you just need to get your OBC certificate corrected and need to inform the CAT helpdesk about this error.
Great Lakes - PGDM & PGPM Admissions 2026
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CAT 2025 admission process will begin soon after the CAT exam results 2025. Few IIMs released the selection criteria for PGDM/ MBA admission on its official website and other IIMs will release the admission criteria soon. The CAT selection process 2025 will include a Group Discussion (GD) and Personal Interview (PI) rounds. Candidates will be shortlisted based on their score in CAT 2025 for further rounds such as GD and PI. Candidates should also perform well in the admission rounds to get selected for admission.
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The IIM admission process will be based on the composite scores of candidates in all rounds. Also, academic performance will be considered for the CAT admission process. The criteria for shortlisting candidates will vary across IIMs, with each IIM having its own separate admission policy. For details of the CAT selection process, candidates can visit the official website of the respective IIM.
Most of the IIMs will release their admission criteria on their websites. Non-IIMs will also release the admission criteria. Candidates interested in taking admission at B-schools other than IIMs will have to check the admission criteria on their website.
Indian Institute of Management (IIMs) shortlists candidates for the interview round based on their admission criteria. However, the CAT score is a common and most important component in the CAT selection process for MBA at IIMs as well as CAT score accepting institutes. Other selection factors include candidates' past academic records, gender, diversity of qualifications, etc.
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In this complete Careers360 article, we discuss the weightage given to various aspects, the CAT exam selection process, the different selection processes of IIMs, non-IIMs, and other B-schools accepting CAT scores. The CAT admission process for IIMs consists of three rounds such as:
The first step is the announcement of CAT 2024 results by the exam conducting body. Respective IIM, the test conducting body for the CAT exam, declares the CAT 2024 result. IIM Calcutta announced the CAT result 2024 on December 19 in online mode. Candidates can check their CAT results by visiting the official website- iimcat.ac.in and by using the required CAT login credentials, such as CAT ID and password.
Consequently, IIMs will start releasing shortlist dates and then begin their shortlisting process. IIMs will release their individual CAT cutoff for different categories. The list of shortlisted candidates for the next stages of selection will be made available on the respective websites of the concerned IIMs. IIMs will send interview letters directly to all shortlisted candidates.
Candidates selected for the first round of the IIM admission process after CAT will receive invitation letters in their registered email id. The invitation letter will contain the following information:
All candidates who meet the CAT cutoff can move on to the next stage of the IIM selection process 2025-27 for MBA i.e. Written Ability Tests (WAT), Personal Interviews (PI), and Group discussions (GD). Candidates are evaluated based on general knowledge, communication ability, performance in previous rounds, and presence of mind.
Any candidate listed for a personal interview at IIMs must comply with the eligibility and verification for the CAT final selection process.
At this point, candidates get marks based on their academic performance. Here is a breakdown of the tentative parameters on which candidates are selected.
CAT Parameters | Weightage |
CAT 2024 | 25 |
PI | 30 |
WAT | 10 |
Class 10 | 10 |
Class 12 | 5 |
Graduation | 10 |
Weighted Work Experience | 10 |
Total | 100 |
NOTE: The table above contains the parameters and weightage of the respective IIMs for the CAT exam. The weightage of each parameter will vary from year to year for each IIM.
Also Check: MBA Colleges Accepting 60 Percentile in CAT
Candidates are listed for WAT/ GD-PI processes based on the CAT percentile. The aggregate score calculation process for the shortlist for WAT/ GD-PI provided by IIM Lucknow is as follows:
Check out below the list of documents required while going to appear for WAT/ GD and PI.
Candidates are required to produce original and attested copies of certificates and mark sheets during the IIM selection round i.e. personal interview. If selected, the original degree mark sheets for all semesters and attested copies must be submitted at the time of joining.
Candidates are required to produce an attested copy as well as the original ST/SC/NC-OBC/DA certificates during the personal interview. If selected, original certificates and attested copies of the reservation category must be submitted upon joining.
The selected candidates will have to submit an original as well as an attested copy of the certificate that the student has obtained 50% marks (45% for reserved categories) from the Registrar/ Principal/ Director of the institute or university.
Their admission will be temporary until the original mark sheet and the qualifying degree at the undergraduate level are submitted before December 31, 2025. If a candidate fails to submit requisite documents on or before the stipulated time, his / her admission will be automatically cancelled.
Other additional factors considered by most IIMs for CAT counselling are:
Parameters | Details |
CAT 2024 | Overall percentile score obtained in CAT 2024 exam. |
Class 10 | The aggregate percentage marks in class 10 |
Class 12 | The aggregate percentage marks in class 12 |
Graduation | The aggregate percentage in 3 or 4 year’s degree course |
WAT/ GD-PI | In WAT / GD-PI the performance of each candidate is evaluated, and marks are allotted accordingly. |
Academic Diversity | Candidates with a non-engineering background are awarded extra points to ensure a fair representation of students from other streams. Points for academic diversity vary for each campus. |
Gender Diversity | IIMs give extra points to women/ transgender people to promote fair representation of each gender. Points for gender diversity vary for each campus. |
Work Experience | Additional points are awarded to candidates with work experience. For this, a limit of experience is defined as the lowest to the highest. Points for work experience vary for each campus. |
NOTE: It should be noted that these parameters vary from institute to institute each year.
The newer IIMs such as Ranchi, Raipur, Trichy, Udaipur, Kashipur, etc will conduct a common counselling process called Common Admission Process (CAP). A shortlist of candidates will be made and they will be required to appear for the common written ability test and personal interview rounds. Each of these IIMs will publish a candidate’s performance based on a separate merit list.
All the participating Indian Institute Management will send the shortlisted candidates for WAT-PI to the IIM conducting CAP.
That IIM will conduct the WAT-PI round for all CAP participating IIMs.
After the CAP, the participating IIMs will evaluate the performance of the candidates in WAT, PI, CAT score, profile, etc., and create their individual merit list to offer admission.
The final list of selected candidates will be displayed on the respective IIM website. This is only available to candidates with an institute login/ CAT ID.
NOTE: The weightage of the eligible CAT cut-off and admission parameters will be common to all CAP participating institutes.
After the CAT 2024 results, IIMs will release the list of shortlisted candidates to join their 2025-27 batches. Candidates can check the table below for the previous year shortlist details. This will help them have an idea about tentative shortlist dates of IIMs and the number of seats for MBA and PGP programmes.
IIMs | Shortlist Release Date | Number of Seats in MBA/PGP (Tentative) |
Second week of January 2025 | 395 | |
First week of January 2025 | 375 | |
First week of March 2025 | 240 | |
Last week of January 2025 | 120 | |
Last week of January 2025 | 240 | |
Third week of January 2025 | 460 | |
Third week of January 2025 | 500 | |
First week of March 2025 | 120 | |
Third week of January 2025 | 400 | |
First week of March 2025 | 160 | |
Last week of January 2025 | 260 | |
Last week of January 2025 | 185 | |
First week of March, 2025 | 240 | |
Last week of January 2025 | 260 | |
Last week of January 2025 | 240 | |
Last week of January 2025 | 180 | |
Third week of January 2025 | 450 | |
First week of March, 2025 | 120 | |
First week of March, 2025 | 130 | |
First week of March, 2025 | 120 |
88 institutes do not fall under the IIM category but are registered with CAT 2024. These institutes conduct their own CAT exam procedure for MBA. The CAT 2024 counselling includes the same set of rounds as WAT and GD/ PI. However, not all of these rounds are mandatory for final admission. Some institutes like IMT Ghaziabad conduct group activities or group training instead of group discussions.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
The IIM shortlist will be released tentatively in the first week of January 2025 by the respective IIMs on their official websites.
Based on the candidate’s performance in the CAT exam 2024, participating institutes of CAT 2024 will shortlist candidates for further rounds such as Group Discussion (GD)/ Written Ability Test (WAT) and Personal Interview (PI).
Yes, many MBA institutes shortlist candidates based on their CAT scores for the next selection rounds, which typically include interviews, group discussions, and written ability tests to assess candidates' suitability for their programs.
After clearing the CAT exam, candidates wait for CAT cut-off individual IIMs to go for further rounds of selection.
The CAT exam for MBA involves a computer-based test assessing quantitative aptitude, verbal ability, data interpretation, and logical reasoning. Successful candidates are shortlisted by various MBA institutes for subsequent rounds, which may include interviews, group discussions, and written ability tests.
This year IIM Ahmedabad qualifying CAT cutoff was 80%. The final cut off is expected to be 99 percentile or above.
The documents which will be carried to the WAT, GD/ PI are the IIM interview call letter, CAT scorecard, Class 10 and Class 12 mark sheet and certificates, the graduation mark sheet and certificate, reservation category proof of certificate (if applicable), and work experience certificate (if any).
No, IIM CAP only contains new IIMs. Other MBA colleges that accept the CAT score conduct admissions separately.
The three rounds of the CAT selection process are the same. However, they are not mandatory. Any institute can conduct rounds according to its specifications.
On Question asked by student community
With a 70 percent in CAT Examination, you can go for various B-Schools or private collages. The S. K. Patel Institute of Management in Gandhinagar is an option for those who score 70-80 percent in their CAT examination or The Gujarat Institute of Management (GIM) in Goa with a cutoff of 60-80 percentage. These are the collages you can look for in Gujarat or nearby.
Collage in other regions: BA Colleges Accepting 70-80 Percentile in CAT 2025
Thank You.
Hello dear candidate,
NO. your application for CAT will not rejected for wrong gender small mistake in the OBC NCL certificate. You will be considered as an OBC candidate.
you just need to get your OBC certificate corrected and need to inform the CAT helpdesk about this error.
Hello,
Here are some top MBA colleges in India with fees under Rs. 2 lakh and their exam/cutoff details:
SIMSREE, Mumbai – Fee around Rs. 1.3–1.4 lakh for 2 years. Accepts CAT, CMAT, MAH-CET, MAT, ATMA. Cutoff is very high, usually 99+ percentile in CAT/CMAT.
PUMBA (Dept. of Management Sciences, Savitribai Phule Pune University) – Fee around Rs. 1.2–1.3 lakh. Accepts CAT, CMAT, MAH-CET, ATMA. Cutoff approx. 75+ percentile in CAT, 90–95+ percentile in CMAT, high scores in MAH-CET.
TISS, Mumbai (MA HRM & other management-related programmes) – Fee around Rs. 1.7–1.9 lakh. Accepts CAT for some courses. Qualifying cutoff is around 60–70 percentile, but final selection cutoffs are higher.
These are the main government institutes where the full MBA/PG programme fee is within Rs. 2 lakh. Cutoffs vary slightly each year and by category, but SIMSREE and PUMBA generally need high scores, while TISS has its own process along with CAT shortlisting.
Hope it helps !
Hey! With a NEET score of 344 in the ST category, it is highly unlikely to get admission in any government BDS college in Delhi through the All India Quota. The cutoff for government BDS seats in Delhi usually falls around 400–450 for ST category, so your score is below that range.
You can consider private dental colleges, state quota seats in other states, or reattempt NEET next year to improve your chances.
Hello dear candidate,
YES, with NEET score 344in the ST category you have high chances of getting admission in a BDS College in J&K through JKBOPEE counselling.
check the seat availability and next participate in JKBOPEE Counselling with all the necessary documents.
Thank you.
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