IIM-I experience
Prakash Deep Maheshwari
Profile:
Xth: 94.2%
XIIth : 96.7 %
CGPA: 9.5
CAT %ile: 99.73
IIM-I interview : 11th March, 1:50 p.m.
GD: Case study on a school and its caretaker who's a young grad student. The school is vry gud in terms of acads, and pays high salaries to its teachers but no facilities for outdoor sports. leads to students wasting time watching TV and roaming. Space is available but administration wants to use it for extending the classes. While the caretaker wants to establish playground in the same. What shud he do?
Decent GD. I was the most vocal person. Came out with points like "Overall personality development" & "Education is not just about academics" and standard fattas like "short-term and long-term measures". However, was poor on content & I felt I was repeating the same points time & again. After the GD, I felt as if I had spoken a li'l too much (as was also pointed out by 1 of the guys in my panel)
Interview: panelists - Lady prof (LP), gents prof (GP)
GP: So, prakash, what is the difference b/w 4th and 5th generation languages?
Me (completely dumbstruck) : Sir, 4th GL focus more on compactness of code rather than efficiency, designed for CISC computers. (arbit crap coming out of my mouth, dint know anything abt 5th GL, but was fortunately interrupted)
GP: So, wat abt 3rd GL?
Me: Sir, they focus on object orientation as the basic paradigm e.g. C, C++
GP: Do you know what is 10G?
Me (completely dumbstruck, yet again - 1G,2G,3G,4G to suna tha par ye ???): Sirrrr,
GP: G is small
Me (ohh, to aisa bolo na): 10g is oracle's grid computing based application server (and then explained him the fundas of grid computing, though did not do a good job)
GP: What's Erlang-C formula?
Me (maar li, chakku kabhi padha hi nahi tha): Sir, it is related to queuing theory though I don't remember it very well. It was a part of our telecom course but we were taught only upto Erlang-B. only an overview of Eralng-C was given.
At this point, I felt as if I had dug my own grave. ab Erlang-B poochh liya to main to khalaas
GP: What is a M/M/i system?
Me: explained about M = Memoryless (again, wasnt very lucid)
GP: So this interview process, what kind of queuing system will you model it with?
Me (absolutely shivering at this point): Sir, since the number of interviewees are limited, we can't assume a memoryless arrival. But again, as you are calling the interviewees in random order, the arrival is also not deterministic. So, we'll have to use a distribution different from these 2. I'm not sure of the name. Maybe, General (kya bak diya yaar)
LP comes to my rescue at this point
LP: So, you play squash? Do you know a game similar to it, which is not called squash?
Me: Mam, I guess its racquetball (sahi jawab :D)
LP:Any major Indian squash player you know of?
Me : Told about few international players, adding that no Indian player has ever made it big in squash
LP: You've mentioned trekking, squash, blogging as ur hobbies? What have you learnt frm them?
Me: arbit fatte abt trekking se team spirit, blogging gives a vent to my feelings, squash se physical fitness n agility
LP: You've mentioned listening to hindi film music as a hobby? What kind of music do you listen to?
Me: Nothing specific, mostly new films.
LP: ur favorite singer?
Me: KK
GP: His full name?
Me (hadh ho gayi, uske gaane sunta hoon, uska padosi thode hi hoon): I don't know. But I guess it might be Krishna Kant (which is wrong, its Krishna Kumar) :(
LP: How many major rivers of India?
Me: I can enlist them - Ganga, Yamuna and the 5 punjab rivers in the north, though now only sutlej is in india (my abominal geography failed me again) Narmada, Tapti, Godavari, Krishna, Kaveri in south (4got to mention Brahmaputra :( )
LP: Are narmada and tapti in south india?
Me: Mam, they are actually in central india but since they r a part of the deccan plateau, i counted them in south.
LP: And what about Saraswati, you didnt mention that?
Me: Mam, it is a mythological river which doesnt exist in reality.
LP: It does. There was a research done 7 yrs ago which proved that there are traces of a river that now no longer exists
Me: Sorry, mam, I'm not aware of this development. But I was told by my uncle who lives in Allahabad (where the sanagam of Ganga, Yamuna & Saraswati occurs), that Sarawati is a mythological river that is supposed to originate from heaven and meet ganga and yamuna in allahabad.
GP.LP: Ok, thats it. Thank you.
Me: Mam, As i mentioned "writing poetry" as my hobby, Here are some of the poems I've written. (handing out a file to her)
LP: Oh, could u read out one, your favorite to us?
Me (gladly): Yes, mam.
Then, i read out the poem.It depicts a post-war ceasefire scene.
LP: What motivated you to write on this topic? Its a surprise to see YOU write on such a topic?
Me (hain, kya matlab?): Mam, I had read a peem about the horrors of the bombing of hiroshima and nagasaki back in school, and seen a couple of war movies like Black Hawk Down (which I actually havn't seen :( ), when i wrote it.
LP: Who was the author of that poem?
Me : I'm sorry ma'm. I only remember it was an Indian poet (baad men yad aaya Vikram Seth tha)
LP,GP: Ok, Thank you.
Very bad start to the interview, fumbled miserably on the acads part. Middle part was okayish, End mein fir gadbad ho gayi. But I felt really positive after reciting the poem.
Seniors & friends, suggestions/comments/feedback is solicited.
--
Prakash Deep Maheshwari
Senior
Computer Science & Engineering
IIT-Roorkee
Ankit Kapoor
Rohit Dangayach
good luck
:)
Regards
Rohit
manu jain
bhai .... !
Rahul Chaudhary
The interview was really good but those people have a weird criteria
of selection (my inference based on last year's results). However, I
gives some 600 odd final calls for a batch of 180...so no probs there.
Coming to your interview:
Try and take it easy when it comes to questions related to acads.
There is no rule stating that a 9 pointer must answer every question
[:P]
Take your time and give out an answer that will determine the next
question and use it to your advantage. e.g. As you pointed out, Erlang
B wasnt such a great idea when you werent sure.
You shouldn't mind some more "I dont knows" or "I'm not sure but" in
an interview. Take the queuing system q. for instance...You could say
" I'm not really sure of this but I remember that" and whatever you
remember of the thing instead of giving a vague answer.
BTW 'M' stands for Markovian which essentially means exponential inter
arrival and serving times and since, exponential distribution has a
memoryless property, you were not altogether wrong :)
The poem part was really good especially since there was a lady in the
panel [;)]
Go completely relaxed for the 'B'ig one.
Rahul.
PS: Ritwik Bhattacharya is the top ranked Indian squash player (was
world #38 once). I know tht cos he's from my school, just thought I'd
share this with you
On Mar 12, 6:27 am, "Prakash Deep Maheshwari"
Prakash Deep Maheshwari
thanks a ton for the detailed feedback. Will definitely try to "look before i leap" the next time.
I did mention "Markov chain" while describing M/M/i but as i wrote, i did not do a very gud job explaining it.
And thanks for the trivia on squash, would keep me in good stead.
Ankit Kapoor
baad mein kabhi koi pucchega to yahin se copy-paste kar denge:)
Date : 5/3/8
9 am , Delhi
Case Study: some stupid 1 full page gaaon ki case study..
very amiable group, 9 ppl:)
i was the 2nd one to enter the discussion, gave valid points.. kept it
simple, some ppl were using terms like "economin downturn" n "vertical
integration".. 1 guy even got confused with the family tree, so its
better to use the name when u have even an iota of doubt.
Summary: they said 5 mints, n told us to stop after 2-3 mints, as we
were having the interviews on the 1st day itself, humein pata nahin
tha aisa hoga.. but i think i did ok, wrote all the problems discussed
in order n also some 1-2 solutions.
Interview: hahhaa, exploited all the chances to show off:)
Duration around 15 mints
P1: Acads prof
P2: extra curricular prof(Bestest Prof)
P2 took my file as soon as i entered the room, aur kaafi der tak
dekhte rahe.. atleast 2 baar to poori dekhi hi hogi..
My room is AC:), such a relief, itni garmi thi.. heard other panels had no AC :D
also interview panel n the interviewee separated by 2 tables/ rather
than sharing the same table..
very very relaxing/comfortable environment.
P1: so, u are the last one here, now u know what all we are asking.. u
must have asked all the other guys..
me: yessir, i did ask the other guys.. coz i was extremely curious n
this is the only way for me to witness the repartee b/w the two, some
guys were grilled on their acads, ppl with work ex were grilled on
that.. n some were asked bout their extra curriculars.. i think it 'd
be better for me if u ask me about my extra-curricular
interests(hehhehe)
P1: Ok, the first qstn i ll ask u is Y we or Y IIM-Indore should not
take You.. because generally the qstn is Why should we take u, but i m
asking you Y we should not take You.
me(Wow, its the easiest question in the world, agar main prof hota to
main bhi aise stdent ko nahin leta :) , anyways me trying to
circumvent this): Sir, can i answer it as a conversation b/w the 2
profs.. like 1 saying we should take him n other saying we should
not..
P1: No, only tell me Y we should not..
me(that idea backfired, w/o any clause, i would have given them the
reason.. and suffixed it with lines from rote memory that i have
changed etc etc )
me: sir, the one major reason 'd be my academic perfomance at IIT R
wasnt very good, n thats y i even suffered a setback in my career..
P1: ok.. but u even started from below 6 pointer.. n its alwas been
like that na..
me: told him about my complacency n now that i m willing to work
hard.. i m not sure if i was sounding apologetic(as was supposed to )
or rather cheerful(as was not serious for I )
Now P2, the bestest Prof in all the IIMs took over:)
P2: you have this BBC Quiz certi..kucch quiz ke baare mein batao
me: sir 28 teams selcted after wqritten round.. 1st round this.. 2nd
round this.. eventually won by NSIT delhi..
P2: So it was a team event, how do u select a quiz team.. coz
selecting a quiz team is also an art
Me: sir, there are some quizzers who have ideas about all the things..
i mean he can take part in any quiz, anything under the sun.. and the
selection depends on the type of quiz event also.. supoose we havetta
selct team for an entertainment quiz.. then i 'd pair up with a guy
whose spclisation is movies.. coz my favourite area is music,
especially rock n roll music:)
P2: WHat does woodstock '69 signifies?
me(WoW! Woodstock is my fav incident in the history of mankind): sir,
it signifies the end of jazz era.. or beat generation..
P1: what generation?
me: beat generation.. it was a term coined by jack keroucac.. his book
on the road.. hedonism.. New Orleans...even though jazz is still
popular amongst the masses
P2: I mean woodstock was an event in which CSNY was there, Janis
Joplin was there, n Santana was there..
me:(Now i m in love with this prof:) ): Sir, CSNY happens to be one of
my personal fav bands:)
And woodstock was the event which encompassed all the genres of rock..
it was opened by american folk guitarist richie havens.. n the last
act was by Jimi Hendrix when he played america's national anthem..n it
had Janis Joplin's Blues.. n even Pt Ravi shankar from india palyed
there..
P2(surprised): Pt Ravi shankar played in Woodstock '69
Me(Grabbing another chance to show off after woodstock): yessir, he
was very popular in international circles.. n became even more popular
after he gave the background score for satyajit's appu trilogy
movies..
(now i wont let them go on woodstock.. when P2 was so eager to listem)
Sir, Journalists describe woodstock as the best of times n the worst of times...
The organisation was not very good.. they were expecting 50K ppl n 5
lakhs turned up for the event.. 3 kms long traffic jams etc etc....
Now acads Prof took over.. (jabki shuru mein kaha tha sirf extar
urriculars pucchna)
P1: whats feedback system n feed forward system??
me:sir feedforward system nahin pata..
P1 gives me a paper, is par draw karo..
me: so i draw feedback system, i a +ve feedback system(stupid!) as
feedforward system, jabki any normal control system is a feedforward
system..
(P1 says nothing after the wrong answer)
P1: whats fuzzy logic n fuzzy control
Me: answers fuzzy logic.. aur fuzzy control nahin pata, must be
control system based on fuzzy logic
P2: u have done a course on Artificial intelligence, what are genetic algos??
me(Thanks P2): .some blah blah.. like mutation
P2: whats Darwin's theory of evolution
me: ..blah blah..
P1: ok , u have done a course on antenna.. how does the size of the
dish affects its reception
Me(arre sir, us course ke aage F likha hua hai): pata nahin sir...
P1: one last Qstn.. u r from delhi.. who is teh chief minister
me: sheila dixit..
P1: woh kaun se no ki chief minsiter hai??
me(i know this 6th /7th in her 2nd term.. par Yet another chance to
show off! ) sir, pata nahin.. count kar ke bata doon..
Sir, 1st chief minister in 19**, name this...
P2: u even rememeber the name??
Me(sir, 5 mint wiki par new delhi likha tha)sir, keen general knowledge quizzer
... so i gave them the list. n tell them delhi is on its way to
statehood since 1991...
so some small discussion on delhi.
P1: good luck ankit.. u have taken tea/coffee na
me: yessir.. thanks...