With IIM-Indore results out, my MBA admission journey for this year officially comes to an end.
What started last year as a big question mark about whether I should even do an MBA now ends with 4 admits in hand and me joining an amazing B-school this year.
Prepared for the exams while working full-time. CAT ended slightly below expectations at 99.37, but XAT went really well with a 99.86.
January came with the usual disappointments of being a GEM — no calls from A, B, C, or K, and only the agribusiness call from L. Got calls from the other IIMs, SPJIMR, and XLRI.
Then February brought the interview call that excited me the most: ISB PGP YL. Had just 5 days to prepare for it.
I had already decided that I would do an MBA only from a top Tier-1 institute, or else continue working. So I decided to appear for only 5 interviews:
* IIM Indore
* IIM Mumbai
* XLRI
* SPJIMR
* ISB PGP YL
Feb 7 – ISB YL Interview
Absolutely loved the interview atmosphere and the panellists’ vibe. Felt the last few minutes didn’t go too well, but overall it was a solid interview experience.
Feb 9 – SPJIMR Interview
GI1 was great, went into aviation, which is my passion, and I was sure of making it through to GI2 the moment I stepped out of the room.
GI2 panellists converted the interview into a debate of sorts and kept opposing everyone's points. I felt some of my answers were very bad as they kept pushing back on my points.
Feb 20 – IIM Indore Interview
Very acad-focused, as expected, followed by GK/current affairs. Again went deep into aviation, which I consider one of my stronger areas. Apart from missing one UG-related question and somehow failing to name 5 cities in Tamil Nadu lol, the interview went well.
Mar 8 – XLRI Interview
Probably the most tedious process and the weirdest interview of all. GD and WAT were fine, but I was the last person in the panel and had to wait 3 hours post-GD.
The interview itself was bizarre. Half of it was them trying to convince me not to do an MBA because I was already earning well and would “waste a seat.” The other half involved them criticising my work by saying it could be done by a 12th pass lol.
I think they were trying to create a stress interview environment, but honestly, I was more amused than stressed. I was smiling half of the time in the interview because I had no idea what was going on.
Mar 17 – ISB YL Results
The portal kept updating every few hours starting from 3 PM, and I didn’t receive any update till almost 9 PM. Extremely anxious day, but it ended up becoming one of the happiest days I’ve had in a long time.
Got the admit along with a merit scholarship invite. I genuinely don’t remember the last time I had tears of joy before that day. No other result felt the same after this one.
Mar 18 – IIM Mumbai Interview
Skipped it after the ISB result the previous night.
Mar 20 – SPJIMR Convert
Then came a month of deciding among all 4 colleges, with the ISB scholarship interview in between.
Apr 29 – XLRI BM Convert + ISB Scholarship
Got the XLRI BM Jamshedpur admit. A few hours later, I received a 100% tuition fee scholarship offer from ISB YL.
May 7 – IIM Indore Convert
And with that, this journey comes to an end.
4 interviews. 4 converts.
Nothing but gratitude towards everyone and everything that helped me along the way. Learned a lot about myself in the process too.
Huge thanks to this community as well, and I'm always happy to give back by helping future aspirants in whatever way I can.
One thing I can confidently say: preparing while working full-time is absolutely possible. You just need to understand your own capabilities and decide accordingly. Work experience before an MBA helps not just with shortlists, but also in terms of perspective and experience.
Also, GEM candidates, it's genuinely tough out there; you'll face harsh rejections in places you didn't expect. But if you have a strong profile, shortlists will come your way, and then in the interview, it's all about you and your strengths.
I do plan to start a small community for 2026 aspirants and especially conduct mock interviews for 2027 interviews, since interviews ended up becoming one of the strongest parts of my process. However, that's for later as and when I have more clarity about my own MBA schedule going forward.
Congratulations to everyone with converts so far.
All the best to those waiting for results and WL movement.
And all the best to all future aspirants!