CAT and MBA Entrance Preparation Module 10 – Admissions: written tests, group discussions and interviews
GD topics and case discussions: a method
Prepare a GD topic in ten minutes with definitions, two sides, sourced facts and a position, and run a case discussion from the problem to a recommendation.
What you will learn
- Prepare a topic in ten minutes with definitions, two sides, evidence and a position
- Run a case discussion through problem, options, criteria and a recommendation
- Support a point with official data without overstating it
Before you start
What you’ll learn · Before you start
What you will learn
- Prepare a topic in ten minutes with definitions, two sides, evidence and a position
- Run a case discussion through problem, options, criteria and a recommendation
- Support a point with official data without overstating it
Before you start
On this page
A GD topic arrives as one line, and the first minutes of the discussion go to whoever has something worth saying about it. Ten minutes of preparation, when you get them, are enough to fill a sheet of five lines that carries you through: what the key terms mean, the strongest argument on each side, two facts with their sources and the position you will defend.
This lesson builds that sheet for GD topics of four kinds, runs case discussions from the problem to a recommendation, and shows how to use an official figure without saying more than its source does.
Ten minutes turn a GD topic into a sheet
GD topics come in four kinds: abstract statements, social or policy questions, business questions and cases. Each needs a definition before an opinion, because the meaning of its key word decides what the group is arguing about. Every topic in this track is original, and none is presented as one an institute has used.
The sheet has five lines: the key terms defined; the strongest argument for; the strongest against; two facts, each with the source you will check before the day; and the position you can defend. The program checks five sheets on original topics and prints what each one lacks:
"""Checks a ten-minute preparation sheet for a group discussion and prints what is missing: a definition of the key
terms, an argument on each side, facts that each name their source, and a position that decides. A position that
only says "it depends" must say on what (a condition with if, when or unless). The five sheets are on original topics;
each fact is something to look up in the source it names before the day. Press Edit, write your own sheet, run it."""
import re
SHEETS = [
{"topic": "Cities should charge for parking on every busy street",
"terms": ["busy street: one where parked cars slow the traffic or the buses"],
"for": "A space that costs nothing is held all day by a few; a price opens it to many short visits.",
"against": "Traders fear that shoppers will go elsewhere if parking costs money.",
"facts": [("how many on-street spaces the city has", "the city's own parking policy"),
("how long a parked car stays on average", "a count the city publishes, if it has one")],
"position": "Charge on busy streets, and spend the money on the buses that bring shoppers."},
{"topic": "Customer reviews do more harm than good",
"terms": ["harm: buyers misled, or honest sellers hurt by false reviews"],
"for": "Fake and paid reviews mislead buyers and punish honest sellers.",
"against": "",
"facts": [("what the consumer protection rules say about fake reviews", "the Department of Consumer Affairs")],
"position": "They do more good than harm when platforms verify that the person who wrote one bought the product."},
{"topic": "Failure teaches more than success",
"terms": [],
"for": "A failure shows exactly which step went wrong.",
"against": "Success shows what works, and is easier to repeat.",
"facts": [("how often new firms close in their first years", "the official statistics office")],
"position": "Failure teaches more, if someone stops to find out why it happened."},
{"topic": "A city with one transport budget: more buses or a metro line",
"terms": ["transport budget: the money the city can spend on public transport this decade"],
"for": "Buses can be added this year and go where people already live.",
"against": "A metro carries more people on its busiest corridor and does not get stuck in traffic.",
"facts": [("the cost of a kilometre of metro line", ""), ("how many people use the city's buses daily", "")],
"position": "Buses first, on the routes where the metro would take a decade to arrive."},
{"topic": "A tea chain is offered space in every railway station of its state",
"terms": ["space: a counter with rent paid monthly to the station's licence holder"],
"for": "Stations bring crowds all day, every day.",
"against": "Rent is high, and station crowds want speed, not a café.",
"facts": [("the rent of a counter at a large station", "the licence terms the chain is offered")],
"position": "It depends."},
]
REQUIRED = ("terms", "for", "against", "facts", "position")
for i, sheet in enumerate(SHEETS, 1):
missing = []
if not sheet["terms"]:
missing.append("no key term defined")
for side in ("for", "against"):
if not sheet[side].strip():
missing.append(f"no argument {side}")
unsourced = [f for f, source in sheet["facts"] if not source.strip()]
if unsourced:
missing.append(f"{len(unsourced)} fact(s) without a source: " + "; ".join(unsourced))
position = sheet["position"]
if re.search(r"\bdepends\b", position) and not re.search(r"\b(if|when|unless)\b", position):
missing.append("a position that says it depends but not on what")
print(f"{i}. {sheet['topic']}")
print(" " + ("ready: definitions, both sides, sourced facts, a position" if not missing else "missing: " + ", ".join(missing)))
ready = sum(1 for s in SHEETS if s["terms"] and s["for"].strip() and s["against"].strip()
and all(src.strip() for _, src in s["facts"]) and not re.fullmatch(r"\s*It depends\.\s*", s["position"]))
print(f"{ready} of {len(SHEETS)} sheets {'is' if ready == 1 else 'are'} ready")
assert all(k in s for s in SHEETS for k in REQUIRED)Output
1. Cities should charge for parking on every busy street ready: definitions, both sides, sourced facts, a position 2. Customer reviews do more harm than good missing: no argument against 3. Failure teaches more than success missing: no key term defined 4. A city with one transport budget: more buses or a metro line missing: 2 fact(s) without a source: the cost of a kilometre of metro line; how many people use the city's buses daily 5. A tea chain is offered space in every railway station of its state missing: a position that says it depends but not on what 1 of 5 sheets is ready
Recorded with Python 3.14.8 on macOS 26 arm64. To run it yourself: mise exec python@3.14.8 -- python3 prep_sheet.py
Runs on this device, in your browser. The first run downloads Python (about 13.5 MB), which is kept for the next runs.
Your run, in this browser
Only the parking sheet is ready. The other four show the common gaps: an argument missing on one side, a key term
never defined, facts with no source to check them against, and a position that says “it depends” without saying on
what. Press Edit, add your own sheet for a topic to SHEETS, and run it before you show the sheet to anyone.
Checkpoint
Check: The ten-minute preparation sheet
Case discussions: problem, options, criteria, recommendation
A case discussion: A group discussion of a short business or policy situation, which the group works through to a recommendation: the problem, the options, the criteria and a decision with its reasons. has a different aim from a topic: a group’s best output is a decision with its reasons. Run it in four stages, state the problem in one sentence, list the options, agree the criteria and then recommend, and go back a stage whenever a new fact changes the criteria. Step through an original case:
The drawing shows the whole scene; its 7 steps are listed below.
Every step as text
- The case. A bookshop chain of five stores is losing sales to online sellers. It can close two stores, add a café to all five, or start selling online. The group has 15 minutes.
- The problem in one sentence. Before anyone picks an option, a member states the problem: buyers can get the same books cheaper online, so the shops must offer what a website cannot, at a cost the chain can carry.
- The options, and one more. The group lists the three options the case names and finds a fourth: cafés in the three busiest stores only, with online sales of the titles that only the shops stock.
- The criteria before the argument. Then, before anyone argues, it agrees what will decide: the cash each option needs now, what customers cannot get online, how easily the choice can be undone, and the staff it keeps.
- Recommend, with a condition. Weighed on those four, the mixed option leads, and the group recommends it, with the fact that would change its mind: how much cash the chain has.
- A new fact changes the criteria. A member reads the case again: the chain has three months of cash. Cash now outweighs everything else, so the group goes back a stage and weighs the options again.
- A decision with its reasons. With cash first, closing the two weakest stores leads, and the group says why and what would bring the cafés back. Its output is a decision with reasons and a condition, not a vote.
The recommendation changed when one fact changed, and that is the method working. The criteria decide, so a fact that moves a criterion moves the answer, and a group that agreed its criteria first can change its mind without a quarrel. Case discussions that skip the criteria end as votes.
Checkpoint
Check: The four stages of a case discussion
Official data, stated no stronger than its source
An official figure strengthens a point only if you state it the way its source does: what it measures, for which period, and whether it is an estimate, a projection or a final count. Three figures from chapter 1 of the Economic Survey 2025–26, as members might quote them and as the Survey states them:
| What a member says | What the Survey says | What the first version overstates |
|---|---|---|
| India will grow 7.2 % in 2026–27. | It projects real GDP growth for 2026–27 in the range of 6.8 to 7.2 per cent. | a projection made certain, and the top of a range made the figure |
| India grew 7.4 % in 2025–26. | The First Advance Estimates place real GDP growth for 2025–26 at 7.4 per cent. | a first estimate, which later estimates can revise, made final |
| Inflation is 1.7 %. | Headline CPI inflation declined to 1.7 per cent in the first nine months of 2025–26. | the period, and which measure of inflation |
The careful version takes a few more words and cannot be caught out. If you know a figure’s source but not its period, say what you know without the number.
Key idea
Define before you argue, agree the criteria before you recommend, and state every figure exactly as strongly as its source does.
Checkpoint
Check: Official figures, stated as their source does
Practise: ten questions on topics and cases
Ten questions on the sheet, the four stages of a case and official figures. The idea you have practised least comes up first, and a missed question is asked again before the end.
Practice that adapts to you
Practise this lesson
10 questions about 5 ideas of this lesson. Each answer is explained at once, and what you get right is kept in this browser.
Twelve GD topics prepared with full sheets Pro: opens with a Pro, Premium or Ultimate pass
Twelve original topics, three or four of each kind, each with a full sheet: the key terms, both sides, the facts to bring with their sources, and a position. Fill in your own sheet for a topic first, in ten minutes, then compare it with the one here.
In this part:
- Three abstract statements, each defined before it is argued
- Four social and policy questions, each with its source to check
- Three business questions, each decided with a condition
- Two questions about the economy, with figures stated as the source states them
1 runnable example (Python) · about 6 minutes
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Three cases discussed to a decision, with the scores behind them Pro: opens with a Pro, Premium or Ultimate pass
Three original cases, each taken through the four stages to a decision, with the scores the group agreed and a program that shows how far a criterion’s weight must move before the answer changes.
In this part:
- The bookshop chain: the numbers behind the two recommendations
- Street lights or cameras: an option that wins under any weights
- The weekly market: a decision that turns on traffic
1 runnable example (Python) · about 4 minutes
Opening this part with your pass…Pro part. It opens with the same pass as the part above.
Interview questions
Three GD questions to practise on, each with a first step and follow-ups:
-
Fresher to mid
The GD topic is "Remote work is here to stay". You have two minutes before the discussion opens. What do you define, which position do you take, and what is your first sentence?
-
Fresher to mid
In a case discussion of eight, the group has split four to four between two options with five minutes left. How do you get it to a recommendation without a vote?
-
Fresher to mid
In a discussion you quote a figure from an official survey, and another member says it is wrong. You are sure of the source but not of the year it covers. What do you say?
Flashcards · 5 cards
Recall it, then check
Say the answer to yourself before you look: recalling it is what makes it stick.
-
What goes on a ten-minute GD preparation sheet?
Five lines: the key terms defined, the strongest argument for, the strongest against, two facts with the sources you will check, and the position you can defend.
-
Into which four kinds do GD topics fall, and what does each need first?
Abstract statements, social or policy questions, business questions and cases; each needs a definition before an opinion, because the key word decides what the group argues about.
-
In what stages does a case discussion run?
State the problem in one sentence, list the options, agree the criteria, then recommend, going back to the criteria whenever a new fact changes them. Groups that skip the criteria end in votes.
-
How should you quote an official figure in a discussion?
Exactly as strongly as its source: what it measures, its period, and whether it is a projection, an estimate or a final count. A projection of 6.8 to 7.2 % is not "India will grow 7.2 %".
-
What if you know a figure's source but not its period?
Say what you know without the number. The careful version takes a few more words and cannot be caught out.
Key takeaways
- GD topics are abstract, social or policy, business or cases, and each needs a definition before an opinion.
- A ten-minute sheet holds the key terms, the strongest argument on each side, two facts with their sources and the position you can defend.
- Case discussions run from the problem to the options, the criteria and a recommendation, and go back to the criteria when a new fact changes them.
- State an official figure as its source does, with what it measures, its period and whether it is an estimate or a projection.
Terms in this lesson
- case discussion
- A group discussion of a short business or policy situation, which the group works through to a recommendation: the problem, the options, the criteria and a decision with its reasons.
References
- Economic Survey 2025-26, chapter 1: State of the economy (Ministry of Finance, Government of India)
- Monetary policy: overview (Reserve Bank of India)
- CMAT 2026 Information Bulletin (National Testing Agency (NTA))
- XLRI Admission Prospectus 2027 (XLRI – Xavier School of Management)
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