IIM Ahmedabad: Batch 2018-20 Diversity goes up with CAT toppers from Law, Golf, Scientific Research, philanthropy

IIM Ahmedabad, consistently moving up the path of diversity has achieved yet another milestone for the incoming batch of 2018-20 at its campus. The most diverse batch in recent years in terms of gender diversity, work experience and educational background has been admitted at IIM Ahmedabad. You will amazingly find a golfer, a philanthropist, a pilot, a lawyer and public policy enthusiast in the same batch of 2018-20 at IIM Ahmedabad. The batch includes students who have achieved significant accolades in areas as uncommon as sports, fashion, Pilot, Philanthropist among others.

Over the past few years, the classrooms of IIM Ahmedabad have consciously been welcoming students with different experiences and worldviews. For the academic year 2018-2020, the incoming batch invited by IIM Ahmedabad is the most diverse batch in recent years, both in terms of gender diversity, work experience and educational background. Commenting on the diversity of the batch of 2018-20, Raghuram Valluri, Media Secretary, Students Affairs Council of IIMA, said The diverse composition of the batch is an effect of sustained and conscious efforts part on the part of the Director and the Leadership of the institute. It is a testament to the increasing relevance and acceptability of management education.

The changes made in CAT exam structure and content and the changes in the admission criteria of IIM Ahmedabad could be only some of the many reasons behind getting such a diverse batch. It is a known fact that IIM Ahmedabad shortlists 5% top ranking candidates from different academic disciplines for final admission round. The consistent shifts and changes in IIM Ahmedabad admission policy and changes in admission criteria might have contributed to this achievement which all the IIMs propose to continue for future also to improve diversity in their class rooms.

Brief profiles of some of the students from the 2018-20 batch with Diverse background are shared here:

Anuj Bansal: Lawyer and Public Policy

A law graduate from RMNLU, Lucknow, Anuj is a Securities Law and Public Policy enthusiast. He has been part of numerous events on the National Level, also following his love for public speaking. He has also won the NLIU Juris Corp National Moot, as well as, winning multiple Parliamentary Debates on National Level. He has also written articles, critiques and essays on issues related to Public Policy. Anuj was also the coach of a team representing India in ALSA International Competition, Kuala Lumpur, eventually emerging as the runners up in the competition. His interests also extend to investigative journalism, mostly on the past realities of the Mumbai Underworld. He says, pursuing Management studies was a natural step for him to further his understanding and thereby contribute to public policy making.

Meet Agarwal: Featured in the Limca Book of Records

Hailing from Surat, Meet completed his B.Com and the IPCC exam for Chartered Accountancy ranking 5th in India. At the age of 10, he was featured in the Limca Book of Records for having played 47 instruments in eleven minutes. He has been felicitated by the then Chief Minister of Gujarat, Shri Narendra Modi, for the same. Meet is also a champion in the field of sports. He is a National Level roller-skater and an international-level Chess player. He also captained the Gujarat state Table Tennis team. He is one of three non-engineers to have scored 100 percentile in CAT 2017 as well. Apart from all the above achievements, he also topped the CBSE 12th board examination in Gujarat. At IIMA, he wants to hone his business acumen by learning from some of the best professors in the country and network with other accomplished folks. A big fan of Elon Musk, Meet wants to become an entrepreneur after gaining some industry experience post his MBA.

Pranay Tyle: Pilot, Published Researcher& Philanthropist

An alum of the United World College SEA and a gold medallist from the Delhi Public School, Noida, Pranay studied Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering at the Johns Hopkins University. At Hopkins, he conducted extensive oncology research for 3 years under Dr. Denis Wirtz and Dr. Hasini Jayatilaka, the results of which were published last year in Nature Communications and gained widespread attention from the global media, including leading Indian dailies. He has worked with Hilliard Lyons Investment Banking in the United States under Andy McKay, one of the most prominent investment bankers in the US Midwest, and was instrumental in expanding their healthcare M&A practice. Pranay is also an extensive traveler and has been to nearly 40 countries so far. Pranay also holds a pilots license from the United States and has logged almost 100 hours in the cockpit. He also founded an NGO at the age of 18 to provide scholarships and assist other NGOs in education with fundraising and managing financial resources. His NGO partners with several NGOs in India as well as Africa to help expand their impact on society. He is an avid squash player, and used to play at the elite Pendennis Club in the United States.

Mehak Sharma: Professional Golfer
Born in Agra, Mehak spent her life in various places in India, majorly in Madhya Pradesh and Pune. She graduated in commerce from Delhi University and thereafter worked in Deloitte as an Audit Assistant. She was introduced to golf at the age of 10 after accompanying her father to the army golf courses. She was instantly interested in the game and played amateur golf for the first few years. She started competing in tournaments since she was 14 and turned professional in 2016. Her first major win was the Captains Cup at Army Golf Course, Delhi in the open category in 2012. She played her first professional tournament in Ahmedabad where she finished 8th and her first professional win was coming 6th in Leg V at the Bombay Presidency Golf Club. She is ranked 8th by the Indian Golf Union (IGU) in Southern Indian Junior and Ladies Championship, Bangalore. Mehak believes that even though that there is no dearth of talent in sports in India, sportsmen strive to make a living in this country and that there is an urgent requirement to boost all sports and not just a select few.

Aaditya Agarwal: YIF Fellow
Aaditya graduated as a Civil Engineer from IIT Delhi with an Institute Rank 2. Post IIT, he took an unconventional decision to go for a PG Diploma in Liberal Studies, the Young India Fellowship at Ashoka University. Over the last 3 years, he has worked with students at Ashoka University and has mentored them to find their calling, helping them opt for their ideal career. He has a YouTube channel with sessions on how to prepare and present case studies for consulting job interviews. He has also taken classes on International History and Contemporary International Relations. Passionate about learning and with a unique mix of engineering and liberal arts knowledge, he wants to understand the depth of business decision making. According to Aaditya, The challenging environment of IIMA on all fronts will allow me to both fail and succeed. With this iterative process, I will understand myself better. In the age of Google, the premium is not on the answers but on questions. Through the classroom setup, I wish to enhance my ability to ask the right questions.

Nitin Pal: International Chess Player
An accomplished chess player, Nitin Pai represented India in the Commonwealth Chess Championship. He is the winner of several national-level chess competitions. He is also a chess writer for the prestigious Chessbase India and has organized three All India level FIDE-rated tournaments at IIT Madras. Apart from his extraordinary sports achievements, Nitin also holds academic laurels. He is a B.Tech. graduate from IIT Madras, he ranked 13th in the KVPY scholarship program and 4th in the Kerala Engineering Entrance Examinations. Nitin hopes IIMA will help him become a world-class manager. For now, he is excited about the learning opportunities and looking forward to playing chess in Europe during his exchange term.

Purvi Edara: Psychology and International Relations
Purvi majored in Psychology with a double minor in International Relations and Economics from Symbiosis School of Liberal Arts, Pune. Awarded the Best Academic Performer award in college, Purvi was also ranked 4th in the MaRRS International Spelling Bee. Her previous endevours have seen her interning with a child psychology centre, treating children with neurodevelopmental disorders. She loves reading fiction and enjoys performing slam poetry. She also loves learning languages, and is capable of reading and writing Korean while currently learning Mandarin. She says it was mostly out of curiosity that she decided to pursue an MBA, I wanted to figure out how compatible psychology would be with the various branches of management studies, and what career prospects I would have by combining the two fields. After her MBA, she wishes to work in a field that will help her achieve her goal of travelling every country in the world, starting from Asia.

Parikshit Khanna: Development Sector
Parikshit is a 2016 Mathematics graduate from IIT Kanpur. After graduation, he joined Credit Suisse, a place he left within 4 months to pursue his interest in development consulting. Shortly after, Parikshit joined the Chairman's Office, Quality Council of India where he worked closely under the Chairmanship of Adil Zainulbhai. Here, his work involved strategy, policy, and operations decisions while coordinating with various central ministries including the Union Finance minstry. His efforts were instrumental in the passage of a SEBI circular regarding curtailing of unauthorized trading by brokers. After completing his MBA, he aims to contribute to the development and policy sector and considers the management education as a mean to realize that goal. He is also an ardent traveller who loves to travel to little-known hamlets of the country.

Established in 1961, the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad (IIMA) is recognized globally for excellence in management education. One of the top management schools in the world, IIMA educates leaders of the enterprises. The Institutes strategic priorities include: strengthening connection with its various constituencies, including academics, practitioners, alumni, and the community; nurturing a high-performance work environment of stretch, autonomy, and teamwork; and strategic growth while maintaining emphasis on quality.

The flagship Post Graduate Programme (PGP) is ranked 21st in the Financial Times Masters in Management Ranking 2017. As per the Financial Times Global MBA Ranking 2017, IIMAs Post Graduate Programme for Executives (PGPX) is ranked 29th in the World. The postgraduate program in food and Agri Business (PGP-FABM) is ranked 1st in the Eduniversal Masters Ranking 2018. IIMA has been ranked as #1 Management institute as per the National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) rankings of Ministry of Human Resource Development, Government of India.