Unfortunately, only few hundreds out of lakhs of CAT takers can actually make it to IIMs. No, we are not trying to scare you off but make you aware of the ground reality. This year, IIMs have given due weightage on the academic records and work experience. The results of Class X and XII board exams are given much importance. So much so that even after scoring 99 percentile in CAT 2009, several candidates did not receive GD & PI calls from IIMs. The reason was, they could not clear the cut off marks declared by the IIMs. So how much criteria are the IIMs and top B Schools look for? In this article of MBAUniverse.com, we will mention the cut off percentage for the Board exams.

The cut offs and criteria change every year for the IIMs and top B Schools. We will mention the cut offs for the academic year 2010-12. 

IIM Ahmedabad

According to the criteria of IIM Ahmedabad, a candidate had to score minimum 17 per cent in each section and 25 per cent in aggregate. A candidate had to obtain overall 99 percentile and minimum 96.1 percentile in each section. The candidate also had to obtain minimum 70 per cent in class 10th and 12th. After meeting these criteria the candidates were shortlisted for personal interview.

Source: http://202.41.76.206/catShort10-11.pdf

IIM Bangalore

The minimum CAT Percentile a candidate should obtain for getting a call for the essay writing and personal interview rounds was 90. For the first shortlist, the weightage given to CAT scores 20, 10th board result was 15, 12th board result was 10 and Bachelor’s Degree result was 15. The maximum score for work experience was 5 for the pre PI stage and 10 in the post PI stage. The score peaked at 36 months work experience.

The essay writing of the candidates is judged on the basis of note content and note style. The weightage for each is 7.5 which make the total weightage for essay writing 15. The PI weight is 20.

Source: http://www.iimb.ernet.in/sites/default/files/PGP_Admission_Process_IIMB_Batch_2010_0.pdf

IIM Calcutta

For the final selection of the students in IIM Calcutta, the minimum CAT percentile required was 99.50. Weightage was given to the CAT scores, GD, PI and work experience. The weightage for CAT scores was 40. GD and PI have weightage of 10 and 44 respectively. Work experience was allotted the weightage of 6.

Candidates having more than 36 months of work experience were awarded 6 marks whereas candidates with 0 to 11 months of work experience did not obtain any marks on work experience.

Source: http://www.iimcal.ac.in/fnlcrt-10.pdf

IIM Lucknow

The minimum CAT percentile in CAT 2009 that wass required to have the shortlist was 90. The various components used for the short listing the candidates for the written ability test, group discussion and personal interview were CAT 2009 scores, marks of Class X, XII and Graduation and work experience. The weightage for CAT scores were 30, Class X marks is 10, Class XII, Graduation marks and work experience hold the weightage of 5 each.

Post the first round, the shortlisted candidates had to undergo written ability test, group discussion and personal interview. The weightage for the written ability test and group discussion were 10 each and that for personal interview is 25.

The total weightage for the first phase was 55 and that of the second phase was 45.

Source:http://www.iiml.ac.in/Adm_Policy_2009.pdf?PHPSESSID=2fc7404789666bd5c3d154a630daa111 
 
IIM Kozhikode

20 per cent weight for academic performance in secondary school, 20 percent weight for higher secondary school and 10 percent weight for the work experience of the candidate is given. Based on this index, candidates are called for Group Discussion and Interview 

Source: http://iimk.ac.in/admission/cat09/criteriashortlistings1s2.php