IIM Admission 2023: “Take Mock Interviews to Boost Confidence” Says Yash Singhania with IIM Ahmedabad PGP Offer

Yash Singhania, a 99.79 percentiler in CAT 2022, has made his way to IIM Ahmedabad PGP 2023-25. In an exclusive conversation with Shiksha, he shares his CAT journey along with PI and AWT experience at IIM Ahmedabad. Read on.

Yash Singhania Shares his IIM PI AWT Experience

IIM Ahmedabad Admission 2023: After four years of CAT exam, Yash Singhania from Jharkhand, got an admission call from IIM Ahmedabad, based on his CAT 2022 score (99.79%ile). Besides IIM Ahmedabad, he received calls from IIM Bangalore, IIM Calcutta, IIM Lucknow, and IIM Kozhikode. Yash completed a Bachelor of Engineering in Mechanical Engineering from BIT Mesra in 2020. After graduating, he has been working as a Business Technology Analyst at Deloitte USI.

In an exclusive interview with Shiksha about IIM Ahmedabad PI and AWT, Yash told how mock interviews help one prepare for the MBA admission interviews. He also discusses how a constant smile on his face works favourably in an interview. Read on to know Yash’s IIM Ahmedabad interview experience, how to get into IIM Ahmedabad, and gain a comprehensive understanding of how to attempt IIM Ahmedabad selection rounds.

IIM Ahmedabad Admission Call

Yash had appeared for CAT in the previous sessions but did not receive calls from desired IIMs. However, he received an admission call from top IIMs, including IIM Ahmedabad based on his CAT 2022 score. Yash’s CAT score which got an IIM Ahmedabad PGP call is mentioned below:

• Overall: 99.79 %ile
• VARC: 94.56 %ile
• DILR: 99.79 %ile
• QA: 99.62 %ile

Also Read:

IIM Ahmedabad PI-AWT Process

The selection criteria for IIM Ahmedabad comprises shortlisted candidates to appear for PI and AWT rounds. Candidates are shortlisted based on their CAT scores. The final admission is done on the basis of collective performance in all selection rounds.

• Analytical Written Test: Abbreviated as AWT is a written test where the candidate is expected to write on a given topic in a pre-defined word limit. AWT is similar to WAT round conducted by other IIMs. AWT evaluates the logical and reasoning skills of the candidate.
• Personal Interview (PI): Almost all the b-school across India conduct a Personal Interview round to select candidates for MBA admission. An interview panel of two or more members get together to ask questions and gauge the overall readiness of the shortlisted candidate for admission.

Also Read: IIM Ahmedabad Admission 2023

IIM Ahmedabad AWT Experience

Analytical Written Test (AWT) at IIM Ahmedabad comprises a topic on which the shortlisted candidate has to portray his/her thoughts. Yash found the AWT topic on a difficult note. However, he had prepared for such situations beforehand.

Duration for AWT at IIM Ahmedabad: 25 minutes

Place of AWT: TAJ Bengal, Kolkata

Shiksha: What was IIM Ahmedabad AWT Topic?

Yash: I was given a long paragraph about the Mckinsey fraud case. I was asked to put his thoughts forward on the same.

Shiksha: Can you share your AWT Answering Experience at IIM Ahmedabad?

Yash: The AWT topic was a very weird one for me. There were around eight other people in the room who started blitzing out words on their sheets. Looking at people answering right away made me anxious. We were given 25 minutes to express our views for or against the topic, and with suitable reasons. I didn’t write anything for the first five minutes as I was blank on what should I write. I resorted to what I had prepared. While preparing for AWT, I came to know that it is easier than WAT at other IIMS as one doesn’t need to know about the topic beforehand to answer. Rather, one is expected to provide reasonings related to the argument presented. This approach could be applied to any topic, irrespective of the niche of the question. 

Since I was not aware of the concrete information about the case, I resorted to general prep and mentioned basic logical reasonings to the argument.

While answering I mentioned that the given argument is invalid as it has a few inconsistencies, including

• There is assumption and generalization in the paragraph on which may or may not be true.
• There is lack of data in the argument

In an AWT, your answer is evaluated based on how well you came up with the arguments, and not whether or not you have the correct assumption. The reasonings are evaluated more than whether it is right or wrong.

Shiksha: How is AWT Different from WAT?

Yash: While, writing for WAT at IIMs other than IIM Ahmedabad, one must have the knowledge of the topic that has been presented. WAT topics are very knowledge specific and requires one to know about the topic to present arguments and reasonings.

Also Read:

• WAT/GD Topics of top B-Schools over the years
• Written Ability Test (WAT): Your Next Step to IIMs

IIM Ahmedabad Interview Experience

Yash was shortlisted for IIM Ahmedabad selection rounds based on CAT 99.79%ile score. The space below mentions PI experience at IIM Ahmedabad.

• Date of Interview: March 11, 2023
• Place of Interview: The TAJ Bengal, Kolkata
• Number of Panellists: 2 (both male)
• Duration of interview: 30 minutes+

IIM Ahmedabad Interview Questions (with Answers)

P1: So you have been working at Deloitte for the last 2.5 years, tell us about your experience.

Yash: I had prepared for this answer beforehand, I answered this question as per my preparation. However, I was interrupted in between and was told to stop with the story and just mention what I do at Deloitte.

(one or two follow-up questions came regarding my work at Deloitte, and the focus of the interview shifted to chatGPT)

P1: Do you know about chatGPT?

Yash: Yes

P1: Tell us about its advantages and disadvantages.

Yash: Started on with the answer but was cut short by P1.

P1: Tell us something specific to your area of work. Can it be used in what you do and should it be used in what you do?

Yash: Had no idea of how to use chat GPT in my area of work but knew that I had to defend that it could not do what I did or else they would deem my work irrelevant. So started telling about the disadvantages first.

I mentioned points on how it cannot be trusted with data sensitivity, on how small errors by chatGPT could lead to huge monetary losses etc. I ran out of points midway and then proceeded to talk about its advantages but P1 cut me short again. Asked P2 to ask some questions about my UG (Mechanical Engineering)

P2: What is the difference between enthalpy and entropy?

Yash: I didn't know the difference, but told the definitions and tried to complicate things by taking it to a molecular level which was not required. Almost got caught in my own web but wiggled out by stating the adiabatic process on how entropy increases but net heat within the system does not. (not the ideal case since there is still delta enthalpy but we moved from enthalpy to heat at some point)

P2: (On hearing adiabatic) Can you mention more thermodynamic processes?

Yash: Told about Isothermal, isobaric and isochoric processes with one-line definitions

P2: Do you know what is Gibb's Free energy?

Yash: I told him that I have come across it but cannot recall the definition.

P2: Do you know other free energies?

Yash: I told the interviewer that I don’t know this answer.

P1: Is chatGPT governed by any law?

Yash: Told that since it was a new technology, it was not governed by any law but could come under the Information Technology Act in the near future.

P1: Tell me some recent developments under the IT Act?

Yash: Mentioned cryptocurrency. (I was interrupted again and was told that this was old)

Took some time out & came up with:

• Regulation of hate speech on platforms such as Twitter etc. (could only tell this since I had IIM-B WAT the previous day and this was the topic)
• Spoke on the regulation of content & OTT platforms such as Netflix, Hotstar etc.

P1: Do you know why Apple was recently unhappy with the European Union?

Yash: Yes Sir. EU passed a law saying that all electronic devices that can be charged should come with a standard USB type C port. This was detrimental to Apple's business since it came with a lightning port and sold chargers separately.

P1: What has Apple done regarding this?

Yash: Apple has proposed moving to a portless iPhone with wireless charging. Told him about the two types of wireless charging wherein the user does not even need to place the phone on a pad. Rather, they could just enter a room & their phone would start charging.

P1: Do you know something else that they have done?

Yash: I didn't know anything else about this. Later came to know he was talking about the MFI USB C (Made for iPhone USB C).

However, I told him that I do not believe that a portless iPhone would be viable in the upcoming iPhone 15 series since the wireless charging technology is not matured yet. So, Apple would have to resort to using USB Type C at least for one or two generations.

P1: Thank you, you may take a toffee.

Yash: Thank you, sir. I hope you have a great time ahead.

Verdict: Converted

Thoughts on IIM Ahmedabad Personal Interview

The interview went for over 30 minutes, which was a little more than the other candidates on my panel. I did not have a very seamless interview, as I was interrupted several times, did not know a couple of questions, and was not confident while I spoke some of the other answers. However, I did not go completely blank while answering the questions and was able to answer most of the questions well in terms of content. Additionally, I tried having a fake smile throughout the interview, which I feel turned out favourable.

I would definitely encourage future aspirants to take up mock interviews and try to build confidence while answering. This was something I struggled throughout the preparation and even the interviews. Besides, do not put a lot of focus on memorising things before the interview, but do read a lot of things: your UG subjects, your work experience, current affairs, and other interview experiences.

Read More MBA Interview Experiences

The table below mentions some other MBA interview experiences at top colleges:

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