my profile is 91.5 , 77 , 79.6 respectively in 10th , 12th(CISCE board both) and bachelors , GEM , 36 months workex (filled in cat form) , what would be a good percentile and college I can realistically target , preferences iim b, iit's , spjimr , mdi g , jap b-schools and similar iims

Hi, With a 9/7/7 academic profile, GEM background and 36 months of work experience, you have a reasonably strong profile, but as a GEM you will need a very high CAT percentile for the top IIMs.

I would recommend targeting 99.3-99.5+ percentile. At 99.5+, you can realistically target IIM ABC, FMS, for Lucknow, Kozhikode, Indore and SPJIMR based on your profile 99.2+ will be sufficient to get a call, although calls from the most competitive schools will still depend on their individual shortlisting criteria.

99+ for IITs, MDI, IIM Mumbai become more realistic, while 98.5–99 can still give you good options among IITs and newer IIMs.

Your 36 months of work experience is a positive, particularly for schools that value work experience, but it doesn't completely offset the competition faced by GEM candidates. For your preferences, I would keep 99.5+ as the primary CAT target.

Hope this helps.