CAT Scoring Process & IIM Selection Criteria

CAT does not restrict eligibility based on stream. Candidates from commerce, arts, science, engineering or any other background can appear for CAT and apply to MBA programmes offered by IIMs and other top B-schools.

The basic eligibility criteria for CAT are:
You must hold a bachelor’s degree in any discipline from a recognised university with at least 50 percent marks (45 percent for SC, ST and PwD categories). Final-year graduation students are also eligible to apply.

Being a commerce graduate can actually be an advantage in areas such as accounting, finance, economics and business studies, especially during MBA coursework in finance, marketing and operations.

After qualifying CAT, admission depends on multiple factors including CAT percentile, academic background, work experience (if any), performance in GD, WAT and personal interview rounds. Many IIMs and B-schools follow a diverse academic background policy, which means non-engineering candidates, including commerce graduates, often receive additional weightage.

Apart from IIMs, several reputed institutes such as FMS Delhi, SPJIMR Mumbai, MDI Gurgaon, IMT Ghaziabad, and many state and private universities also accept CAT scores for MBA admissions.

So, as a commerce graduate, you are fully eligible to appear for CAT and pursue an MBA, provided you meet the minimum academic requirements and perform well in the selection process.

If you want, I can also help you with realistic CAT percentile targets based on your academic profile or suggest suitable MBA colleges.

Based on the details you have shared, here is a clear and realistic assessment of your chances for IIM Lucknow and FMS Delhi, written in a Careers360-style explanatory format.

With a CAT 2025 raw score of 84, your expected overall percentile is likely to be in the range of around 96–97 percentile, depending on the final normalization and difficulty level of the paper. Your sectional scores (VARC 34, LRDI 24, QA 26) suggest that you are comfortably clearing the sectional cut-offs for both institutes, including the QA and LRDI sections, which are often the main concern for many candidates.

For IIM Lucknow, the minimum CAT percentile cut-off for the EWS category in recent years has generally been around 93–95 percentile overall, with sectional cut-offs close to 70–75 percentile. Since your expected percentile is above this range, you are very much in contention for a call. Additionally, your academic profile is strong: Class X at 95, Class XII at 94.5, and a BTech score of 80.01 are all well above average. IIM Lucknow places significant weight on academic consistency and work experience in its shortlisting criteria. With 2 years of relevant work experience, you will receive additional weight, which further improves your chances. Overall, your probability of receiving an IIM Lucknow call is quite good, provided your final CAT percentile remains around the expected level.

For FMS Delhi, the situation is slightly more competitive. FMS gives very high weightage to the CAT score (almost entirely CAT-based shortlisting), and the overall cut-offs are among the highest in the country. For the EWS category, the overall CAT percentile cut-off usually falls in the range of 97–98 percentile, with particularly strong emphasis on the VARC section. Your VARC score of 34 is a positive point, as FMS typically prefers strong verbal performance. However, with an expected overall percentile of around 96–97, you are right at the borderline. This means that while an FMS Delhi call is not guaranteed, it is still possible if the final percentile calculation works in your favour or if the EWS cut-off dips slightly this year.

In summary, you have a strong chance of securing an IIM Lucknow call due to your EWS category, solid CAT score, excellent academics, and relevant work experience. For FMS Delhi, your chances are moderate to borderline, but not ruled out, especially given your good VARC performance. It is advisable that you prepare seriously for the WAT–PI stage while also applying to other top IIMs and reputed non-IIM institutes where your profile would be very competitive.