement. The panellists intervenedin between if the discussion deviated from the specifics of the given topic. Listed below are some of the topics assigned during MBA admissions 2022:
- What is your opinion on social media sites? State the merits and demerits of social media.
- Women Empowerment: Are there any areas that are not being talked about enough?
- MBA 2020-22 batchpassed out with great placements. So, is the virtual mode of education becoming the new reality for MBA?
- Is media losing its credibility as 4th pillar of democracy?
- Is banning carbonated drinks a viable solution to the water crisis?
- Triple bottom line theory (profit, people, planet) - an unavoidable imperative or yet another agenda promoted by developed economies?
- Is India ready for a big leap in digital currency in the next five years?
- Future of cryptocurrency in India
- One in every five Indians is unemployed. Is India at the risk of losing its so-called demographic dividend?
Interview Experiences
A panel of two interviewers (one alumnus and one professor) questioned the candidates about their values, achievements, goals, work experience, and interests. The experienced candidates were mostly asked about their job profile and related scenario-based questions. The duration of every interview was around 15-35 minutes. Here are some of the experiences shared by candidates interviewed in 2022:
Interview 1:
Questions:
- Tell me about a risk that you took in life.
- Tell me about your biggest achievement. And the goal you achieved?
- Give us an example of a marketing campaign.
- Tell us about an incident when your idea was rejected.
- What is your preferredMBA specialisation?
- Do you have any questionsfor us?
Interview 2:
Background:B.tech, Work Ex of 4+ years in an IT company
XAT Percentile: 90.01
Questions:
- Which city are you from?
- Why do you want to do an MBA after these years in your job?
- What do you like about TAPMI?
- Did you ever take any risks in your job?
- Was there any situation when you did something by going out of the way or out-of-the-box?
- Did you ever have any conflict with your manager or any team member?
- Any questions for us?
Interview 3:
Background:BBA, Fresher
CAT Percentile: 94.09
Questions:
- Tell me an incident when you took a risk and how did it go?
- Tell me an instance where you worked in a team and achieved success.
- Tell me an incident where you faced a conflict of opinion with another team member.
- Tell me about your biggest achievement.
- Tell me an incident when things did not go as you planned. And what you did do about it?
- What does your NGO do? What do you do?
- What duties of HR have you carried out in your internships? Which subjects of HR have you studied in your graduation?
- Since you are interested in HR, I want toask some situational questions. Suppose you are the HR of an organisationthat has a clause, saying the blood relatives cannot be hired. However, a senior employee’s blood relative has been hired without your knowledge, and you got to know about it two years later. What will you do in such a scenario?
The candidate was given one more HR-related scenario, that was related to a case study on thebreach of confidentiality.
Interview 4:
Questions:
- Have you ever taken any risk in life? Tell us about it.
- What is your biggest achievement to date?
- If you could go back to your class 10th, what changes would you makein life?
- How are you ethical in business and not selfish?
- What is the impact of the government’s decision to disinvestAir India to Tata after 68 years?
- Compare privatisation and nationalisation.
- Tell us about some good opportunities that you utilised.
Interview 5:
Background:BBA, Work Ex of 17 months
CAT Percentile: 87.28
Questions:
- Tell me about your work experience.
- Can you tell me about a difficult situation you faced during your job?
- Tell us about your co-curriculars.
- How did you manage to score 85+ in your acads?
- Why MBA? Are you willing to come to Manipal?
- Which specialisation will you choose in MBA?
- What other calls do you have?
EPT Round
English Proficiency Test (EPT) was the last stage of the admission process. It was a 45-minute test, conducted in online mode. EPT included nearly 30-40 questions designed to check the reading, writing, and listening skills of the candidates. There were almost 15 audios (approx. 45 seconds each) in the test, and according to the related question, the candidate was to pick the right answer from the given options. Also, there was a picture-based question, and the candidate was required to write a 50-word passage on it. The remaining questions were based on Reading Comprehension passage, grammar, and vocabulary.
Navigating back to previous questions was not allowed.Overall, EPT was considered easy by the candidates.