IIM Ahmedabad Admission 2023: Ankan, 99.99 Percentiler, Shares his IIM-A PI-AWT Experience Here

Ankan Biswas, a 99.99 percentiler in CAT 2022, converted the IIM Ahmedabad admission call for PGP '25. He recalls his IIM-A PI and AWT journey below.

Know How Ankan Biswas Converted IIM Ahmedabad Admission Call

IIM Ahmedabad Interview Experience: Ankan Biswas, pursuing an integrated BTech-MTech degree in Electrical and Electronics Engineering, from IIT Kharagpur, converted IIM Ahmedabad PGP admission call. He secured a 99.99%ile in the CAT exam to get shortlisted for the IIM Ahmedabad PI-AWT. With a PPO offer from Fractal Analytics at hand, Ankan will be planning to opt for deferred admission at IIM Ahmedabad. 

In his conversation with Shiksha, Ankan expressed his interest in Football, Machine Learning, Data Science, and Artificial Intelligence. He also shares his experience appearing for IIM Ahmedabad’s PI and AWT process, including how to prepare for PI and AWT. Read on to know how one can convert IIM Ahmedabad admission calls.

IIM Ahmedabad WAT-PI Experience

The selection process at IIM Ahmedabad involves the candidates passing the AWT and PI rounds. These selection rounds are conducted for candidates shortlisted based on CAT scores.

• Analytical Writing Test: Abbreviated as AWT, Analytical Writing Test is similar to the Written Ability Test (WAT) conducted by most of the b-schools. IIM Ahmedabad conducts AWT to evaluate the logical and reasoning skills of the candidate. Several b-schools also conduct Group Discussion rounds instead of AWT/WAT. While some conduct both GD as well as WAT/AWT to select candidates for MBA admission.
• Personal Interview (PI): Almost all MBA colleges across India conduct interview rounds to select candidates for admission. A group of panellists (typically 2 panel members) ask questions to gauge the overall readiness of the shortlisted candidate to pursue the MBA course.

Also Read: IIM Ahmedabad Admission

IIM Ahmedabad AWT Experience

IIM Ahmedabad selects CAT qualifiers based on the multiple selection rounds. As discussed, these selection rounds include Personal Interview (PI), and the Analytical Writing Test (AWT). Several b-schools term AWT as WAT, i.e. Written Ability Test.

IIM Ahmedabad AWT Topic

The topic was relating the plight of immigrant workers from China, South East Asia, etc. in the US factories. Often these workers are forced to work under inhuman conditions and they shouldn't be doing this. 

A counter-example (excerpt) was mentioned from a former prostitute, who says that, for her, even prostitution as an occupation means an improved and upgraded life, and she's much happier. So there shouldn't be much ado about immigrant workers and their factory conditions because it's more like their choice.

We were asked to come up with an analysis of this argument based on the given piece.

Also Read:

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

How was AWT Answered?

To answer the AWT question by keeping a few things in mind, including

• AWT is different from WAT: AWT is analysis of an argument, whereas WAT is analysis of an issue. My strategy involved keeping my focus only on the information mentioned in the piece. 
• Follow a logical structure: I followed the below-mentioned structure to answer my points with logic
• Mention the point 
• Reason/logic
• Evidence (it's the most important factor, otherwise the answer would seem incomplete)
• Elaborate
• Reiterate to conclude
• My broad outline to the AWT: Mentioned both sides of the coin. But the given argument is not valid enough to draw a conclusion as it's based on a one-off case which could well be treated as an outlier. While there could be more such cases, there is no strong evidence mentioned to suggest that so we can't assume.

IIM Ahmedabad Interview Experience

IIM Ahmedabad conducts Personal Interviews for the shortlisted candidates. Ankan was shortlisted for IIM Ahmedabad selection rounds based on CAT 99.99%ile score. The space below mentions Ankan’s PI experience at IIM Ahmedabad.

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

IIM Ahmedabad Interview Questions with Answers

(Sat down and exchanged greetings)

P2: So did you come directly from college? 

Ankan: No sir. I reside in Kolkata. I returned home from Kharagpur last night.

P1: Right, that's an advantage.

Ankan: Exactly sir. That's why I chose Kolkata as the interview location.

P2: I see you studied at South Point School. Some alumnus of yours has received the Nobel Prize, right? 

Ankan: Yes sir. Dr. Abhijit Banerjee was a student at the same school.

(we had a light conversation on his Nobel prize topic)

P2: (had a look at my CV) You haven't completed your college. No point asking about Electrical. Did you not like engineering?

Ankan: Not engineering as a whole, maybe circuital stuff, yes I don't like it. But thanks to Kharagpur- the campus culture, network and flexibility of the curriculum, I could find a way to pursue my interests and also my desired career track. (Mentioned about interest in data science/AI, am doing micro-specialisation in Artificial Intelligence, etc.)

P2: Ok, so did you study Statistics? 

Ankan: Yes sir, I have taken courses on Probability, Statistics and Stochastic processes.

P2: Define the Probability Density Function, and Probability Mass Function.

Ankan: I answered both questions.

P2: Can the Probability Density Function be greater than 1? Justify 

Ankan: Yes sir, it can be greater than 1. Probability Density Function isn't the same as probability.

P2: Give an example where PDF > 1. 

Ankan: Was stuck for a while. Kept expressing my thoughts to them. How pdf is actually density and not the exact probability of, the only condition it must satisfy is that area under the domain must integrate to 1. 

P2: You're on the right track, you know the concept Calm down. Think of absolutely simple distributions.

Ankan: (was messing with polynomial and exponential distributions) Right sir. Uniform distribution over 0 to 0.5 has a PDF of 2!

P1: You mentioned how Kharagpur feels like home to you. I think that's because you're from Kolkata and there are a lot of similarities. Otherwise, you might have thought of IIT Madras. You prefer staying in your comfort zone. 

(Pretty weird conversation with him as he was constantly trying to convince me that I chose Kharagpur only because it was in Bengal and Ahmedabad might be tough for me to survive.)

Ankan: I countered by mentioning diversity in Kharagpur and how I came to know more about the place with time, rather than having been already aware of the same beforehand.

P1: Ok Ankan. Start from the southernmost state of India. Go towards the central part one by one, mentioning each state's capital city and most commonly spoken language. 

Ankan: Answered the question; however, I messed things up a bit when I came to Andhra Pradesh/Telangana, which led them to laugh.

P1: You are almost always smiling even if we put you in a fix. Are you naturally this relaxed or just trying to put up a pretence?

Ankan: Sir, it's something I've tried really hard to develop over time. Being calm under pressure, according to me, it is extremely important. Right now, I'm not totally relaxed but am not nervous either. 

P1: How did you go about this change? 

Ankan: Sir, I think it's partly due to having grown older. Also, the Kharagpur culture which I keep talking about, has exposed me to pressure situations and I did learn to thrive in those situations. 

P1: Tell me the number of swimming pools present in Kolkata. 

Ankan: I answered this question as per my assumption. (I wasn't expecting a guesstimate at all, but had knowledge of how to approach one thanks to my friends who prepared for case studies/PM roles. Clarified the question properly, started assumptions, used the standard approach. I had also seen the pools in Taj Bengal on the way so that helped. 

P2: Are you aware of the current political situation in Bengal? 

Ankan: Sorry sir, politics do not interest me much, therefore, I am unaware of politics.

P2: Don't you think it's important to be aware of your own state's political scenario? 

Ankan: It is, but, to be honest, I'm not very fond of politics. I am aware of the major events that's it (proceeded to speak a bit about the last elections) 

P2: Leave it. You already told us that you are interested in sports. (Further, this led to a conversation on football)

P1: Any questions for us? 

Ankan: Yes sir, since you mentioned, I probably haven't been able to make the most of the academic opportunities of an IIT and part of it is because I wasn't very informed before my UG life. However, I don't want to repeat the same mistake twice. Irrespective of the B-school I get into, I'd like to make the most of it and I think you two are the best possible people from whom I should seek suggestions.

(They answered and handed me a toffee)

Verdict: Converted

Thoughts on IIM Ahmedabad Interview

Definitely, I was not expecting such questions for the most part of the interview. I was a bit shocked that I wasn’t even asked the very common MBA PI questions, including 

• Tell me about Yourself
• Why MBA?
• Why IIM Ahmedabad

Anyways, I was thankful that they didn’t bug me with electrical stuff. The panellists were not at all intimidating and mostly willing to guide me in case I got stuck. Was a pleasant experience overall.

Also Read: 14 Parameters on which you are judged in WAT-GD-PI

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