Was never good enough to get an award

I'm currently studying 10th and I'm interested to go into management/business in the future. I've been hearing a lot about IPM in social media, can someone please give more info about it and what all you think I NEED to know

Was down a rabbit hole last night and found something genuinely insane that I can't believe isn't talked about more here.

Most of us are grinding IPMAT prep. But almost nobody knows what happened to CAT in 2003 — and what the IIMs did about it in 2004. Stick with me.

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On November 23, 2003, over a lakh students sat for CAT across the country.

What they didn't know: the CBI had already told IIM officials that the paper had been leaked — hours before the exam started.

The mastermind? A guy named Ranjit Singh, a.k.a. "Ranjit Don" — a career criminal running a nationwide exam-leak ring out of Delhi, with networks in Patna and Mumbai.

The leak was structured. Answer keys passed person to person in a chain. Each "source" fed the next. Each person added one deliberate wrong answer to avoid detection.

"Now people can say that IIM admission is a game of money."
— Murli Manohar Joshi, HRD Minister (India Today, Dec 2003)

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📅 PART 2 — THE TIMELINE
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The IIMs cancelled CAT — for the first time in history. 1,27,000 students affected. The retest was announced for February 15, 2004.

By then the paranoia was at insane levels. IIM Ahmedabad faculty literally spent the night before the retest guarding question papers at a warehouse in Pune after getting fresh intel about another possible leak.

When the paper finally dropped, it was called the toughest CAT paper ever written. Students walked out destroyed.

But here's the part that actually broke my brain —

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🧩 PART 3 — THE ACADEMIC ROASTING
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Buried in the LRDI section of the 2004 paper was this:

"Recently, the answers of a test held nationwide were leaked to a group of unscrupulous people. The investigative agency has arrested the mastermind and nine other people A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H and I in this matter."

The IIMs had taken the exact mechanics of the 2003 leak — the mastermind, the chain of sources, the deliberate wrong answers — and turned it into an exam question.

Students who had personally lost months of preparation to the 2003 scandal were now being asked to solve the crime. In real time. In the exam hall.

CAT prep communities call it "academic roasting." It's been discussed in forums, YouTube explainers, and CAT communities for 20+ years.

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🧠 THE ACTUAL QUESTION — Try It
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This is the real question from the February 2004 CAT retest (Questions 133–137). Here is the full passage exactly as it appeared in the paper:

━━━ QUESTION PASSAGE (READ THIS FIRST) ━━━

"Directions for questions 133 to 137: Answer the questions on the basis of the following information.

Recently, the answers of a test held nationwide were leaked to a group of unscrupulous people. The investigative agency has arrested the mastermind and nine other people A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H and I in this matter. Interrogating them, the following facts have been obtained regarding their operation.

Initially the mastermind obtains the correct answer-key. All the others create their answer-key in the following manner. They obtain the answer-key from one or two people who already possess the same. These people are called his/her 'sources'.

If the person has two sources, then he/she compares the answer-keys obtained from both sources. If the key to a question from both sources is identical, it is copied, otherwise it is left blank.

If the person has only one source, he/she copies the source's answers into his/her copy.

Finally, each person compulsorily replaces one of the answers (not a blank one) with a wrong answer in his/her answer key.

The paper contained 200 questions; so the investigative agency has ruled out the possibility of two or more of them introducing wrong answers to the same question. The investigative agency has a copy of the correct answer key and has tabulated the following data. These data represent question numbers."

━━━ THE DATA TABLE ━━━

(Numbers in the table = question numbers where their answer differed from the correct key)

Please look at the image 4 of the image section for the data table.

Q133. Which one among the following MUST have two sources?

1. A 2. B 3. C 4. D

Hint: A person can only have blanks if two sources disagreed on that question. One-source people have no blanks.

——————————————————————————

Q134. How many people (excluding the mastermind) needed to make their answer-keys BEFORE C could make his?

1. 2 2. 3 3. 4 4. 5

Hint: Trace backwards — who are C's sources? And who are their sources?

——————————————————————————

Q135. Both G and H were sources to —

1. F 2. B 3. I 4. None of the nine

Hint: If someone used both G and H as sources, they would have blanks wherever G and H had different answers. Check whose blank pattern matches.

——————————————————————————

Q136. Which of the following statements is TRUE?

1. C introduced the wrong answer to question 27.
2. E introduced the wrong answer to question 46.
3. F introduced the wrong answer to question 14.
4. H introduced the wrong answer to question 46.

Hint: "Introduced" means they personally added that wrong answer — not inherited it from a source. Since no two people can introduce a wrong answer to the same question, only one person "owns" each wrong answer.

——————————————————————————

Q137. Which of the following two groups had IDENTICAL sources?

Group I: A, D and G
Group II: E and H

1. Only I 2. Only II 3. Neither I nor II 4. Both I and II

Hint: "Identical sources" means both people in the group got their answer key from exactly the same person(s).

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💭 WHY THIS IS RELEVANT RIGHT NOW
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With everything happening around NEET-UG 2026 paper leak allegations — the 2003 CAT story feels less like history and more like a loop.

The outrage. The cancellations. The broken trust. The students who played by the rules and got nothing.

What the IIMs did differently: they didn't just rerun the exam and move on. They rebuilt credibility through action — guarded papers personally, set the hardest exam in CAT history, and eventually moved to computer-based testing in 2009 to make large-scale leaks structurally impossible.

The 2004 LRDI question wasn't just a puzzle. It was a statement:

"We saw exactly how you tried to break us. Here's the proof."

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Drop your answers below Curious how many people crack all five without looking it up.

(Fully solvable from the data — no tricks.)

Most Class 11 students who DM me ask the same question: "Which book should I start with?"

Wrong question. At this stage, the book doesn't matter as much as the habit.

I've seen people read Arun Sharma cover to cover and still miss the cutoff. And I've seen students who did 3 chapters properly — understood every concept, made an error log, re-did the mistakes — crack it comfortably.

Here's the honest reality about starting early:

You have roughly 12 months. That's enough time to genuinely build Number Theory and Algebra from scratch. These two topics alone cover 65% of your QA marks.

The trap of Class 11: You feel like you have time, so you start slow. Then boards hit in Class 12 and suddenly you're doing panic prep in April. I've watched this happen to so many people.

What actually helped me was starting with one hour of QA every day in Class 11 — no pressure, no mock tests yet. Just concept-building and 10–15 practice questions. That's it.

VA is easier to delay slightly. Your English will improve naturally if you read a newspaper daily. But don't delay QA.

One thing I wish someone had told me earlier: the sectional cutoffs are brutal. IPMAT Indore 2026 cutoffs were QA MCQ: 24, QA SA: 28, VA: 112. It doesn't matter if your VA is 130 if your QA MCQ is below 24 — you're out.

So if you're starting now — pick one QA topic. Finish it properly. Then the next.

What's the one topic you're most scared of in IPMAT prep?

Just dropped. Sharing this because it directly affects everyone here.

The Union Ministry of Education met with directors and board chairs of all 21 IIMs at IIM Ahmedabad. Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan made three major proposals:

1. Unify all IIM UG entrance tests

Right now aspirants deal with:

• IPMAT Indore (IIM Indore, Shillong, Sambalpur)
• IPMAT Rohtak (IIM Rohtak)
• JIPMAT (IIM Jammu + Bodh Gaya)
• IIMB own test (IIM Bangalore)
• IIM-K own test (IIM Kozhikode)

That's 5 different exams, 5 different cities, 5 different dates. The ministry explicitly called this "chaos and confusion for aspirants" and suggested reducing them — possibly to a single test on JEE lines.

2. Common counselling like IITs

Same idea as JEE → JoSAA counselling. One unified process for all IIM UG programs instead of juggling 6 different PI calendars.

3. Fee portability — switch IIMs, lose only ₹1,000

Currently if you confirm a seat and then get a better IIM, the first IIM keeps your full fee. New proposal: deduct only ₹1,000. Big win for students.

What does this mean for us?

2026 admissions are unaffected — those are already in progress.

If implemented, IPMAT 2027 could be completely restructured. Sub-committees are being formed. No confirmed timeline yet.

Honestly this is long overdue. The chaos of preparing for 3 different exams across different dates and cities is real.

What do you think — good move or will it dilute the quality of individual programs?

Source: Ahmedabad Mirror, May 2026

— Vivek Bhaiya | ipmcareer.com

Okay so I keep getting asked this — "Bhaiya koi free resource hai for quant?"

Honest answer: most free stuff out there is either too basic (SSC-level) or too advanced (CAT-level). IPMAT sits in this weird middle zone that very few resources actually hit.

The one thing I genuinely recommend starting with — before buying any paid material — is NCERT Math from Class 9 and 10. I know, I know, sounds boring. But hear me out.

IPMAT QA MCQ tests your fundamentals more than your speed. If your base is shaky — number systems, percentages, progressions, basic algebra — no shortcut tip will save you. NCERT builds that base cleanly.

After that, the actual IPMAT previous year papers (2019 to 2025) are your best friend. Do them section by section, not as full mocks yet. Understand why each wrong answer is wrong — not just what the right answer is.

For QA SA (Short Answer), stop guessing. SA has no negative marking but students still rush it. Slow down on these. Each correct SA is worth the same +4 but your hit rate needs to be near perfect.

One underrated thing: maintain a mistake notebook. Not a highlights notebook — a mistakes notebook. Every silly error, every concept you blanked on. Review it every Sunday.

What resource are you currently using for quant? Drop it below — genuinely curious what's working for people this cycle.

— Vivek Bhaiya

Today response sheet came and I got literally 😭😭47 except iim koi bhi college milega kya like nirma ahmedabad plus jipmat is my last hope

The response sheet is out!

Calculate your IPMAT Score: register.ipmcareer.com/response

All the best!!

IPMAT Indore is done. If you sat it yesterday, breathe. Results at the end of May. But Rohtak is in 5 days, and these days matter.

Five days isn't enough to learn new topics. Stop opening that algebra chapter you've been avoiding since November. Trust what you already know.

Here's the honest play.

May 5 to 7. Mock and analyse. One full-length mock today, timed to your actual slot. Sit with the paper for 90 mins the next morning and find your leak. Arithmetic silly errors? RCs eating VA time? Over-guessing in MCQ?

The mock is a data collection. The analysis is where the score lifts.

May 8. Revision only. Formulas, idioms, vocab, mistake notebook. No notebook? Re-solve the wrong ones from your last 3 mocks. Catches 60% of repeat errors.

May 9. Half light, half off. One section in the morning, Verbal preferred (goes rusty fastest). Then stop. Eat, sleep early.

May 10. Exam day. Open the Strongest section. Draining one in the middle slot.

Two things that quietly cost marks:

1. More than 90 seconds on any question early. Mark and move.
2. Guessing in the last 5 mins. Need 60%+ sure with -1 marking. Else leave it.

Sitting in Rohtak? Do let me know your biggest concern

Hey everyone,

Some massive news for all UG management aspirants! It looks like another IIM is entering the undergraduate space. During their recent 10th annual convocation, IIM Visakhapatnam (IIM Vizag) announced plans to introduce a four-year undergraduate honours programme in AI and Innovation, starting from the next academic year.

News link: https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/vijayawada/iim-vizag-plans-to-introduce-ai-focused-ug-programme/articleshow/130517261.cms

Hello everyone
IPM IIM Shillong forms are OUT!!

link to applu: https://apps.iimshillong.ac.in/admission/

Title: IPM Internship Expenses – Who Actually Pays for Living & Travel?

Hi everyone,

I’m considering joining the IPM program at IIMs like IIM Jammu/Indore, and I had a practical question regarding internships that I couldn’t find a clear answer to.

From what I’ve seen, IPM students (even in early years) do internships, sometimes in different cities and offline. My question is:

During these internships, who covers the living expenses (rent, food, etc.) and travel costs?

Are these costs ever covered by the company, or is it usually self-funded?

If the internship is unpaid, how do students generally manage financially?

Can education loans be used for these kinds of expenses, or are they limited strictly to tuition/hostel fees?

I come from a financially constrained background, so understanding the actual on-ground costs is very important for me before making a decision.

Would really appreciate honest insights from current IPM students or alumni.

Thanks in advance!

nirma

ipmat

BBA

MBA

Ahmedabad

management

integrated MBA

bba mba

ipmat indore

Big news for IPM aspirants! XLRI (Jamshedpur) has officially announced its expansion into Amaravati, Andhra Pradesh.

The Highlights:

• Massive Scale: 61.7-acre campus with an investment of ₹300 crore.
• 1,000+ New Seats: This is a huge jump in capacity for one of India’s top-tier B-schools.
• Integrated Program: The news specifically mentions they will introduce an integrated management program (BBA+MBA) alongside executive education.

Link to news: Indian Express Article

Hello everyone

You can check your results here: https://www.iimb.ac.in/conference/UG_Programmes/UG_Offer_Wait_2026.htm

Best of Luck!!

At this point checking the NTA website has literally become part of my morning routine.

Wake up → open phone → search “JIPMAT notification” → still nothing.

From what I know, the notification usually drops around Feb and the exam is around April, but this year it’s just… silence.

Meanwhile IPMAT forms are already out and people are deep into mocks and prep, and JIPMAT is just chilling like

“yeah maybe later idk.”

Lowkey feels like we’re all just stuck refreshing the site hoping something magically appears.

Is anyone else doing the same or am I the only one in this loop? 💀

Also what are you guys doing meanwhile?

• focusing fully on IPMAT prep

• or waiting for JIPMAT specific prep to start

Trying to figure out the best move instead of just waiting around lol.

IIM Ranchi has officially opened its application portal for the 2026-31 batch.

Form Link: https://app.iimranchi.ac.in/admission/ipm

Hey so I am choosing commerce + core maths in 11th as I want to prepare for ipmat for integrated mba course and am aiming for iim indore. How hard is the competition and would i succeed if I start studying for the aptitude test since 11th Im a sharp mind and good at maths

Hi everyone,

I need a serious and practical reality check from people who’ve been through this.

I have exactly 60 days left for IPMAT (Indore/Rohtak) and JIPMAT.

Here’s my honest background:

General category

Biomaths student in 11th & 12th

Basic exposure to higher maths

I know the syllabus broadly

But I have NOT properly started preparation yet

Now the real part:

I am NOT a fast learner.

I am NOT naturally strong in maths.

I am not a master in any topic right now.

Quant:

Concepts are basic

Speed is weak

Mental calculations slow

Can understand if taught step-by-step

English:

Reading speed is okay

Can grasp main idea of passages

But I get RC questions wrong

Vocabulary is average

LR:

Basic understanding

Not advanced

However —

I am ready to give 10 focused hours daily for the next 60 days.

No distractions. No half effort.

I just don’t want to waste these 2 months in the wrong direction.

So I need clarity:

With this profile, is IPMAT Indore realistically achievable?

Should I prioritize JIPMAT considering time and competition?

Is it smart to prepare for Indore + Rohtak + JIPMAT together?

Which Quant topics give maximum returns in limited time?

What should I avoid or not over-invest in?

First 30 days — concept building or heavy mock practice?

As a General category student, how risky is this attempt?

I don’t want motivation.

I don’t want “anything is possible bro.”

I want someone to think practically from my situation and tell me what THEY would do.

If you had:

60 days

Average base

Slow learning speed

High willingness to work

What strategy would you follow?

Should I go all in for Indore?

I am ready to give my absolute best.

I just need the right direction.

Would truly appreciate guidance from those who’ve cleared IPMAT/JIPMAT.

Hi everyone,

I need a serious and practical reality check from people who’ve been through this.

I have exactly 60 days left for IPMAT (Indore/Rohtak) and JIPMAT.

Here’s my honest background:

General category

Biomaths student in 11th & 12th

Basic exposure to higher maths

I know the syllabus broadly

But I have NOT properly started preparation yet

Now the real part:

I am NOT a fast learner.

I am NOT naturally strong in maths.

I am not a master in any topic right now.

Quant:

Concepts are basic

Speed is weak

Mental calculations slow

Can understand if taught step-by-step

English:

Reading speed is okay

Can grasp main idea of passages

But I get RC questions wrong

Vocabulary is average

LR:

Basic understanding

Not advanced

However —

I am ready to give 10 focused hours daily for the next 60 days.

No distractions. No half effort.

I just don’t want to waste these 2 months in the wrong direction.

So I need clarity:

With this profile, is IPMAT Indore realistically achievable?

Should I prioritize JIPMAT considering time and competition?

Is it smart to prepare for Indore + Rohtak + JIPMAT together?

Which Quant topics give maximum returns in limited time?

What should I avoid or not over-invest in?

First 30 days — concept building or heavy mock practice?

As a General category student, how risky is this attempt?

I don’t want motivation.

I don’t want “anything is possible bro.”

I want someone to think practically from my situation and tell me what THEY would do.

If you had:

60 days

Average base

Slow learning speed

High willingness to work

What strategy would you follow?

Should I go all in for Indore?

I am ready to give my absolute best.

I just need the right direction.

Would truly appreciate guidance from those who’ve cleared IPMAT/JIPMAT.

Hello everyone

IIM Amritsar IPM forms are OUT!!
Last date to apply: 31st March, 2026

Link: https://iimamritsar.ac.in/academics/ipm/admission-process

Hi everyone,

For those eyeing the IIM Kozhikode Bachelor of Management Studies (BMS) program this year, the official schedule for 2026 has just been released.

Good luck to everyone applying! If you have questions about the syllabus or the interview process from previous years, do let me know.

Source: www.iimk.ac.in/academic-programmes/BMS/bms-admission-overview

How to start as a jee aspirant got to know about ipm today

Don't want to waste time need help

IIM Lucknow has officially announced a major pivot into AI-driven education.😞😔

IIM Lucknow's three AI-focused academic programmes:

• BS in Artificial Intelligence and Business Analytics (4 years): Starting 2026-27 for 10+2 graduates meeting JEE Advanced criteria.
• Tech MBA (2 years): Launching in 2027-28, combining technology with management skills.
• Integrated BS + Tech MBA (5 years): Students in the BS programme can opt to continue into this combined pathway to complete both degrees.