Uninvited 2.0 : Shaili

Coming from Kota, where life had been nothing but coaching classes and the same two friends every day, college felt like my real fresh start, a chance to finally breathe a little and live a little. That first year of online classes actually felt quite fine, with friends showing up through screens.What I didn't see coming was how quietly things would start slipping during those first semester online exams. While everyone else seemed to be gaming the system, I drew a line and refused to cheat. It felt right at the time, even noble, until I watched my CG fall, and that's when the first brutal lesson landed: friendship mattered, but I'd gotten so wrapped up in people that I'd completely forgotten why I was here in the first place.

Those meetings about maintaining a 7 CG for PORs, we'd treated them like background noise, another Zoom call to half-attend because who takes online meetings seriously anyway? The answer came swiftly and mercilessly. The first semester ended below 7, a sudden academic downfall that left me reeling.I promised myself I would do better, that I'd study this time and really study, but when the second semester went offline and campus opened up, that promise dissolved in the rush of new friendships and club workshops. After months of screens, campus felt exciting in real life, and even though I tried to focus on academics I still finished below 7. What made it worse was that we didn't have seniors around to shake us awake since their semester hadn't started yet, so there was no one to tell us about internships after second year, no one to warn us that time was already running out while we were busy discovering what it meant to finally be on campus.

The second year arrived like a slap across the face. Department-specific courses started piling on, and Physics third semester was absolutely hectic in a way that online classes had never prepared me for. Something had to give, and I finally made the choice I should have made a year earlier by sidelining the hangouts and planting myself in the library as a regular. I realized a painful truth: there were students so brilliant they could skip half their classes and still ace everything, but I wasn't one of them. I was floating somewhere in the middle of this massive pool, and if I wanted to have a fighting chance, I had to attend every single class, solve every tutorial problem, and do everything by the book.

That's when I started hunting down seniors to ask what internships they'd done, what career paths even existed beyond the obvious ones, and what I should be thinking about right now. I realized there were way more options than I ever knew, like research, consulting, software development, even UPSC with a Physics background, and pathways to higher studies I'd never considered. But the revelation that truly shook me was learning that so many students had already started preparing, grinding through DSA problems, and building profiles while I hadn't even touched any of it.

My grades did increase in the third semester, inching upward with all those hours in the library, but I still didn't cross 7. The disappointment was crushing this time because now I understood exactly what was at stake; that single number was the gatekeeper for most companies, the difference between getting a shot and being filtered out before anyone even looked at your resume. At first, I found strange comfort in discovering that more than half my batch was in the same boat, struggling below 7, but then I realized that was exactly the wrong way to think about it.

So I threw myself into clubs like Aeromodelling and Physics Society, turning every senior interaction into an impromptu mentoring session where I watched their journeys, mapped their paths, and tried desperately to figure out what trajectory might work for someone like me. By the fourth semester, most of my friends were still blissfully unaware of the internship process, and honestly, our entire year wasn't as internship-focused as the batches that came after us, but at least I had some idea of what storm was coming. The realization hit hard that even if I prepped well and mastered every technical concept, my low CGPA would block me from decent internships before I could even prove myself. So I made a decision and studied harder than I'd ever studied in my life, pushing my CGPA across 6.5, a small victory that still tasted bitter because it wasn't that magical 7.

The fifth semester marked the turning point where everything shifted into focus. I left Aeromodelling behind but stayed with Physics Society, pouring everything I had into academics while carefully maintaining just enough extracurricular involvement to keep my profile balanced. Third year became my redemption arc as I studied relentlessly through fifth and sixth semesters, and finally, things started clicking. I crossed 8 in one semester, then 8.5 in another, and while many friends at my level didn't see much improvement because sports and other commitments consumed their time, I'd learned how to walk the tightrope by participating in Football GC and Sporttech but never letting it destroy my placement prep.

I really wanted Day 1 or Day 2 placement, and some people say that's the wrong focus, that you should chase your interests and passion instead, but I wanted to prove something to myself and to everyone who'd seen me struggle that I could get there too. So alongside the CG boost, I started grinding through DSA problems from the fifth sem onwards, building my profile with PORs and carefully choosing where to invest my energy. When coordinator positions for Tryst and RDV came my way, I turned them both down, having learned my lesson about overextension because I wanted just enough profile to sit for both tech and consulting, nothing more and nothing less.

The path forward crystallized: product roles were too few and too competitive, core placements and higher studies didn't appeal to me, so it came down to software and consulting. MBB was obviously out of reach with my profile, but I had a decent shot at other consulting companies and solid prep for software roles. My internship experience was a patchwork of remote opportunities, JeeMentor in my first year, Blood Connect, a web developer role at a startup through an alumni connection in my sixth sem that I carefully listed as a summer internship, and a research internship with the University of Florida in my second year summer that my mentor had pushed me toward. The Biochemistry project lasted a month, and I'd done it remotely even though the professor offered an offline option because it was unpaid, and I needed to be on campus that summer studying. Third-year summer brought another corporate opportunity through a senior at Glenmark in Bombay, but I turned it down and instead went home to dedicate three entire months to pure, uninterrupted software prep because my sixth-semester internship was sorted and placement prep was infinitely more important than another line on my resume.

When the seventh semester arrived, the entire campus was buzzing with placement anxiety, and I was no exception, though my CGPA had finally increased by a full point, crossing that crucial 7 threshold. I felt satisfied with where I'd landed, but satisfaction quickly gave way to intense preparation as I started prepping for company-specific tests, bugging seniors relentlessly about question patterns and difficulty levels. I even studied aptitude for data analytics roles despite having zero interest in them, driven by a desperate need to avoid any possible regret, and I poured my heart into crafting consulting and software CVs, making decent attempts at finance, analytics, and product ones too.

I'd entered the seventh sem with a 7.02 CG and strategically arranged my schedule with just four courses: BTP, one HUL, a pending core from the fifth sem, and a chill open elective. Those 8 AM classes became my structure, forcing me awake and making my day productive, and I managed a decent 7.5 plus that semester. I didn't even attend RDV when my friends called because I could not afford to regret it, not anymore.

November descended into complete chaos as the BTP report deadline collided with majors, placement tests, and the CAT exam. I limited conversations with friends because everyone had different goals, and comparing notes only amplified the anxiety. Texas and Oracle tests went well, and I thought I'd solved Oracle perfectly, actually, but still no shortlist.

Then, just ten days before interviews were scheduled to begin, around November 20th, I got shortlisted for Accenture. It was the only consulting firm I'd applied to, having been very strategic about where I submitted applications since I knew I didn't have that coveted fourth-year POR most firms required. There was a startup offering 30 LPA as a business analyst, but I'd rejected it immediately because I didn't want a startup culture with its six-day workweeks and uncertain future; I wanted an MNC with an established culture and proper five-day workweeks.

Those last ten days became a blur of intense preparation. My software prep was already solid from summer and third year, so I focused entirely on consulting by taking countless mock interviews with seniors, solving case after case, refining guesstimate frameworks and perfecting every line of my CV. Consulting interviews are brutal because they grill you on everything: your CV, your technical skills, and those deceptively simple HR questions that can derail you if you haven't thought them through. Seniors helped me sharpen my cases and HR, while friends with PPOs helped me solve guestimates.

The question I knew would come was "Why consulting when you studied Physics?" and I'd crafted my answer carefully. Physics trains you in research methods, and research is the backbone of consulting. My PORs demonstrated leadership, and I'd even participated in debates during the third semester, winning second place in Am Pro Am, which had sharpened my communication skills. These three pillars of research capability, leadership experience and clear communication were vital for consulting, and I had a story that connected them all.

I'd even mentioned my tech projects on my consulting CV to show versatility and highlighted how I'd participated in Mad for Ad and two other competitions, podiuming in all three. The key to interviews I'd learned wasn't having the best profile but having the best story, because people with incredible profiles get rejected all the time when they can't connect anything together, showing skills scattered,but not connecting those dots. I would be able to make a story showing that I am an asset to the company, even if I did not have those Deb wins. I would probably use my own pitching experience and seeing  professional startup pitches while being a part of Sync as a value that I could provide.

Around November 30th came a complete shock when I got waitlisted for Fast Retailing despite having attempted only three-quarters of their test. I hadn't prepped much because I'd been so focused on Accenture, and honestly, I hadn't expected anything from it.

December 1st brought no shortlist. A friend got Microsoft and cleared all rounds, Instagram stories filled with offers and Day 1 companies and dream roles and celebrations. I felt crushed watching everyone else's success while sitting there with nothing, so I quickly closed Insta and got back to work.

December 2nd arrived with my Accenture interview scheduled for 10:30 AM, and I still had nothing from Fast Retailing. Then at 7:30 AM, my phone rang, a volunteer asking me to come early. I got there in 10 minute,s and they made me wait for an hour, during which Fast Retailing kept calling me to come for the first round. I was reluctant to go since I hadn't prepped for it, so I waited for my chance at Accenture.

My profile was low in their preference order, but people ranked above me had been rejected, and suddenly, I was up. They took me after the first round, and then I rushed to Fast Retailing's first round, after which I got a callback from Accenture.

I had gotten into Accenture. I was placed. The weight that had been crushing my chest for months suddenly lifted and I felt this rush of relief, but then confusion replaced it about whether I should even go for Fast Retailing's second round. Volunteers urged me to go, and I walked in with a confidence I'd never felt before because I was already secure. That interview turned into the best conversation of my life, flowing naturally as we talked about random things, and I even mentioned I'd wanted consulting and had just been placed. And somehow, impossibly, they also extended an offer.

The happiness was overwhelming, like my entire college journey, every struggle and sleepless night and moment of crushing doubt suddenly felt worth it.

I went home for a month after that, and the eighth semester became pure fun, roaming with friends and finally being able to breathe and enjoy everything without that constant weight of uncertainty. Placements and internships and life in general can be pretty unpredictable, full of unexpected downfalls that hit when you least expect them. But the lesson I learned, the one that carried me through everything, was this: you cannot sit with disappointment, cannot let it root you in place. You have to focus on what's next, always what's next.

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Story by: Ishita Bharadwaj

Design by: Pihu Uphadyay

Edited by: Rishit Srivastava