IIM Ahmedabad

10 Inspirational Stories To Motivate You | Ft. IIM A, IIM K, XLRI Jamshedpur

Getting into a b-school is a labour of love for many people out there. For toiling through multiple CAT attempts, persevering through multiple failures and not settling down on the lowest hanging school, aspirants go through a whole lot of struggle to land a position in their dream b-school. If your ultimate goal is one of the top b-schools in India, we know it’s not an easily attainable goal. Because apart from the rigorous selection process, you also have to stand apart from the competition. While this journey is not easy, there are some who find it even more daunting. Going through personal setbacks, professional hurdles and financial difficulties, these people still manage to persevere and attain their goals. In this article, read and view some awe-inspiring stories of people battling all odds to pursue their MBA dreams. 

Check out these inspirational stories of aspirants breaking barriers and conquering hurdles to join their dream b-schools.

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Depression Reached To A Level Where I Decided To End My Life - Gayathri S, XLRI Jamshedpur

Mental health is often the most neglected when we are put to a grind. For Gayathri, it became too much to handle during her undergraduate years. Studying away from family, the pressure of acclimatizing in new surroundings and proving to others that her decision of not pursuing engineering to go for mathematics was the right one, took a toll on her mental health. To an extent that one day she decided to end her own life! In this video from the REAL STEEL series, sponsored by Tata Steel, we have Gayathri Shankar from XLRI Jamshedpur, taking us through the ups and downs of her life.

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From 77%ile To 93%ile In CAT - My Journey To MICA Against All Odds

“Life is like a winding road but has a consistent graph of learning. I learnt from my experience as I never had any guidance for my career and I did what I felt was right. Taking CAT was one of those. CAT 2018 was my second attempt. After the devastating performance in 2017 and scoring just 77%ile, I just had my inner confidence to buttress upon for the second attempt. While my friends had fantastic scores and amazing calls, I was the only one with zero calls. That was the phase when I was juggling with my college exams and my future career plans. Everything seemed bleak.”

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How I Joined SIBM Pune After My Kidney Transplant | Against All Odds - Reema Raykar

At the age of 5, Reema Raykar was diagnosed with arthritis. With immense pain and constant clinical observation, she spent most of her life taking medical support. Often dejected by her fate, Reema found strength in her parents and determined to go ahead in life, no matter what! Beating all odds, Reema fulfilled her dream of getting into a B-School and pursue the career she wanted for herself. Watch her talk about the journey and the difficulties she faced to reach her goal.

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Family Before B-School - Against All Odds - IIM Lucknow

Harsh Sinha had to make a tough choice between taking care of his ailing mother and joining his dream B-School. LIfe is not always fair and is full of challenges. This IIM Lucknow management student has gone through a lot of them in life and keeps pushing the boundaries every passing day. Find out his story against all odds and how he went Big and Bold!

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An IIM Admit & A PPO Despite Visual Impairment | Shreya Upadhyay's Inspirational Journey To IIM Udaipur

"I started preparing for CAT amongst constant repudiations from almost everyone I knew. My parents, friends and family, all told me that my eyes would get in the way of placements."

- Shreya Upadhyay was born differently abled, and faced numerous challenges beginning right from her childhood. She went ahead and pursued Psychology, excelling in it and ultimately deciding to pursue an MBA. In this motivational post, Shreya describes her journey from the small town of Ujjain to becoming a PGP student at IIM Udaipur.

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How I Got Into IIM Kozhikode Despite Having Myopia | Debayan Pal, IIM Kozhikode

Have you ever wondered what it is like living with a condition that slowly takes your eye-sight away? You can feel your vision growing weak, but there is absolutely nothing you can do about it. The only reaction you can have to such a condition is to accept the situation and move an. Check out how someone with such a condition managed to overcome multiple challenges to crack the CAT and get into IIM K in this video.

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4 CAT Attempts And A Journey To Success - A Story Of Persistence & Rising Above Mediocrity

“I gave mocks religiously. IMS and CL mocks along with my college IT cell were my refuge for most of my final year. It was here that I became friends with Archit and Mitesh. We pushed each other and fought to better the other. Despite getting placed at Hindalco, I knew MBA was my calling. My favorite section was VA. I regularly scored 99+ in Mocks and loved reading RCs and solving them. DI LR and QA were painful as always but I was improving. But things seldom work out. I was going through a personal shit-storm (my fault) when I gave CAT 2015. I wasn't at my best but I believed I had done decent enough in my weakest sections of QA and DI LR. Fast forward to result day - QA 97.** , DI LR 98.** , VA 88.** OA 95.64%.”

- Durga Sathapathy got shortlisted by XLRI Jamshedpur, NMIMS and IIFT Delhi after cracking the CAT on her 4th attempt.

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How I Beat Cancer To Live My Dream | Shyamala Iyer | SIBM Pune

Shyamala Iyer got diagnosed with breast cancer at an early age. The world came crashing for her and all her dreams seemed too far off. But, she took this as a challenge and converted it into her strength. She fought cancer and got admission in one of the premier B-Schools in India. She also got placed through PPO from her college and showed the world that determination and might can move mountains.

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My Journey From Being A Mother To A TISSian - Against All Odds - TISS

Ami Ukey was 8 months pregnant when she sat for her GD/PI round at TATA Institute of Social Sciences, and it was then that she fell in love with TISS. She was at home with her 10-day old son when she got a call confirming her seat at the institute. Ami was surprised but certainly worried about how she would be able to leave her son behind to attend college. Check out how Ami got into TISS and what happened after in this video.

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From A Hospital Bed To IIM Lucknow - A Leap From Scoring 47%ile In Mocks To 99.4%ile In CAT '18

This is the inspiring story of success against all odds of Manavdeep Singh. His journey bears testimony to the fact that grit and hard work alone can make one tide against every force of the world and achieve what one wishes for.

Here’s hoping that these experiences help you with keeping up your morale and cracking GD-PI rounds to your dream b-schools.

How I Cracked The IIM Ahmedabad Interview Process - Aayush Gupta, IIM A

Imagine getting calls from IIM A, IIM B and IIM C. Wait, how? And what next? Well, if you’re lucky enough to get shortlisted for what are probably the top 3 b-schools in India, you have to prepare for the GD-PI rounds next. So how to prepare in such a way that you manage to crack all three b-schools? While a lot depends on your interviewers, you can also take control of some aspects of the GD-PI process and prepare accordingly. What are we talking about? Well, for starters, we’re referring to customising your GD-PI strategy based on the b-schools you’re interviewing for. But in order to do this, you need to know what each b-school expects from students during the interview process, right? Well, meet Ayush Gupta, Ex Deloitte and currently set to intern at Strategy &, Accenture’s consulting arm. Ayush, currently an IIM A student, was lucky enough to be shortlisted for IIM A, IIM B and IIM C. What’s more, he got admission to all 3 b-schools too! Find out how Ayush zeroed in on a b-school, and how he prepared for IIM A, IIM B, IIM C interviews in this video.

Summary

What are the major differences in the IIM A, IIM B and IIM C interview processes? How do these b-schools shortlist final admits? Does reading information about selection criteria give you enough information? Ayush Gupta, IIM A, shares how he cracked IIM A, B and C in this video. He talks about the major difference between interview styles for all 3 b-schools. He shares how he prepared for each b-school with a unique perspective on how these schools select students. Finally, Ayush shares how he selected IIM A, after getting admits from A, B and C.

If you wish to know the major differences between the IIM A, B and C in terms of the selection process, this is a must-watch for you.

Key Takeaways

• IIM A looks for students with a unique perspective.
• IIM B looks for students with interesting experiences and subsequent learnings.
• IIM C focuses on good academic backgrounds.
• Be well of any written communication you’ve provided to the b-school.
• Fill the b-school application forms correctly.
• Use anchors or hints while writing your SOPs, application forms, WAT, etc, that help you lead the conversation during GDs and PIs.

Here's another video where Aayush explains why he chose IIM Ahmedabad over IIM Bangalore and IIM Calcutta. Take a look!

Bold Candidates & Tough Panellists | The Most Interesting IIM Interviews

We keep hearing a lot about IIM interviews – their difficulty and unpredictability. Here is a compilation of the funny or interesting ones I have come across:

I) Candidate – Leki Suam - IIM Kozhikode interview – Converted and a batchmate of mine currently

This candidate has to be the boldest ever.

Group discussion topic: Something on the lines of NITI Aayog vs Planning Commission – Has there been any change or improvement?

So the GD started and people were discussing it calmly in the beginning. I was not sure how to get in.  I kept quiet for 5 minutes. Everyone was going against NITI Aayog; basically, it was becoming anti-Modi.

There were some sweets on the table just a hand’s distance from me. I picked 1 up and started unwrapping it noisily. Suddenly, everybody started looking at me. I then said “ If I eat this sweet, I will keep the wrapper in my pocket and find a dustbin later on. Do you know why? It is because of the Swachh Bharat Mission. I then gave a monologue of 2 minutes mentioning scheme after scheme of the Modi government. (Talk about drama). I personally felt, the selection happened there itself.

Once the monologue was over, I popped the chocolate in my mouth; only to realize 2 minutes later, what a bad decision it was. I had to speak again but I could not do it with a candy in my mouth. So I reached into my mouth, slyly removed the chocolate and put it in my pocket. Half-eaten wet chocolate, in my pocket - that's right.

Once the GD was over, we all got up to leave. I saw 2 faculties sitting there and asked them earnestly “Can I take 2 more sweets? I am really hungry”. Their reaction – poker face!

Personal Interview

Panellist - Are you nervous?

Leki - Slightly. But people are much more nervous than me. Some guy just left his documents and exited. I guess I willl take up the responsibility and contact him.

Panellist – So you are a Mechanical engineeer with electrical work-ex?

Leki - Yes.

Panellist – Good. I am Mechanical. She is Electrical. This will be fun.

For the next few minutes, only questions related to my field and workex were asked.

Last 3 questions - 

Panellist - So when you hear about Kerala what comes to your mind?

(We were buying fruits a week before – in Bangalore. My friend remarked – buy these bananas. These are the best. They come from Kerala.)

Leki - As soon as I heard the question, that incident came to my mind, and I said -  “Bananas and coconuts.”

Panellist - Anything apart from food?

Candidate - No mam I am really hungry. Only bananas and coconuts.

*All laughing*

Panellist - What makes up the economy of Kerala?

Leki - Bananas and coconuts.

They were like – WHATTTTTTTTT

Panellist – Ok, who is the Chief Minister of Kerala?

Leki – I am sorry mam, forgive me, but there is someone whose name rhymes with Biryani.

*All laughing for a minute*

Panellist - You can go now.

Leki - *Got up; shook their hands* I guess I will now have to go back and try to contact the guy who left behind his file.

Panellist – Oh yes, please do that.

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II) IIM Kozhikode interview - Brilliant answer by a CA – 

Panellist - Do you know how to play Tic Tac Toe?

Candidate - Yes sir.

Panellist- What is the probability that I will win the match if we play?

Candidate - If you play against me, zero sir!

(Talk about confidence and owning the interview!)

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III) IIM Kozhikode interview, Bangalore - Akshay Sriram

Panellist: *looking at the 10th and 12th scorecard* Arre why does every single student from Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Andhra have 90+ in academics?

Candidate: (smiling) I guess these state boards are lenient sir.

Panellist: So should I enrol my children into schools from these states?

Candidate: (smiling) Yes, if they want to get into the IIMs!

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IV) IIM Lucknow interview

Panellist - What is the probability that this ceiling will fall on your head?

Candidate - *shocked* - There are many variables, like it depends on the material, etc.

Panellist – That’s fine, but give me an exact answer.

Candidate -  I need to look at such events that have happened in the past few years and derive the probability from there.

Panellist – Did you not understand? I want an exact answer.

Candidate - *exasperated* - 1 in 10 million.

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V) Snippets from an IIM Calcutta interview of a DTU engineer

Panellist 1 - Give me your file. Glances through it for a minute and nonchalantly throws it on the table. The first statement he makes in the interview - "Why are you even here? You have done nothing in your life."

Candidate - *Smilingly* These documents are not a reflection of who I am. (And a whole lot of GAS later on)

Panellist 1 – You have played so much cricket in your life. Let me ask you a cricket question. If there is a left arm around the wicket bowler, and the wind direction is from long on to first slip, how will you change your stance as a batsman?

Candidate - Gave the right answer.

Panellist 2 - *Asks a mechanical question*

Panellist 1 - Arey don't ask him about engineering. Bhai sahib has only played cricket in his life.

Some moments later...

Panellist 2 – Ok, let me ask you an easy question, who is the father of Indira Gandhi?

Panellist 1 – Jante ho na Indira Gandhi kaun hai?

*All laughing*

(Could not convert Calcutta; is a current batchmate of mine at IIM Kozhikode)

Liked this post? You may also like our Re-enactment of Actual MBA Interviews, which includes interview experiences from IIM Bangalore, IIM Kozhikode, IIM Indore, IIM Lucknow, IIM Ahmedabad, XLRI Jamshedpur, and other elite Indian B-schools!

The Most Comprehensive IIM Interview Experience - Ganesh Mahidhar, IIM Ahmedabad

Transcript of the actual interview.

College: IIMA

Date and time: 03 March 2018, 08:15am

Location: Taj Krishna Hotel, Hyderabad

Background:

X-10CGPA, XII-95.3, B.Tech, Mechanical Engineering (Hons), IIT Hyderabad- 86.2%

AWT: The Kannada Development Authority recently protested against the conducting of a Staff Selection Commission recruitment exam in Karnataka and Kerala to fill the posts of clerks, assistants and data entry operators as the exam was conducted only in English and Hindi. The KDA felt that it would put the local aspirants at a disadvantage as they wouldn't be able to attempt it in their mother tongue. SSC countered by saying that the jobs being central government based, would be subject to transfer to other states, where they would be at a disadvantage. The conducting of a language test before moving to other states is not feasible. Hence candidates should know Hindi to attempt the test.

Q. What is the claim?

Q. What is the reasoning provided?

Q. Is the reasoning strong or weak? Why?

I did a good job of it, by analyzing the argument and finding the fault that aspirants from Hindi states would face the same problems when they come to non-Hindi speaking states, while retaining the advantage in the exam. Hence, it is a weak support.

There were seven panels and around 6-7 people per panel. I was the first in my panel. The panel seemed to consist of one alumnus and one professor by their ages. Let the professor be P and the alumnus be A. My answers shall be represented with the letter G.

The alumnus came out and asked me to enter after closing the door behind me. P was reading my AWT as I came inside. They asked me to take a seat and the interview started.

 You can watch the re-enactment of the following video here -

P: So you work at BPCL. Where do you work?

G: Yes sir, I work at the Kochi Refinery of BPCL in the maintenance department.

P: So what units do you take care of? What kind of equipment do you handle?

G: ( At this point, I understood that P had more than a passing idea about how maintenance works and that I would have to weigh my words before I spoke them.)

Sir. We have an area concept and I work in area 1. As a part of the area, we have the second largest crude unit, the fluidized catalytic cracking unit and an isomerization unit. I am in charge of rotating equipment along with 15 technicians who work in the field to solve problems in any rotating equipment.

P: So what do these rotating equipment generally consist of?

G: For the most part, these equipment consist of pumps. There are also turbines and compressors. So yes, pumps, turbines and compressors.

P: So Ganesh, is BPCL a profitable company?

G: (smiling) Yes, sir.

P: Lots of profits, eh? So which of the Public Sector Oil companies have the best profits?

G: That would be IOCL sir. Indian Oil.

P: Oh. And why is that so?

G: It is majorly due to their vast distribution network sir. They own close to 46% of all the retail outlets in India.

P: Oh. Is that so? So tell me, there seems to be awfully little to do in this industry. The prices are fixed by the government. Are they fixed by the government?

G: They used to be fixed by the government sir, but now they are free to fix their pricing on a daily basis based on their costs and the current market petrol and Diesel rate. Each of the companies is allowed to place their own rates.

P: So is there a price war between these companies?

G: No sir. For the most part, all of these work together. The difference in pricing is less than 1 rupee per liter.

P: So is there a committee that determines the price of petrol?

G: Sir, there is a committee that determines the targets for each of the three companies each month. They also determine the price range. (Blunder. The price is determined by each company's costs, as I've read. I have no clue if the professor knew what the right answer was. I was confident in saying this though.)

P: Oh. So are there any private competitors in this market?

G: yes sir. The major competitor is Reliance. There is also Essar and Shell. Shell does not have a great presence in India, but it does exist.

P: So how do they price their products?

G: Sir, their products are a little higher than the market price. They price it around 2 rupees higher than the other three companies.

P: Why do people still buy at their centres then?

G: Sir, the kind of service that they provide at their retail outlets is better than the service that you would receive at the government outlets. They have lady DSMs, a more service-oriented experience to give a premium feel.

P: Don't you think you can implement the same in government companies.

G: Sir, initiatives such as Pure for Sure are present in government companies like BPCL. For instance, BPCL has a 20 point checklist including cleanliness, service to customers, ensuring zero before filling, etc. But since these employees are majorly employees on contract, the service does not mostly carry on to the customers.

P: So you are a mechanical engineer. What is honors?

G: The honors program at IIT Hyderabad involves two M.Tech level courses in the fifth and sixth semester and a project in the seventh and eighth semester, which is usually a research project.

A: So your publication is from that?

G: No sir. It is from an earlier work I did in my second-year summer and through my third year.

A: So what was that about?

G: There is this material called GFRP- Glass Fiber Reinforced Plastic with high strength by weight ratio. These panels are generally used in aircraft wings and ship hulls. We were trying to determine the effect of stiffening on these panels and their compressive strength.

P: Okay, coming back, you're a mechanical engineer. So I always had a doubt. How did these steam engines work?

G: Sir, I'm not exactly aware, but I'd guess that they worked with the help of a piston arrangement in a chamber. The fluid, in this case steam, expands and there is a reciprocating motion that is generated in the engine.

P: Okay. So how is this used to drive wheels, to convert reciprocating motion to rotating motion?

G: Sir, using a crank arrangement.

P: Okay. So now tell me, how does a turbine work? Does it also have a reciprocating motion?

G: Sir, in the case of a Gas Turbine, there is an arrangement with multiple cylinders, where the combustion takes place.

P: But in the case of a steam engine, you don't need all that right?

G: Yes sir, in a steam engine, we wouldn't require a cylinder arrangement. The energy of the steam is directly transferred to kinetic energy.

P: So why use all this crank arrangement? Why not use a turbine to run a steam engine directly?

G: Sir, turbines are high-speed machines that provide high thrust. It requires a huge amount of steam energy to make a turbine rotate at such high speed. Hence, they are primarily used for applications where high thrust or high speed is required.

P: High thrust? But all these are used to produce power in power plants. Why do they require high thrust there?

G: Sir, I was referring to the example of Jet Engines. There the exhaust gases propel the flight forward providing thrust. But in general, it is used for high-speed applications where the rotor is required to rotate at a high rpm.

P: Okay. But high speed is good, right. We get faster trains. Tell me finally, can we use a turbine or not?

G: Yes sir, technically, we can, but our infrastructure does not support such high speed.

P: Okay. So if I were to give you a function f(x), assume it is continuous differentiable and all that and I ask you to find the length of the curve, how would you do it? You can use paper.

G: (I've never ever been able to solve any math question in any interview before, and froze for a moment. Then I decided I had to think aloud and try to get at least an approach.) *Drawing a random shape* So, first I'll divide the curve into small pieces. Now, to find the length of each of these small pieces, let's say this is x1 and that is x2 *pointing at two points* - oh. So that would be whole root(dx^2+dy^2). Then by integrating this-

P: Correct. *Looks at A*

A: So what do you do in your free time?

G: (Finally!) So ever since I was a child, I have been an avid reader. I have majorly read fiction over the years, but I've tried to move to non-fiction recently.

A: So you're majorly an indoors person?

G: Not really sir. I do go out to the occasional movie every week or so and enjoy spending time with my friends. But if I have nothing to do, reading is my go to hobby.

A: Oh. So what is the latest movie you've watched?

G: (At the pain of being honest, I sounded the most stupid I've ever sounded in my life.) Sonu ke Titu ki Sweety.

A: So you watch a lot of Hindi movies?

G: Not really sir. It was the preference of the person who was going with me.

A: So what were the books you recently read?

G: I completed reading the Origin by Dan Brown yesterday. I am also reading Jane Eyre simultaneously. I also completed my annual rereading of Harry Potter.

A: Annual rereading? You read all the books?

G: Yes sir. All seven books.

A: So how long have you been doing this?

G: Ever since I was 13 or 12 years old.

A: Do you still have to read the books? Or do you have it all in your memory?

G: Not really, sir. I still do have to read it.

A: Who's your favourite character from Harry Potter?

G: Luna Lovegood, sir.

A: And why is that so?

G: Because first of all, she was an interesting and a very independent person. Irrespective of what people thought about her, she never backed down. People humiliated her, and yet she spoke her mind. That shows her strength of character. She also valued her friends a lot. This can be seen by her room decorations.

A: So what do you want to do after MBA?

G: when I was at IIT Hyderabad, I was involved in a lot of extracurricular activities. I founded the literary society at IIT Hyderabad, was also involved in the Entrepreneurship Cell at IIT Hyderabad. So I think I gained an inclination to brainstorm for solutions. That, combined with the knowledge I gained as a part of the oil and gas industry, makes me want to get to a role where I can brainstorm for solutions to large scale problems. Maybe in the oil and gas industry, but I would be open to options, based on the exposure that I gain in an MBA.

A: So you're sure you will do an MBA this year?

G: I would definitely do an MBA if I get it this year. If not, it would probably be postponed, but doing an MBA is definitely on the charts sir.

P: So this Entrepreneurship cell, is it connected to the T Hub?

G: We have had people coming from the T Hub and the Indus Entrepreneurs regularly, but we didn't have an official relation.

P: But IIITH does?

G: Yes sir. T Hub is practically located in IIITH

A: So what other calls do you have?

G: B, C and K, sir.

A: So what would you choose between A, B and C?

G: Ahmedabad sir.

A: Why so?

G: Because of the reputation that it enjoys in India and the rich history that it has. Bangalore would be nearer home but Ahmedabad, with all its merits would be my first choice.

A: ISB would be the closest home. Why not ISB?

G: I believe that the opportunity to learn would be much higher over a two year period as opposed to a one year course. I also haven't given my GMAT.

P: Okay Ganesh. Thank you for attending our interview process. All the best. Take a candy.

G: Thank you, sir.

The interview was pleasant enough. I had no idea of the mistake I made until after I left the interview.

Result: Converted!