This is an outline of an interview taken by St. Stephen’s College, Delhi University for admission in the undergraduate degree in B.A. (Hons) Economics. This article gives you a broad idea of what the interview entailed, followed by an analysis of the interview, and finally, moves on to describe how a student can crack such an interview.
St. Stephen’s College is considered the #1 in India to pursue an undergraduate degree in Economics. After clearing an average cut-off of 98% in the class 12th board examination, only one in 7 students clear the interview and get a seat for this course at Stephens. With an average intake of 50 students every year and over 60% of seats in reservation (being a Christian minority college), there are approximately only 20 general quote seats left.
Interview setting
It was a 4 on 1 interview with 4 interviewers and 1 candidate. The panel consisted of the college principal, the department HOD, and two other faculty members. The interview lasted 10 minutes. The interview held only 10% weightage in the overall selection process. Remaining 85% weightage to class 12 board marks and 5% weightage to an entrance test. The candidate was from a science background (studied PCM+CS) and was applying to an Economics program. This interview was also used to decide whether the candidate will be allotted a room in the college hostel or not.
Interview Flow and Questions
Q1. Tell us about yourself and your extra-curricular activities. Keep it under 90 seconds. For every 10 seconds extra we’ll deduct 1 point!
Q2. Why do you want to study Economics?
Q3. Why didn’t you take economics in class 12?
Q4. What do you want to do in life (future plans)?
Q5. Since you haven’t studied economics, we will ask you question in mathematics:
Plot the graph: greatest integer function. Mark the points which are included and which are not and label it.
Plot graphs for y = ex and for y=ex+1. How did you plot the graph? Compare the two graphs.
Q6. Have you been reading the newspaper? (Answer: Yes, recently)
Q. Tell us what you have been noticing in the news recently related to economics. (Candidate listed a few things. Panel re-prompted twice for more answers on the same)
On mentioning the petrol price change (the government had recently changed the petrol pricing system from fortnightly to daily): Q. What is the impact of this change on the sellers and consumers?
On mentioning the ongoing NPA issue: Q. What is an NPA, how will the RBI resolve these NPA’s?
This concluded the interview,
Result: Candidate selected in the first list and allotted a room in the college hostel.
Observations and comments on the interview
This was a comprehensive and efficient interview testing the candidate on most of the relevant aspects. The interviews were running a couple of hours late, thus the interviewers were in quite a rush. In terms of difficulty, it can be rated as moderate.
Q1,2,3,4 are standard HR questions. They attempt to know more about the candidate; his inclination, interests, and future plans.
Q5 Tests basic mathematical abilities, which are a prerequisite for this program.
Q6 is very interesting. It is not intended to test the candidate’s knowledge of current affairs. It is used to test the candidate's actual interest in the subject (since he has not studied it previously, interest can be displayed through the tracking of current affairs in the domain). It is also used to test the analytical skills of the candidate and whether he has a knack for the subject he has applied for.
How to prepare for such an interview
It is important to adopt a strategic and comprehensive approach to prepare for your interview. Any interview can be cracked by covering 7 areas of preparation. This article has the complete details: How to prepare for any interview | The 7 key components. It will walk you through a comprehensive preparation plan.
To cross-check and compare the above interview with these seven components:
CV and CV-adjacent topics - not tested, as the college did not consider a CV
Basic Thinking Ability - tested in Q5
Technical Questions - tested in Q5 & Q6
About the company / college- not tested in this interview
About the job role / course - tested in Q2 & Q3
HR Questions - tested in Q1,2,3,4
Current Affairs - tested in Q6
In the coming weeks, new articles with experiences of interviews from different colleges and job interviews will be posted.
To know more about St. Stephen's College, its admission process and courses check out www.notsostephanian.com.
Wishing you all the best for your upcoming interviews! Feel free to get in touch with any queries or connect for a session as well.
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