Ameya Mhatre scored in the 100th percentile in CAT 2009 and joined IIM Ahmedabad. He says the group discussion-personal interview (GD-PI) section was no cakewalk, and required lots of practice. Mhatre also took mock interviews and believes being comfortable during the interview is key to cracking them. He talks about his experience at IIM-A, IIM-B and IIM-C:

I was confident of scoring 99.99 as soon as I finished the test, and being in the 100th percentile wasn’t a surprise. For success in an exam like CAT, what you require most is practice. I used to solve a lot of mock CAT tests. I would devote a lot of time to office work and didn’t have much time to prepare for the GD-PI. I did not plunge into it soon after the test either, and gave myself time to relax and wait for the results.

My GD-PI preparation involved reading newspapers. While this was something I did earlier too, this time, it was with analytical approach to news and views. I believe interviews and GDs are best prepared for by attempting mock tests. Being comfortable during the GD-PI is the key to positive results.

While at IIM-A, I was asked to write an essay on Indian values. I listed out a few ideas and brought in examples to support my arguments.

The initial round of the interview was about me, my parents, Mumbai and the events in Mumbai that made headlines, like the decade-old incidence of Lord Ganesha drinking milk or the ideology of political parties like Maharashtra Navnirman Sena.

They moved on to my interest, which is mathematics. It was an easy 20-minute interaction.

My IIM-B interview centred around my statement of purpose, which mentioned my love for mathematics, so my entire interview based on solving questions based on probability.

The GD at IIMs is no fish market, and one can expect to take part in discussions and be heard all the same.
My IIM-C interview was a bit stressful as the interviewers questioned me about a mistake in my form. But I maintained my cool. I had also applied for the computer management (PGDCM) course at IIM-C where interviewers asked me questions on current affairs, mathematics, and so on.

The only success mantra for an interview is that you maintain your cool and know what you are answering.