How to Get Admission in the Top IIMs?

More than two lakh aspirants, securing close to 99 percentile in one of the toughest competitive exams in the country, written ability test (WAT), personal interview (PI), past academic performance, job experience…with so many factors in play, getting into one of the top IIMs in the country can seem next to impossible. It is for this reason that a majority of candidates appearing for the Common Admission Test (CAT) aim for low-ranging fruits – business schools with decent repute that base their admissions on the CAT score.

Only about 55,000 to 60,000 aspirants are actually vying for a seat in the IIMs. With new IIMs coming up, you need to be somewhere in the top 10,000 of these 60,000 to get at least one call. This places your odds of success at 1 in 6, which is not as out of reach as it is made out to be. So, the very first step toward securing that coveted place in an IIM is to replace the mental block of failure with single minded focus on hard work. Here is a rundown on top IIM selection criteria, admission criteria and CAT cut off percentile to set you off in the right direction:

Top IIM Admission Criteria

The IIM admission criteria varies from institute to institute and rests on parameters such as CAT percentile, WAT, PI, academic performance in graduation, Class 12 and Class 10, work experience, age and so on. Even though the key parameters remain the same, each institute decides their weightage in the final admission process separately. Here is the break-up of top IIM selection criteria for the 2021-22:

IIM Ahmedabad admission criteria

  • Overall CAT percentile: 80
  • Sectional CAT percentile: 70
  • Weightage to CAT score: 70 per cent
  • Weightage to Academic Profile: 30 per cent
  • Weightage to Work Experience: For final selection
  • Weightage to Gender Diversity: For final selection

Check more about : IIM Ahmedabad Admission Criteria

IIM Bangalore admission criteria

  • Overall CAT percentile: 90
  • Sectional CAT percentile: 85 for VARC, and 80 for Quant and DILR
  • Weightage to CAT score: 40 per cent
  • Weightage to Academic Profile: 50 per cent
  • Weightage to Work Experience: 8 per cent
  • Weightage to Gender Diversity: 2 per cent

IIM Calcutta admission criteria

  • Overall CAT percentile: 90
  • Sectional CAT percentile: 80
  • Weightage to CAT score: 56 per cent
  • Weightage to Academic profile: 40 per cent
  • Weightage to Gender Diversity: 4 per cent
  • Weightage to Work Experience: For Final selection

IIM Lucknow admission criteria

  • Overall CAT percentile: 90
  • Sectional CAT percentile: 85
  • Weightage to CAT score: 60 per cent
  • Weightage to Academic profile: 20 per cent
  • Weightage to Academic Diversity: 5 per cent
  • Weightage to Work Experience: 10 per cent
  • Weightage to Gender Diversity: 5 per cent

IIM Indore admission criteria

  • Overall CAT percentile: 90
  • Sectional CAT percentile: 80
  • Weightage to CAT score: 20 per cent
  • Weightage to Academic Profile: 76 per cent
  • Weightage to Gender Diversity: 4 per cent

IIM Kozhikode admission criteria

  1. Overall CAT percentile: 90
  2. Sectional CAT percentile: 80
  3. Weightage to CAT score: 75 per cent
  4. Weightage to Academic Profile: 15 per cent
  5. Weightage to Academic and Gender Diversity: 5 per cent
  6. Weightage to Work Experience: 5 per cent

Tips for Making it to the Top IIMs

As is evident from the top IIM selection criteria, making it past the IIM cut off percentile is not enough. Your chances of success depend on your overall personality and achievements. While you can’t do much about your academic profile, you can work on enhancing other aspects to secure the maximum weight age possible. Here are some tips to help you do just that:

  • Use a mix of CAT books and CAT faculty notes to prepare for the entrance exam.
  • WAT plays a crucial role in the final admission, so it is vital to work on your writing skills. The focus of this test is to check your understanding of different subjects and ability to articulate your thoughts in good, concise English. Practice essay writing and have your work reviewed by mentors or teachers.
  • The interview is the last step where you have a chance to write your own destiny, and plays a key role in the final selection. The interview panel comprises IIM administrators and instructors, who will test your personality with tricky, often weird, questions. You must be prepared to handle these with spontaneity and sassiness without coming across as arrogant or over-confident. Attending a few mock interview sessions can help you prepare for the actual interview.
  • Taking on a part-time job, internship or even assisting someone on a project can help build you profile if you don’t have any actual work experience to show for. Taking a couple of years off to work, while preparing for CAT along side, is ideal if you have your mind set on making it to a top IIM.
  • Test your preparation levels by attempting CAT previous year papers.

You also need to take the IIM fees into consideration before setting your goal. The fee for the top IIMs can be anywhere in the range of Rs 14 to 22 lakh, and that’s not a sum everyone can afford to cough up. It also helps to be acquainted with the courses offered by different IIMs. If you can’t make it to the coveted Post Graduate Program in Management (PGP), you can consider their executive MBA programs, diplomas, and other courses such as PGP in Food and Agribusiness Management, PGP in Human Resource Management, PGP in Enterprise Management, PGP in Business Management and PGP in Sustainable Management. These lesser-known programs have much less competition and a lot of scope.

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