If you are an average student then your previous experience, CV, and performance in GD/PI would matter the most in final placements.

Experience: If you have any experience then companies are likely to pick them for similar roles during summers and final placements.

CV: Focus on the matters the most, CV construction and articulation. There are plenty of sites on the internet to help. A good CV will help you to get many more interviews than other batchmates. One should put a lot of effort into that.

GD/PI: Preparation for Group Discussion and the Personal Interview should be a mixture of personal questions, current affairs, academic questions, industry or sector, company in that order. 

• Employers don't expect deep insights but expect high levels of awareness from you and cultural fit is a must. 
• If you are highly ambitious then the foreign banks will prefer you. 
• If you are hardworking and can demonstrate that, the local banks will prefer you. 
• If you are not afraid of rolling up your sleeves and happy working with small shops, rural areas, the FMCG may select you.

You should be able to articulate your interview to be able to demonstrate these attributes. The interviewers are usually experienced enough to see through the lies of the students.

Manipal University has been ranked 12th for MBA courses by Times Higher Education. Here MBA course is offered in 3 streams. They are Health Care Management, Global Business Management, and General.

Admission :

Admission requirements are the same for all the three streams.

• The aspirant must have completed a bachelor’s degree (in any stream).

• 50% is the minimum percentage required for admissions.

• Must have a valid score in CAT/ MAT/ XAT/ CMAT/ GMAT.

The fees for all three specializations are as follows.

Facilities:

• The size of the campus is about 313 acres.

• Wi-Fi facilities are available everywhere throughout the campus.

• Restaurants, libraries, hostels, labs, hospital facilities, sports facilities, and innovative centers are some of the on-campus facilities.

• Rain-water harvesting structures, solid-waste, and wastewater management systems are practiced.

• There are many activities that take place on-campus.

• The university helps develop the personality of the students in all aspects.

• The faculties here are quite good and have industry experience.

Placements:

• The highest package offered was INR 27 LPA, whereas the median salary was INR 6.2 LPA.

• 80-85% is the placement rate of the University.

• Some of the top recruits are Forbes Marshall, Mercedes Benz, Hyundai, Cipla, Hero Moto Corp, Maruti Suzuki, INFOSYS, Intel, etc.

The city life of Manipal is quite students friendly. Manipal University is one of the highly reputed Universities in India for its teaching standards, quality education, course structure, placements, campus life, etc.

Both TAPMI and FORE are very reputed institutions and are very good choices to pursue PGDM. As some of my friends studied in the above-mentioned colleges, I can provide some facts that might be useful for you while making a decision.

• FORE is situated in Delhi which is an added advantage as this is the capital city and has better facilities and easy access to all parts of the country.
• This also attracts a lot more companies to visit the campus for interviews.
• The total seats available in TAPMI is 455 and in FORE it is 420 (180 for PGDM, 120 for IB, 60 for FM, 60 for BDA). So, the competition will be less in FORE and the students will get more opportunities.
• Also FORE doesn't have any restrictions on placements, so any student from any stream can sit for all campus interviews.
• FORE has better connections in the corporate industry and has a better alumni network which is another advantage over TAPMI.

Hence, both the colleges are very good options to pursue PGDM, but FORE has some added advantages over TAPMI like better location and alumni which can be very beneficial for you.

One of my close friends recently got admission to NITIE Mumbai. In the interview, he was asked mostly about his final year engineering project and his work experience, education, and about his skills. To clear your interview you will have to prepare very hard and will have to practice a lot. Here are a few things you should do for your preparation.

• Introduction: You will be asked to introduce yourself. So prepare a good introduction about yourself where you should cover all the major points you want to highlight. Tell them about your academics, hobbies, extracurricular activities, and also about your personal life. 
• Project: You will be asked about your graduation project. So you should know everything about the project. They will ask about the topic, project objective, your contributions, and what were the achievements. 
• Work Experience: If you have any prior work experience, then they will ask questions about it. There will be questions about your job role, your experience, and your achievements. And if you are a fresher, then prepare 3-4 engineering subjects, as they will ask you questions based on that.
• Current Affairs: Stay updated with current affairs. Read newspapers, magazines and watch the news regularly. This will help you in GD too. 

NITIE has a mock admission process called B-Cube. This will give you an idea about the GD and Interview.