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How to Get Admission to IIM after CAT 2027?
If you are dreaming of an MBA at an IIM and are not aware of the admission process and think CAT is enough, then you are living under a rock. CAT 2027 is the first step towards eligibility, but that doesn’t guarantee your seat in any IIM. Ninety per cent of IIMs consider your past academic percentage to shortlist you for the Personal Interview round. Additionally, the IIMs admission process changes occasionally. For the 2027-2029 batch, IIM Ahmedabad changed the selection criteria. Last year,r a few IIMs removed the sectional CAT cut-offs. So having an idea of the admission process is a must for IIM aspirants.
What Are the IIM Eligibility Criteria?
IIMs are considered the best MBA colleges in India, and they all have similar basic eligibility requirements.
You generally need a recognised bachelor's degree with the prescribed minimum percentage or equivalent CGPA.
Candidates in their final year can also apply, subject to completing the degree requirements within the institute's prescribed timeline.
Eligibility factor | General requirement |
Qualification | Bachelor's degree or recognised equivalent |
General category | Usually 50% or equivalent CGPA |
SC/ST/PwD | Usually 45% or equivalent, subject to institute policy |
Final-year candidates | Generally eligible provisionally |
Work experience | Not mandatory for most flagship MBA programmes |
CAT | Valid CAT score required for domestic applicants |
Reservation | As per Government of India norms |
Age limit | No common upper-age limit for the flagship MBA across all IIMs |
Note:
- Academic eligibility and admission shortlisting are also different things.
- Clearing the minimum percentage requirement only makes you eligible to enter the process; it does not mean that you will receive an interview call.
How to Get Into IIM Through CAT?
The usual IIM CAT 2026 route has three broad stages. The IIM admission process is not identical across the 22 institutes.
Stage | What happens | What you need to focus on |
Stage 1: CAT | Appear for CAT and meet the IIM's minimum sectional and overall requirements | CAT percentile, sectional balance and positive scores |
Stage 2: Shortlisting | IIM calculates a shortlist score using CAT and profile components | Academics, CAT, work experience, diversity, depending on IIM |
Stage 3: Final selection | Shortlisted candidates attend PI/WAT/AWT or other prescribed assessment | Interview, writing test and final composite score |
What CAT Percentile Is Required for IIMs?
IIMs have minimum sectional CAT cut-offs to filter the candidates from the lakhs of CAT qualifiers. However, the final CAT cut-offs will be higher than these minimum scores.
IIM | Category | VARC | DILR | QA | Overall |
IIM Ahmedabad | General/EWS | 85 | 85 | 85 | 95 |
NC-OBC | 80 | 80 | 80 | 90 | |
SC | 75 | 75 | 75 | 85 | |
ST | 65 | 65 | 65 | 75 | |
PwD | 75 | 75 | 75 | 85 | |
IIM Bangalore | General | 80 | 75 | 75 | 85 |
EWS/NC-OBC | 70 | 65 | 65 | 75 | |
SC | 65 | 60 | 60 | 70 | |
ST | 55 | 55 | 55 | 65 | |
PwD | 50 | 50 | 50 | 60 | |
IIM Calcutta | General | 80 | 80 | 75 | 85 |
EWS/NC-OBC | 70 | 65 | 65 | 75 | |
SC | 65 | 60 | 60 | 70 | |
ST | 55 | 55 | 55 | 65 | |
PwD | 45 | 45 | 45 | 55 | |
IIM Lucknow | General | 85 | 85 | 85 | 90 |
EWS | 77 | 77 | 77 | 82 | |
NC-OBC | 55 | 55 | 55 | 65 | |
SC | 50 | 50 | 50 | 60 | |
ST | 50 | 50 | 50 | 60 | |
PwD | 50 | 50 | 50 | 60 | |
IIM Kozhikode | General | 75 | 75 | 75 | 85 |
EWS/NC-OBC | 65 | 65 | 65 | 75 | |
SC | 55 | 55 | 55 | 65 | |
ST/PwD | 45 | 45 | 45 | 55 | |
IIM Indore | General/EWS | 80 | 80 | 80 | 90 |
NC-OBC | 70 | 70 | 70 | 80 | |
SC | 55 | 55 | 55 | 60 | |
ST | 40 | 40 | 40 | 45 | |
PwD | 40 | 40 | 40 | 45 | |
IIM Shillong | General | 75 | 75 | 75 | — |
EWS | 75 | 75 | 75 | — | |
NC-OBC | 75 | 75 | 75 | — | |
SC | 60 | 60 | 60 | — | |
ST | 50 | 50 | 50 | — | |
PwD | 50 | 50 | 50 | — | |
IIM Mumbai | General | 80 | 80 | 75 | 85 |
EWS/NC-OBC | 70 | 65 | 65 | 75 | |
SC | 65 | 60 | 60 | 70 | |
ST | 55 | 55 | 55 | 65 | |
PwD | 45 | 45 | 45 | 55 | |
IIM Rohtak | General | — | — | — | 97 |
EWS | — | — | — | 93 | |
NC-OBC | — | — | — | 83 | |
SC | — | — | — | 60 | |
ST | — | — | — | 50 | |
PwD | — | — | — | 40 | |
IIM Ranchi | General | 75 | 75 | 75 | 95.25 |
EWS | 60 | 60 | 60 | 89 | |
NC-OBC | 60 | 60 | 60 | 88.5 | |
SC | 45 | 45 | 45 | 75 | |
ST | 25 | 25 | 25 | 45 | |
PwD | 25 | 25 | 25 | 30 | |
IIM Raipur | General | 75 | 75 | 75 | 95.25 |
EWS | 60 | 60 | 60 | 89 | |
NC-OBC | 60 | 60 | 60 | 88.5 | |
SC | 45 | 45 | 45 | 75 | |
ST | 25 | 25 | 25 | 45 | |
PwD | 25 | 25 | 25 | 30 | |
IIM Tiruchirappalli | General | 75 | 75 | 75 | 95.25 |
EWS | 60 | 60 | 60 | 89 | |
NC-OBC | 60 | 60 | 60 | 88.5 | |
SC | 45 | 45 | 45 | 75 | |
ST | 25 | 25 | 25 | 45 | |
PwD | 25 | 25 | 25 | 30 | |
IIM Kashipur | General | 75 | 75 | 75 | 95 |
EWS | 60 | 60 | 60 | 89 | |
NC-OBC | 60 | 60 | 60 | 88.5 | |
SC | 45 | 45 | 45 | 75 | |
ST | 25 | 25 | 25 | 45 | |
PwD | 25 | 25 | 25 | 30 | |
IIM Udaipur | General | 75 | 75 | 75 | 94 |
EWS | 55 | 55 | 55 | 81 | |
NC-OBC | 52 | 52 | 52 | 81 | |
SC | 45 | 45 | 45 | 66 | |
ST | 25 | 25 | 30 | 42 | |
PwD | 25 | 25 | 30 | 42 | |
IIM Nagpur | General | 70 | 70 | 70 | 95 |
EWS | 55 | 55 | 55 | 85 | |
NC-OBC | 55 | 55 | 55 | 85 | |
SC | 40 | 40 | 40 | 65 | |
ST | 30 | 30 | 30 | 40 | |
PwD | 25 | 25 | 25 | 40 | |
IIM Visakhapatnam | General | 70 | 70 | 70 | 82 |
EWS | 63 | 63 | 63 | 72 | |
NC-OBC | 63 | 63 | 63 | 72 | |
SC | 40 | 40 | 40 | 50 | |
ST | 30 | 30 | 30 | 40 | |
PwD | 30 | 30 | 30 | 40 | |
IIM Amritsar | General | 80 | 75 | 80 | 90 |
EWS | 77 | 75 | 80 | 90 | |
NC-OBC | 65 | 60 | 65 | 80 | |
SC | 52 | 50 | 55 | 55 |
What Is the IIM Selection Process?
The old assumption that every IIM simply takes CAT percentile, checks academics and conducts an interview is too simplistic. Each IIM selection criteria and admission policy define its own composite score. Especially top IIM colleges are particular about class diversity too.
IIM | Shortlisting/selection structure | Major final-selection components in latest available policy |
IIM Ahmedabad | CAT + Application Rating → AWT/PI | 50% PI + 10% AWT + 40% Normalised Composite Score for 2027-2029 batch |
IIM Bangalore | CAT + profile → WAT/PI | PI 40% + CAT 25% + WAT 10% + Class 10 5% + Class 12 5% + Graduation 5% + Work Experience/Professional Course 10%. |
IIM Calcutta | CAT + academic/profile screening → PI/WAT | PI 48% + CAT 30% + WAT 8% + Academic Diversity 6% + Work Experience 8%. |
IIM Lucknow | CAT + profile → WAT/PI | PI 40% + CAT 30% + WAT 10% + Class 12 5% + Graduation 5% + Diversity 5% + Work Experience 5% for MBA. |
IIM Kozhikode | Aggregate Index Score → WAT/PI | CAT 35% + PI 35% + WAT 20% + Resume 10%. |
IIM Indore | CAT + academic profile → PI | PI 45% + CAT sectional scores 40% + Class 10 5% + Class 12 5% + Diversity 5%. |
IIM Shillong | CAT-based shortlist → PI | CAT 40% + PI 40% + Application Rating Score 10% + Gender 10%. |
IIM Mumbai | CAT percentile → PI | CAT 60% + PI 20% + Academic Performance & Work Experience 20%. |
IIM Rohtak | CAT-based shortlist → Separate application → PI | CAT 60% + PI 20% + Academic Diversity & Gender Diversity 20%. |
IIM Ranchi | CAT → JAP registration → common PI | CAT 65% + Profile 20% + PI 15%. Profile includes academics and work experience; an additional gender-diversity bonus is provided. |
IIM Raipur | CAT → JAP registration → common PI | CAT & sectional percentile 42% + PI 23% + Profile 33% + Personal Profile Mapping 2%. |
IIM Tiruchirappalli | CAT → JAP registration → common PI | CAT 52% + PI 20% + Work Experience 10% + Class 10 2% + Class 12 3% + UG 5% + Gender Diversity 6% + Academic Diversity 2%. |
IIM Kashipur | CAT → JAP registration → common PI | Latest published policy gives QE/CAT 33% + PI 25%+ Academics 15%+Work Experience 12%+Gender Diversity 6%+Academic Diversity 4%+ Professional Qual. (CA/CS/ICWA) 5% |
IIM Udaipur | CAT → online registration → PI | CAT 55% + PI 25% + Profile 20%, with Profile comprising Academics 6% + Work Experience 6% + Diversity 8%. |
IIM Nagpur | CAT → separate application → PI | CAT 45% + PI 25% + Past Academic Performance 6% + Work Experience 9% + Academic Diversity 5% + Gender Diversity 10%. |
IIM Visakhapatnam | CAT → separate application → profile-based shortlist → PI | PI 48% + CAT 25% + Class 10 4% + Class 12 4% + Bachelor's 4% + Gender Diversity 5% + Work Experience 10%. |
IIM Amritsar | CAT/profile → separate application → PI | Personal Interview (PI) 70%+Work Experience 10%+Academics: 10%+Gender OR Academic Diversity (either/or, capped) 10% |
IIM Sambalpur | CAT → separate application → PI | CAT 40% + PI 25% + Work Experience 20% + Graduation 4% + Class 10 3% + Class 12 3% + Gender Diversity 5%. |
IIM Bodh Gaya | CAT → CAP → PI | CAT 50% + Personal Appearance/PI 25% + Profile 25%. Profile comprises Academic Profile 15% + Work Experience 10%. |
IIM Sirmaur | CAT → CAP → common PI | CAT 35% + PI 20% + Academics 15% + Work Experience 20% + Gender Diversity 5% + Trailblazer 5%. |
IIM Jammu | CAT → CAP → PI | CAT 42% + PI 30% + Profile 28%. Profile comprises Academics 10% + Work Experience 10% + Gender Diversity 8%. |
IIM Guwahati | CAT → online application → composite-score selection | CAT 65% + Application Rating 35%. Application Rating is based on Class 10, Class 12, Bachelor's performance and Work Experience. There was no separate PI in the published 2026–28 process. |
Can You Get Into IIM Without Work Experience?
Yes, you can get into an IIM as a fresher. Work experience is not mandatory for the flagship two-year MBA/PGP programmes. However, in composite score components, IIMs award additional weightage for professional experience. So, having zero work experience does not mean you cannot compete for the top IIMs in India. A fresher can focus on the parameters still within their control: CAT percentile, graduation performance, PI/WAT preparation and documented academic or extracurricular achievements.
