Admission Story: Sneha Upadhyay, IIM Udaipur, 95.32 Percentile, CAT

Sneha Upadhyay is currently enrolled in the General MBA course at IIM Udaipur. She graduated from MSIT, GGSIPU with a 77.67% aggregate. Sneha cleared the CAT exam with 95.32 percentile. She also worked at Accenture as a Data Analyst for more than 3 years.

Sneha Upadhyay Profile

Current institute: IIM Udaipur
Graduation College: Maharaja Surajmal Institute of Technology, GGSIPU, Delhi
CAT score: 95.32
10th Percentage / GPA: 9.8
12th Percentage / GPA: 81.2
Graduation Percentage/GPA:77.67
Work Experience: Accenture, 3.7 years, Data Analysis and Reporting

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Sneha Upadhyay Admission Experience

Did you avail of the benefit of any reservation?

Sneha Upadhyay: “General (No reservation)”

Describe the general setting of WAT / GD (if any)?

Sneha Upadhyay: “As the process was online for CAT 2020, the GD/WAT were not a part of the same.”

What was the WAT / GD Topic?

Sneha Upadhyay: “GD/WAT was not held for the colleges I got shortlisted in.”

Describe the general setting of your personal Interview.

Sneha Upadhyay: “For the IIMs and IITs(DMS/DoM/SJMSOM/VGSOM), the Panel had 2-3 members (1-2 Faculty/1 Alumni) and the interview was online. They were mostly around the topic of my work experience and the technologies I have been working with. Also, in some cases, Current Affairs also made into the questions and my opinion was asked on the same. For some IIM Interviews, case-study-based questions, Quant-based (Probability, P&C) questions, Under-Graduation subject-based questions were also a part of the interview. Apart from this, questions about my community work were also asked and it was more of a conversation than a Q&A in nature. These interviews lasted for 20-30 minutes.

As for the Private Colleges like IMI Delhi, IMT Ghaziabad, MDI Gurgaon, the interview panel had 2 Members, both from the faculty and again the interviews revolved around my work experience and my knowledge on the subjects from my Under graduation as well as my Major UG Project since some college applications do ask for this information prior to the PI round. The duration for these interviews was 20-25 minutes.

So, be well-versed with your UG subjects, at least 2-3 subjects, as the panelists may ask for your favorite one and consequently some questions on the same. Also, it's highly recommended to follow the Current Affairs, both National and International, and go through the present Cabinet Ministers of India list. In case you've some extra-curricular listed in your application, please read about the technicalities of the same. Also, if you have work experience, go through the Stocks and Business news about your organization and also read about the leadership (CEO, CTO, etc). Lastly, go through the information about your native place (CM, Deputy CM, Governor, Rivers, Famous Places, etc.), the meaning of your name, etc., as these may come up as surprise questions.

But most importantly, stay calm and take your time, the panel is very accommodating and patient, you can always ask for a minute to frame your answers.”

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Mention at least 5 interview questions that were asked to you and your responses to each of them.

Sneha Upadhyay: “Ques 1. Tell us about your native place and who is the CM and Governor of the state you're residing in?

Ans 1. My native place is Varanasi in the state of Uttar Pradesh, getting its name from the rivers flowing through the region Varuna and Assi. It is the ultimate pilgrimage spot for the Hindus and also boasts a very healthy domestic tourism history. Apart from this, the city is a center of learning and civilization with Sarnath and BHU being the embodiment of the same. I'm also presently a resident of UP and the CM for our State is Shri Yogi Adityanath and the Governor is Anandiben Patel.

Ques 2. Who are the Cabinet Ministers for Min of Communication, Min. of Education, and Min. of Commerce and Industry?

Ans 2. Minister for Comm- Ravi Shankar Prasad; Min. for Education- Ramesh Pokhriyal; Minister for C&I- Piyush Goyal

(Please keep yourself updated as these questions do come up in the interviews)

Ques 3. What is the difference between Predictions and Forecasts in Data Analysis?

Ans 3. In the case of a Prediction, we're dealing with unseen data and thereby making estimates by using training models and further customizing them as per our need while incase of forecasting, we're utilizing time-series data from the past to estimate the future values. These two analysis models have differentiated only the temporal dimension and can be utilized for strategizing and planning in organizations.

Ques 4. What is the PSO Algorithm and is it metaheuristic or heuristic?

Ans 4. PSO or Particle Swarm Optimization is a computational algorithm that uses iterations to give out improved solutions w.r.t a measure of quality. It is based on the analogy of a swarm of bees or flock of birds wherein there are two aspects to look into, local best and global best in the search space. And it is a metaheuristic optimization, which enhances the search space exploration.

Ques 5. What is the price difference between The Hindu and The Time of India? Why do you think there is a difference?

Ans 5. The Hindu is for INR 15 while TOI is priced at INR 7, and this difference is basically due to the number of ads per page in the two newspapers. While TOI has many ads showing up in almost all the pages, the Hindu has more content and therefore the cost difference exists, as one is covered courtesy of the advertisements and other marketing initiatives while the other is mostly news and content around the same."

Mention 3 reasons why you chose this college over other colleges which you converted.

Sneha Upadhyay: “- I joined IIM Udaipur for the teaching faculty as well as the research avenues.

- IIM Udaipur is the fastest growing IIM amongst the 2nd generation institutes, hence has a promising future.

- IIM Udaipur boasts a very strong alumni base even in such a short while, also, the Placement of the institute is great with all the big companies visiting the campus for a Summer internship as well as the final placements.

I had the option to join MDI Gurgaon, IIM Lucknow (PGPSM), and my decision to go for IIM Udaipur was purely based on my own interests and the research-oriented pedagogy of the institute.”

What was the reason for you not converting other colleges? (if any)

Sneha Upadhyay: “The only setback I had was my work experience, I feel an optimum time period of work ex for a lot of colleges in India is between 24-30 months.

My composite profile score suffered due to this reason as well as a sub-par CAT percentile was also a deterrent, so in case you're planning to attempt CAT, keep in my that the sectional scores matter as much as the overall percentile, and if you're a working professional please calculate your scores beforehand to predict the PI Calls."

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