Aditya listen to me carefully you have an excellent academic record and while selection in any of the IIMs they don't give any preference to the college from where you have been graduated. After CAT exam every IIM prepares a merit list to call students for next round of interview based on your aggregate score which comprises of many parameters such as CAT marks, 10th, 12th and graduation percentage, work experience, engineer or non-engineer, gender whose weight varies for all different IIMs. They only use the numbers as parameters not from which college or university you have completed your graduation.

If you are able to score a very high percentile like 99.7+ then you will have a good probability of getting called for the second round of WAT and interview from top 3 IIMs i.e. IIM Ahmedabad, IIM Bangalore, IIM Calcutta. If you are able to score above 98+ percentile you will have a good probability of getting calls from other old IIMs like IIM Lucknow, IIM Kozhikode, IIM Indore, IIM Shillong and with 95+ percentile you can definitely get calls from all the new IIMs and ultra new IIMs.

Now being an introvert will not at all be a drawback for you if you prepare very well for your interview and if you have an enormous of knowledge. If you will be able to answer each question in a decent way, maybe not as an efficient speaker but in a decent way so that your interviewee can grasp everything then there is no chance that you will get rejected in that interview. Still, as you said that you don't speak so much so what I will suggest you that start interacting in English with the family members or friends who are close to you and you are comfortable to interact. This will help you in overcoming your shyness and increase the habit of speaking. Even you can join a month crash course of personality development which can help you in overcoming your shyness but what I think if your speaking skills are good, you have command on the English language then you don't need such type of course.

Now coming to your another query of a 6-month gap is not at all a big deal. During the interview, if you will be able to answer the questions in a decent way and drive the interview then there's a good chance that nobody will even ask you about your year gap. But still, you can prepare a decent answer about year gap that with preparing for CAT exam you were also doing some NGO work or doing some online courses or personality development courses so as to show the interviewee that along with CAT preparation you were also learning new things and growing as a whole. And again believe me if your interviewee goes in a good way if you answer other questions in a decent way then interviewee never cares about year drop and you will definitely get a seat in that college. As an example let me tell you I got selected in IIM Kozhikode in 2016 and one of my batchmate took a year drop, gave the CAT exam and got selected in IIM Calcutta which was even better than my college.

So, don't worry about anything, focus on getting a very high percentile in CAT exam and simultaneously work on your speaking skills. Then no-one can stop you from achieving your dream.

Feel free to ask if you have any more queries. All the best!!

Hi Aditya,

Let me start by saying this...if this is your dream, you’re gonna find a way to do it. Now, move to the interview part which you look worried about.

Interview or say Personal Interview is nothing but interaction. In the case of IIMs, it’s between you and the interview panel. They ask questions based on your application. Based on the experiences of the students who are currently studying at IIMs, the interview session includes questions related to your academic background, about you, your knowledge of current affairs, your general knowledge etc. Now, understand one thing...if they ask questions about you or about your academic background, I’m sure you can easily answer because you know everything about it. However, the things that matter the most are your confidence and how you answer the questions. Remember, how you answer is more important than what your answer here.

As far as current affairs and general knowledge are concerned, you would certainly need to increase your knowledge by reading newspapers, journals, history papers, books, novels etc. to answer the questions related to it.

Now, you’re confident about scoring a good percentile in CAT 2018. Second, being shy doesn’t mean you cannot speak. Third, the university from where you have pursued your graduation has to be a recognised one which I believe Shekhawati University is. Fourth, your academic scores are good enough to make you perfectly eligible for CAT exam.

Practice mock interviews with your friends or you can join a professional centre to practice that. Interact with people around you and write about current issues. All these tasks will certainly boost your confidence over a period of time. And, I’m sure that you’ll be perfectly ready by the time your interview comes.

All the best.