The Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) and the Faculty of Management Studies (FMS) Delhi are one of the most prestigious institutes in the country with several international recognitions. Owing to their excellent placement statistics and ROI, the IIMs and FMS have become one of the most preferred management schools for MBA aspirants. Please refer BYJU’S CAT College Predictor tool.
The CAT, conducted by IIMs, is a prerequisite for admissions to these Business Schools. In recent years, GMAT scores are also being considered as an alternative to CAT scores for admissions.
To diversify the IIM student community, there has been a drastic shift towards higher weightage to profile-based screening rather than CAT scores. IIM Ahmedabad, Bangalore and Calcutta had previously changed their admission criteria for their Post Graduate Programs (PGP). Candidates can visit IIM Selection Criteria to know the admission process of IIMs in detail. Now, even after scoring a 99+ percentile in CAT 2023, there is no guarantee of getting admission in any of these top B-schools as their focus has shifted to the individual profile, which includes academic records, work experience and internships, performance in the Written Ability Test (WAT) and Personal Interview (PI).
What do the IIMs need in a candidate?
Soon after the announcement of CAT 2023, each of the IIMs will announce the selection and shortlisting process for the flagship to PGP courses. Apart from CAT scores, a candidate must fulfil a lot of parameters at various levels of the screening process. Excellence in academics, valuable work experience and background of the graduation degree would also make a major difference in getting a call from these institutions.
These policies have been reformed to make the management courses aspirant friendly for non-technical students. So, if you are a non-engineer with a good academic record clubbed with a decent work experience of about 1-2 years accompanied by good intrapersonal skills, then even scoring 95 percentile won’t be a hindrance in your IIM admissions.
Here, the admissions process or selection criteria for IIM-A, IIM-B and IIM-C are given to help the candidates get a general idea about the selection process of IIMs. Candidates are also suggested to visit the IIM list to know about different IIMs and other related details.
IIM Ahmedabad Admission/Selection Process
As per the IIM Ahmedabad (IIMA) selection criteria for flagship PGP courses, there are 3 steps in the scaling procedure:
Preliminary Scaling
In CAT 2023, there will be three broader sections, namely, Quantitative Aptitude (QA), Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning (DILR) and Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension (VARC). To qualify for this screening process, a candidate must fulfil the criteria as qualifying with respect to the minimum cutoff in sectional and overall percentile rank and obtaining a non-zero raw score. The minimum cutoff scores are generally 70 sectional and 80 overall percentile rank.
In addition to this, an Applicant Rating Score is also counted, which accounts for about 30% of overall weightage.
Screening for Written Ability Test (WAT) and Personal Interview (PI)
- Stage 1 for exceptional and excellent performers:
Here, from each of the 7 academic categories, the top 100 candidates or the top 5%, whichever less, will be called for WAT and PI, based on their composite scores, fulfilling the criteria with respect to CAT percentiles accompanied by Applicant Rating (AR) scores.
- Stage 2 for the remaining category aspirants
Here, the aspirants from the remaining 99% will be called for their scaling on WAT and PI.
Final Selection
For final selection, a final composite score is calculated on the following parameters:
FCS = 0.50 (Normalised PI Score) + 0.10 (Normalised AWT Score) + 0.40 (Composite Score).
IIM Bangalore Admission/Selection Process
As per the IIM Bangalore (IIMB) selection criteria for flagship PGP courses, there are 2 phases of the scaling procedure:
Phase I Selection:
To qualify for this screening process, a candidate must fulfil the criteria as qualifying with respect to the minimum cutoff in sectional and overall percentile and obtaining a non-zero raw score. The minimum cutoff scores for CAT 2021 were 75 percentile for QA and DI & LR, 80 percentile for VARC and 90 overall percentile.
In addition to this, an academic score is counted, which accounts for about 30% of overall weightage after normalisation.
The candidate’s academic scores of Class X and Class XII are initially adjusted by dividing the scores from the 90th percentile obtained on their respective board. Complete scores of bachelor’s degrees are added to this with respect to the background discipline of the degree.
CAT Score = 40%, Academic Scores = 30%, Work Experience = 8% and Gender Diversity = 2%.
Phase II Selection:
The WAT score = 10% and the PI score = 30% for the second round of screening. After the standardisation of scores, the final weightage for complete selection is:
WAT Score = 10%, PI Score = 30%, CAT Score = 25%, Class X Score = 10%, Class XII Score = 5%, Bachelors Degree Score = 10% and Work Experience Score = 10%.
IIM Calcutta Admission/Selection Process
As per the IIM Calcutta (IIMC) selection criteria for flagship PGP courses, there are 2 criteria for the scaling procedure:
Shortlisting for Personal Interview (PI)
To qualify for this screening process, a candidate must fulfil the criteria as qualifying with respect to the minimum cutoff in sectional and overall percentile and obtaining a non-zero raw score. The minimum cutoff scores for CAT are 80 sectional percentile and 90 overall percentile.
In addition to this, a composite score is counted, which accounts for about 44% of overall weightage after normalisation.
The composite score is calculated on the basis of the CAT 2019 score, Class X and Class XII aggregate percentages, and gender diversity factor.
Criteria for Final Selection for PGP- PGDM
The candidate’s final selection is made based on the following weight allotment:
CAT 2019 Score = 15%, Personal Interview (PI) = 24%, Written Ability Test (WAT) = 5%, Academic Diversity of Bachelor’s Courses = 2%, Work Experience = 4%.
FMS Delhi Admission/Selection Process
Similar to the previous year, FMS Delhi won’t be shortlisting the candidates based on the CAT percentile at the 1st stage. Valuable 3 marks will be added to the composite scores along with CAT 2022 sectional weights of 40% and 30% to VARC, QA and DILR, respectively. The final admission round will have an addition of the previous score, academic profile weights, work experience and various parameters, such as gender diversity and bachelor’s degree background.
The final selection at FMS Delhi will be based on Extempore Speech and Personal Interview, where academic records and work experience will also be given due weightage apart from CAT Scores.
So, as per top IIM and other B-school admission screening criteria, it can be said that scoring high percentile in CAT exams is, although necessary for admission to these esteemed top-rated institutes but not the only requirement. It is nowhere mandatory that your exceptional CAT percentile may make you eligible to receive a call from IIM Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Calcutta or FMS Delhi, given the reformed screening process introduced by these institutions for a diversified and healthy MBA community forum.
Stay tuned to BYJU’S to know more about the various prestigious B-schools and their respective selection criteria or profile screening. At BYJU’S, the candidates are also acquainted with the latest CAT syllabus and pattern along with the latest notifications.
