From a 10th-Grade Dream to IIM Rohtak: How Aaradhya Cracked IPMAT Straight Out of Class 12 with PW

Most students start thinking about competitive exams once school gets serious. Aaradhya was already dreaming about it in Class 10. Hailing from Karnal, Haryana, he had one goal fixed early: get into an IIM. When he discovered that IPM could take him there directly after Class 12- skipping the usual graduation-then-CAT route - he knew exactly what he was working toward.

That dream has now turned into an offer from IIM Rohtak, and Aaradhya achieved it without taking a drop year, managing his boards and IPMAT preparation side by side.

Aaradhya's Dream, Planted in Class 10

Aaradhya's interest in commerce didn't come from nowhere - he'd been following the stock market since the 7th grade. That early curiosity led him to explore what commerce could offer, and it's how he first came across IPMAT and the IIM route.

"10th class mein sapna dekha tha IIM jaane ka, IPM ke through, jo directly aapko 12th ke baad hi IIM le jaata hai."

Aaradhya's academic record was genuinely strong - 92.2% in Class 10 and 96% in Class 12 - built on years of consistent effort with his parents' support. But strong grades alone don't guarantee a smooth IPMAT journey. 

The real challenge was making sure neither boards nor IPMAT prep suffered because of the other, and figuring out how to run both tracks at once without burning out. Once the goal was clear, the next step was finding the right coaching - and that search led him to Physics Wallah. 

How Aaradhya Managed Boards and IPMAT Together: The 80-20 Rule

Balancing two major exams in the same academic year is one of the biggest anxieties for IPMAT aspirants — and Aaradhya admits he had the same doubt. Following advice from his mentors, he applied an 80-20 approach: until November, roughly 4 of his 6 daily study hours went to IPMAT and about 1.5–2 hours to boards. 

Once boards approached in February, he flipped that ratio almost entirely, dedicating around 80% of his time to boards while only revising his IPMAT formula notes to stay sharp.

"Jis cheez ke liye itna aapne sacrifice kiya aur hard work kiya ho, agar aapko achieve ho gayi ho to bahut hi zyada khushi hoti hai."

How Aaradhya Tackled Backlogs Without Falling Behind

Like most working aspirants, Aaradhya hit a rough patch — a family situation forced him to travel, and his lecture backlog piled up. His fix was simple but disciplined: attend every live class as scheduled, then dedicate weekends specifically to clearing backlogs. At times, he strategically skipped a live class just to sit down and catch up instead.

"Hafte mein agar chaar class ho rahi hai to aap hafte mein chhe class ke hisaab se padhai chalu kar do."

That small shift in mindset — studying ahead of pace rather than just keeping up — meant the backlog resolved itself naturally over time.

Why Aaradhya Chose PW IPMAT Wallah

With dozens of coaching options in the market, Aaradhya says the first and most important decision any aspirant makes is picking the right one. For him, three things stood out about PW's IPMAT Wallah batch: an institution with a long track record across multiple exam categories, genuinely affordable pricing compared to other options, and experienced faculty backing it all up.

"Physics Wallah jo itna bada institution hai jo bachon ko itne saalon se padha raha hai alag-alag courses, isliye ek brand trust to hota hi hai. Doosri baat, affordable - PW ka jo IPMAT Wallah ka batch hai sabse affordable batch hai, aur results bhi maine dekhe to proven the."

He also made a conscious decision early on not to chase every faculty video available on the internet. After his very first demo class gave him confidence that concepts were landing well, he committed fully to PW's resources instead of splitting his attention across multiple sources.

"Alag-alag jagahon mein jaane ka fayda nahi hai. Isse achha ek hi pe focus karo aur 100% dekar karo."

The IIM Indore Setback That Tested Aaradhya

Aaradhya's first real test at IIM Indore didn't go the way he'd hoped. He cleared the QA and LRDI cutoffs comfortably — around 15–20 marks above the requirement — but narrowly missed the VARC cutoff. His estimated score sat around 380, built on a near-perfect QA attempt, a strong LR score, but a comparatively weaker VARC section where accuracy hovered at 75–80%.

The anxiety wasn't helped by social media, where predicted cutoffs of 400+ started circulating right after the exam.

"Maine socha ki yeh to ek expected cutoff hai, asli mein kya hona hai woh to kisi ko nahi pata tha. Phir maine bas prarthna ki bhagwan se, aur maine believe kiya ki maine mehnat ki hai to mujhe phal to pakka milega hi uska."

Rather than dwelling on what had already happened, he leaned on a philosophy he holds strongly: a comeback should always be bigger than the setback.

How Aaradhya Cracked the IIM Rohtak Interview

Interview preparation brought its own kind of nervousness - something most students are facing for the very first time, with no real school-level equivalent to draw on. Aaradhya leaned heavily on mock interviews, both through PW and an independent mentor unaffiliated with any institute, and says the mocks were often tougher than the real thing — which made the actual interview feel far more manageable.

"Interview ek aisi cheez hai jo candidate mostly pehli baar hi dete hain... mocks ne meri fluency bhi badhayi, mujhe tackle karna sikhaya."

In the real interview, he answered roughly 13 to 14 of about 15 questions confidently — and for the two he didn't know, he chose honesty over guessing.

"Jo mujhe nahi pata tha, maine bol diya main aware nahi hoon, but main jaake zaroor iske baare mein dekhunga."

Interestingly, despite scoring 96% in boards, not a single academic question came up. The panel focused almost entirely on current affairs and his personal interests — nearly half the interview revolved around the stock market, a subject he'd been following since childhood.

What Aaradhya's Journey Teaches IPMAT Aspirants

Aaradhya is candid that no IPMAT journey moves in a straight line upward. He compares it to a stock market chart — full of ups, downs, and setbacks that demand a comeback.

"Aapko come back karna padega, aapko motivated rehna padega... aapko setback ke liye bhi ready rehna padega."

His biggest regret, and his advice to future aspirants, centers on VARC — a section he personally struggled with and started taking seriously too late. His suggestion: read consistently, build vocabulary steadily through resources like Word Power Made Easy, and treat VARC with the same practice discipline as Quant and LR, sections that eventually became strong enough that he barely needed to think twice on many questions.

For aspirants chasing the same dream Aaradhya once wrote down in Class 10, his story is a reminder that clarity of goal, trust in the process, honesty in high-pressure moments, and a refusal to let one bad exam define the outcome can take you all the way to an IIM — straight out of Class 12.