How business schools evaluate students

• Entrance Exam Scores (CAT): Assess analytical, quantitative, and verbal skills for initial shortlisting.

• Academic Performance: Reflects discipline, consistency, and ability to handle rigorous coursework.

• Work Experience: Shows teamwork, practical exposure, and readiness for managerial roles.

• Co-curricular & Extracurricular Activities: Indicate leadership, teamwork, adaptability, and creativity.

• Personal Assessments (WAT, GD, PI): Evaluate communication skills, critical thinking, personality, and overall fit for an MBA.

Recruiters visiting business schools seek a diverse range of skills and competencies. These include communication and interpersonal skills, self-management skills, leadership and team management skills, analytical and problem-solving skills, professional skills, and innovation.At the admission stage, business schools prefer applicants who possess these skills, or at least have a strong inclination towards them. Having these skills speeds up their learning during the MBA program. Qualifying examinations, such as the CAT, assess some of these skills and play a helpful role in screening candidates from a larger pool of applicants.

Having said these, CAT assesses the candidates partially as it tests them on their Analytical and limited problem-solving skills through the Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning (DILR) section, numerical problem solving and mathematical(technical) skills through Quantitative Ability (QA) section and language proficiency (Grammar, vocabulary, comprehension) and critical reasoning through Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension (VARC) section. CAT leaves several skills untested, representing the ‘Softer’ aspects of management.

These include oral and non-verbal communication, self-management skills like adaptability, flexibility, ability to withstand pressure, willingness to unlearn and relearn, Innovation skills including creativity, and design thinking, leadership and team management skills like empathy, motivation, delegation, coordination, conflict resolution, and team-building, and professional skills including business awareness, financial literacy, and relevant certifications. Business schools assess these skills through a range of assessment tools, adopting a multidimensional assessment matrix for applicants to their MBA programs. These components include:

Assessment of academic performance:

Many institutions are renowned for their stringent entry requirements and rigorous academic standards. Applicants graduating from these institutions are likely to possess qualities such as diligence, perseverance, and a focus on the task at hand. Such applicants align better with institutional and industry requirements, and some business schools assign additional weight to applicants from such premier institutions.

Assessment of work experience:

The ability and willingness to work in teams are key requirements for a managerial role. MBA applicants with prior work experience have exposure to working in formal teams. Most business schools assign additional weightage for work experience.The additional weightage is more relevant for Indian business schools because, unlike international MBA programs, prior work experience is not a mandatory requirement for entry into Indian MBA programs. The additional points given for work experience improve the chances of success for experienced applicants in the MBA admission process.

Assessment of Co-curricular and extracurricular activities:

Employers seek well-rounded candidates who possess a blend of academic knowledge and soft skills acquired through both academic and non-academic experiences. Co-curricular and extracurricular activities and experiences impartqualities such as empathy, teamwork, cooperation, and openness to experimentation. Though equally crucial for all applicants, co-curricular and extracurricular activities play a significant role in strengthening the candidature of applicants without prior work experience.

Writing ability test/Written test:

VARC assesses the syntax and comprehension part of the English language. It does not capture the ability to express oneself in writing. Business schools assess the preparedness of candidates in this area through a written assignment. It could be an analysis of a case study or a commentary on a contemporary topic/theme of interest. The analysis/commentary also assesses the applicant’s critical thinking ability and creative mindset.In some cases, business schools used written tests to determine unique technical/domain-specific skills/orientation required for admission to a specialized program.

Group Discussion:

Due to the diversity in the quality of education across institutions in India, many applicants do not get trained in social skills, public speaking, teamwork, and critical thinking and analysis. Group discussion is a valuable tool for distinguishing applicants based on the presence or absence of these skills. An applicant with a reasonable level of social and team skills is more likely to adapt to the learning process in an MBA program.

Personal Interview:

A Personal Interview is the most potent and versatile assessment tool for evaluating an applicant’s suitability for an MBA program. A systemically conducted interview can assess the applicants on a range of attributes. The interviewers can assess the applicant’s body language and demeanor, oral communication, confidence level, general awareness of the world, and specific knowledge of business, ability to listen, comprehend, and respond, as well as their ability to engage in a conversation. Personal interviews can also be used to verify the information provided and claims made by the candidate regarding academic performance and quality of work experience. Experienced interviewers are incisive enough to assess a candidate’s sincerity, integrity, and commitment towards an assigned task, in addition to checking the presence or absence of qualities like adaptability, flexibility, and the ability to unlearn and relearn. Good business schools assign a significant weight to personal interviews, with some schools making it mandatory for applicants to clear the personal interview separately, before securing an offer for the MBA program.

Business schools are in the business of shaping managerial talent for the industry. Therefore, they actively look for applicants whom they can easily mould. The CAT percentile does provide valuable insights about the applicants, but it does not paint the complete picture. At best, it provides the broad contours or rough outline. Business schools use a combination of assessment tools discussed above to refine the details, add color, and give a finishing touch to the portrait of a suitable MBA candidate.

(The author is Chairperson (Admissions), Professor –IMT Ghaziabad)