Economics at Ashoka, consulting placements, reflecting on college - Soumil Agarwal

This podcast was shot in March 2024. At the time of shooting Soumil was completing his ASP year (4th year) at Ashoka University. Soumil graduated with a degree in Economics and Finance. He’s currently working at the World Bank as a Junior Analyst. We talked about Soumil’s time in Ashoka University, economics at Ashoka, consulting, etc. You can learn more about Soumil through LinkedIn -   / agarwalsoumil  

0:00 - Intro
2:30 - Why’d you pick Ashoka over Delhi University?
11:45 - Affording Ashoka, Ashoka vs DU for jobs
14:20 - Convincing his parents for Ashoka
18:22 - Picking Ashoka given the cost
20:50 - Ashoka and grad school placements

Job talk, Consulting,
23:04 - Will I get a job after Ashoka? Consulting talk.
29:04 - His pressure to follow the traditional path. Investment and Consulting club at Ashoka.
37:43 - Club talk at Ashoka
40:40 - Clubs aren’t just embellishing your resume
42:32 - Consulting students seem to have no spine


48:51 - Why I didn’t go into consulting, wanting to create an impact
50:00 - What really is consulting?
53:00 - The timeline of a typical consulting job. What it is and what it’s not.
1:06:20 - I don’t regret doing economics
1:10:05 - Learning and Jobs
1:15:30 - TALK TO YOUR SENIORS

On a more personal note
1:17:13 - You’ll be leaving Ashoka in 5 weeks, how do you feel?
1:20:00 - Loneliness after college, adulting
1:22:02 - I’m going to miss learning
1:26:45 - Dating on campus, looking back at his undergrad years
1:32:56 - What mistakes do you see undergrads making?
1:36:26 - Not talking to enough people
1:37:50 - I used to hate rich people


Job vs Masters, Internship talk, Self-rejecting
1:42:19 - How does one land internships? Exploring research, think tanks.
1:56:20 - Applying to internships properly
1:59:07 - How’d you go about building relationships with professors?
2:06:30 - Deciding between masters vs job, work experience
2:13:24 - How does one land a job abroad?
2:20:00 - What price do you pay for being Soumil?