I’m applying to XLRI GMP with a 670 GMAT and 4 years of IT experience — what kind of questions should I expect in the interview?

Question

Supriya J · Accepted Answer

The tricky part isn&rsquo;t the GMAT score , it&rsquo;s showing that the 4 years in IT have given you leadership traction, not just technical depth.
&bull; Expect questions on your exact responsibilities, not your JD, but what you actually did in projects &bull; If you&rsquo;re targeting a shift (like product, consulting, or analytics), they&rsquo;ll ask how much you&rsquo;ve explored that space already &bull; Be ready for &ldquo;What makes you think now is the right time for an MBA?&rdquo; &mdash; they ask this a lot at the 4&ndash;5 year experience mark &bull; You might also be asked about team conflict, decision-making under pressure, or how you&rsquo;ve influenced outcomes without authority &bull; If you say you chose XLRI GMP over global MBA options, they might dig into how you compared them in terms of cost, duration, and career outcomes &bull; Some panels ask about your GMAT experience &mdash; why 670, and whether you considered retaking
They&rsquo;re not looking for textbook answers. They want to see whether you&rsquo;ve grown with your work, not just in it.

S Raghav · Answer

With a 670 GMAT and 4 years of IT experience, XLRI GMP interviews typically center around work exposure, clarity of goals, and fit for the one-year format.
You&rsquo;ll likely be asked: &ldquo;Why GMP and not a regular MBA?&rdquo; or &ldquo;How does your IT experience position you for a management role?&rdquo; They might also explore your GMAT score,  not to challenge it, but to understand how you handled the prep and what it says about your drive.
Be ready to talk about a few specific projects, what role you played, challenges faced, and what kind of impact you created. They&rsquo;ll probably dive into whether you&rsquo;ve taken on leadership responsibilities or just played an execution role.
Finally, they often ask &ldquo;Why XLRI?&rdquo; and expect more than generic answers. It helps if you can mention something like the leadership labs or industry interface that ties back to your goal,  especially if you&rsquo;re switching domains post-MBA.

Divakshi Arora · Answer

XLRI GMP interviews usually focus on understanding why someone with a solid IT background and a competitive GMAT wants to move into senior-level management. Expect questions around your projects, the impact you&rsquo;ve created, and what parts of your work actually taught you leadership or problem-solving. They may also ask why you feel the GMP is the right path instead of a regular MBA, since you&rsquo;re on the lower end of the experience range for this program.
Some candidates with a tech profile also get follow-ups on industry trends like AI adoption or digital transformation, but only at a conversational level. The panel mainly checks clarity of goals and how well you can explain the shift you want after GMP. Having a grounded, practical reason for choosing XLRI matters more than perfect answers.

J.P Singh · Answer

A lot of the interview revolves around understanding your journey rather than quizzing you on GMAT or technical skills. Most candidates with an IT background face similar themes.
&bull; Expect questions about the toughest project handled, what went wrong, and how decisions were made under pressure.&bull; They usually ask why GMP makes sense at four years of experience and how it fits into long-term plans.&bull; Some candidates get asked about leadership moments outside work, especially where they influenced people without authority.&bull; Short questions around current tech trends come up, but just to see how aware you are, not to test deep expertise.&bull; They may also ask how you plan to contribute to a class with older professionals, which is something many applicants overlook.