IIM-Lucknow to Scrap GD Round from Admissions

IIM-Lucknow became the 11th IIM to drop the group discussion round. The institute has recently decided to drop the group discussion from its admission policy for the academic year 2016-18.

While interacting with media Chairman, Admission Committee Ashutosh Sinha, said, "It was felt that the faculty needs to be given more time during the interview for better assessment of the candidate. The time spent in group discussion will now be more fruitfully utilized during the interview."

In 2008, IIM-Ahmedabad broke away from tradition and replaced GD with short essays. In 2010, IIM-Bangalore replaced GD with essay-writing. In 2011, six IIMs- Rohtak, Raipur, Tiruchirapalli, Ranchi, Kashipur and Udaipur, replaced it with a written test.

GD has been used as a means to test communication ability, analytical skills and logical thinking of aspirants. Yet, often only a few candidates are able to express themselves and more aggressive candidates dominate the discussion.