[2010 - 2012] IIMA PGP Essay/PI Experiences

MBA CAT 2023
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Interviews in Delhi have started from 13th… yesterday… guys let us know ur Pi Essay experiences… We can the following format Profile : X - XII - GPA - College Work Ex - CAT % - QA - DI - VA - Tot…

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Interviews in Delhi have started from 13th.. yesterday....
guys let us know ur Pi Essay experiences...

We can the following format

Profile :
X -
XII -
GPA -
College
Work Ex -

CAT % -
QA -
DI -
VA -

Total -

Any other special thing about you (like Olympiad,NTSE etc.) :

Hobbies :

Essay Topic:
Time:
Any Other Details:

PI Experience:

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had my interview today
13th morning IIFT Delhi
x-92.4
xii-86.2
col-64.64(ECE)
CAT-99.94

it was the worst interview ever.......
have given a 5 interviews till now. all went better than this

ESSAY
banning politicains with criminal records from contesting elections is against their right..(sumthng like that)

PI
Q-How did you prepare for the Cat this year

Q-How does a cellphone work?
i told that but apparently he wanted to know how soundwaves enter the celphone..... so basically working of a microphone

Q-final year project
AES

Q-why was des used

Q-how done

Q-why the need
told him 56 bit key n easy to break

Q-asked me to how much time to break
made some calculations

Q-asked about another cipher
no idea
Q-fav subject
i microprocessor n wireless communication

Q-diff bw 8086 n 80286
told didnt study...studied 8085

Q-where is it used
now not used.... used in 60s

Q-so why fav subject
then i said wireles

Q-diff bw wireless n wired
told 1 diff

Q-what is mcls
no idea

take toffee n leave





yes folks
only technical
nothing else
am so pissed off

VERDICT-guess...............(Reject)

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had my interview today
13th morning IIFT Delhi
x-92.4
xii-86.2
col-64.64(ECE)
CAT-99.94
yes folks
only technical
nothing else
am so pissed off


Hi Kartikeya,

Can you please tell us how many members were there in the panel? What was the duration of the PI? We re you grilled or just questions and answers?...

You are a great help...
5

Thread name edited & made sticky..

All the Best

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Hi Kartikeya,

Can you please tell us how many members were there in the panel? What was the duration of the PI? We re you grilled or just questions and answers?...

You are a great help...


There were 2 panel members as always
interviews lasted for 20 30 mins
regarding my interview I was grilled. Whenever I answered they went deeper. Probabbly bcos am a fresher.
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Venue - IIFT delhi
Date- march 13

Details-
Xth- 81%
XIIth-81%
B.com.- 72%

Experience- 2 years In our family Business..

CAT- 99.98 (99.96,99.54,97.34 { DI, QA, VA})

Essay- How Should women empower themselves?? :shock:

After 15 minutes of the completion of Essay, our PI started... I was the 4th one to enter...

There were three members in the board , 2 old professors (Op1, Op2) and a middle aged lady (who was just observant, I think). Moiself-- Bakra

I'm called for the interview...

Bakra- May I come in??

OP1- Yes please!!

OP2- Please be seated and hand me over your profile....

OP2- Hmmmm.. After a long time I'm interviewing a non-techi, kaushal (he pronounced my name wrong!!!)
Bakra- yes sir, nowadays more techis are inclined towards a career in management, Sir my name is khushal (Khush + haal)!!!!

OP2- Oh, I'm sorry ... But Very unique name.. Usually North Indians don't have unique names... So you be happy everytime like your name? (with smiles)

Bakra - Yes sir, I always try to garner and spread happiness.. After all the ultimate motive of everyone is to be happy....

OP1- What re u currently doing??

Bakra- Blah Blah Blah,......

OP1- Alright, What's your responsibility there? and who will take up after you leave your family business?

Bakra --Again Blah Blah Blah...

OP1- You have said that Painting is one of your hobbies, recently a new painting of leanardo da vinci is found?? Can you name it?

Bakra- Named..

OP2- Can we ask you something from your graduation??

Bakra-- (WTF!!WTF!! It's been 2 years) Yes sir!

OP2- When was Income tax act passed?

Bakra- ( was confused between 1956 and 1961) sir 1961... (it was right)

OP2- what are the deductions availed under section 80DD of IT act?

Bakra- (!@#$%) I couldn't recollect sir....

OP2- (grinning) -- Assume I sold my house worth 60 laks in 2007 and then after 2 years I bought another house woth 60 lakhs.. My last house was inherited property.. So how would you calculate the CAPITAL gain on inherited property? And tell me how would I be able to save the Tax??

BAkra-- ( took 3 minutes to think) Then Blah blah Blah.....

OP2 Is impressed-- Very good..

OP1- Whats Is E.P.S.?

Bakra- Sir Earnings Per Share Is a way of calculating the profitability of a company. Investors do look at The E.P.S. before investing into a particular company.... It's calculated on net profit after interest, tax and divi.....

OP1 -(interrupting) Why After?

Bakra- because Equity shareholders are entitled to dividend only after tax and interest and...

OP1 (again interrupting)- I know this but I'm asking "WHY THIS"?

Bakra- Because they are real owner of the company so, they will be entitled to the profits only after the other claims are met.. Thats why.. They are paid last...

OP1- What's Cost volume profit analysis??

Bakra-- (I studied this 5 years back :shock::shock:) I don't remember sir...

OP1- Suppose you want to open a public limited company.. What will be the procedure for that?

Bakra-- Told..

OP1- What's Doctrine of Ultra Vires??

Bakra-- ( I was taken aback!!!, I studied this in my 11 class) emm..err.. Sir, Ultra Vires means the works done by a company beyond the things written in Article of Association!!

OP1 - ( WTF! WTF!) Is this Article of Association or Memorandum of Association??

Bakra-- Emm..I'm sorry sir it's Memorandum of association....

OP1--- Hmmmm... What's the difference between AoA and MoA??

Bakra-- (kahan aa gya yaar??!!@#@$ ) Told the answer in broken pieces.....

He looked at me with sarcasm for 10 seconds before asking the next question then asked- Did you take CAT before?

Bakra- yes sir, last year..

Op1 and op2 looked at each other.. and the told that it's done.. They offered me eclairs and asked to leave...

I paid salutations and left the room... :banghead:

Observations--- A Loooooooooot of Academic questions or should I say totally Academic interview... I was wondering whether it was an interview for admission of students or teachers for MBA?? They were just judging my knowledge on commerce..


All the Best to me and to everyone... I did the best i could....
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I have a strange feeling that You have made it.....

If you finally do...I need a party for this awesome prediction...

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My interview took place at IIFT, Delhi in the evening slot on the 14th.

Profile :
X - 90.4%
XII - 93.2%
College - 82.44% (NSIT, Delhi)
Work Ex - 33 months, Software Developer, Adobe Systems

CAT % -
QA - 99.24
DI - 99.24
VA - 99.65

Total - 99.94%

Any other special thing about you (like Olympiad,NTSE etc.) :
NTSE, JSTS and some more. Top 20/50 positions in Elementary, Junior & Senior Olympiads. Some more awards for B. Tech. Project

Hobbies : Reading, Sketching, Driving.

Essay Topic: Child artists are an exploited lot today
Time: 10 mins
Any Other Details: Around 40 people in all came in that slot. Broken up into 4 batches. Each batch had a different panel. The batch of 10 was first asked to sit in a room and write an essay for 10 minutes. After which we were told to wait outside for our interviews. Interviews were taken in some random order, not alphabetical or anything.

PI Experience:
There were 2 panelists in my case and they both looked quite cool. I had been chatting a lot with some college juniors in the same batch of 10. That relaxed me a lot. A LOT. And writing the essay (no matter how badly I wrote it), also helped me cool down.

Also, I was the 5th to be interviewed by my panel. And the guys before that were all talking about how acad heavy all the interviews were. I tried my best not to think about it and go with the flow. Plus, it helped that I was having fun chatting :D

Let us call the panelists P1 & P2.

P1: (comes out of the room and calls for me. Also holds the door open for me.)
Me: Thank You Sir and Good Afternoon.
P1: Good Afternoon
Me (to P2) : Good Afternoon sir.
P2: Good Afternoon
Me: May I take a seat sir?
P2: Yes, please sit down.
P1: (to P2) I will just go and wash my face. Be back in a mo.
Me: (thinking that P2 will wait for him, but he starts nevertheless)
P2: So. Tell me what you do when you are not working.
Me: One of my passions is reading especially the works of Tolkein & Agatha Christie. For the last 1.5 years I have also been spending a lot of time working for an NGO that is involved in running some schools.
P2: Tell me more
Me: (I talk a bit about this NGO, where the schools are, my role, yada yada)
P2: So where do you operate out of? Your own building or on rent?
Me: Told him
P2: And have you taken over some other school or is it a green-field school?
Me: (Thinking a green field school? Does that mean a new initiative from scratch? Most probably.) Told him the details.
(In the meantime P1 has come back and has asked for my file. He is flipping through it)
P2: It seems to me that your vision is not clear. Do you get satisfaction out of working for this NGO? (P1 nodding vigorously)
Me: Of Course etc etc..
P2: Then why do you want to pursue an MBA? Is it that your parents are pressurising you, your friends are pressurising you to work while you want to work in the education sector? (P1 still nodding, more vehemently now)
Me: Sir, my long term vision is ..... And this is how working here is alligned with it.
(Don't know why I said that. I had a much better answer in mind. But, never mind..!)
P1: I agree (with P2). Your goal seems to be lacking clarity. Then he rambles quite a bit.
Me: Sir, an MBA will also help me impact the society. My current job role is limiting my impact. I'll get more visibility, make more business contacts etc etc. A lot was said here.
P2: I don't understand how you get visibility from an MBA. And how will that help anyway. For instance, differentiate between Narayan Murthy & Baba Amte's efforts.
Me: (I was prepared for that. Had a good example in mind as well.) Told how Narayan Murthy is also serving the society by creating so many jobs. Jobs lead to income. Income leads to education for children. And that is what I am also doing. And gave him my example and prepared reasons also. P2 looked convinced. (Or at least I thought so then. Now, in hindsight, it could also mean that forget this chap, he is a goner..! )Nodded to P1 to take over.
P1: So, tell me more about the innovations you have been involved in at your job. (Had written about that in the form)
Me: Told him about two.
P1: Wanted to understand the two.
Me: Told him that due to confidentiality reasons I can't tell him about the first. Told a bit about the second.
P1: But isn't this idea similar to .....
Me: Told him the differences
P1: (Not satisfied. This idea had a patent angle to it) What are the pre-conditions to be met before filing a patent?
Me: Told him about one pre-condition I knew at my work place.
P1: So can you file a patent for a technology that uses open software.
Me: Depends on the licensing. Also gave some gyaan about product patents being the norm and not process patents etc. (Was happy with my answer then, not so anymore)
P1: OK.
(Again vigorous nodding among the two. Then some inconsequential talk that I can not remember.)
P2: Well, that is it. You may leave.
Me: Thank You Sir (to both)
P1: You may take a toffee.
Me: (Took one) Thank You sir.

That is it. A interview over & done with. Was weird as it was different from the others till then. To sum up, no acads asked. Just work-ex & hobbies.

Verdict : Converted..!

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@kartikeya and khushaal

Thanks for sharing guys!! What were your ECA and hobbies like? Any significant ahievements in those areas? I am asking because I find it weird that there are no HR questions and hobby questions. I have a feeling they go into Extra-currics and hobbies etc. only if you either have significant achievements in those areas or if you lead the interviewers to ECA and hobbies with your answers.

All the best to everyone!! May they ask everyone only the stuff that they know well 😁 😉

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Guys I am a fresher and my interview did not go great as I was totally grilled on acads(my biggest weakness). They took my marksheet and asked about every possible subject including but not limited to RDBMS, Software Engineering, Probability And Stats, Data Structure, Networking and what not.. No stereotype questions.. Every fresher must brush acads before going so that u dont face what i faced. and yes i was asked why mba? and some gk related things too.. Dont know what will be my fate.. Best of luck to all of u.

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@kartikeya and khushaal

Thanks for sharing guys!! What were your ECA and hobbies like? Any significant ahievements in those areas? I am asking because I find it weird that there are no HR questions and hobby questions. I have a feeling they go into Extra-currics and hobbies etc. only if you either have significant achievements in those areas or if you lead the interviewers to ECA and hobbies with your answers.

All the best to everyone!! May they ask everyone only the stuff that they know well 😁 ;)

Raze, I don't have many things in profile.. My hobbies just include painting and body building.. May be they both were oblivion to these two things.. Thats y they didn't ask much about them.. But you should prepare each and every aspect of ur profile... And about HR questions, As per my observations, theY have stopped asking those questions for which Coaching instititutes provide reay-made answers... ATB!
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I would advise against making haste in dissecting the process and pronouncing judgement. From my experiences last year as well as those of my batchmates, I can tell you that each interview is different and unique - as is each interviewee and even, interviewer.

Point is puys, on the off chance that you are asked a stock question like 'Tell me about yourself' or 'Why MBA?', you cannot afford to sound under-prepared (if you look at my blog, you will find that I was asked one/both of these questions in more than one interview).

Just remember you have to put forward a calm demeanour and appear confident whatever be the question.

All the best!

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Finally!! IIM A interview done

Profile :
X - 83.4% CBSE
XII - 74.6 % CBSE
GPA - 7.05/10
College - PEC, Chandigarh (CSE)
Work Ex - Nope

CAT % - 99.98
QA - 99.96
DI - 99.40
VA - 98.98

Total -
Calls : A and C (yea, i know, wtf!)

Any other special thing about you (like Olympiad,NTSE etc.) : NAA!




Fresher,
BE in CSE (Final Year)
Grad: 7.05/10 (CGPA) translates to 65.05%
10th - 83.4%
12th - 74.6%

Had it on 14th in the afternoon slot.
Essay topic : Child artists are an exploited lot.
Almost completed the essay but had to compromise on writing and clarity and depth of content (i thought so, dunno what they think or how the other essays were)
IMP TIP NO 1 : this time they ARE proving a rough sheet for the essay to structure your thoughts. BUT the problem is, the rough sheet is very alluring. Everyone thinks ki isko use kar ke mast structured ho jaayega essay. And this rough work takes away 2-3 mins when you realize it's pointless. MY PERSONAL ADVICE: think for half a minute, scribble a few words on the rough sheet and get to work! What benefit does a well structured essay have if it remains on the rough sheet only?

Then we had to wait for the PI. there were 4 groups and ours was the most awesome of them all. We were laughing aloud and though none of us knew each other prior to the day, we gelled along really well. And this really helped in relieving the pressure, along with the essay. Across the hall we could see the other group members sitting alone, isolated and gloomy.
IMP TIP NO 2 : Trust me puys, stay chill and stay calm. Talk to people in your group. Really helps. And a few tech questions were same for consecutive participants. So staying in touch also helps.

PI:roughly 20 mins.
first 10 mins, discussion on acads. knew a decent amount of questions.
Then they shift to the essay topic and start discussing on that.
Child artists leads to media and reality shows and should they be censored on not and society in general. (very sarkaari discussion )
Then they move on to the women reservation bill and my opinion on it. One of them stated trying to grill me one on one in this. But since it's something too subjective, i think i defended my stance decently up until the other guy nudged him in the arm to indicate ki bas! Ab ye nahi samajh aaya mujhe ki iskha kya matlab hua tha?
It could have either meant ki time ho gaya OR ki chadd de bache ki kyun watt laga raha hai OR iska kuch nahi hona is se poochne ka fayada nahi ahi
And yes, beech mei chalte chalte acads ke beech mein WHY MBA?. Come as a shock! Then recovered and covered it up

They didn't talk at all about my interests or me. I dont know how to rate it. Seniors help!

Anyways, ALL THE BEST to all others. Hope my experience helps


PS : dont remember the exact questions so have posted just the outline. questions were very contextual.

UPDATE
Verdict : Converted!

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Thread name edited & made sticky..

All the Best


Thanks for doing so.. I had realized the mistake immediately after starting the thread... couldn't figure out how to correct it
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amarnath21 Says
Mine is IIM-A (ABM) on 21-Mar-2010 @ IMI Delhi

Is anyone here who has call from IIM-A ABM ?
Mine is on 21st in delhi.



This thread is meant exclusively for Essay PI experiences.
Kindly use the below thread for such queries.

http://www.pagalguy.com/discussions/2010-2012-iim-ahmedabad-call-getters-discussion-25050793

Please do add your details in GD PI connect which should serve this particular purpose.
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Had my PI today...
Profile:
Fresher, B.Tech in Engg. Physics , iitd, final sem
10th - 88.8% CBSE
12th - 92.8% CBSE
GPA - 7.7/10
CAT - 99.88 %ile
Cocurrics/Extracurrics - NTSE , maths olympiad, no extra-currics

Venue: IIFT, Delhi 8:45 AM

Essay topic was "Foreign direct investment will revitalize the education system" or something like that.

I could write only 2 paras..about 12 lines, just 1 major point and couldn't finish..

Interview:
Had 2 profs in panel.. one in 40s and other in 50s I guess. Wasn't expecting so much acads with such an uncommon graduation stream.. but it started off with the btp!! And since they didn't know what my stream is all about, they started asking about hardcore physics stuff like relativity etc. which we were never taught :|

Anyway I managed the btp related questions well and there were questions on hobbies and general awareness, some questions on cricket despite the fact that cricket was nowhere on my profile ... then they asked about the MNIK controversy and the MF Husain citizenship controversy..

No questions on essay for me... I guess it was a bad essay :(

Duration 15-20 mins., one of the shorter ones in my lot. Don't know what to make of that.

Verdict: Reject

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1Profile:
22 months work experience, B.Tech in Information technology , iiita
10th - 86.4% CBSE
12th - 81.0% CBSE
GPA - 7.68/10
CAT - 99.86 %ile
Cocurrics/Extracurrics - two international papers IEEE ,chess nationals

Venue: IIFT, Delhi 8:45 AM

Essay topic was "Foreign direct investment will revitalize the education system"
wrote pretty well , i think they would have liked my essay

The prof came out calling me varun bhai.. come
i was like varun bhai.,.. yeh kya bol rahe hai..
asked me why did the other prof call me bhai..
i said no idea.. might have been to make the atmosphere informal..
again asked.. told even during my internship in iima ,no prof called me that..
asked which prof i interned when.. told
..again ..i said gujrati lingo ..
okay..
asked my previous years percentile in cat answered 95%
he asked why am being apolgetic about it.. i said i felt i could have done better.. gave a smile..i also said i am much better person now..
asked which stage i reached my civils paper
i answered i took mains last year
questions on projects
IEEE papers
remotely controlled electronic circuit published in IEEE WCSN 2005
talked how we used a mobile phone to control a electronic circuit ,how it was certified by microsoft etc..
.. talked in detail .. told that well
asked what electrical appliances in the room use software , answered
but couldn't answer general queries on embedded software ,told it is like a sensor in your mobile phone.. that would be an example of a embedded softtware
...
natural language processing IEEE paper two..iee NLP 2005
described the paper.. he started to ask why we can't code in natural language .. i answered due to ambiguity
he wasn't satisfied ..
..i said i don't know i told what i think..

the topic came to bhagvad gita my hobbies
big discusssion
was asked to recite a sloka.. i said i am really bad in sanskrit.. i recite some examples in english translation
talked about gita in two mins
bhakti yoga jyanyoga karmyoga..
described them..
a discussion on contribution of sanjay..
..actually incoherence marked this discussion cause they wanted some answer and i told something else..which was related..
..
he asked me to take toffee and leave
actually asked me to take two..
then wanted to see my certificates..:)
saw my national certificates..
asked about chess ..
i told 3 century ad gupta age.. known as chaturang.. shatranj.. wanted to know the origin..all this while i was standing.. said not sure..about the origin but i know that check lead to the modern name of chess..
anyways.. then wanted to see my research papers.. i was like don't have them on me..they are available online on ieee site..the other prof asked me about co authors told 3 in one and 4 in the other(i was thanking heaven i didn't get them.. otherwise we might have spent an hour discussing them).. and under prof in iiit
..asked about my work experience.. (i am still standing.. )told my achievements cordination skills ,module testing .. blah.. how it led to formation of new integrated testing team in Nsn bangalore..
they said okay you can leave, i said
thank you..and said it is an honour to meet you sir

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I feel like your interview wa sawesome...@varun

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Profile :

X : 91.0
XII : 93.0
CAT : 99.92
Work Ex : 20 Months

Slot 17th March , 8:45 , IIFT Delhi

Topic for Essay : India Versus Bharat : a divided nation

I was the first one to go. There were two professors , one aged 55 (P1) and other one was 40 (P2).

P1 : Tell me something about yourself.
Me : Started answering and was cut in between after 1-2 min.
P1 : What is NAND Gate.
Me : Explained
P1 : Draw Half and Full adder by NAND Gates.
Me : Was able to and explained quite well.
P1 : Asked me to optimize that circuit.
Me : I started optimizing.
P1 : Told , Its kk and asked about my Final Year Project.
Me : Explained
P1 : Asked What subjects i Like ?
Me : Digital and Microprocessors . Asked some questions and was able to answer most of them.
P1 : Asked about my company and work profile
Me : Answered
By this P2 was looking my original certificate and extra curricular certificate.
P2: Asked me the spelling of Launch.
Me : Written as lanch in the form . Asked to correct.
P2: Asked about the Automobile industry and effect of budget on this.
Me : Told him
P2: Latest car being launched in india and asked me to compare it with others in the same segment.
Me : Told.
P2: Difference between excise and sales tax.
Me : Explained it quite well.

Finally both discussed and asked me to take a toffee and leave.

Hello Puys ...What to take out of this. They didn't asked me anything great. It was very casual interview. Fingers Crossed.