IIM Admission 2023: “Try Your Best to Stay Calm” Says Kushagra Who Converted IIM Ahmedabad Call
Kushagra Dash converted the IIM Ahmedabad admission call for PGP’25. He recalls his IIM-A PI and AWT journey below.
Know How Kushagra Dash Converted IIM Ahmedabad Admission Call
Kushagra Dash, a 99.72 percentiler in CAT 2022, received PGP admission calls from top b-schools including IIM Ahmedabad. Besides Ahmedabad, Kushagra got interview calls from IIM Bangalore, IIM Calcutta, IIM Lucknow, and IIM Kozhikode. He holds a degree in Electronics and Electrical Engineering from the Vellore Institute of Technology.
With a professional experience spanning around 26 months in the fintech space, Kushagra had a stellar profile. Sharing his PI and AWT experience, Kushagra told Shiksha about how one should stay calm during an interview for a better outcome.
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IIM Ahmedabad selects CAT qualifiers based on the selection rounds, including Personal Interview (PI), and the Academic Writing Test (AWT). Several b-schools term AWT as WAT, i.e. Written Ability Test.
Q: Is only CAT score a factor for admission in IIMs?
Q: Which courses are offered by IIMs through CAT?
CAT is the common entrance test for a range of post management courses offered by the Indian Institute of Management. The CAT score is accepted for admission to PGP, MBA, Executive MBA, Ph.D. and FPM courses.
Here is the list of courses offered by every IIM.
- IIM Ahmedabad: PGP, PGP-FABM, ePGD-ABA (post Graduate Diploma in Advanced Business Analytics), PhD
- IIM Amritsar: MBA, MBA-Business Analytics, MBA-HRM, EMBA, PhD
- IIM Bangalore: PGP, PGPEM, PGPBA, PhD
- IIM Bodh Gaya: PGP, Ph.D. (FPM)
- IIM Calcutta: MBA, PhD
- IIM Indore: PGP, PGP-HRM, MSDSM (Master of Science in Data Science and Management), FPM
- IIM Jammu: MBA, MBA (Hospital Administration & Healthcare Management, Executive MBA (Blended Mode), Ph.D. (Full-Time Mode), Ph.D. (Part-Time Mode)
- IIM Kashipur: MBA, MBA (Analytics), EMBA, EMBAA (Executive Master of Business Administration Analytics), PhD
- IIM Kozhikode: PGP, PGP-BL, PGP-F, PGP-LSM, EPGP Kochi, PhD
- IIM Lucknow: PGP, PGP-ABM, PGP-some, PGPWE, PhD
- IIM Nagpur: MBA, MBA (Executive), Ph.D. (Executive)
- IIM Raipur: PGP, FPM/PhD, EFPM
- IIM Ranchi: PGP, PGP-HRM, PGP (Business Analytics), Ph.D. EPhD
- IIM Rohtak: PGP, EPGDSM, PhD
- IIM Sambalpur: MBA, Executive MBA, Ph.D. Executive PhD
- IIM Shillong: PGP, PGPEX, MBA (WE), Ph.D. PhDWP
- IIM Sirmaur: MBA, MBA (T&HM), ExMBA (Digital Transformation & Analytics), PhD
- IIM Tiruchirappalli: PGPM & PGPM-HR, DPM, E-DPM
- IIM Udaipur: MBA, MBA-DEM, MBA-GSCM, PGDBAWE, PhD
- IIM Visakhapatnam: PGP, PGPEx, PGPDGM, Ph.D.
Q: Can I join IIM without CAT?
No, one can't join IIM without CAT. Candidates seeking admission to the IIM Ahmedabad MBA course must appear for CAT and secure 90 percentile. The Institute considers Writing Ability Test (WAT) and Personal Interview (PI) rounds for final admission to IIM Ahmedabad along with CAT results. Students must meet both, the overall CAT cutoff percentile and the sectional cutoffs.The Institute does not release CAT cutoffs in the public domain and are exclusively accessible only via account login to candidates who have appeared for the exam.
Kushagra shares his IIM Ahmedabad PI AWT experience in the following article below.
Also Read: IIM Ahmedabad Admission
IIM Ahmedabad AWT Experience
Kushagra got a situational topic for IIM Ahmedabad AWT. Based on the story, he was asked to put forward his opinions and arguments in a written format. Different genres of topics are curated for all the IIM shortlisted candidates. IIM Ahmedabad provides 20 minutes to chalk the opinions and arguments for or against the topic.
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IIM Ahmedabad AWT Topic
There was a writer who had a condition called schizophrenia, which made him very sick. His doctor told him that he only had 6 months to live and suggested that he stay in the hospital. But the writer didn't want to stay in the hospital, so he left and started living in a hotel. He started taking vitamin C tablets and watched funny movies. Even just 10 minutes of a funny video made him forget about his pain for 2 whole hours!
As time went on, the writer started feeling better and better. After 6 months, he went back to the doctor for a check-up. The doctor was amazed at how much better the writer had become! The doctor even said that they should do more research on how laughter can help people who have really serious illnesses
Q: What is the CAT score required for IIM Calcutta?
The table given below mentions IIM Calcutta sectional and overall cutoff 2024 across all sections and categories:
| Category | Section - 1 (VARC) | Section – II (DILR) | Section – III (QA) | Overall Percentile |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| OPEN | ≥80 | ≥80 | ≥75 | ≥85 |
| EWS | ≥70 | ≥65 | ≥65 | ≥75 |
| NC-OBC | ≥70 | ≥65 | ≥65 | ≥75 |
| SC | ≥65 | ≥60 | ≥60 | ≥70 |
| ST | ≥55 | ≥55 | ≥55 | ≥65 |
| PwD | ≥45 | ≥45 | ≥45 | ≥55 |
Q: Can an average student get into an IIM?
The answer to this question of whether an average student can get into IIM can be both yes and no depending on the definition of an average student.
- Based on Academics (Class 10/ Class 12/ Graduation): While a student with average scores in Class 10, Class 12 and graduation with a good CAT score certainly has good chances of getting a call from IIM-A, chances are less for someone with an average CAT score.
- Based on student category (General or Reserved): While it is tough for a General category average student to grab a seat at IIM due to high score requirements, a reserved category student can get admission being at average scores as well.
- Based on past work experience, diversity and other factors: Gender and academic diversity is also a factor on which students are shortlisted at IIM. IIMs judge the past academic category based on the degree obtained by the students before MBA and then a weightage is allotted based on that. For Engineers, the percentage for scoring the highest marks is higher as compared with other streams
- Performance in selection rounds: Once you make it to the final selection rounds, i.e., AWT/PI process, it can be considered a fresh start. At this stage, students can forget their past average-ness but definitely require good grasp over the past subjects as academics-related questions are asked in the interview.
Based on the above factors, it can be considered that while getting into top Management institutes, such as IIM is extremely tough, the past performance, CAT performance, student category and a lot of factors can be the reasons for a student to receive that final call.
Q: Why do you need to score more than 99.5 Percentile in CAT to get into an IIMs?
For candidates to get into top IIMs including IIM Ahmedabad, IIM Bangalore and IIM Calcutta, one must have a high CAT score preferably equal to or more than 99.5 Percentile. Considered as the top B-School of India, the competition for top IIMs is very high whereas on the other hand the number of seats for the same are less. So in order to be at the best B-School one needs to score the best.
Every IIM is different in terms of eligibility criteria, for IIMs including Lucknow, Indore, Kozhikode, Shillong, candidates are expected to score around 98 Percentile and a decent score of 80 Per cent in the academics. For the remaining New IIMs, the CAT cutoff ranges between 96 and 97 Percentile, whereas for Baby IIMs the cutoff might vary between 93 and 92 Percentile
It is very important for candidates to score good CAT cutoff Percentile depending on the IIMs they are aiming for.
Q: Who is eligible for MBA at IIM Lucknow?
To be eligible for admission to PGP courses, aspirants must meet the criteria as mentioned below:
- Bachelor’s degree or equivalent qualification from a UGC-recognised university after at least 12 years of school education with at least 50% aggregate or equivalent CGPA (45% in case of SC/ST/PwD candidates).
- Bachelor’s degree in Engineering/Technology (4 years after 10+2/Post BSc/Post Diploma) or BE/BTech equivalent examinations, of Professional Societies, recognised by MHRD/UPSC/AICTE (eg. AMIE by Institution of Engineers - India, AMICE by the Institute of Civil Engineers India) can also apply.
- Moreover, any qualifications recognised by the Association of Indian Universities, New Delhi which is equivalent to a Bachelor’s degree awarded by UGC recognised University/Institutions are also acceptable.
For MBA MBA in Entreprenueship & Innovation, aspirants with a valid Bachelor's degree in any discipline can apply. For more details about IIM Lucknow PGP/MBA programmes, Click Here.
Q: Is admission to MBA at IIM Ahmedabad confirmed if I score 100 percentile in CAT?
There is a good chance of receiving an interview call from IIM Ahmedabad, however, admission isn’t guaranteed even at 100 percentile. The overall criteria includes academic profile, that is your Class 12, Class 10 and graduation marks. The college also gives a score for work experience, hence, candidates must have 2-3 years of experience to get maximum points. Additional focus is also given to gender and academic diversity. Considering all these factors and candidates’ CAT score, IIM Ahmedabad prepares a composite score through which decides whether to finalise a student or not. IIM Ahmedabad or any other IIM, for that matter, doesn’t give direct admission only on the basis of CAT percentile, the first phase of admission process is giving the CAT exam. Students must clear the sectional and the minimum final cut-off to be eligible and considered for the call. After that, they must get shortlisted for the interviews and group discussion process. After all these rounds, a final list of shortlisted candidates is prepared.
Based on the above paragraph, I was asked to write arguments, counter-arguments, assumptions and my opinion on it. The time limit for AWT was 20 minutes and we were provided with a page to write our answers.
How was AWT Answered?
So I believe I wrote that a variety of factors did come into play along with a good laughing session such as the effect of vitamin C tablets along with sufficient rest and the probability of natural recovery. Also acknowledged the mind-body connection as well.
IIM Ahmedabad Interview Experience
Date of Interview: February 17, 2023
Place of Interview: Bangalore
Duration of Interview: 35-40 minutes
My IIM Ahmedabad interview was scheduled on 17th February in Bangalore and lasted around 35-40 minutes, A panel of two (both male) was allocated for the personal interview by IIM Ahmedabad. Moving forward, we will be using P1 and P2 for first and second panellists.
P1: Interesting name, is it something related to sharpness?
K: I told the meaning of my name to the panellist.
P1: What’s impedance matching? (a question based on my graduation subject)
K: I answered this question in layman’s terms with the application of the same. I was cross-questioned on noise signals and its impact. I answered the same correctly.
P2: Kushagra, electric shocks are dangerous, what's the safe limit?
K: I answered this question by elaborating the range of current when we start to feel a tingle and the range when we can feel a painful shock. I was cross-questioned on the resistance comparison of wet and dry skin. I answered the cross-questions correctly.
P2: Any advance case where Electronics and Electrical Engineering is being used today?
A: I answered this question by detailing an example of the Agriculture sector. Additionally, my answer to this question comprises the benefits in the Agriculture sector due to EEE, and how it could be applied in the country.
P1: What did your day look like at a fintech after switching from a market analyst role?
K: I answered with what I did at my organisation, several questions were asked about the field switch. Some questions were industry related. Questions were also related to growth drivers of fintech and what kind of trading strategies were used by me.
P1: Can you draw the payoff diagram of the option strategies?
K: I drew the diagrams on a piece of paper and explained a bit about the same as well.
P2: What are your career goals and how you plan to extract value from the programme at IIM A?
K: I explained my career goals and how an MBA will help me achieve them. For the second part, I answered along the lines of their curriculum (mentioned a few courses) the perspectives I can gather by interacting with a talented and diverse batch of students and the vast alumni network.
P1: What are your hobbies, tell us about the research paper you mentioned in the achievements part?
K: I answered with my hobbies and elaborated a bit on the research paper.
P2: What other calls do you have and any preference?
K: I had prepared well for this answer beforehand. I told them, besides IIM A, I have admission calls from IIM Calcutta, IIM Kozhikode, IIM Lucknow, and some other top non-IIMs, including XLRI, Jamshedpur. For my preference, I told the truth that I would prefer IIM Calcutta if converted. I mentioned that I have the inclination to pursue Finance and that was the sole reason for my preference for IIM C over IIM A.
Thank you. You can leave and please do take chocolate.
Thoughts on IIM Ahmedabad Interview
In my opinion, the interview I went through was very thorough and the interviewers asked a lot of questions that really tested my knowledge. When it comes to how I performed during the interview, I felt neutral back then, and I still feel that way now. However, I believe that my preparation was key to my success. In the lead-up to the interview, I read everything I could about my profile and made sure I was thoroughly prepared. I was confident that I could present myself well.
It's not always easy to stay calm during an interview, but it's important to try your best. Remember that a few difficult questions should not throw you off completely. If you give your best effort and remain composed, you can still make a positive impression on the interviewers.
Read More Interview Experiences
The table below mentions the links for more interview experiences.
| Name of Candidate |
College Name |
Link for Interview Experience |
|---|---|---|
| Avi Shrivastava |
XLRI, Jamshedpur |
|
| Sujit Kumar |
IIM Ahmedabad |
|
| Pratyush Adhikary |
IIM Ahmedabad |
|
| Saurabh Wani |
IIM Ahmedabad |
|
| Lavisha Taneja |
XLRI, Jamshedpur |
Know How XAT Topper Lavisha Taneja Converted XLRI Jamshedpur Call |
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With a creative soul, Abhishek is inclined towards anything in the creative space be it drawing, painting, craft, or writing. He has been working in the ed-tech industry since he started his career. Besides creative... Read Full Bio