CAT and MBA Entrance Preparation Module 10 – Admissions: written tests, group discussions and interviews
Group discussions and group exercises
Where group discussions and group exercises appear in MBA admissions, the moves that add to a discussion, a fair share of time, and disagreeing without a fight.
What you will learn
- Describe where group discussions and group exercises appear in admissions, from official documents
- Add to a discussion with a new point, evidence or a summary, not a repetition
- Estimate a fair share of speaking time for a group of any size
- Handle a dominant speaker and a stalled discussion
Before you start
What you’ll learn · Before you start
What you will learn
- Describe where group discussions and group exercises appear in admissions, from official documents
- Add to a discussion with a new point, evidence or a summary, not a repetition
- Estimate a fair share of speaking time for a group of any size
- Handle a dominant speaker and a stalled discussion
Before you start
On this page
A group of eight with 15 minutes has about 112 seconds a member if the time is shared evenly, less than two minutes to show what you think and how you work with others. What you add in those seconds matters more than how many of them you use.
This lesson sets out where group discussions and group exercises appear in admissions, from each body’s own document, then the three moves that add something to a discussion, how to disagree without stopping it, and a fair share of the time.
Where group discussions and group exercises appear
Not every admission process has a group stage, so check the documents of the tests you sit before you prepare:
| Test or institute | Its group stage | What its own document says |
|---|---|---|
| CMAT (participating institutions) | group discussion (GD): A selection stage in which a small group of candidates discusses a topic or a case while assessors observe. | selection may include a GD and a personal interview, and final selection rests on them |
| XLRI | group discussion | it considers performance in the personal interview and/or group discussion |
| Symbiosis programmes, after SNAP | Group Exercise (GE): The group stage of the GE-PI that Symbiosis programmes hold after SNAP. The SNAP 2026 Bulletin gives it 10 of the merit list's 100 points, and missing it ends the candidacy., in the GE-PI: Group Exercise and Personal Interaction: the stage that Symbiosis programmes hold after SNAP for candidates shortlisted by their overall SNAP percentile. More in “SNAP: 60 questions, 60 minutes, three attempts” | 10 of the merit list’s 100 points; missing any part ends the candidacy |
| IIM Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Calcutta | none in the 2027–29 policies | a writing test and a personal interview instead |
So group discussions can be part of selection at CMAT’s participating institutions and at XLRI. Group exercises appear as the group stage of the Symbiosis GE-PI, which the SNAP Bulletin names without describing. None of these documents describes how a group stage is scored, which is why the moves below are MySmartCoPilot’s method, not anyone’s marking scheme.
Checkpoint
Check: Where group stages appear
Three moves that add something, and how to disagree
A contribution adds something when it does one of three things:
| Move | What it does | An example line |
|---|---|---|
| A new point | brings a reason the group has not heard | “Nobody has asked who checks that the buses run on time.” |
| Evidence for another’s point | makes someone else’s claim stronger or testable | “Dev’s worry can be written into the contract as a rule.” |
| A summary | says where the group stands and what is left | “We agree on the routes; we differ on the cost.” |
Repeating a point in other words adds nothing, however well it is said. Disagreement adds something too, when it is aimed at the point and not the person: say first what you agree with, then the one part you would change, and why. Step through one disagreement in a discussion on an original topic, whether a city’s buses should be run by a private operator:
The drawing shows the whole scene; its 6 steps are listed below.
Every step as text
- A strong claim. Ravi says that private operators always cut the routes that do not pay, and that settles it. It is a real worry stated as a certainty, and the group goes quiet.
- Agree with what is right. You start with what Ravi has right: any contract must cover the routes that lose money. Saying so first shows you heard him, and it keeps the disagreement about the point.
- Disagree with the point. Then you disagree with one word, always. A contract can require those routes and pay for them per kilometre, so whether a route pays need not decide whether it runs.
- The objection comes back. Ravi answers that the city would then pay twice. It is a fair reply, and it moves the discussion from whether to how much.
- Reasoning, not volume. You answer with reasoning: the city pays once, for the routes it chooses, instead of covering the whole loss of a service it runs itself. You do not raise your voice or repeat yourself.
- Summarise where the group is. You sum up: we agree that every route must run, we differ on who runs the buses, and a contract with fixed routes answers both. Then you ask the group how to measure whether it works.
Ravi’s objection was answered with a mechanism, not a louder voice, and the summary turned a quarrel into the group’s next question.
Checkpoint
Check: Moves that add something
A fair share of the time, and what to do with it
No document sets a group’s size or length, so plan with ranges. The program shares the minutes evenly for groups of 6 to 12 and shows what one member who talks far more takes from the rest:
"""A fair share of the time in a group discussion: the seconds each member has if the minutes were split evenly, for
groups of 6 to 12 over 10 to 20 minutes, and what one member who talks far more than that leaves the rest. No document
of an institute sets a group's size or length; these are ranges to plan with, and what is said counts for more than
how long it lasts. Press Edit, put in your own group, and run it again."""
from fractions import Fraction as F
MEMBERS = 8
MINUTES = 15
DOMINANT_MINUTES = 3 # one member's total speaking time
TURN_SECONDS = 30 # a turn of about three sentences
def num(x, places=1):
return f"{float(x):.{places}f}".rstrip("0").rstrip(".")
print("Seconds each, if the time were shared evenly:")
print(" members" + "".join(f"{m:>8} min" for m in (10, 15, 20)))
for members in (6, 8, 10, 12):
print(f" {members:>7}" + "".join(f"{num(F(60 * m, members)):>12}" for m in (10, 15, 20)))
share = F(60 * MINUTES, MEMBERS)
print()
print(f"{MEMBERS} members in {MINUTES} minutes: {num(share)} seconds each, about {num(share / TURN_SECONDS)} turns of {TURN_SECONDS} seconds")
rest = F(60 * (MINUTES - DOMINANT_MINUTES), MEMBERS - 1)
print(f"If one member speaks for {DOMINANT_MINUTES} minutes, the other {MEMBERS - 1} have {num(rest)} seconds each,"
f" {num(share - rest)} fewer than an even share")
print(f" and that member has taken {num(F(DOMINANT_MINUTES, MINUTES) * 100)} % of the time, {num(F(60 * DOMINANT_MINUTES) / share)} even shares")Output
Seconds each, if the time were shared evenly:
members 10 min 15 min 20 min
6 100 150 200
8 75 112.5 150
10 60 90 120
12 50 75 100
8 members in 15 minutes: 112.5 seconds each, about 3.8 turns of 30 seconds
If one member speaks for 3 minutes, the other 7 have 102.9 seconds each, 9.6 fewer than an even share
and that member has taken 20 % of the time, 1.6 even shares
Recorded with Python 3.14.8 on macOS 26 arm64. To run it yourself: mise exec python@3.14.8 -- python3 airtime.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
Press Edit and put in the size and length your call letter gives. Eight members in 15 minutes have 112.5 seconds each, about four turns of 30 seconds. One member who speaks for three minutes leaves the other seven 102.9 seconds each. Two habits follow. When someone dominates, acknowledge their point in a sentence and bring in a member who has not spoken; when the group stalls, summarise and ask the question that would settle the disagreement.
Key idea
A fair share is under two minutes, so spend it on moves that add: a new point, evidence for someone else’s, or a summary that tells the group where it stands.
Checkpoint
Check: A fair share of the time
Practise: ten questions on group stages
Ten questions on where group stages appear, the moves and the time. Questions on your least practised idea come first, and one you miss returns once.
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.
Two annotated discussions, move by move Pro: opens with a Pro, Premium or Ultimate pass
Two invented discussions on original topics, one that goes well despite a dominant speaker and one that stalls and is rescued. Every turn is marked with the move it made, and a program counts what each speaker added and how long they spoke.
In this part:
- A discussion that works: a city’s buses and a private operator
- A discussion that stalls, and the turn that rescues it
- What the two discussions add up to, counted
1 runnable example (Python) · about 6 minutes
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Ten openings, summaries and disagreements, rewritten from weak to strong Pro: opens with a Pro, Premium or Ultimate pass
Ten lines that candidates often say, each rewritten into one that adds something, with the reason. Practise saying the strong version aloud, in your own words, until it comes as easily as the weak one.
In this part:
- Four openings that set out a problem, not just a topic
- Three summaries that move the group on
- Three disagreements that keep the discussion working
- A rubric for your own turns in a practice discussion
about 4 minutes
Opening this part with your pass…Pro part. It opens with the same pass as the part above.
Interview questions
Warm-up: what is a GE-PI?
Group Exercise and Personal Interaction, the stage that the MBA programmes of Symbiosis International University hold after SNAP. Each programme draws up its own shortlist from the overall SNAP percentile and runs its own GE-PI, so a candidate on two lists takes part twice. Absence from any part of it makes a candidate ineligible for every Symbiosis MBA programme, and the merit list gives the Group Exercise 10 of its 100 points and the Personal Interaction 40.
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Fresher to mid
In a 15-minute group discussion of eight, one member has spoken four times in the first five minutes, interrupts others, and most of what they say is right. What do you do, and what do you avoid?
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Fresher to mid
Ten minutes into a 15-minute discussion, every point you prepared has been made by someone else. How do you still add something in the last five minutes, without repeating anyone?
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Fresher to mid
In SNAP's merit list the Group Exercise is worth 10 of 100 points and the Personal Interaction 40. You have ten days before your GE-PI. How do you split your preparation, and what would you never skip?
Not affiliated
Based on public information about the National Testing Agency, XLRI, Symbiosis International University and the Indian Institutes of Management. MySmartCoPilot is not affiliated with the National Testing Agency, XLRI, Symbiosis International University and the Indian Institutes of Management, and the National Testing Agency, XLRI, Symbiosis International University and the Indian Institutes of Management’s real selection rules may differ from what this lesson describes.
Flashcards · 5 cards
Recall it, then check
Say the answer to yourself before you look: recalling it is what makes it stick.
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Where do group discussions and group exercises appear in MBA admissions?
GDs can be part of selection at CMAT's participating institutions and at XLRI; the Symbiosis GE-PI after SNAP has a Group Exercise. The 2027–29 policies of IIM Ahmedabad, Bangalore and Calcutta have none.
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Which three moves add something to a group discussion?
A new point the group has not heard, evidence that makes another member's point stronger or testable, and a summary of where the group stands. Repeating a point in other words adds nothing.
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How do you disagree without stopping a discussion?
Aim at the point, not the person: say first what you agree with, then the one part you would change, and why, answering with a mechanism rather than a louder voice.
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How much time does each member of a group of eight have in 15 minutes?
About 112.5 seconds, four turns of 30 seconds. One member who speaks for three minutes leaves the other seven about 102.9 seconds each.
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What does the Symbiosis GE-PI weigh, and what does missing it cost?
The Group Exercise carries 10 and the Personal Interaction 40 of the merit list's 100 points; absence from any part makes a candidate ineligible for every Symbiosis MBA programme.
Key takeaways
- Group discussions can be part of selection at CMAT’s participating institutions and at XLRI, group exercises are in the Symbiosis GE-PI, and the 2027–29 policies of IIM Ahmedabad, Bangalore and Calcutta have neither.
- A contribution adds something when it is a new point, evidence for another member’s point or a summary; a repetition adds nothing.
- Disagree with the point, not the person: say what you agree with, then the one part you would change, and why.
- Eight members in 15 minutes have about 112 seconds each, so every turn should be one that adds.
Terms in this lesson
- group discussion (GD)
- A selection stage in which a small group of candidates discusses a topic or a case while assessors observe.
- Group Exercise (GE)
- The group stage of the GE-PI that Symbiosis programmes hold after SNAP. The SNAP 2026 Bulletin gives it 10 of the merit list's 100 points, and missing it ends the candidacy.
References
- CMAT 2026 Information Bulletin (National Testing Agency (NTA))
- XLRI Admission Prospectus 2027 (XLRI – Xavier School of Management)
- SNAP 2026 Bulletin (Symbiosis International (Deemed University))
- PGP admission procedure for the 2027–29 batch (Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad)
- PGP (MBA) 2027–29 admission procedure (Indian Institute of Management Bangalore)
- Admission policy for the MBA programme, batch 2027–29 (Indian Institute of Management Calcutta)
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