Great Lakes - PGDM & PGPM Admissions 2026
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IIMs are considered to be the most prestigious management institutes in the country. The number of students aiming for the IIMs every year is more than 2 lakh. However, the IIMs only select a handful of candidates i.e. approximately 5500. Among these 5500 IIM seats, a great extent of seats are reserved for the candidates who belong to the reserved categories. This makes the competition for IIM seats more fierce.
The IIM acceptance rate for candidates is very low. From around 2 lakh candidates appearing for the CAT exam, only a few thousand are shortlisted for the PI round. The finally selected candidates are very few. The total number of candidates selected in each IIM varies as per the batch size of the respective IIM. The seat matrix for different IIMs is given in the table below.
Name of the IIM | Total candidates selected | Total General candidates | Total OBC candidates | Total SC candidates | Total ST candidates |
398 | 194 | 104 | 58 | 29 | |
412 | 193 | 103 | 57 | 29 | |
462 | 233 | 125 | 69 | 37 | |
436 | 211 | 113 | 63 | 32 | |
450 | 226 | 122 | 68 | 34 | |
525 | 189 | 102 | 56 | 28 | |
240 | 60 | 33 | 18 | 9 | |
240 | 60 | 33 | 18 | 9 | |
120 | 80 | 37 | 20 | 10 | |
210 | 52 | 28 | 15 | 8 | |
210 | 60 | 32 | 18 | 10 | |
210 | 60 | 32 | 18 | 10 | |
120 | 27 | 37 | 20 | 10 | |
150 | 60 | 32 | 28 | 10 | |
120 | 60 | 33 | 18 | 9 | |
180 | 60 | 32 | 18 | 10 | |
170 | 30 | 17 | 9 | 5 | |
240 | 60 | 32 | 18 | 10 | |
550 | 220 | 148 | 82 | 41 |
The IIM Selection criteria for candidates aspiring to pursue any of the offered MBA/PGDM programs are listed below.
A candidate must have a Bachelor's degree with at least 50% marks or equivalent CGPA (45% in case of reserved categories).
Candidates must have a valid CAT scorecard.
The candidate should mandatorily qualify for the CAT cutoff specified by the respective IIM to send an application.
Candidates shortlisted for the PI round are evaluated based on their performance in the different tests. Apart from that, the overall profile of a candidate is also given significant weightage.
IIMs have prescribed reservation criteria for different categories of candidates. The OBC category has a 27% reservation quota while the SC and ST categories have 7.5% and 15% respectively. 10% of seats are reserved for the EWS and PwD candidates. The distribution of seats in the IIMs is provided in the table below.
Category | Category-wise Distribution of IIM Seats |
General | 3500 |
OBC | 809 |
SC and ST | 538 |
PwD and EWS | 550 |
The selection rate of all the IIMs combined comes to be less than 3% (approximately 2.17%). This is the selection rate for over 2 lakh candidates appearing for the CAT exam and the candidates finally making it to an IIM.
The seats across all the IIMs are approximately 5500. The seats are an individual IIM depending on the batch size issued for the particular academic session.
From over 2 lakh CAT applicants, around 10,000 candidates get shortlisted for the PI rounds of an IIM. The final number of selected candidates in IIM is around 5500.
Out of the total CAT-qualified candidates only 10-15% are shortlisted for the PI rounds. After the PI rounds are conducted along with other evaluation tests, only around 2% of the applicants receive the final admission letter from IIMs across the nation.
Hello Kapish
You can find the last 5 year questions of DILR for CAT at Careers360 website. Moreover, you can find the previous year papers of all the subjects i.e. DILR, Quants and VARC. I am attaching the link through which you would be able to access the same.
Here's the link:
CAT Previous Year Papers by CAREERS360
Sample paper of DILR:
CAT Sample Paper (DILR) by CAREERS360
Thank You!!!
Hello Divya,
Yes, candidates with an online BBA can sit for both CAT and GMAT provided that the degree is from a recognized (UGC approved in India or accredited abroad) institution. The leading B-schools in both India and abroad do not look down upon online degrees as long as the degree is from a recognized body, they will mostly be looking at your test scores, academic performance, work experience, and profile holistically. What matters is the legitimacy of the institution and how you showcase your abilities, not whether your degree was obtained online or in-person.
Yes, someone with an online BBA can sit for both CAT and GMAT, provided the degree is from a UGC recognized university. Top B-schools in India (like IIMs) and abroad generally accept online degrees if they are valid, and you won’t be marked down just because it’s online. What matters more is your entrance exam score, academic record, work experience, and overall profile.
In situations like yours, where the CAT 2025 payment has been successfully debited from your bank account but the portal shows the transaction as failed, it is usually due to a technical delay in updating the system. Such discrepancies can sometimes take more than 48 hours to be resolved automatically. It is important to retain all proof of payment, including bank statements, transaction IDs, and any receipts. You should contact the CAT helpdesk again, providing full details of your application and payment. Additionally, keep checking your email for any automated confirmation or ticket numbers. If there is no response within a few days, you can escalate the issue by contacting the IIM Kozhikode admissions office directly through official contact details.
Important topics for NIFT CAT are mostly based on your creativity, observation, design thinking, and visual communication skills. So here's list of important topics you should focus on:
- Observation and drawing skills: Human figures & gestures, nature & Scene drawing are important
- Creative Visualisation: In this you'll have to convert 2d shapes into 3d, making imaginary scenes from a theme, and story illustration from given situations.
- Design & Concept Development: You'll be making logo, posters with creative slogans, book cover design and many more designs.
- Color theory, creative use of texture & patterns.
- Imagination & Innovation: merging two object to make new thing, designing eco friendly or festive based products
A career as Marketing Director is also known as a marketing expert who is responsible for the overall marketing aspect of the company. He or she oversees plans and develops the company's budget. The marketing Director collaborates with the business team to plan and develop the marketing and branding strategies for the company's products or services.
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A Marketing manager plans and executes marketing initiatives to create demand for goods and services and increase consumer awareness of them. A marketing manager prevents unauthorised statements and informs the public that the business is doing everything to investigate and fix the line of products. Students can pursue an MBA in Marketing Management courses to become marketing managers.
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Digital marketing is growing, diverse, and is covering a wide variety of career paths. Each job function aids in the development of effective digital marketing strategies and techniques. The aims and objectives of the individuals who opt for a career as a digital marketing executive are similar to those of a marketing professional: to build brand awareness, promote company services or products, and increase conversions. Individuals who opt for a career as Digital Marketing Executives, unlike traditional marketing companies, communicate effectively through suitable technology platforms.
Individuals who opt for a career as a business analyst look at how a company operates. He or she conducts research and analyses data to improve his or her knowledge about the company. This is required so that an individual can suggest the company strategies for improving their operations and processes.
In a business analyst job role a lot of analysis is done, things are learned from past mistakes and the successful strategies are enhanced further. A business analyst goes through real-world data in order to provide the most feasible solutions to an organisation. Students can pursue Business Analytics to become Business Analysts.
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