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Aspiring management students, who wish to make their way to the coveted Indian Institute of Management (IIM) have to undergo through personal interviews after they overcome the herculean task of clearing the Common Admission Test (CAT).
Those who are able to get admission to the IIMs, recall their interview as a memorable one, while those who are grilled and fail to make it to an IIM prefer to forget it. IIM Personal Interview Experiences by Careers360 showcase the forgettable and unforgettable experience of the students.
The personal interview round is the key stage of an IIM admission process. It is during this final round that the interview panel, at times, grills the candidate about his academic background, professional qualifications, and his general knowledge.
Vinayak Kudva, Head – PG India & Mumbai Region, IMS, on why PI is important says, “A personal interview is the last step to get to know the candidate well. Personality traits that cannot be uncovered through Entrance tests, GD or WAT are evaluated here. The selectors try to understand the candidate’s personality, his/her interests, motivation, aspirations etc.
If you are starting your preparation with the personal interview (PI) the experiences shared by the successful students of the IIMs will prove to be a boon.
The interesting PI rounds
Describing each IIM interview unique, Raghav Sehgal, on Quora, says that the interview process of each IIM varies. He opines, “Each one of my interviews was unique and different. I was asked stuff ranging from railway engines, cold war, and geopolitical issues resulting in WW3, cricket, cooking, my academics, entrepreneurship, ethics and what not. They want to know how genuine you are and whether you will be a better person with the education you get.”
Sharing an interesting experience of impressing the interviewer by unexpectedly responding to one of his questions, Anirban Mukherjee, IIM Calcutta says that at times what matters is just answering one of the random questions posed by the panel. Recalling the question, which proved to be a turning point and got him an admission in the IIM, Mukherjee says, “Panel: Name the other Republican candidates. Me: Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio, Jeb Bush. Panel: (delivers a killer burn) Well you could have supported Bush because sometimes you beat around the bush. Interview over, and IIM Calcutta seat booked.”
Another Quora user, Parth Shah, presently studying at IIM Ahmedabad, talks about the response which turned the table in his favour. He shares, “Interviewer: So you play chess. Answer these questions as fast as possible. He had a tablet in front of him. He asked me 15 questions on chess from it which included some like, what is FIDE rating, how is it defined, Against whom Anand lost recently, Anand's rating, Carlsen's rating, my chosen first move, E4-C6 is called what, Fool's mate, Queen's gambit... I answered all questions correctly. “
Forgettable PIs at IIMs:
Sometimes the interviews to IIMs are a cake walk, while on other occasions, it proves to be a nightmarish experience. Sanath Sunny, who despite being selected in IIM Indore, was on tenterhooks till the final result was out as the interview panel grilled him.
Me: Opened the door to enter. Interviewer: Just looked at me saying to come inside in angry faces.Don't you have any manners to close the door? Me: Converted the call after an hour-long grilling! |
Syed Naser, 98 percentiler in CAT, states that interviews are at times a roller coaster ride. But one must always stay confident before the interview panel.
In one of his interviews he was asked a number of questions, to which he did not know the answers. He shares, “One of the interviews went off the course at the very beginning and that roller coaster was my worst experience. I was asked how is the President of India elected? What is the difference between a republic, democratic and sovereign country,? Discussion revolved around Telangana. I was asked about similarities between Chattisgarh and Telangana. One of the questions, which came out of the blue was the National Anthem of Bangladesh(I was asked this question as I had said that I love poetry)...I was completely taken aback as I had no clue about the answer to these questions.
Another candidate who shared his ordeal on Quora was Ankur Garg, who during an interview for IIM, Lucknow was asked if he was from an “Upadravi gotr’(‘Upadravi’means an anarchist). The term was used by Kiran Bedi, when she was competing against Arvind Kejriwal during the 2015 Delhi assembly elections.
P1 (in Hindi): Upadravi gotr ke ho kya? (Translation: Are you from 'Upadravi gotr'?) Me: Sorry sir, I didn't get that. P2 (while going through my marksheets): Rehne do, isko samajh nahi aayega, 10th mein Hindi mein kam marks hain. (Translation: He won't understand as he anyways has less marks in Hindi in Class 10th) Me: Facepalm. |
Amit Singh expresses his anguish on Quora on how the interview panel at IIM Lucknow gave him a tough time about his hobby ‘Ophiology.’ Despite answering the questions to his satisfaction level and getting positive acknowledgement from the panellists, Singh was rejected.
Though it is a dream for every candidate to make it to the prestigious institute, however, a rejection should not affect his or her confidence. With the passage of time, it is the experience that you acquire while working.
Also Read:
With a CAT rank of 5419, your percentile is around 95 to 97. This means you may not get into the top IIMs like Ahmedabad, Bangalore, or Calcutta, because they usually take students above 98 or 99 percentile. But you still have good chances at newer IIMs and other top MBA colleges.
You can get admission into IIMs like Amritsar, Raipur, Jammu, Udaipur, and Bodh Gaya. These IIMs accept students with lower percentiles, usually between 90 and 94.
Apart from IIMs, you can also get colleges like MDI Gurugram, IMI Delhi, Great Lakes Chennai, and maybe even FMS Delhi or JBIMS Mumbai depending on your category and performance in interview rounds.
You should now start preparing for the interview, group discussions, and written tests that most colleges will conduct after shortlisting you based on your CAT rank.
Here are websites you can check for cut-off and admission details:
https://www.imsindia.com/blog/cat-cutoff/
Hello Sahitya
For FMS Delhi, your percentile should be 99%+ and it should be 99.5%+ to be on the safer side.
Now coming to the academics:
1. 10th marks: 75%+ are given 10 out of 10
2. 12th marks: 75%+ are given 10 out of 10
3. Graduation marks: FMS doesn't considers graduation marks for screening.
So if you have 75%+ in both 10th and 12th, you will get full marks in academic score.
To know more about FMS: FMS
Hope this answer helps! Thank You!!!
Hello Ayush
This is definitely a myth that with 0 work-ex you can't get IIM ABC because freshers still get into them although the competition is brutal but if you have good academics (9/9/9) and a good CAT (99.5%+), you have a chance.
These are some other good colleges except IIM ABC which you can aim for:
TIER 1:
Tier 2:
To know more about CAT: CAT by Careers360
Hope this answer helps! Thank You!!!
Hello Aspirant,
With an AIR (All India Rank) of 1,60,000 in NEET and in the OC (Open Category) there is a very slim chance of getting an MBBS seat in a government medical college, especially in General Category seats through All India Quota (AIQ), but here are some options:
You can also participate in state counselling rounds, as sometimes, seats remain vacant/unfilled, including mop-up rounds.
Hello aspirant,
The question papers for CAT MGU University can be found on their official website, or you can also visit careers360 website for the same.
The link of which, I am attaching here,
https://university.careers360.com/articles/mgu-cat-2025
Regards
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