Admission Story: Deepankar, IIM Kashipur, 97.69%, CAT

Deepankar scored 97.69 percentile in the CAT which led to his admission to the MBA course at IIM Kashipur. He completed his graduation from KIIT University and he has a work experience of 5.5 years as an Assistant Manager or Day-to-Day branch operations at Indian Overseas Bank.

Deepankar Profile

Current institute: IIM Kashipur
Graduation College: KIIT University
CAT score: 97.69 %ile
10th Percentage / GPA: 82%
12th Percentage / GPA: 81.20%
Graduation Percentage/GPA: 80%
Work Experience: Indian Overseas Bank, 5.5 Years, Assistant Manager, Day-to-day branch operations.

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Deepankar Admission Experience

Did you avail of the benefit of any reservation?

Deepankar: “General (No reservation).”

Describe the general setting of WAT / GD (if any)?

Deepankar: “Although the CAP (Common Admission Process, for new IIMs), did not have any GD round and only had WAP and PI rounds, I have had the experience of GDs at XLRI, MDI and others.

CAP WAP Process:

As there were quite a few aspirants in the WAP round, we were made to sit in a huge hall at a hotel in Delhi. Everyone was divided into groups of 10-15 people and then each set of aspirants was assigned a different topic. They gave us 5 minutes to read and think about the topic on the paper and then we could write for another 20 minutes.

My view is, it is important to structure your thoughts and put them out as a logical flow of content. The understanding is that the evaluators look for these things in a WAP answer:

General written ability and grammar
Logical flow of ideas/information
An opening and a conclusion
Not exceeding the word limit

There were around one and a half pages of space to write the answer.

For GD processes at XLRI, MDI, etc.

It is as important to listen in the GDs as it is to speak!

The processes start very systematically. The groups are decided once you reach the interview center. The group size may range from 6-8 people.

There were multiple people judging the process at all the places. The judges give out a topic and say that we can start after two minutes. The experience is different in the sense that there is ample amount of time for everyone to speak and if one has something so speak he/she will surely get a chance to do so. The judges look for the clarity of thought and how well one is able to understand the other people's point of view. Body language even while one is not speaking is of prime importance.

Pro-Tip -

Acknowledge the pointers of others with nods and yeses.
It's not a fight, you can smile :)
All your pointers don't have to be 2-3 sentences long. You can keep adding ideas to others points as well.
Important to have a definite view (for most topics) and stick to it while accepting other people's opinions too"

What was the WAT / GD Topic?

Deepankar: “WAT Topic (CAP) - Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication

GD Topic (MDI) - India needs to focus better on its defense capabilities in order to become a super power "

What were your answer/points put forward for the WAT or GD respectively?

Deepankar: "WAT: 1. The topic was a vague one which needed thoughts to start. I started with examples of Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam and how a man of limited requirements and uncomplicated nature was able to propel India to become a force in space science.

Examples from personal experiences were also shared.
Some philosophical statements like- the more knowledgeable one becomes, the better understanding of the world one has, the simpler he/she becomes as a person.
Ending with examples of Sachin Tendulkar and Mahatma Gandhi.

GD: 1. Started with - What should be the parameters to judge a new age superpower

Compared the defense spending of China and USA with that of India's, in terms of percentage
The fact that other developed countries have already countered the major issues of poverty, hunger, education, and healthcare
Accepted the point of view that the Indian subcontinent is not that stable but added a few points about Pakistan & china being the only cause of concern”

Describe the general setting of your personal Interview.

Deepankar: “These are true for most of the interviews I gave:

Two members in the panel.
7-10 Panels for CAP process
These were mostly the faculty of the respective colleges
The interviews were in offline mode (2019)
On average, these interviews last for 15-25 mins
CAP interview was not a stress interview

Some Pro tips:

You can politely say that you do not know the answer to a question
A little welcoming smile in between shows openness
Do not put your files on their table.
Them offering cookies/chocolates does not mean anything"

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Mention at least 5 interview questions that were asked to you and your responses to each of them.

Deepankar: "1: Please speak about the farm loan waivers, you have two minutes

Answer: Introduced what farm loan waivers are. Added personal experience of interacting with the farmers while employed at the bank. Some opinions about the way governments across the country are using it as a tool for vote bank. Some pros and cons of the same.

2: Explain your career journey till now, why a switch from IT to banking and now an MBA

Answer: Explained that I needed to broaden my horizon. Gave an argument that all the senior leaders in the industry have worn varied hats in terms of the kind of responsibilities they have taken up throughout their careers.

3: You had this XYZ subject in your graduation, can you explain what you learnt there.

Answer: Apologies sir, this was very long back that I studied these so I may be a bit off the mark here, but this subject dealt with ...blah blah...explained whatever I remembered.

4: As you are a banker yourself, tell us what do you think about the recent issue with ICICI Bank and its CEO Mrs. Chanda Kocher

Answer: Sir, as you may know, the issue is related to consortium lending by a few banks and money being siphoned off or the account turning to NPA. My view is that there are no blacks and whites in this and we should not go by the media trial which is ongoing right now. The consortium lends on a particular basis and the size of the consortium was also not small in this case. So, Mrs. Kocher may have had some influence and is certainly responsible to some extent but putting the entire blame on one shoulder may lead to other culprits escaping persecution.

5: Explain what is CAR, Repo rates, Balance of Payments, etc.

Answer: Asked because I was working in the financial sector. Explained these general terms and also had a few discussions. "

Mention 3 reasons why you chose this college over other colleges which you converted.

Deepankar: “I chose IIM Kashipur because:-

Decent placement records and campus
The college had almost completed 10 years of existence
The IIM brand name
All other converted colleges were ranked lower than this”

What was the reason for you not converting other colleges? (if any)

Deepankar: “One of the drawbacks of these processes is that you rarely get to know why you did not convert to a few better colleges. But some of the reasons that I can guess are:-

Colleges not comfortable in admitting an aspirant with 5+ years of work-ex for a regular MBA program
I could have been better prepared for a few topics from my field of work that i actually was
The answer to career path could have been more clearer and should have shown a vision ahead."

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