IIMK BMS Interview experience

Since IIM Kozhikode BMS interviews are around the corner, I thought I'd share my 2025 interview experience. My interview was in the morning slot, and the first thing that stood out to me was how different the atmosphere was compared to some of the other interviews I had attended. The panel was extremely friendly and conversational. Unlike certain interviews where professors seem visibly disappointed when you don't know an answer, the Kozhikode panel never gave that feeling. They laughed, joked around, and seemed genuinely interested in understanding the candidate rather than testing how many questions they could get wrong. Another thing worth mentioning is the duration. My Indore and Shillong interviews were relatively short, but this one went on for almost 45-50 minutes. A huge portion of the discussion came directly from the application form, so my biggest advice would be to know every single thing you have written there. I had mentioned Formula One as an interest, and because I genuinely follow the sport, I was able to answer almost everything they asked around it. I had also mentioned music as an interest, which led to one of the funniest moments of the interview. They asked me why music concerts don't make money, and my immediate reaction was, "They don't?" The entire panel laughed, I laughed, and from there it became more of a discussion where they tried to understand my reasoning rather than judge me for not knowing the answer.

Academics surprisingly did not dominate the interview. Since I had mentioned mathematics as an interest, they asked me a couple of derivative-based questions and one statistics question, but that was about it. A much larger part of the interview revolved around my father's profession. My father works at SBI and is a District Manager, and the panel seemed quite interested in that. They asked about his responsibilities, what his role involves, how banking functions at that level, and even questioned why I wasn't considering a similar career path given that someone in such a senior position could potentially guide me towards a stable banking career. This naturally led to discussions around finance, banking, and my interest in business. They also asked me basic banking-related concepts such as bank rates and reserve requirements. If your parents work in a specialized profession, I would strongly suggest being familiar with what they do because the panel can spend a surprising amount of time there.

Towards the latter half of the interview, they asked about my scores in other entrance examinations and my BMSAT percentile. This was probably the section where they seemed the most impressed because my entrance exam performance was significantly stronger than my school academics. That naturally led to a long discussion about why there was such a large gap between the two. They asked about my drop year, my preparation journey, and how someone could perform so differently across school and entrance exams. As for why I ultimately did not convert, I genuinely do not know. If I had to make a guess, I would say academics may have played a role. To the best of my knowledge, most general category students I know who eventually joined the program had very strong Class 10 and Class 12 scores, usually above 90 in both. I don't have 90+ in either (not even in a single subject lmao), so perhaps that mattered, although this is purely speculation on my part. Overall, the interview never felt hostile or stressful. Even when I didn't know something, the panel seemed more interested in seeing how I thought about the problem than whether I could produce the correct answer immediately. If you're preparing for the interview, spend far more time understanding your application, your interests, your background, and your motivations than memorizing random facts. If you've written something in your application, assume it can easily become a 10-minute discussion.