MBA Business School Profiles - SPJIMR - SPJIMR Admission Process

Admission Process

How can one procure the application form for the various programs offered by your institute? What are the application submission deadlines?

The reply is with specific reference to PGDM (Equivalent to MBA) course. The application forms are available from select branches of SBI all over the country. These are also available from the institute counter at Mumbai (Andheri campus). Application forms can also be downloaded from the website. The details for the current year are as under:

1. Sale of forms from 30/8/01 to 15/12/01
2. Last date of submission: 21/12/01
3. CAT examination: 9/12/01

Please explain the various stages in admission process for each of the programs offered by you. (e.g. test, interview, group discussions etc).

The various stages are as under:

1. The form is to be filled in & submitted to the institute along with CAT Registration number.
2. The candidate is to write the CAT examination.
3. There is a shortlisting process at the institute that comprises various parameters including past academic records, CAT score, the qualitative evaluation of the SPJIMR form submitted & the work experience.
4. The shortlisted candidates are called for a process of group-interview at select centers all over the country.
5. Depending on the performance in the interview as well as the parameters mentioned at item 3 above the merit list is drawn and 1st merit list is brought out.
6. Depending on withdrawal situation the second merit list is brought out.

What is the most important stage / aspect of the entire process (with maximum weightage)?
All stages are equally important. The weightages vary from year to year and also across specializations.

What are the skills /qualities you want to test during exam, interview and GD?
Written Test: The CAT examination normally looks at the analytical ability & speed of the candidate for problem solving.
Interview: At SPJIMR we do not have a separate GD. This is included in the process of group interview where a panel member comprising of 5-6 experts interview 5-6 candidates at a time. This is unique to SPJIMR. Normally the aspects that are looked into are maturity, character (including value-system), and communication skills.

How do you ensure the diversity of the class?
As the admission is purely merit-based, by itself, it ensures diversity in terms of geographical dispersion, gender, educational qualification (engineer vs non-engineer, arts & commerce vs science, different professional qualifications like architecture, CA, ICWA, etc.). Every year the class composition is highly diversified in nature & its composition.

Academic Background

Are engineers more preferred over non-engineer?

No

Is there a separate cut-off for engineers and non-engineers? Do you evaluate the two types of candidates differently?

No. There is no separate evaluation norm based on any specific qualification including the engineers.

How important are grades in the selection process?

The past academic records play some role in the selection process. But as stated earlier, the composite index comprises several parameters & therefore, any shortcoming in any respect may be compensated by better performance in other areas. We have several such instances at the institute.

How do you take an applicant's undergraduate alma mater into consideration?

The credibility of the alma mater is an important issue. But it is integrated in the academic performance & hence constitutes a portion of the overall index.

Work Experience

How important is work experience for the selection?

Work experience is a part of the overall index. There is no special preference for the same. For last 3 years the overall composition of the class has been almost an equal mix of population that has experience and those without having any experience.

What kind of work experience is preferred?

The work experience should be relevant to the specialization sought by the candidate. For instance, for admission to Information Management specialization, software experience may be considered as relevant, and so on.

What is the school's ideal amount of work experience?

There is nothing called "ideal" work experience. As sated earlier, work experience is not insisted and is one of the criteria used.

Are applicants with one year of work experience evaluated differently than candidates with five years under their belts?

Yes. Weightages could be different. The parameters could vary even according to the area of specialization. For example, for FMCG or Bank, experience is not needed. On the contrary, for consulting companies experience does matter. All these issues / factors are taken into consideration while factoring in experience as criteria.

How much professional experience is too much? Is a candidate, say, with 12 years of work experience going to fit into the program?

There is nothing called "too much" or "too less" experience. It varies from case to case. We decide the cases of admission on merit.

Interview

What kinds of questions can an interviewee expect to hear during an interview?

Mostly personal, experiential, or situational

What attributes are you looking for when you interview candidates?

As stated earlier, in interview process normally the aspects that are looked into are maturity, character (including value-system), and communication skills.

How long do your interviews last?

40-45 minutes for the group interview

Is a long interview better than a short interview?

There can not be any optimum timing for an interview process. There should be adequate time both for the interviewer / interviewee to understand each other.

Group Discussions

As stated earlier, at SPJIMR we do not have the concept of group discussion. The methodology we follow is what is known as "group interview" wherein the panel of interviewers looks at 5-6 candidates at a time. This may be called an alternative mechanism of group discussion as the participants are often asked to give their views on the same topic.

Waitlist

How many applicants are placed on wait list? And how many eventually make it off?

It depends from year to year.

Ultimately, what is it that separates accepted applicants from the wait listed and denied folks?

As described earlier, the merit list once drawn is final. Depending on the dropouts the persons from the waitlist are given offers. There is no other differentiating factor between the two groups.

General

How can applicants show you and your staff that they're a good match for the program?

The system at SPJIMR is open, transparent & merit-based. The system has also been described earlier. There is nothing more to add.

What's the worst thing an applicant can do during the selection process?

No specific comments. We do not think there is anything like doing worst. Students always try to put in their best efforts. However, it is a matter of competitive situation and merit is always a relative concept. One should try to project one's true self.

Applicants should apply to your program if they're interested in... becoming good managers with practical relevance, change agents in their respective companies, and finally good corporate citizens.

And on the other side of the coin?

MBA candidates should not apply to your program if they're interested...in pursuing MBA for the sake of it.

Well, what characteristics is the B-school looking for?

We are looking for good, bright young persons with good value-system & initiative having potential to become leaders in the long-term.

Which aspect of the application should an applicant be most concerned with to make himself / herself a competitive player?

Attitude towards life with particular reference to value system & character