What changed in MDI Gurgaon's selection criteria for the 2026 admissions cycle?
MDI Gurgaon made one precise change for the 2026 admissions cycle: it removed the 5% weightage previously assigned to Class 10 and Class 12 board marks and replaced it with a Behavioural Assessment Test carrying the same 5% weight. Everything else in the final selection matrix, including the personal interview, written ability test, and work experience score, stays intact.
What Changed in the Final Selection Matrix
The old formula split 2.5% each between your Class 10 and Class 12 percentages. That allocation now flows entirely into a psychometric-style evaluation administered on interview day. Here is a simplified view of how the weights shift:
| Component | Old Weight | New Weight (2026) |
|---|---|---|
| Personal Interview | ~35% | ~35% |
| Written Ability Test | ~25% | ~25% |
| Class 10 marks | 2.5% | 0% |
| Class 12 marks | 2.5% | 0% |
| Behavioural Assessment Test | 0% | 5% |
| Work Experience + Diversity | ~10% | ~10% |
Numbers are approximate and based on the previously published MDI matrix. The directional shift is confirmed.
What the Behavioural Assessment Test Looks Like
MDI has not released an official format document, but candidates from the 2025 interview cycle describe a structured psychometric questionnaire covering teamwork orientation, stress tolerance, and judgment under ambiguity. The test runs roughly 20 minutes and is completed online before your personal interview begins.
Scores are normalized across the entire candidate pool before being added to your composite, so you are being ranked relative to others, not against an absolute benchmark.
Who Gains and Who Loses
This is hard to sugarcoat. If you scored below 80% in either board exam, you previously carried a real penalty into the final round.
That penalty is gone. You now compete purely on interview performance, WAT writing, and this new behavioural layer.
Conversely, if you were counting on a 95%+ board average to offset a mediocre interview, that buffer no longer exists. MDI is signaling that it cares more about how you think under pressure than what you scored in Class 12 Chemistry.
Shortlisting Criteria Are Unchanged
The call stage has not been modified. CAT percentile remains the dominant filter, and sectional cutoffs in VARC, DILR, and QA all apply. Academic diversity (engineering vs. non-engineering backgrounds) and work experience still influence who receives an interview call. Your board marks still matter at this stage, so a 65% in Class 10 may still cost you a shortlist call even if it no longer affects your final score.
How to Prepare for the Behavioural Assessment
There is no rote preparation for a psychometric test, but you can make deliberate choices. Practice answering situational judgment questions honestly rather than gaming them.
Psychometric tools designed for business schools often flag inconsistent response patterns. Authenticity outperforms optimization here.
MDI's PGPM batch routinely attracts recruiters like McKinsey, BCG, Goldman Sachs, and HUL, and the school is clearly trying to surface behavioural alignment with those environments earlier in the process.
The net effect: MDI Gurgaon is de-emphasizing a metric you cannot change (your board marks) and replacing it with something you can influence on the day itself.
Pro Tip: In the weeks before your MDI interview, attempt two or three validated psychometric assessments online (16Personalities or Hogan-style tools) not to memorize answers, but to understand your own behavioural profile so you respond consistently and confidently on test day.