Against All Odds | InsideIIM

Countless Roadblocks Came My Way Yet I Made It To IIM Calcutta, Ft. Prakhar Sharma

Prakhar Sharma hails from Vadodara, Gujarat. He pursued his schooling from Nalanda International School and took up CA as a career post his 12th grade. What makes him a true inspiration is his determination to make it big in life and his career, despite having Nystagmus. Nystagmus is a vision condition in which the eyes make repetitive, uncontrolled movements. These movements often result in reduced vision and depth perception and can affect balance and coordination. In this video, Prakhar shares his journey of dealing with personal challenges since childhood, how he rose above after failing in CA Finals in 2021, and decided to write CAT 2021. He talks about how his persistent efforts over all these years finally bore fruits and he made it to IIM Calcutta. Apart from this, in the recently declared results of CA Finals (June 2022) he passed the exams and is now a Charted Accountant too!

Team InsideIIM18 Aug 2022

"From An ICU To Scoring 99.83%ile In CAT" - How Shashwat Made It To IIM Calcutta Against All Odds

Shashwat Awasthi is joining IIM Calcutta for their MBA batch of 2022-24. He is born and brought up in Lucknow and has done is 10th with 94.83% in ICSE and 95.50% in ISC from City Montessori School, Lucknow. He is a fresher and completed this Engineering in Computer Science and Engineering from NIT Raipur with a grade of 96.70%. He made it to IIM C in his maiden attempt. In this article, he has shared his preparation strategy, and how he went against all odds to make it to IIM Calcutta - from being in ICU due to COVID-19 and then getting dengue two weeks prior to CAT 2021. Read on to know his inspiring story!

Team InsideIIM13 Aug 2022

From Losing My Right Arm Before CAT To Making It To IIM C, Ft. Ananth A., IIM C' 24

The CAT journey is not an easy road to take. It's filled with emotional, mental and physical exhaustion. Despite all the challenges, aspirants who do not give up rise above as true warriors and winners. One such story of true determination and courage is of Ananth Adiga who lost his right arm and restarted his life from scratch! Ananth is a Computer Science Engineer from Dayanand Sagar College of Engineering. He wanted to pursue MS and had gotten into Indiana University. Unfortunately, on March 22nd, 2021 he lost his right arm in a bus accident. All his life's plans went for a toss and this is when he considered pursuing an MBA from India and starting preparing for CAT.

Team InsideIIM30 Jul 2022

How A Vernacular Medium Student From A Small Village Made It To IIM Lucknow - Vasu Shukla

I come from a small Village Bhauwar from Rewa. I come from a lower-middle-class family but my parents always encouraged us to aim high and try for the best. I started my schooling from a nearby town where I used to travel via public transportation with my brother. These schools were Hindi medium. Although most of the teachers weren’t up to mark, I was always blessed with one or two teachers who used to show trust in me. I completed my 10th and 12th from these schools with 90+ percent which is tough in MP Board. I never thought of giving CAT because I knew that it was an English-based test and I didn’t know how I would get 99 percent in these tests. (I didn’t understand that percentile and percentage are different).

Vasu SHUKLA21 Jun 2022

From A 6-Year Gap To IIM Calcutta | Aman Sharma's Journey Against All Odds

The worst moments in the life of an inspired person push him beyond every limit to prove his potential no matter how much he is abased. Hope is what the strongest weapon is meant to be. Just like a phoenix rising from its own ashes, something which I almost anticipated as impossible turned out to be possible and happened.

Aman Sharma02 Jun 2022

From Handling My Father’s Shop In Haryana To Finding My Calling - Sumit Bansal, IRMA

Not all students in a B-school come from very privileged backgrounds. A lot of them go through the grind of life and face circumstances and challenges that create an empathetic heart in these students when they chart their careers. Sumit Bansal’s story is one such example of undergoing hardships and finding ways to make the best out of circumstances. Born in a Haryanvi family where money was never free-flowing and responsibilities were at the forefront of any choices, Sumit had a difficult time growing up. But, he carved out his path in the journey and ended up getting an admission at IRMA, an institute that he feels is ‘close to his heart’. We spoke to Sumit and tried understanding his journey and what moves him in his life. Here are the excerpts:

InsideIIM Career Services28 Dec 2021

How I Scored 99.89%ile On XAT Despite A Disappointing CAT Ft. Kamal Koushik, XLRI

Kamal Koushik was the first to graduate from his immediate family based in a village that is difficult to find even on Google Maps. To support his college education, he took up a job at Starbucks and continued to develop his skills. One key skill that he developed during this time was ‘networking’, which helped him get a UI UX designer job. It is around this time in his career that he decided that he wants to go for higher education and CAT seemed the right way to go about it. But, things didn’t go as planned for him. His CAT tanked badly. But, the fighter that he is, he never lost hope. ‘CAT Nahi Toh XAT Sahi’, says Kamal in this motivating video, where he shares his journey and crucial tips to crack XAT.

Team InsideIIM15 Dec 2021

I Screwed Up CAT, But One Great Piece of Advice Helped Me Crack XAT, NMAT, SNAP

The struggle in the management entrance exams is real because of the cutthroat competition, but chill, you just need one seat. I personally believe the battle for a seat in a top B-School depends not just on our subject knowledge but equally on our morale and mindset. If you are a serious aspirant possessing clear basic knowledge of the subjects, and you’re asked to solve any examination paper say CAT without any time limit, I guarantee that you’ll easily touch the topper’s score. But there is a time limit in the exams. So what changes?

Samanvaya Tiwari06 Dec 2021