CAT preparation: 100 percentiler Akshay Mehndiratta breaks down IIM Ahmedabad AWT-PI for you

There are a set of rules which you need to keep in mind for AWT-PI, says IIM Ahmedabad convert Akshay Mehndiratta. Read more.

Akshay Mehendiratta

When Akshay Mehndiratta scored a perfect 100 in CAT 2016, he was sure that he will be able to make it to his dream college, IIM Ahmedabad. An IIT Delhi graduate (B Tech in Chemical Engineering) with 8.828/10 score had all the academic credentials to be a part of India’s top B-school. After the CAT exam, next step was AWT-PI, which fortunately for him turned out to be a relaxed and undaunting session. 

But for some candidates, AWT-PI round can be unnerving. The only things that help a candidate are composure and presence of mind. Akshay, explained the entire AWT and PI process of IIM Ahmedabad and also shared a few tips with us. Read on.

Academic Writing Test (AWT)

The AWT experience at IIM Ahmedabad is slightly different from the WAT tests being conducted for admissions to other IIMs. As opposed to a small topic along with a 2-3 line brief provided in IIM Bangalore and IIM Calcutta WATs, the question in IIM Ahmedabad’s AWT is a 3 paragraph newspaper like article. The focus of AWT is to not test your knowledge but to test how critically you can analyse the arguments, lay out the underlying assumptions that are not explicitly mentioned in the article, and hence to counter what the author means to say through it. There are a set of rules which you need to keep in mind before any IIM Ahmedabad AWT, the important ones are as follow:

1. Analyse the line of reasoning and the use of evidence
2. Discuss what evidence would strengthen or refute the argument. What changes in the argument would make it more logically sound, and if anything, would help you better evaluate its conclusion.
3. Always challenge the assumptions
4. Always consider the argument to be weak

 So my AWT topic revolved around regionalism. Although most of the article was focused on defining regionalism, there were 2 statements made by the author which were flawed:

1. Regionalism is different from racism and hence should not be treated with same perspective.
2. Regionalism is good for the society and the minorities should convert to the majorities caste and system to build a coherent system.

Hence, my replies were as follows:

1. Forcing people to adapt to other people’s thinking and eliminating those who don't was one of the basis on which racism was based. So the present philosophy is no different from it. It opposes the basic freedom of following one’s caste and lifestyle.
2. There is no proof that it will make a coherent system. In fact, a coherent system of society can be achieved even without it. I gave the example of India, where different castes live together in peace and harmony.

AWTs are very common in GMAT and there are innumerable examples available on the internet for you to practice. Practice about 10-20 topics and you would be good to go.

IIM Ahmedabad: Personal Interview (PI)

The personal interview for IIM Ahmedabad is well thought-out 15-20 minutes of interview on average.

The first 2-3 minutes are usually an ice breaker. The next 5-6 minutes generally revolve around your core skills- Engineering/ Commerce etc. The depth of discussion can vary from just asking about your projects to delving deep into some of the core subjects and their applications in real life. Hence, you need to be prepared thoroughly with at least 2-3 topics of strength from your graduation. This is true even for people who have work experience of 2+ years in an entirely different industry.

The next 5-6 minutes are usually on current affairs. The panel picks a topic and want you to carry out a discussion. I personally feel this is the make or break part of the interview.

The last 2 minutes are again some basic behavioural questions.

As for my experience, I was fortunate enough to have had a very relaxed panel, focusing just on my projects. My discussion was around the elections held in UP and Mumbai around that time.

In the end they offer you a toffee. :P

Akshay Mehndiratta converted interview calls from IIM Ahmedabad, IIM Bangalore, IIM Lucknow and IIM Kozhikode. He joined IIM Ahmedabad’s PGDM programme on June 20, 2017.

This article was firs published on June 6, 2017.

Also read:

• Cracking the CAT: It's less about knowledge, more about aptitude, says Akshay Mehndiratta
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