Utkarsh Singh Khati is a MBA-IB student at IIFT Delhi. He converted to IIFT Delhi with 98.03% in the IIFT Entrance Exam. He graduated from Acharya Narendra Dev College, DU with 74%. Utkarsh had no prior work experience. He has shared his MBA Admission story with the Collegedunia Team, read below. 

Utkarsh Singh Khati

Collegedunia Team: What was your IIFT percentile? Did you avail reservation benefits for MBA-IB Admission?

Utkarsh: I secured 98.03% in the IIFT 2021 Examination. No, I didn’t avail any reservation benefits as I am from the general category.

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Collegedunia Team: Can you please describe your Pre MBA Academic Performance for Collegedunia readers?

Utkarsh: Yes, I had scored 10 GPA in my 10 boards and had a decent score in 12 board exams, i.e 93.40%. Also, I had completed my graduation with 74%. 

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Collegedunia Team: Describe the general setting of WAT / GD (if any).

Utkarsh: Instead of a WAT/GD, there was an extempore round since the mode of the second round of assessment was online. Since the last few years, IIFT has been changing the traditional mode of GD and WAT with the extempore. The extempore and Personal Interview take place together and there is no delay. The structure of the extempore was 1 minute given to think about the topic and had to speak for three minutes. Students were allowed to use a pen and paper in order to note down the points in mind and to form a structure. 

There were around 3 professors who were assessing my extempore. The assessment was based on the clarity / articulation of the communication, the content and the structure of my speech. 

After the end of two minutes it was indicated through a hand gesture that 1 minute is left so that we could proceed towards the conclusion. 

Once the extempore was over, the professors proceeded towards Personal Interview. 

Collegedunia Team: What was the WAT/GD Topic?

Utkarsh: The topic given for the Extempore round- Increasing green spaces in urban areas

Collegedunia Team: What was your answer/points put forward for the WAT or GD respectively?

Utkarsh: In the one minute that was given to me I prepared a structure of what I was going to say. Initially I was going to say why there was a need for increasing the urban spaces. I mentioned about the latest IPCC report which had laid down all the contingencies of what was gonna happen if there is no course correction. I also added the rate of urbanisation that was taking place in the country. The increasing number of natural calamities and climate change are drastically changing the environmental outlook. 

Then for the next one minute I talked about what needs to be done for the course correction. Changes in policies, educational outlook, and mobilisation among people is a key ingredient in thinking of a better future. I gave examples of vertical farming practices in China, Japan and some southeast Asian countries. 

Lastly, I mentioned the role and importance of it from the Indian perspective. India’s role is very important in the global scenario and its performance in the Paris Agreement has been impressive. On this note I concluded with more stress towards a greener future. 

Collegedunia Team: Describe the general setting of your personal Interview.

Utkarsh: The mode of the interview was online. The interview duration was around 30 minutes. There were 3 members in my panel and if I remember correctly there were 12 panels. The interview was not a stress interview and started off with general HR questions. Post that we moved towards some academic questions covering subjects like chemistry and economics. I had taken a minor in economics and mentioned it in the application form as well. I was also asked some questions related to my hometown ( Bareilly). This was done probably to check my general knowledge of my surroundings.

Pro-Tips that I would suggest would be- 

1) HR answers are very important. Be as thorough and diverse with your answers as possible. There is a very good chance that the interview would be driven by the type of answers you are giving. 

2) Be aware of the history of the place you are living in and what it is known for. Since my interview was by a Trade Professor who was in the panel, I was asked by her which commodity is exported from Bareilly?

3) If you are a fresher, preparing academic questions is a must. If you have a work ex, a sound knowledge of the work ex, the company, its values, recently in the news must be known.

Collegedunia Team: Mention at least 5 questions that were asked in IIFT Delhi Interview and how you responded to each of them?

Utkarsh: The questions asked during the Interview are:

Ques 1. Can you give us the name of two elements which are liquid at room temperature?

Ans. I told them the two elements I knew, which were Mercury and Bromine.

Ques 2. What is the famous product or commodity exported from Bareilly?

Ans. I mentioned the export of Bamboo Products. And also added that the trade is decreasing. But countered by the interviewer as she said that the data says otherwise. 

Ques 3. Why should we select you?

Ans. I tried giving them strong reasons to select me. I told them my greatest strength which included that I am enthusiastic for new work, and always finds room for improvement. I think the dynamics of the world of business are always changing and this strength would be of great asset to any organisation. Also, I have empathy to the core of my values. This too, I believe, would help me contribute efficiently and build teamwork. Moreover, I consider myself to be a hard-working person who, if necessary, wont shy away from burning the midnight oil. 

Ques 4. What specialisation have you thought of for yourself?

Ans. Since this will be a new field for me, I haven’t decided on the majors that I am planning to take as of now. So, I don’t want to go with a preconceived notion of a specialization field. I know that I would have the option to explore the subjects in the first trimester and would like to do that. After studying the subjects, consulting with professors, batchmates and seniors, I would then like to reach a decision.

Ques 5. Can you tell me the name of the famous song in which Bareilly is mentioned and who sang it?

Ans. Name of the song: Jhumka Gira Re and I couldn't recall the name of the artist who sang it. 

Collegedunia Team: Mention any three reasons why you chose this college over other colleges which you converted.

Utkarsh: The three main reasons were:

  1. Taking a look at the curriculum the differentiator with other business schools is that there is the focus on international trade. The pedagogy is focusing on the international aspect be it subjects like intl marketing management, internal economics, intl trade ops and documentation, intl business strategy etc. 
  2. The ROI of IIFT is better than the other converts I had (NMIMS). Moreover, I wanted to be associated with a Trade College due to my interest in Trade as well. 
  3. The package of IIFT Delhi is a very attractive opportunity for me to pursue MBA from the college and undoubtedly IIFT was my best call. 

Collegedunia Team: What was the reason for you not converting other colleges?

Utkarsh: There were two colleges I could not convert: 

SIBM Pune- My interview was very academically driven. I found the questions to be tough and application based which I was not prepared for very well. I had not brushed up my concepts well and the result was evident to the professor. Moreover, I had a low score in SNAP as well but there were people who had converted the call with similar score as well. 

For SIBM Pune, there was a group discussion that took place as well. 

SCMHRD- Although my interview with SCMHRD went well and the questions were mainly HR based and limited to simple case based questions, I could have handled the case based question a little bit better. 

Preparing simple case based questions can really help the aspirants give insights into the decision making process.