How to Ensure your selection for PGDM in best B-Schools?

It is a difficult task to choose the right Post Graduate Diploma in Management (PGDM) college because unfortunately there is no standard parameter or a university acceptable criterion in India. It is also likely to be one of the biggest investments of time and money that one will ever make to join a PGDM course.

The study of a PGDM course requires a lot of time and energy along with huge investment of money. There are nearly around 3000 PGDM colleges in India, probably it's quite confusing for the students to choose the best college for studying PGDM. So, it is important to have detailed information about the procedures involved in the PGDM admission process.

Let’s discuss a few key points that are to be kept in mind before choosing the right PGDM college for your study.

Researching

Everything has a beginning and here it is researching for best B-Schools. The students have to do in-depth research about different colleges and universities that provide the best PGDM course. They should make the list of their desired colleges for their PGDM course. The students can do a simple google search on a website according to their requirements. The students should be very clear about their area of study and decide on the specialisations to choose in PGDM. This is because the specialisations chosen in PGDM course decides their career in management in the future.

Once they decide on the specialisations and colleges and when they have their list of colleges with them, they should contact the educational advisory centres to get details about the list of colleges. These educational advisory centres assist the students to choose the right college according to their specialisations and budgets. In your PGDM application process, researching about the best B-School should be the most important activity.

Get detailed information about the College

The students interested in the PGDM course during the process of research should understand the admission procedures for the PGDM course. Each college has different admission procedures and counselling procedures for selecting the candidates. Some may follow regular counselling sessions while many of them have their own counselling and interview sessions.

The students have to understand thoroughly about the different admission procedures that are followed by the colleges. Typically, in the majority of cases the interview sessions will be divided into 2-areas of selection procedures; Group Discussions (GD) and Personal Interview (PI). The sequence may vary, sometimes Personal Interview may be first and then followed by Group Discussions (GD) in the final or vice versa, this completely depends upon the colleges.

Registration and Application Process

Once the students have shortlisted the colleges, they have to apply for a PGDM course with desired specialisations in their desired colleges. The students have to register themselves to the desired colleges. Once they register to the desired colleges, they will have to pay the application fee and fill the application form.

The registered students are advised to apply through educational services for both merit and direct admissions. This is because the different colleges have different dates for the application process, the students might miss out the dates because of lack of information. The educational advisory centres will keep updated about all the dates so that the students will not miss out any opportunity. The students will also be kept aware of all the admission related information about their desired colleges regularly about the dates.

Another aspect of direct admission is that the registered students can get confirmed seats in their desired colleges even if they are not able to get merit seats in their desired colleges. The competition is very high and sometimes the students may get less rankings and may lose their seat for higher ranks. This can be ruled out in case of direct admissions. The students will be 100% confirmed of their seats in their desired colleges even if their ranking is less. The direct admission procedure ensures that students with less ranks will not lose their seats in their desired colleges. In direct admission the students book their seats and get assured admission in their desired colleges.

Appearing for Entrance Exams

The most important part for the admission to PGDM course is clearing of entrance exams. The students have to apply for a number of entrance exams in order to get admission to the PGDM course. While there are some colleges which conduct their own entrance exams despite the common entrance exams. The students may have to apply for such exams separately if they wish to get admission in such colleges. The students have to prepare with full focus irrespective of entrance exams.

The list of the few popular and important exams is mentioned below:

All the above entrance exams have similar patterns of questions like logical reasoning, quantitative aptitude, English language, date analysis, data sufficiency, etc. The students do a dedicated preparation for the entrance exams in order to get merit seats. 

There are some colleges which have their separate entrance exams for PGDM entrance. The students can get this latest information about the various colleges and their entrance exams by contacting the educational counsellors.

Preparation for Entrance Exams

The students interested in the PGDM course have to do a dedicated study for the entrance exams. The strong competition demands dedicated and focused hard work from the students. The students with dedication and smart work can easily crack these entrance exams. Generally, the entrance exams are held across the country; some are online while some are offline. The syllabus is the same for all the entrance exams. So, a common preparation methodology has to be followed by the students.

A dedicated blog on the preparation tips and techniques is available on our website. The students can get detailed information about the preparation tips and techniques for all the entrance exams for the PGDM course here in the following link: Tips to Crack PGDM Entrance Exams.

Shortlisting Process

The colleges shortlist their candidates based on the rankings and marks scored by the students in the common entrance exams. The top-ranking students have better opportunities to study in top colleges and can join the merit seats. On the other hand, there are some colleges which conduct their own entrance exams. The students are selected based on the scores that they have secured in these entrance exams. 

The students with less rankings may not be able to get their desired colleges, but the students if they have applied for the direct admission process through educational counselling centres will assuredly get the admission to PGDM in their desired colleges irrespective of their rankings and marks. So, it is always advised to approach educational counselling centres for getting admissions to desired colleges for the PGDM course.

Personal Interview (PI) and Group Discussions (GD)

The next important procedure is Personal Interview (PI) and Group Discussions (GD). The students may feel that it is difficult to crack these, but in reality, cracking these are very simple. Not all colleges conduct this procedure, only few of them have these procedures. A thorough preparation is the best answer for cracking these sessions for PGDM admissions in colleges.

The main idea of conducting these rounds is only to gauge the skills and interest of the students. The students appearing for these rounds should be aware of some of the important aspects like current affairs, knowledge about the subject, brief knowledge about the chosen specialisation, good hold on English language, interpersonal skills, etc.

The students are judged and selected based on the following aspects:

• Problem Solving Skills
• Knowledge of Current Affairs
• Communication Skills
• Interpersonal Skills
• Presentation Skills

A planned approach towards preparations is the best way to gain success in the above-mentioned aspects.

Let’s now discuss few tips about Personal Interview and Group Discussions below:

Personal Interview Sessions

Each college conducts personal interview sessions for students. In the personal interview sessions, the students are asked a few general questions about the general knowledge and current affairs relevant to business and management fields. They are also asked a few questions about their subjects by the interviewers. A brief revision of all the subjects is advisable before attending the personal interview sessions.

Group Discussions

In this session each of the students will be given a topic and will be asked to talk about it for a minute and will be asked to put their views and debate the same among the group of other students. In the group discussion sessions, the students are tested for communication skills, language proficiency, stage fear, justification ideas, etc. 

In both the cases, if the students have a little knowledge about all these then cracking these rounds is just a cake walk. There are many study materials and videos available on the internet, the students can just google the above words, and all the relevant information required for preparation will be available in a fraction of seconds. 

It is always advised that students  do a thorough preparation before attending these sessions for performing better. The students have to prepare thoroughly on all the mentioned subjects so that they can crack these sessions with an ease.

Documents Submission

The final part of the procedure in any admission procedure is document submission. The selected students after the Personal Interview and Group Discussions are intimated to submit all the documents in original along with the fees. So, the students have to keep extra copies of all the documents in hand in order to submit them on time.

Documents required for admissions

• 10th / Equivalent Marks Cards
• 12th / Equivalent Marks Cards 
• Graduation Marks Cards
• Degree Certificate
• Transfer Certificate
• Migration Certificate (if any)
• Entrance Exams Hall Ticket
• Entrance Exams Score Card
• Aadhar Card
• Residential Proof Certificate
• Income & Caste Certificate (If any)
• Conduct Certificate
• Passport size Photographs and Stamp Sized Photographs
• Any other relevant certificates as and when necessary

Additional Documents for NRI/ International Students

• Certificate from last board studied
• Photocopy of Passport
• Photocopy of Visa
• Equivalence and Eligibility Certificate from Association of Indian Universities (AIU)
• Passport size Photographs and Stamp Sized Photographs
• All documents should be in English or translated into English

The students have to maintain a checklist of all these documents before submitting the documents to the colleges. It is advised to keep a good number of photocopies of all the documents for future use. 

Concluding Lines

The above article tries to explain some of the important procedures available for getting admission to a PGDM course. The students have to follow these procedures in order to have a flawless admission experience. If the students fail in any of the above procedures then admissions may become a hefty affair. Hence it is advised to all the interested students to follow the above procedures duly without any mistakes.