Apr 23, 2012
Ian Tait @ CAT 2010
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Ian Tait @ CAT 2010
Scored 89% is Class X? You are doomed.
When Pritam (name changed) secured 99.85 percentile in CAT, with more than 97 percentile across sections, he thought he cleared the first stage for getting into Indian Institute of Management. Alas, this wasn't to be the case.
Over the past few years, IIMs have tried to give importance to the 'profile' of candidates. They cited examples of ivy league schools. However, they seem to have some trouble with understanding the meaning of the word 'profile'.
Consider the case of Pritam, a hardworking student from a rural back ground with 89% in class X, 88% in Class XII, an All India Rank 416 in IIT-JEE, a CGPA of 8.9/10 in IIT-Madras and a couple of years of experience working for Google. Half the IIMs think that he isn't worthy of being interviewed - leave alone an admission. They didn't even bother to ask or let him mention that he is also an accomplished tennis player and published 3 novels. (I made up the last one. In any case, IIMs wouldn't know as they never asked).
It looks like his fate is sealed - almost. Because of his low scores in class X and XII, the IIMs have decided that he is unworthy of their attention. The only way for him to merit their attention is by being in the Top-20 of the nation. That is what IIM Bangalore mentions as the only way IN for him.
On the other hand, I know of a student Lucky (name changed) a hard cramming student from one of the corporate schools. Somebody who doesn't even know that lunch can be shared. He crammed his way to glory in the state board exams, completed his engineering from a shoddy college - again cramming his way to a 86%. And, he gets all the calls. It doesn't matter that his scores in the internal and practical examinations were 100%, thanks to the generosity of his professors.
Agreed he still has to ace the interview. His failing at the interview doesn't give the chance to a 'discard' like Pritam to show his schools. Somebody 'less bad' will get the opportunity to study while Pritam proceeds to Harvard and creates the next McKinsey.
Well done IIMs. All the best Pritam.
PS: There are a few IIMs including IIM Ahmedabad and IIM Calcutta who still haven't lost their mind.