How difficult is it to get into IIM Ahmedabad? I'm a fresher at VIT Vellore.

It’s good that you are starting your MBA preparation from your first year. This will definitely give you a head start. IIM Ahmedabad is a great place to study but it needs a lot of effort. To clear the CAT entrance examination, you have to do exceptionally well in aptitude. CAT is one of the toughest examinations in India. This is so tough that even the students who perform great in their academics end up scoring 55-65% in the CAT examination.

At this stage, you should mainly focus on your graduation degree and prepare from the aptitude in parallel with the degree for the CAT exam. Always keep a track of the latest syllabus as there is a change in pattern. To get admission to IIM Ahmedabad, you need to attain more than 99.9 percentile in the entrance exam, and along with that, you will need a strong academic background, i.e. good marks in 10th, 12th, and in graduation also.

Some important tips that you can follow are, as here.

• Complete your graduation degree with more than 9 CGPA as CGPA plays a very important role in both getting admission in IIM Ahmedabad and a hostel room in the VIT campus.
• Get well-versed in English and practice the reading and verbal comprehension questions because, after logical reasoning, English is the most challenging section in the exam.
• Go for the campus placement first. Have a job and attain a work experience of at least 6 months so that you can get an idea and also it will be an advantage in the interviews in IIM.
• Attempt for the entrance exam in the final year and if you attain good marks sit for the interview and pursue MBA or else go for the campus placement and attempt for CAT after some work experience of around 6-12 months. This way you can have the backup plan ready.

Hope this helps.