My IIM Ahmedabad Interview

I went (to the venue) ....
I saw ( the campus) .....
I conquered (the toffee given at the end & Chai-biscuit available for free) ....


Finally, the Big Day came. Passed by without a sweat. Now this will keep me guessing all the way till April !


First, some background...

X : 80.60 %
XII : 72.60 %
CAT : 99.90 %
Academics : In my final year B.E. Computer Science
Avg till now : 77.65 %


IIMA Interview date and time : 18th February ( 3 months from the D-Day)....9:00 A.M.


Alrighty, here it goes...


I was trying to cool myself down yesterday. I wanted to get a little more prepared (from some previous Pagalguy Interviews). The previous interviews were basically focussed on Technicals, something I was not at all comfortable with. So I tried to be fairly prepared for atleast some subjects this time around.


The whole day, I was just watching the IND V/s AUS Match (Kaash nahi Dekhta ! ). The day just went by having fun (trying to 4get that the next day was supposed to be the big day). I arranged my folder trying to make it look attractive ( I spent 2 Hrs in that). Then at around 10:00 pm, I realised that I just had around 11 Hrs remaining ! I quickly revised a bit of 'Data Structures' and 'Operating Systems' - those were the easy ones (or so I thought ! ). I revised my career goal once again. Then I rehearsed my 'About Myself' once again - the question I hate the most ! All in around an hour. Then I slept like a log. Woke up at around 7:00 am. Had tea and was ready by about 8:00 am.


Reached the campus (Yahin rehna hai do saal ... agar rehne de to !!!) by 8:45 am. Found two friends from IIML interview. A prof. came and announced the name of the students in the 3rd panel. Then another prof. announced that of the second panel. Finally,another prof. came and I was in for the 1st panel. They waited around 10-15 Mins for 2 students who hadn't come (These people are so considerate man...there was a rickshaw strike today in Ahmedabad...They actually waited for students because of that !).


Soon after, we were ushered into a room. There were some tables arranged in a round fashion. We sat there randomly. There were two professors in the room (P1 and P2). I can't describe them accurately except both were of a fair complexion and none looked old ( 30 - 50s). We were asked to keep the CAT card on the table and take out the Blue interview form. One Prof. (P1) checked all the CAT admit cards which we then put back in our folders. Then we were asked to put down our folders and all the stuff we were carrying and asked to write an essay on the topic :


CAT SHOULD CAT GO ONLINE
(Thnk God, it wasn't issue based...)


We were given 10 Mins for this. I underestimated the time and wrote the essay quickly in 5-6 Mins. I'd filled up the space by then. So just sat there doing nothing thereafter. I saw them go to my form (they carried some sort of a green form having everybody's details...I recognized my pic there) and note down something in it ( I just hope that wasn't anything bad, I finished before time...is that bad ? Maybe I'm an impulsive guy or maybe I do things without thinking. Eh ? Only GOD knows...Might as well be good ... Both P1 and P2 laughed among themselves while writing that down). Anyways, as soon as 10 Mins got over, P2 came and took our forms. Then we were asked to wait outside. We sat outside and were supposed to be called in the order in which the names were annouced previously ( I was the second guy....Ohh God !!!).


We just did a lot of bakar sitting outside, trying to keep the tension out of our minds. The first persons from both panel 2 and 3 came outside after some time. Both had pretty chilled out interviews. Then after about 25 mins, the first person from our panel came out. He said the interview was pretty chilled out but he felt bad about the answers he gave there. My heart started beating ( The moment of judgement !). Then P2 came outside and called me in. I was almost inside the room attached to the interview rooms. So he didn't have to come very far to call me. I smiled from far and he smiled back..."Sivaprasad Nair, ya, come inside !". Nice start ??? Well, who knows ?


I went inside smiling. P2 and P3 ( a person who smiled rarely, was the technical prof.) were seated. Then P1 sat too after some secs. P1 in the middle, P2 on my right and P3 on my left. Here's the conversation as far as I can remember...(Sorry for missing out some. It's hard to remember when ur hearts pumping so fast....)


Me : May I come in sir ? (With a smile)
P1/P2 : Yes, sure / sure , we called you (Both smiling)
P1 : Indicates that I may sit.
Me : Good Morning sir (Thrice) and then sit down.
P1 : (While I was sitting down) May we have a look at your folder ?
Me : Sure, sir ( I hand it over)


(Then P1 was reading my folder most of the interview time )


P2 : OK Sivaprasad, tell me about your background.
Me : You mean my origins, sir ?
P2 : No, I mean your schooling and your educational background etc.
Me : Right sir, I have done my schooling from ...blah... and am currently in the final year of my B.E. majoring in Computer science. I am doing my BE from .....blah.... in Indore. ...blah...blah....I was in the top five ranks of my class....
P2 : How many students were there in your class ?
Me : Around 30, sir
P2 : You you were in the top 5 ? Ok ....Continue
Me : ...blah...I was in NCC.....overall commander.....blah....
P2 : (He was asking questions in between, confirming everything I said, i.e. making me repeat certain words) OK now, what is the overall structure of NCC ?
Me : Sir, there are four divisions...blah....
P2 : No, what is the overall structure ?
Me : Sir, I was in the junior division, so I dont know the overall structure at the top.
P2 : OK, who is the top authority in Indian politics ?
Me : The PM
P2 : Then after that ?
Me : (After 2 secs) The Members of Parliament.
P2 : Right, now are you a ticket holder in some political party ?
Me : Sir, Pardon...(What is this ?)
P2 : Repeats
Me : No Sir....
P2 : Right, so if you can know this much about the structure of politics without being in politics, why should you not know the structure of NCC ?
Me : (Man, what a reason....What shud I say now ?) Sir I didn't try to find out a lot about NCC that's why.
P2 : ( Now approves the answer finally) Ok, describe it in your level
Me : Sir in every school that there is NCC, a teacher is trained especially for this........blah....blah....blah....ranks......bla h....
P2 : So what did you do at the NCC ?
Me : Sir we went to firing competitions (Oops), Sir, I mean not firing competitions but training...
P2 : So what rifle did you use ?
Me : (Stumped but with some thought) Sir, I dont actually recall the name, it was back in 10th but it was "Dot 2 something something" I dont remember the full name.
P2 : So what is this number specifying ?
Me : (Took a guess), Sir,its the barrel.......the......diameter....
P2 : Is there a term for it ?
Me : (After some thought) Calibre
P2 : Calibre ( as though approving)
P1 : (Smiling) Was it "2 not 2 "
Me : Sir I've heard about "3 not 3's" but definitely it was not "2 not 2"
P1 : (With a smile and a little mockingly, shayad) So it was " Dot two !"
Me : (Smiling) Sir It isn't but I dont remember the exact name



P2 : Ok....so u're from Computer Science...What all subjects did you enjoy ?
(Hehe....mar gaye !!! )
Me : Sir......I enjoyed Data Structures
P2 : Right, then ?
Me : I enjoyed Operating Systems
P2 : Ok, then ?
Me : (Bas....ab kya boloon ? ) I also had Database Management Systems
P2 : See, we want to ask u questions from ur subjects. Which subjects will you be more comfortable answering ?
Me : (None, but well...) Data Structures !!!
P2 : smiling and pointing to P3, over to you sir ...


( Chalo, here we go !!!)
P3 : Ok, let us take data structures...
....blah....How to store large data.....complexity of running....availability of space....what if the data can be anything from 1 to 1 billion elements ?........
P3 : Now, in operating systems
....blah.....concurrency problem....critical region......which OS I worked in....which uses what scheduling......is pre-emption necessary.....what if only one process......
P2 : Now let me goto your project....You are making .....blah....... right ? (I told them earlier)
Me : Sir, I wasn't talking about it because we have just made the design part. Not the coding.
P2 : (a little impatiently) Ok, say all about it...
Me : Sir we have ......blah.....blah.....
P2 : So which language are you working in ?
Me : (Defensively)......Sir we planned to initially use Java EE and I will have to learn it first but since I was busy in interviews, my friends called me up and said that they have shifted to dot net.


P1 : (Pointing towards my interview data form) So, you have done your schooling from St. Paul's. So, tell me who is this "St. Paul" !
Me : ????
P1 : No, I'm just asking out of curiosity, who is this "St. Paul " ?
Me : Sir I did read about him somewhere in the history of St. Paul's but I didn't notice much because he was just a name to me. He must be some highly placed priest.
P1 : Can you tell me the year in which he existed ?
Me : Sir, I don't remember exactly, but he was in the 16 hundreds.
( I dont remember what they said cuz all were speaking at the same time...then)
P1 : Which religion did he preach ?
Me : Pardon !
P1 : (Repeats)
Me : (In a wasn't-that-obvious tone) Christianity !
P1 : OK, so was he a disciple of Christ ?
Me / P1 : No / (To P1) No, he mentioned that he was in the 16 Hundreds...
( They again started speaking at the same time...I couldn't understand whom I was answering)
P1 : (A little impatiently but smiling) I am just asking you, did he come to India ?
Me : No sir, I'm not aware !
P1 : (smiling) OK ... You have mentioned that you were the college topper in the first year. Do you have any certificate for this ?
Me : (With a Plz-understand-me type of smile) Sir, we are not given certificates for this. But I have the marksheet. Surely, 84.70 was the highest in that year.
P1 & P2 : (smiling) OK...
P3 : Ok tell me, when did Christianity come to India ?
Me : I dont know, sir
P3 : OK, Take a guess...I'll give it to you if you are even 100 years within the target.
Me : (Smiling) I can take a gueeeesssss..............In the 1600's, along with the British, no the portugese....
P1 : Which country came at the beginning to India ?
Me & P1 together : Portugese...
P3 : (in a low voice but smiling) Both answers were way off the mark but anyway
(They looked at each other and then finished the interview)
Me : Have a nice day sirs
P1 : (Smiling) Take a chocolate...
(I leave !!!)


Well Guyz, that was pretty much the whole thing. The profs are real cool and chilled out. They behave in a very friendly manner and are ready to assist you in speaking. They want to know you the best possible way. They check almost everything. Well, there is no doubt that they are much more experienced than we can ever imagine. So there's no use predicting results. I tried all I can and I have no reason to believe that I will get rejected or selected. Just hope remains !!!