Getting an MBA degree from one of the top B Schools of India – XLRI, Jamshedpur is a dream for many, but How hard is it to get into XLRI Jamshedpur? What does the selection process look like? Or what are the main weightage points for selections? These are just a few questions that may arise in your mind when preparing for XLRI’s GDPI process. To help clear up any confusion or concerns, we spoke with Satvik Bajpai, who successfully made it through the rigorous entrance exams and interview rounds to earn a spot in XLRI’s MBA program. In this interview, Satvik shares insights about his journey at XLRI and what keeps him motivated.
Being from Jamshedpur originally, he has lived in Hyderabad throughout due to his father’s job and also completed his education in B.com from Avinash College Of Commerce. Satvik’s father has been an IT Consultant for 20 years and has worked across various companies like Accenture, IBM, etc. Having a work experience of seven months in ANZ Bank before commencing his MBA in XLRI, Satvik was always ambitious about pursuing a PGDM or an MBA degree.
“I had always known that MBA is a degree of worth that needs to be taken up; otherwise, I wouldn’t be able to fulfil the ambition I have” he says.
Being from Jamshedpur, Satvik has always been aware of the fact that preparing and targeting to get into XLRI was a big deal. With his family situated there, it was a clear goal for him to be a part of the glorifying legacy of XLRI.
Scoring a commendable overall score of 97.63 percentile in XAT, he scored 99.6 percentile in the Verbal section, 96 percentile in the DM section, and 96 percentile in the GK section. Satvik started his search for PGDM and MBA courses way back in 2018. After getting engrossed in the preparation, there came a point in his preparation journey where there was a lack, and at the time of covid, he went into a laid back. Until the CAT exam came, he had stopped preparing completely.
“All I used to do was give a mock in a day and didn’t perform great in it as well. There was a lot of hesitation going around.” he says.
Getting through the big ‘MBA ENTRANCE TEST’
While preparing for entrance exams for top B Schools in India, Satvik also started to search for colleges abroad and got admission calls from the best B schools outside of India. Post that. He stopped stressing about the entrance tests and ensured that he would focus on just giving it without worrying too much about the result. Performing exceedingly well was a confidence booster. Satvik delivers that going through the prep material section-wise & focusing on your key strengths is all it takes to ace any test or exam.
“I didn’t do anything heavy-handed. I was not pressuring myself. I just went with the motive of performing the best I can, and that’s exactly what I did.” he tells us.
Talking about his coping mechanisms during the stressful process of giving an entrance exam, preparing for the interviews or GD rounds and waiting for the result. Satvik talks about how he didn’t just put all his eggs in one basket. He kept his options open and ready. He kept himself prepared for the same. He believed that his strength lay in giving interviews, which he used to secure a job, just in case the MBA plan didn’t pen out.
“One error I see students make is they get themselves extremely worked up about one exam and its importance and, thus, end up burning out.”
By not pressurising himself a lot and not focussing too much on just one exam, he made sure he had his options open, and he was prepared for the same. After getting an interview call from XLRI for the HRM program, Satvik prepared for it way more intensely since he believed it could be his strength and be in his favor. He looked up people’s past experiences, avidly read books, researched past interview questions, and got some help from Youtube video content. He also had the edge of being able to schedule 4 interviews with some other B schools in India. This helped him a lot.
“It worked out very well for me since I gained a bit of exposure on what was about to come my way,” he says.
Impress during XLRI interview
Recalling his XLRI’s interview experience, Satvik tells us that it was different since they ensured to make him comfortable before resuming with the subject knowledge questions. They went the HR Route, and once he was acclimatised with the interview outline, he had a rapid-fire question round. He believed his interview went really smoothly, and he had a very healthy conversation with one of his current professors, who also was on the interview panel. The subjects ranged broadly from his reading habits to the Ukraine-Russia crisis.
“Being adamant that I want to study from XLRI and putting that out in my answers helped me greatly.”
He recalled his challenges through the entire process until Satvik got admitted into XLRI, he believes the most stressful period for him was the one-and-a-half months post-interview for which he had to wait for the final calls.
“By the time the result was out, I was mentally exhausted with incessant self-doubts and questioning, but the wait was definitely worth it. The moment you realise that you’ve made it is absolutely wonderful”
The journey so far……
On being asked about his experience so far at XLRI, Satvik tells us that for the first year, the curriculum is challenging, and the process of preparing for summer internships, it’s all very taxing and new at the same time. It’s been exciting, and I have learned a lot throughout.
“I have realised that it’s important not to take things too seriously, especially when there’s a lot of pressure. The professors are quite strict and don’t compromise on the subject matter. As a result, I’ve become more self-sufficient and open to the idea that it’s okay not to always be at the top. Campus life has brought about a lot of changes in my personality. I’m now more independent and able to make my own choices, something that I never had the need to or was wary of for most of my life.” he tells us.
Satvik talks about how he has learned and has grown a lot after making conscious choices and some of what he believes are sacrifices to reach where he had to. He talks about the biggest sacrifice in his first semester – his mental balance because everything is new, and a lot goes on.
“There is nothing else you can do. But once you get placed for the summer internship, then it finally makes sense and feels worth it.”
Plans for the future
Talking about his career aspirations post XLRI, Satvik talked about his interests in Marketing and HR before joining the institute. Being now in the HRM course, he would definitely want to be a part of a job role that requires the on fieldwork, even consulting as a matter of fact.
“I definitely aspire for leadership roles because that’s what I feel is also inspiring to me”
Word of advice by Satvik Bajpai
On giving tips to aspirants preparing to apply for XLRI, he suggested being yourself and reading a lot is the best way. Being sure of oneself and your why of what you are doing and what you want to do. Knowing one’s reasons and preparing yourself on your own is the best way to go about it.
“The biggest fight is with yourself; once you win it, things fall in place.”
Satvik’s life philosophy to go about life is to not pressurise oneself for and about anything. Doing something thinking it would make your life easier is a short way out and only sometimes helps in the long run.
Time with PaGaLGuY
Satvik also talked about how he has been using PagalGuy since 2020 and how it helped him through his journey to get into XLRI. When there were no connecting interfaces, especially during covid and even post that while preparing for XLRI interviews
“PagalGuy helped me a lot in being aware of the students giving interviews then, also through various articles and answers, it helped me being up to date with when’s when.”
Satvik’s journey of getting into the top B school – XLRI Jamshedpur, is exemplary of the fact and intricacies of the journey behind the final destination.
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