IIM Admissions 2023: Aditya Singh Shares His PI Experience at IIM Ahmedabad

With an outstanding score of 99.9 percentile in the CAT 2022 exam, Aditya Singh has shared his IIM Ahmedabad WAT-PI experience with Shiksha in the article below. Read the article below to know more.

Aditya Singh

IIM Admissions 2023: 23-year-old, Aditya Singh from Kolkata has shared his journey from St. Xavier's Institute to the prestigious IIM Ahmedabad. He is a BSc in Computer Science student who has been working with Deloitte USI as an SAP Technical Consultant for the last two years. Aditya, who loves to sing and play cricket, also has a keen interest in geopolitics, video games, and cosmology. He secured 99.9 percentile in CAT 2022 exam. In his interview with Shiksha, he sheds light on his personal experience of Personal Interview at the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad. Read more in the article below.

Shiksha: Was IIM Ahmedabad your first choice? Why?

Aditya: Yes. For me, it is the case-based pedagogy of IIM-A and the diversity it offers. We have a few IAS officers, Air force Pilots, ISRO scientists, lawyers, CAs, doctors and a lot of engineers in the batch. It would be an enriching experience to learn from the shared experiences of such a diverse peer group.

Shiksha: What was your WAT topic and how did you present your argument?

Aditya: I can't remember the exact excerpt but it was a paragraph from a news report quoting a convicted businessman. The questions that followed were.

• What are the assumptions made by the author?
• What could strengthen and weaken the argument?
• What evidence could the author present to improve the argument?

Overall, I had a good WAT. I was able to answer all the questions.

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• PI Preparation
• Top GD topics for MBA
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Shiksha: How was your PI experience? Tell us about your high points or low points during the interview.

Aditya: PI was again good in my opinion. I felt that they really wanted to know me as a person. The high point was the discussion I had on the imposition of Hindi as a national language and why don't many people from our generation have a reading habit.

The low point was academic questions. I was struggling and stuttering but the panel members were very helpful and they were patient enough to let me complete my answers.

Shiksha: Can You please Transcript your PI?

IIM Ahmedabad PGP Personal Interview Experience

Venue/Time: Kolkata - March 11, 2023 afternoon slot.

Panel 1

P1 - Abhiman Das

P2 - M.P. Ram Mohan

P1: You have done BSc?

Aditya: Yes

P1: Is it an Honors degree or general one?

Aditya: Honors

P1: Name a few subjects you studied.

Aditya: OOP, Operating systems, DBMS, Networks, Data Security, Microprocessor Hardware, etc.

P1: Are you from Kolkata?

Aditya: Yes

P1: Tell me something about yourself. Who and what shaped you as a person?

Aditya: I introduced myself. Then, I talked about my father and Virat Kohli.

P1: Coming back to your academics. What is OOP? What are the features of OOP? Explain with examples.

Aditya: I gave an explanation and the discussion went on for approximately three to four minutes. 

P1: You had math, right? Can I ask you questions on probability?

Aditya: Yes

P1: Let's say the probability of a bird passing through this window in a 10 min time frame is 0.75. What is the probability of the same thing happening in a five min time frame?

Aditya: Tried answering this question a bit but I wasn't able to answer.

P2: Try something, at least give me some steps.

Aditya: I said sorry that I am not able to think through at this moment.

P2: What is the probability of getting a 6 when we roll a die?

Aditya: 1/6

P2: India is a diverse country, it has a lot of languages. Do you know which language is the oldest?

Aditya: Sanskrit.

P2: No it's not Sanskrit. It is a widely spoken language.

Aditya: Is it Hindi?

P2: No, not Hindi. Since you mentioned Hindi, do you think Hindi should be made our national language?

Aditya: I took a stand that it is not okay to impose Hindi on everyone because a big chunk of the population doesn't speak Hindi. The interviewer was attacking my arguments. I stuck to my point and tried to explain that language is a part of the cultural identity of a particular group and they won't like it if an attempt is made to dilute this identity. We had four to five minutes of discussion on this. 

P2: Tamil is the oldest language and Tamils oppose Hindi very strongly.

Aditya: Reiterated that it is a matter of maintaining cultural identity and also pride in one's own mother tongue.

P1: There is a Portuguese colony in Kolkata. Do you know anything about it?

Aditya: No

P2: There are only two Portuguese colonies in India. You should know this.

Aditya: I will check after the interview.

P2: How often do you travel?

Aditya: Rarely, maybe once every two years.

P1: You are from Kolkata. Tell me about Duare Sarkar.

Aditya: It is a scheme by the state government, and I explained the scheme in detail.

P1: Do you follow international politics? 

Aditya: I mentioned a few topics such as Iran-Saudi Arab, Xi Jinping being re-elected, the Financial crisis in Pak and SL, etc.

P1: Explain why Pakistan is facing issues?

Aditya: Talked about Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan's nuisance in some regions, corruption within the bureaucracy, and their inability to manage finances through tough times created by the pandemic and war.

P1: Name some semiconductor superpowers?

Aditya: Taiwan…can't say others

P1: You talked about cricket, so what is the corridor of uncertainty in cricket?

Aditya: Explained

P1: You mentioned Virat Kohli, have you tried to copy his style by keeping this beard?

Aditya: Smiled and said yes. 

P2: Last question. In Delhi there is a Lodhi Park, do you know about it?

Aditya: No

P2: Do you know about Qutub Minar?

Aditya: Yes

P2: Who built it?

Aditya: Qutubuddin Aibak but different floors are built by other rulers who came before him and he just finished the topmost storey.

P2: Last question. What do you do other than cricket?

Aditya: Watch movies and comedy videos.

P2: Don't you read books?

Aditya: No

P2: Why?

Aditya: I said I want to but am not able to prioritize my time in order to start reading.

P2: So what? Even the busiest people in the world read. I have asked this question to almost everyone today and nobody said that they read. Why is that? What is your take? Why is your generation not into reading?

Aditya: I explained how we are distracted by our smartphones and social media and waste small pockets of 10-15 mins throughout the day on our phones which could have been otherwise utilized for reading something.

P2: Ok. Promise me you will start reading from now on.

Aditya: I said yes, I definitely would.

P2: That's all from our side. It was nice talking to you. You may leave now. Take a toffee.

Overall, a very chill panel. The interview lasted for about 25 mins. I had multiple discussions of short durations like 3-4 mins. The panel was not simply asking questions but also contributing to the conversation, which felt nice. No questions from my work experience and standard HRQs were asked.

Shiksha: At what point of time during the interview you thought you’ve made it?

Aditya: Never. During the interview, I never felt satisfied or dissatisfied. I had a neutral feeling.

Shiksha: Was there a trick question in PI? How did you handle it?

Aditya: No trick questions as such, but they were cross-questioning a lot to test my knowledge and logical consistency.

Shiksha: How much credit will you give to your academics and professional experience for IIM Ahmedabad selection?

Aditya: Minimal. My undergrad is pretty low considering IIM A standards. They asked almost nothing from my work experience in the interview. Also, my work experience fetched me only a few decimal points on the composite score calculation.

Shiksha: Any tips for future aspirants?

Aditya: Luck is involved in CAT as well as interviews. That being said, focus on what you can do and give your best. Don't shy away from hard work. I have written a LinkedIn post for future aspirants. 

Shiksha: What is your future plan?

Aditya: In the long term, I want to start a business of my own. Rest all I want to decide as I go.

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