CAT scores count for less; you must impress to get into an IIM
Are you preparing for CAT 2018 under the impression that a high score in the Common Admission Test (CAT) will be your ticket to the elite Indian Institutes of Management (IIMS) as an MBA student? It’s not that simple. Cracking the CAT is no longer synonymous with gaining admission to an IIM.
Although the CAT is the same for all students, each IIM has its own selection criteria, which take into account a number of factors in addition to CAT score.
A close look at the selection process of some of the top IIMS reveals that for the 2019-21 batch, most are looking for MBA students with a good academic background, good communication skills and impressive work experience. A high CAT score can take you to the final stage of a personal interview (PI) and written ability test (WAT) but will not take you further unless you fare well enough on other parameters.
Iim-bangalore has made it clear that its comprehensive multi-criteria selection process is such that those who have a high CAT score but an unimpressive academic record and work experience get sifted out in the second phase of selection.
CAT SCORE LESS VITAL IN THE FINAL ANALYSIS
An analysis of weightage allotted to different parameters in the final selection process also makes it clear that a high CAT score isn’t enough to secure an IIM seat. At Iim-bangalore, CAT gets only 25% weightage while at Iim-calcutta the weightage is 30% in the final selection round.
Instead, increased weightage is given to performance in the PI and WAT, which means communication and presentation skills can turn things in your favour even if your CAT score is not as high as a competitor’s.
CAT 2018 convener and IIMCalcutta professor Sumanta Basu says that more weightage to the personal interview is meant to help selectors assess the candidate. During a PI, he adds, the interviewer doesn’t take into account even a brilliant 95-99% in the CAT, if the candidate is performing below average in the interview itself.
“The interviewers do not get swayed by CAT scores. They are experienced individuals trained to evaluate on distinct scales. Both the CAT score and interview performance are important to us,” says Basu, also chairperson of the admissions committee at IIM-C.
Here is a look at how much importance each of the top three IIMS gives to CAT scores.
To be shortlisted for a PI and WAT at Iim-calcutta, you need much more than an excellent CAT score.
About 40% weightage is given to your Class 10 and Class 12 marks. You even earn two extra points for being a female candidate, as part of a gender diversity effort.
For final selection in IIM-C’S flagship PGP course (post-graduate program in management), your CAT score gets only 15 points out of 50.
What matters in final stage is your PI performance, which gets 24 points; WAT gets another 5, while 4 points are for work experience and 2 for those coming from a non-engineering background. IIM-B considers previous academic performance along with CAT score in the first phase of selection.
In the second phase, the weightage given to the CAT score is 25 while it is higher for the PI, at 30. Your academic record and work experience get another 35 points and there’s 10 for WAT. That’s only 25 points for CAT against 75 for the other factors combined.
IIM-B’S selection criteria work in favour of those who may have narrowly missed a high score but have a CV that boasts an excellent academic record
and solid work experience.
To be considered for the interview and analytical writing test (AWT) at IIM-A, your CAT score is considered along with marks attained in Class 10, Class 12 and your degree course finals.
The final round of selection is based on CAT score, AWT and PI, academic, co-curricular and extra-curricular achievements and work experience.
The institute has a rule that a certain number of top candidates from each academic discipline will be shortlisted for AWT and PI.