The MBA Ride: How IIMA happened?

It was a sultry afternoon in Gurgaon and I was unknowingly immune to it. I was already ashamed of my IIMB interview and didn't want to repeat the performance in IIMA. All you can tell yourself before the interviewee gets revoked in the room with dim lights where life comes to stir, theory of relativity gets justified, small pauses seem like a lifetime and you are devoured by two or three witty pair of eyes.

Like almost everybody I was expecting almost anything and had tried to prepare for it. The location was relaxing and I had reached quite early. I tried to interact with a wonderful personality but my mind was still hovering around the process that started abruptly leading all of us to some big sighs and large gulps of water. The process was briefed by the admission committee and two professors led us to our respective panels. The old eyes again screened us and the professors delightfully explained the process.

The topic was like:  Loneliness is an epidemic. (Dont remember it exactly). I wrote three small paragraphs in 7 minutes and revised them and scrutinized it to the point of no grammatical error. Interviews started within no time and I was waiting out the room in almost no moments. The professor called my name that just brought me to my senses. The play:

Part I:

(greetngs exchanged)

P1: Paras, what do you do?

Me: Told. ( I am a civil engineer. Details will make some of you yawn.)

P1: What is a super thermal power plant?

Me: Told about super critical and large capacities and about the technology...

P1: OK..Tell me which is the largest power plant in India?

Me: Adani Mundra..4200MW (checked 4600 it was..oops)

P1: Are all its units working?

Me: As far as I have heard, yes sir.

P1: Hmm..(Taking long breaks in between)Where is the world power market going?

Me: If we talk about India..(interrupted...No no no...world)...Sir...large markets are going for solar and wind and developing ones are being pressurized to adopt renewable energy like wind..So trend is towards wind energy...

P1: Why wind energy now?

Me: Talked about Kyoto and environment...

Part II:

P1: Okay, so tell me three ways to tackle contractors better?

Me: Told (with stopping in between to think).

P1: Tell me

one more?

Me: Told.

Part III: (Non-Engineers may avoid)

P2: As an engineer, tell me what is common between this building and what you build? Tell me three things?

Me: I told only one. Then started thinking and he interrupted with the technical questions.

P2: How can you test whether the structure is sound after concreting?

Me: Ultrasound testing. Next two questions were revolving around this only and we had a small discussion that resulted in my answer.

P2: Asked a technical question about a cantilever beam with a hole in it and asked whether it will fail.

Me: I said it would. He disagreed and said it would not. I tried to justify by drawing BMD and he was not convinced. Our non-concurrence broke us into a laugh and he tricked me into committing a mistake that I realized after I got out.

P2: OK. Leave it. Optimized the beam for me.

Me: I did it and he said I am done.

Part IV:

P1: How do you see Modi as a prime-ministerial candidate?

Me: Sir, we have three probable candidates. Nitish Kumar. As we know, no candidate from the third front/left would say that he wants to become a PM. Rahul Gandhi has the promise of inclusiveness but has no delivery record as we saw in UP elections also and Modi who has excellent governance skills but has a cloud of communalism over his head. I see him as a bright candidate for the position sir.

P1: Hmm..OK..Tell me whether you will vote for Modi or not?

Me: Sir, I will.

P1: Why?

Me: Because I would like to see India grow like Gujarat.

P1: OK..What are India's 3 biggest post-independence achievements?

Me: (Thinking hard now)..Sir, green revolution..and white revolution if we can club them into one..The food revolution..Second would be the accidental reforms of 1991...accidental because it was forced upon us but that brought a continuous growth for next twenty years....And, third would be the space and science..India has been able to launch satellites that even developed countries have not been able to launch...eg PSLV 2...SO Space revolution would be the third...

P1: Who was the pioneer of Green Revolution?

Me: Dr. MS Swaminathan

P1: White Revolution?

Me: Dr. Verghese Kurien

P1: Space Revolution?

Me: Dr. Vikram Sarabhai

P1: OK...You may go...

Me: Thanks sir...

(No maths..I had prepared for that actually...technical was a bumpy ride..So was quite unsure about it..)

Verdict: Converted..OMG..couldnt believe it for two to three days...

The MBA Ride: IIMB

Sometimes, it all boils down to an instant where everything is going wrong and a small spark of performance helps you just touch the bay. I was being pounded with simple questions with not so simple face expressions. IIMB gives a lot of stress on SOP and they will pick a simple word and revolve your whole interview around it. Mine was 'project development plan'. They asked me the same question may be six to seven times. In the end frustrated I blurted everything I knew about it and still got a 'Leave it'. 

A heated discussion on 'How can we improve power crisis in India?' subjugated me to admit that prices should be lowered in India and make them praise one of my solutions. An IIM interview is most of the times 'Can't say affair' but I didn't feel so good about it.

May be I did very good in WAT that was based on a daily problem: 'Instant things like noodles are eroding our age-old values and degrading our society and lifestyle'.

Verdict: Converted. (A Pursuit of Happyness Moment)

Caution: While checking results, kindly fill both 'S' and 'R' of SR12345 in capitals else you may sulk for one day realizing that you could not make it to the 'Place to B'.

The MBA Ride: IIM Lucknow

I thought I had a very good interview but the results proved something else. The questions asked varied from technical (am a civil engineer) to jokes. It started with them asking me to recite a 'veg-joke' that I somehow averted coz the only jokes coming to my mind at that time were 'non-veg'.

A lot of technical questions and then questioned me to judge my GD performance about which I was satisfied so confidently stuck to my judgement. May be they stuck to theirs too much.

Anyways, GD topic was something like 'The more you study, the more you read' and we had to write an essay also that I could not justify. In nutshell,

Verdict: Not Selected. Lessons learnt but it came as a shock because this was the only interview after IITB that I was sure of. 

The MBA Ride: IIM Shillong

One of the best interview takers covering a range of topics. Though candidates grudge about the technical part but no IIM leaves that part, the silver lining is the GD. But an awful amount of stress on academics plays a spoilsport.

If you have written chess as a hobby in the form, they will ask everything about latest events, their locations, etc. It is quite a linked affair, the next question depending on the answer you give. My breakup is as follows:

Though I had converted it last time also, but a fair interview is what everyone looks for. For example: in the ethics part, professor asked whether the bribe to the policeman is justified if we pay the waiter a tip in the same vein.

Caution: Hotel Amaltas, New Delhi has a swimming pool constructed in a way to deceit the candidates into falling. So please beware. :)

The MBA Ride: NMIMS

NMIMS has a huge location advantage, located just in the middle of all the big banks. The process starts with a case study discussion and ends with an interview mine was at the last. Large GD group stalls everyone's performance. A panel of 4 experienced faculty and alumni does make a good image. Interview was crisp and went well. Verdict: Converted.

A to Z of CAT

A – ‘Aspirant’ is what you will be called....Everyone’s dream: “Ahmedabad”...The benchmark of CAT tests - ‘AimCats’. And ‘Alumni’ are the best people to help out when in doubt.

B – Of course, “Bangalore”: a ‘B-School’ that you all want to have a kick at – a place to be and arguably the best IIM grooming under the leadership of the corporate czar – Mukesh Ambani. ‘BLACKI’ is the coveted call status not many can boast in the country.

C – It starts with ‘Computer Based’ ‘CAT’ and goes all the way upto ‘Calls’ whose number predicts the augmentation of your facebook friend list. And since they are just in the same order: “Calcutta”. - a place to be for finance enthusiasts and a hope for CAT enthusiasts who have faltered in either X, XII or graduation. ‘Confidence’ will get you there. And ‘Communication Skills’ will be tested in GD/PI.

D – Oh! ‘DI’ – a cakewalk for math lovers while a headache for others. ‘Days of CAT’... The whole period (20 or 21 days) seems like an age till your own CAT is done. But ‘Diversity’ is the word you should look for. ‘Dont Know’ is what you will never want to stay in the interview.

E – The foreign and India’s official language – ‘English’ and ‘E’ is dedicated to all those who died in the act of mastering the language.

F – Like boys, every IIM is having a thing for them these days – ‘Female’. And ‘Fun’ it has been preparing for CAT and it all gets better when you make it to one of the coveted institutes. ‘FMS’ is the B-school with the best ROI option and you can find this info in many ‘Forums’ where you will pass your time after the CAT. And in the end, ‘Faculty’ does matter.

G – ‘Girls’ are the ones you will be on the lookout in ‘Group Discussions’ that are forte of some while make others sweat.   

H – ‘High5’ will be the status every fresher vies for but less would be also respectable. And ‘Hard Work’ might help you achieve that.

I – ‘Indore’ has a separate place in the books because of its media loving nature and its long placement season. ‘Indian vs Foreign’ the most debatable topic you can find on forums.

J – ‘Joka’ (IIMC) has been discussed in ‘C’ but this place has a separate place in the world of finance.

K – ‘Kozikhode’ has the most beautiful campus among IIMs and this place is also a homemaker for many students. You will understand when you read the ratio. And the baby IIM ‘Kashipur’ with its own radio station is also welcome in the list.

L – ‘Lucknow’ you know but ‘Landlines’ will be the one you will be calling after the calls. ‘LR’ might give heart attack to some even. ‘List’ is the word you will look for far down the road to a B-school.

M (for boys) – ‘Male’ is the word you are gonna hate when you will see the criteria and ‘Motivation’ is what might be needed during the whole process.

N – ‘Not Selected’ and ‘Not appears in the list’ will become your worst nightmares. And you might curse ‘Normalisation’ any time.

O – ‘Oral skills’ are put to test in the second stages and you definitely need to be ‘Organized’ during the prep.   

P – It all boils down to ‘Percentile’ and ‘Profile’ during the ‘PIs’. Down the ladder you will start hating ‘Puzzles’ because you might have solved too many of them. And how can we miss the ‘Placements’. And our brother ‘Pagalguy’ who has resolved the boundaries between Admission committees and aspirants.   

Q – How can we forget ‘Quant’ after all making some leap with joy while testing others’ wits. ‘Quality’ is what they are looking for and be confident to provide them some.

R – ‘Results’ might help you hear your heartbeats...Plenty of IIMs with ‘Rohtak’, ‘Raipur’ and ‘Ranchi’ and ‘Reasoning’ should be your forte to get there. ‘Rankings’ will be you gauge which school is the best.

S – ‘Shillong’ is one of the few IIMs whose interview process is better than others and cover a range of topics. And a bit of ‘Study’ might help u get past it. ‘Salary’ is on the minds of most of you...

T – ‘Trichy’ I suppose a vibrant and new entrant to the league...”TotalGadha’ notes might help you lay good foundations of your concepts...

U – ‘Udaipur’ is again a baby IIM but has a lot of promise.

V – ‘Vault’ is the store that will help you solve your career doubts.

W – ‘WIMWI’ is the other name for IIMA....’WAT’: the new stage that has arguably replaced GDs in the selection process..

X – Probably the most loved alphabet by math lovers...solve for ‘x’...And, arguably, the most irritating alphabet sometimes...You can surely find it in any CAT exam...

Y – ‘Years’ pass by for some to make their dreams come true...

Z – Tough one...Hell, there is no ‘Z’ to be found...