The 1st Question: "How Come IITs Offer MBA Program?"

IIM: Indian Institute of Management

Here, I will talk about my college IIT Kanpur and how I reached a destined destination but through a different path. Also, I will share my overall interview experience with some valuable tips.

The first thing the Indian parents do after 10th boards is to enroll their kids into a renowned coaching center in the city or send them to Kota. The only thing they see is a future "Engineer" or a "Doctor". I was the former one.

Since I belonged to and lived in Lucknow, IIT Kanpur was the most heard of college. I could hear my parents and relatives talking about how Sharma ji's son made it to the IIT Kanpur and bagged a hefty package and was well settled in his life.

I tried but failed. Eventually, I made it to one of the NITs (National Institute of Technology) and completed my B.Tech in Electronics and Communication.

Although my B.Tech was completed, I surely was missing the skillset required to succeed and climb ladders in my life. Here's when MBA came into place.

I was short on time. So, I could dedicate only a month's time for my CAT preparations. But, the mocks helped me a lot and I secured a decent percentile, good enough to secure GDPI calls from top MBA colleges, IIT Kanpur being one of them.

I was doing some internship work when I received the call letter via email from IIT Kanpur regarding GDPI process. At that moment only, I decided I will give my everything to grab this chance.

IIT Kanpur's GDPI was the last one of the GDPIs I had to attend. The earlier GDPIs helped me a lot to gain confidence and get to know the do's and don'ts of the process.

GDPI Experience:

It was scheduled in the afternoon slot of 31st March, 2019. I arrived at the Kanpur Central station a day before, at 4:00 pm, booked a cab for IIT Kanpur which is 14 km from the station.

The moment I entered college, I was in a state of awe. A lush green campus; Professors, Teachers, Students, Girls and Boys, everyone riding a bicycle; Peacocks roaming around; Neelgai walking on roads and what not.

We were given accommodation in the hostels on twin sharing basis. It gave me a chance to interact with other students and thus calm my nerves. The excitement was so much that the IPL matches seemed boring for the first time. After that, I somehow managed to sleep.

Next day, when the morning slot was done, it was my turn to suit up and be ready. Since the campus was so big, bus service was provided to take the students from the respective hostels to the MBA department building. I was lucky enough to encounter one of my IITian friends a night before who not only helped me borrow a bicycle, but also accompanied me to my department.

After a while, the bus arrived and the students deboarded. We were asked to proceed to a digital classroom where we were given the token numbers and a checklist which was to be signed at different stages of the process. After that, we were taken to the Document verification. Now, we just had to wait for our token numbers to be called up.

The most amazing part of all of this was that not even a single person from the administration was involved in all of this. It was fully and efficiently being managed by MBA students only. That itself is Management at its best. While we waited in the departmental auditorium, senior MBA students gave us a look into the overall course structure of the MBA program and its achievements. After their presentation, they were cool enough to play Tom and Jerry shows to help us ease out.

Round I: Case Study and Group Discussion

Students were called in a group of 10 and were seated around a table in a conference room. A number 1-10 on their desks represented them. We were given instructions about the proceedings by the student coordinators. The professors sat there just to give us the marks.

A case study was given to us. It has to be read within 5 minutes. After that, each student was given 1 minute each to express their understanding of the problem and the appropriate solution. The students were to speak only when the student coordinators called up their numbers. When each student was done with their chances, the GD started. It was a 5 minutes session.

The GD went amazingly well with each student stating some brilliant points and the Professors giving us a look which can't be decoded.

Round II: Personal Interview

Personal Interview went even more smoothly. There were 3 panels, each comprising of 3 members. I had to be interviewed by Panel 1.

As I sat outside the interview room, I could see some students nervously waiting for their turn, some coming out with a smile on their faces and the student coordinators trying to make us feel better by some casual talks.

The bell rang from inside. It was my turn. I entered the room and greeted them. The interviewers were young enough to somewhat calm my nerves. They asked me to take the seat. And then followed the very first question which every one of us prepares for - "Tell us something about yourself."

One of them was constantly checking my previous grades and seemed quite interested in them. The second one kept asking questions related to my personality, my hobbies, Why MBA, Physics, General Knowledge, etc. Third one just observed me.

At the end, I came to know that they have set a timer and it buzzed when my time was over. I was asked to leave.

I was directed to a desk where I had to submit my checklist and token number and had to write a feedback.

3.5 months down the line, I am a part of the program and can't be excited anymore to take up the challenge that lies ahead.

Tips for the aspirants:

• Solve more and more mocks before CAT, even if you have prepared less.
• Don't feel hesitant in accepting your mistakes during the interviews.
• Think out of the box during GDPI.
• And the most important thing - "Be Confident" or at least pretend to be.