IIM admission criteria: What does it take to get an IIM call

Jan. 11, 2013 - PRLog -- What does it take to get an IIM call! MBAUniverse.com finds out

CAT scores are out. If you have scored more than 90% and are expecting a call from top four IIMs, you must know the shotlisting criteria and review your own performance on each of the parameters to realistically asses your chances.

While all IIMs use CAT scores, they use very different parameters to call students for the PI round. And they have different approaches to assess students’ potential before they finally hand over the coveted admission letter.

MBAUniverse.com analysed the shortlisting and admission criteria for each of the big four IIMs – IIM A, IIM C, IIM B, and IIM L. The result of our analysis is quite revealing.  

Weightage to CAT score for shortlisting

Take for instance the weightage that IIMs give to CAT score for shortlisting candidates for the PI round. IIM A gives 70% weightage on CAT score. IIM C provides 77% weightage while IIM L allots 38 marks out of 50 marks, which in effect, is equal to 76%.

However, IIM B provides a meagre 20% weightage to CAT score. Instead, IIM B focuses on consistency of academic performance of a candidate. “IIMB has found over the years that students who perform well in the academic programs are typically those who have a consistently good academic record during their school, high school and graduation levels besides exhibiting sufficiently high aptitude as measured by the CAT. Therefore, IIMB uses multiple parameters, namely academic performance in school, high school and graduation programs as well as candidates’ scores in CAT to judge the suitability of candidates for the PGP program,” says IIM-B official admission criteria document.

Emphasis on diversity

Led by IIM Kozhikode, which was the first off the block a few years back to create incentives for women candidates, top IIMs are moving in this direction. They are offering some extra points for women candidates and those from non-engineering backgrounds to bring in the diversity in the class. IIM C provides 3% extra marks for the gender diversity factor. So, if you are a female candidate, you get extra 3% marks. IIM L goes a step ahead and provides weightages on diversity factor both in terms of academic discipline (6%) and gender factor (4%), when calculated out of 100%.

Emphasis on work experience

Each of the top 4 IIMs provide due weightage to work experience.

IIM B lays the maximum emphasis (10%) out of the four IIMs on work experiences. It takes into account the duration of work and also the quality of work in its selection process. IIM C provides 8% weightage to students with prior work experiences. IIM L gives 4% weightage for all the students having valid prior experiences. IIM A provides only 3% weightage in this criteria.

CAT cut off & sectional cut off:

So, what is the minimum CAT score that you need for IIMs to look at your application more carefully, you may ask. IIM Calcutta needs a minimum CAT cut off of 95%, while IIM B and IIM L need 90%. Each IIM further has sectional cut off to evaluate your performance in two sections – Verbal Ability and Quantitative Aptitude. However, if you think that by getting 95% you will get a call from IIM C, think again! These cut offs are for merely setting the floor benchmark for your candidature to be considered. Actual cut-off for calls is going to be far higher – 99% for IIM A and IIM C.