Great Lakes - PGDM & PGPM Admissions 2026
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IIM Shortlist 2026 will be prepared based on the CAT 2025 result and WAT-PI scores. Each IIM will release a shortlist for MBA admissions 2026-28. The final IIM shortlist is expected to be released in the first week of May 2026. The highest IIM cutoff percentiles 2026 required for the top IIMs in 2026 are 94, and the minimum is about 80. The minimum IIM shortlist criteria cutoff for MBA admission at baby IIMs ranges between 82 and 94. Candidates can check their IIM PI shortlist status 2026 on the respective websites of IIMs once it is released. They can check the IIM shortlist status by registering on the portal and logging in with their CAT ID and generated password.
The Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Calcutta ranked 8th globally and first in India in QS International Trade Rankings 2026 for executive MBAs. The institutions are ranked based on trade programme content, graduate outcomes, industry engagement, innovative teaching and academic reputation.
Read More: IIM Calcutta enters global top 10 in QS Executive MBA International Trade Rankings
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Check out the list of IIMs along with the IIM shortlist release date and IIM calls 2026 status. As per the previous year's trends, candidates can expect the release of IIM interview dates 2026 as follows.
| List of IIMs | IIM Shortlist 2026-28 release date | IIM Admission Criteria |
| IIM Ahmedabad shortlist status | First week of January, 2026 | IIM Ahmedabad Admission Criteria 2026 |
| IIM Bangalore shortlist status | First week of January, 2026 | IIM Bangalore Admission Criteria 2026 |
| IIM Calcutta shortlist status | First week of January, 2026 | To be out soon |
| IIM Lucknow shortlist status | First week of January, 2026 | To be out soon |
| IIM Indore shortlist status | Second week of January, 2026 | To be out soon |
| IIM Kozhikode shortlist status | Third week of January, 2026 | To be out soon |
| IIM Shillong shortlist status | Second week of January, 2026 | To be out soon |
| IIM Rohtak shortlist status | Second week of January, 2026 | To be out soon |
| IIM Trichy shortlist status | To be announced (IIM CAP) | To be out soon |
| IIM Udaipur shortlist status | To be announced (IIM CAP) | To be out soon |
| IIM Ranchi shortlist status | To be announced (IIM CAP) | To be out soon |
| IIM Kashipur shortlist status | To be announced (IIM CAP) | To be out soon |
| IIM Raipur shortlist status | To be announced | To be out soon |
| IIM Amritsar shortlist status | First week of January, 2026 | To be out soon |
| IIM Bodhgaya shortlist status | To be announced (IIM CAP) | To be out soon |
| IIM Nagpur shortlist status | To be announced (IIM CAP) | To be out soon |
| IIM Visakhapatnam shortlist status | First week of March, 2026 | To be out soon |
| IIM Jammu shortlist status | To be announced (IIM CAP) | To be out soon |
| IIM Sambalpur shortlist status | Shortlist 1: Second week of January, 2026 Shortlist 2: Second week of February, 2026 | To be out soon |
| IIM Sirmaur shortlist status | To be announced (IIM CAP) | To be out soon |
| IIM Mumbai shortlist status | Second week of February, 2026 | To be out soon |

The IIM shortlist 2026 is the list of candidates who are eligible to participate in the WAT-PI rounds of IIM interview call status 2026 dates are mentioned in the shortlist. As per the official notification, IIM CAP 2026 Personal Interviews have been completed.
The IIM shortlist is basically the list of CAT test-takers who make it to the second phase of the IIM admission process, which is the Personal Interview (PI). IIMs are the most sought-after MBA institutes in India. There are a total of 21 IIMs in the country. After conducting the interview and PI rounds, the institutes will also release the final IIM shortlist.
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The final IIM shortlist criteria 2028 will consist of the names of candidates who qualified in all the rounds of the IIM selection process 2026. In case any candidate opts not to enrol for admission, then their seat is offered to the waitlisted candidate. This results in the IIM waitlist movement 2026.
IIMs follow the reservation policy as per government norms. The categories are as follows:
Category | Reservation Percentage |
Scheduled Caste (SC) | 15% |
Scheduled Tribe (ST) | 7.5% |
Other backward Class (OBC-NCL) | 27% |
Economically Weaker section (EWS) | 10% |
Persons with Benchmark Disability | 5% |
After candidates have downloaded their CAT results, all the IIMs will release the shortlists for the final round of PI & WAT separately. After the conclusion of the personal interview and other rounds, which will be conducted virtually, the respective IIMs prepare the final merit list based on these scores, work experience, CAT percentile, and diversity factors. These are the key highlights of the IIM shortlisting process:
The IIM shortlisting process is divided into three stages:
With the CAT result announcement, the candidates will be invited to apply for the PI round by each IIM on its official website. Candidates who meet the IIM shortlist cut-off have to log in through their CAT IDs to submit their name and CAT score.
In the second stage, the candidates who applied for PI will be shortlisted based on their CAT score and academic record, after which interview letters will be sent to selected candidates in the IIM shortlist 2026.
In the third stage, the composite score of each candidate on the IIM shortlist is calculated based on various parameters to finalise his/her selection. The final IIM selection process 2026 of admission in IIMs and preparation of the final IIM shortlist includes assessing a candidate on certain parameters and calculating his/her composite score. Given below is the list of eight main parameters and their definitions.
Also Check-
The following are all the documents which a candidate will need to carry with them at the time of an interview;
Name of the IIM | % Weightage for CAT Score | %Weightage for Academics | % Weightage for Work Exp. | % Weightage for Others (Diversity etc) |
IIM Ahmedabad | 65 | 30 | 5 | - |
IIM Bangalore | 25 | 15 | 10 | - |
IIM Calcutta | 56 | 25 | - | 4 |
IIM Lucknow | 60 | 20 | 10 | 10 |
IIM Indore | 20 | 74 | - | 6 |
IIM Kozhikode | 50 | 35 | 5 | 10 |
IIM Shillong | NA | NA | NA | NA |
IIM Kashipur | 33 | 20 | 12 | 35 |
IIM Raipur | 40 | 10 | 9 | 7 |
IIM Ranchi | 100 | -- | -- | -- |
IIM Tiruchirappalli | 53 | 10 | 5 | 30 |
IIM Udaipur | 60 | 9 | 9 | 22 |
IIM Rohtak | 60 | -- | -- | 40 |
IIM Amritsar | 60 | 20 | 10 | 10 |
IIM Bodhgaya | 50 | 12 | 16 | 22 |
IIM Jammu | 40 | 10 | 8 | 40 |
IIM Nagpur | 30 | 35 | 20 | 15 |
IIM Sambalpur | 30 | 15 | 15 | 40 |
IIM Sirmaur | 45 | 10 | 10 | 35 |
IIM Visakhapatnam | 50 | 30 | 10 | 10 |
Also Read;
Based on the previous year’s analysis, here are the number of seats and the number of candidates who got IIM calls.
Type | Total Intake | Shortlisted Candidates | Seats filled | |||
IIM/ Batch | 2019-21 | 2020-22 | 2019-21 | 2020-22 | 2019-21 | 2020-22 |
IIM Ahmedabad | 385 | 394 | 1220 | 1240 | 392 | 392 |
IIM Bangalore | 441 | 458 | 1425 | 1556 | 441 | 458 |
IIM Calcutta | 480 | 480 | 1990 | 1852 | 480 | 480 |
IIM Lucknow | 405 | 452 | 3232 | 3691 | 407 | 455 |
IIM Kozhikode | 485 | 480 | 5078 | 4815 | 501 | 481 |
IIM Indore | 487 | 487 | 5269 | 4976 | 487 | 487 |
IIM Trichy | 263 | 230 | 13668 | 14125 | 235 | 238 |
IIM Udaipur | 286 | 326 | 13668 | 14125 | 292 | 334 |
IIM Raipur | 263 | 263 | 13668 | 14125 | 268 | 265 |
IIM Rohtak | 265 | 240 | 13668 | 7981 | 246 | 240 |
IIM Sirmaur | 123 | 190 | 13668 | 14125 | 123 | 18 |
Common Admission Process (CAP) is a single-window selection process for MBA admission to the participating CAP IIMs. The IIM CAP round will be held in multiple phases from the second week of February to the second week of March, 2026.
The Common Admission Process, or CAP 2026, will be conducted from February 17 to March 15, 2025.
Out of 13 New & Baby IIMs, the following is participating in IIM CAP, or Common Admission Procedure 2026-28:
Mentioned below is the minimum IIM CAP call cut-off of the CAT percentile needed in each category and the overall percentile for listing candidates for PI:
| Category | VARC | DILR | QA | Total IIM CAP Call Cutoff |
| General | 73 | 73 | 73 | 94 |
| EWS | 50 | 50 | 50 | 77 |
| NC-OBC | 50 | 50 | 50 | 77 |
| SC | 44 | 44 | 44 | 60 |
| ST | 25 | 25 | 30 | 40 |
| DAP | 25 | 25 | 30 | 40 |
Know more;
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Question: How much does the IIM waitlist move?
Answer- The IIM waitlist movement varies significantly between individual IIMs and categories, with older IIMs like IIM Indore and IIM Lucknow historically showing higher movement. The exact numbers change yearly.
Question- Which IIMs will participate in the Common Admission Process (CAP) 2026?
Answer- For CAP 2026, the participating IIMs are expected to be IIM Jammu, IIM Nagpur, IIM Sirmaur, IIM Udaipur, and IIM Bodh Gaya.
Question- When will the final admission offers be released by the IIMs for the 2026-28 batch?
Answer- IIMs will release the IIM shortlists for the academic batch 2026-28, following the CAT exam results, and the Personal Interview (PI) process.
Question- Can I get admission into an IIM with a low CAT percentile if I have excellent work experience?
Answer- Yes, it is quite possible to get into some IIMs even if your CAT score is not very high. The CAT cutoff for newer IIMs like IIM Bodh Gaya, IIM Sirmaur, IIM Nagpur, IIM Amritsar, and IIM Shillong are usually lies between 85 to 95 percentile.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
IIM waitlist is a batch or number of seats that are reserved by the IIMs so that candidates who have withdrawn or if additional seats are left, the CAT test takers can take admission. It is expected to be released in February/ March 2026.
For IIM admission, aiming for a CAT percentile of 90+ is recommended, with top IIMs like Ahmedabad, Bangalore, and Calcutta required 99+ percentiles, while IIM Kozhikode and Lucknow may require 90+ percentiles.
IIM shortlist can be termed as the list of CAT test takers who make it to the second stage of IIM admission process 2026 which is WAT-PI.
Most of the IIMs will release their shortlist cum IIM calls on their respective website after the release of CAT 2025 results. Candidates can check the same by using their login credentials.
IIM calls 2026 will be released after the declaration of CAT results on the respective websites of IIMs.
To check your IIM PI shortlist status, candidates are required to visit the specific IIM website and look for a link for the section that indicates "PI Shortlist" or "Provisional Shortlist for PI". Also, candidates are required to login using their CAT registration number, email ID, and Date of Birth.
CAP is a Common Admission Process that is conducted by one of the IIMs to offer admission to 8 IIMs.
The IIMs will start shortlisting candidates based on their admission criteria.
Each IIM conducts interviews in different cities. You have to fill in your interview location preferences for each IIM while filling out the CAT form.
Candidates shall visit the official website of the college in order to find their name in the IIM shortlist.
On Question asked by student community
Hello,
To get admitted to the Institute of Management Studies (IMS), BHU, for an MBA in 2026, you must clear the CAT entrance exam. For that you need to fill out the application form of the CAT in August 2026, which you can get on the Official CAT website
I hope it will clear your query!!
Hello
You can get all the papers on the Careers360 website. To access the paper and download it for practice, just visit here:
https://design.careers360.com/articles/nift-cat-2024-question-paper-with-solutions
Hope it will help you!!
Hello dear candidate,
Yes, you have a very good chance of getting a BPT seat with 488 out of 600 and TS EAMCET rank of 14,000 under the ST category.
As the cut off of BPT for ST category students are generally between 25,000 to 45,000 ranks, depending upon the college and you have TS EAMCET rank of 14,000.
Thank you.
If you got 802 marks in Telangana Intermediate and belong to the ST category, you have a fair chance to get admission in a BPT course in 2025, but it depends on the college and cut-off. Most BPT colleges in Telangana ask for 12th marks in Physics, Chemistry, and Biology, and some also use the TS EAMCET rank for admission. The cut-off for ST students is usually lower than for general students, but it changes every year. It is better to check the previous year’s cut-offs of the colleges you want to apply to.
Hello, Getting shortlisted for IIM Lucknow or IIT Bombay (SJMSOM) with your profile is challenging, primarily due to your 58% in Class 10th, which significantly impacts the composite score calculation for both institutes. While your 98 percentile CAT score is excellent, and your 24 months of work experience, B.Com (Hons) background (providing academic diversity, especially for IIM-L), and KVS National player status are valuable additions, top IIMs and IITs heavily weigh consistent academic performance. Your 74% in 12th is also on the lower side. IIM Lucknow places substantial weight on 10th and 12th marks, making a call quite difficult despite your strengths. You likely have a relatively better, though still uncertain, chance at IIT Bombay, as their weighting might be slightly less penalizing for past academics compared to IIM-L, and your high CAT score is a major factor. However, the low 10th score remains a significant hurdle for both prestigious institutions.
I hope you found this information helpful and for study related queries you can ask in careers360 app, Have a great day and!
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