Apart from the — how many questions should I answer to score a 99 percentile on the CAT — question, one of the questions that I get asked to answer most frequently both from my students as well as people on Quora is the one that is more or less framed as follows:
I have X% in X, Y% in XII and Z% in GRAD, will I get a call from the IIMs?
Given the popularity of the question, I think a post on the same is more than par for the course.
The first hurdles are not your Marks but your SECTIONAL and OVERALL Percentile!
Even before your Marks come into the play the first level of screening will be to eliminate all candidates who do not fulfil the minimum requirements in terms of overall and sectional percentiles.
So even if you have an overall percentile of 97 or 98 but do not clear any one of the sectional cut-offs, you are straightaway eliminated at this stage. The table below gives you a snapshot of the cut-offs — OA—VA-RC—DI-LR—QA
|
General |
EWS |
NC-OBC |
SC |
ST |
PWD |
|
|
IIM-Ahmedabad |
80-70-70-70 |
80-70-70-70 |
75-65-65-65 |
70-60-60-60 |
60-50-50-50 |
70-60-60-60 |
|
IIM-Bangalore |
85-80-75-75 |
75-70-65-65 |
75-70-65-65 |
70-65-60-60 |
65-55-55-55 |
60-50-50-50 |
|
IIM-Kolkata |
85-80-80-75 |
75-70-65-65 |
75-70-65-65 |
70-65-60-60 |
65-55-55-55 |
55-45-45-45 |
|
IIM-Lucknow |
90-85-85-85 |
82-77-77-77 |
82-77-77-77 |
70-55-55-55 |
65-50-50-50 |
65-50-50-50 |
|
IIM-Indore |
90-80-80-80 |
90-80-80-80 |
80-70-70-70 |
60-55-55-55 |
50-45-45-45 |
50-45-45-45 |
|
IIM-Kozhikode |
85-75-75-75 |
75-65-65-65 |
75-65-65-65 |
65-55-55-55 |
55-45-45-45 |
55-45-45-45 |
The shortlisting criteria of various IIMs for a first call
By now you would know that getting a shortlist from your dream IIM depends on more than just your CAT score. What are the other elements that play a crucial part in the shortlisting process?
- X Marks
- XII Marks
- Graduation Marks
- CAT Score
- Work Experience
- Education Diversity
- Gender Diversity
Each of the colleges gives different weights to each of these components. Some colleges might not use some components. The table below summarises the weight in percentage given to different components of your profile.
| IIM-A | IIM-B | IIM-C | IIM-L | IIM-I | IIM-K | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| X Marks | 10 | 15 | 10 | NA | 34 | 25 |
| XII Marks | 10 | 15 | 15 | 10 | 40 | 15 |
| Grad Marks | 10 | 15 | 10 | NA | NA | |
| CAT Score | 65 | 55 | 56 | 60 | 20 | 45 |
| Work Experience | 5 | 10 | NA | 10 | NA | 5 |
| Gender Diversity | NA | 5 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 10 |
| Education Diversity | Yes | NA | NA | 5 | NA | 10 |
Some points to note that are specific to some of the colleges.
IIM-Ahmedabad Shortlisting Criteria
As you can see from the table above there is no numerical weight given to Education Diversity. Instead of giving marks to applicants from different streams, IIM-A uses a slightly different process:
- The various graduation disciplines are divided into 7 categories
- The top 100 students or 1% of applicants (whichever is fewer) are shortlisted based on their Composite Score – (Academic Rating).30 + Normalised CAT Score).70
- This shortlist does not differentiate between GEN, NC-OBC, SC, ST or DA categories
The IIM-A process thus ensures that the best commerce student or doctor or lawyer does not compete with the best engineer.
So if 9000 people belonging to a particular stream appear for the CAT, then the top 90 students from that stream will get a call for the WAT-PI round. The highest percentile in a particular education stream can be 97 but the topper will still get a call provided he/she clears all the sectional cut-offs.
IIM-A keeps varying it’s stance on work-ex, as if it were an on & off relationship, it is back on now.
IIM-Bangalore Shortlisting Criteria
Unlike IIM-A , IIM-B gives weightage both to work experience and to Gender Diversity.
- The weightage of 8 for work experience is calculated as follows:
- The marks for work experience = 10*(number of months of work experience)/36.
- If you have more than 36 months you will get 8 marks
- Gender diversity plays a role only in the first call .
- For the Final Call the 1 mark allocated to women applicants will be removed and the remaining 35 marks will be for your WAT and PI.
Of all the schools, IIM-B’s criteria and interview process have been most consistent and nuanced over the years.
For example, while they marks to work-experience, they do not want candidates with work-ex to have an undue or rather unearned advantage over promising freshers.
So, during the interview process they evaluate the quality of work-ex on a 5-point scale — 0.25 – 0.5 – 1 – 1.5 – 2
They multiply the marks you got for work-ex by this factor. So, if you got 8 marks just by the dint of accumulating run of the mill work-ex, which they feel does not rate more than a .25, then it will become 8*.25 or 2. In the final total this would drastically the reduce the advantage that this particular candidate got during the work-ex.
Similarly it can also help candidate offset a poor CAT score, a student of mine got a call at around 96 percentile owing to 4-plus years of work-ex and gender diversity. The quality of her work-ex though was standout and she would have got a 2 for sure, making her work-ex marks post the interview 16 and fetching her a final call despite the low CAT percentile (please note that IIM-B uses gender diversity only for first call and not the final call).
IIM-Kolkata Shortlisting Criteria
While work experience and education diversity play no role in the first call, they play a role in the final call with a weightage of 8 and 3 respectively.
IIM-Lucknow Shortlisting Criteria
There is no change from the First Call to the second call. There are 50 marks in total for all the components in the first call, to this 50 marks will be added for the WAT and PI to arrive at a final score.
IIM Indore Shortlisting Criteria
Only God knows why they give maximum weightage to XII marks and what uniqueness this brings to the kind of batch they put together! A particular kind of superhero team, may be — those who ace XII in India despite or without focussing on JEE and/or other entrance exams!
IIM Kozhikode Shortlisting Criteria
While there is a 5% weightage for Gender and Education Diversity, a candidate cannot get marks for both. He/she can get marks only for one of the two. So girls who are commerce graduates DO NOT end up getting an outsized advantage.This happened in the first year they gave weightage to both and the batch had about 52% women! (Even our elite management schools learn by trial and error)
How is the CAT Score used in the shortlisting process of the IIMs?
Your CAT Score is first normalised — divided by the highest CAT Score among the applicants — and then multiplied by the weightage or marks given to CAT Score, which is different for each IIM and is indicated in the table above.
In a very easy CAT, the scores are all very close to each other and hence when divided by the highest score and then the multiplied by the weightage or marks, differences between scores are further reduced.
Hence on an easy CAT a higher percentile will not necessarily make a very huge difference as will the other components, whereas on a difficult CAT on which the marks will be more widespread, CAT scores will end up having a huge impact.
I suppose this explains why at times we hear statements such as CAT is very tough my friend did not get a call even at 99.XY. It is not because of a tough CAT but because of an easy CAT and other components of the profile.
How are marks across boards and streams made comparable?
This is usually a big concern for aspirants since different boards and different streams are known to award marks with varying degrees of generosity — the most generous being the ones, in my opinion, in the south of the country and most frugal ones belonging to the east!
Obviously, something so obvious will be something that even the IIMs take cognisance of and each of them uses a different method to normalise the marks across boards and streams.
How do they equate scores across boards and streams?
Each one has their own sweet process and trying to decode that doing that Math is possibly the biggest waste of time. Your job is to get the best score you can, let them do the Math!
How much of an impact will X, XII and Grad marks have on getting a shortlist?
While our parents had told us all along how important X and XII marks will be in “settling down” in life, they never really told us much about the importance of Graduation marks. To a certain extent even they, like us, assumed that life will more or less be settled after getting into a good engineering college (by the way there is nothing called settling down, only sediment settles down).
But given the selection criteria of the IIMs and the additional weight given for educational diversity, it might turn out that one stands a better chance had one not chosen engineering in the first place! And if one did, one should have ensured a percentage above 80%!
Almost all colleges barring IIM-L, which gives no weightage to X marks, give weightage to X and XII marks.
Each IIM has different marks at different slabs. For example, IIM-A has the following slabs for X:
- 90 and above – 10 marks; 80 to 90 – 8 marks; 70 to 80 – 5 marks; 60 to 70 – 3 marks; 55 to 60 – 2 marks; less than 55 – 1 mark
All colleges barring IIM-C and K start at slabs of 90 and above. Since these days getting above 90 in X and XII has become quite common, those who get below a 90 in X and XII will have a tough chance getting the first call since they will be dropping valuable points.
The biggest differentiator can end up being Graduation Marks since some of us were good students until till we reached graduation.
So if you have a Graduation CGPA or percentage that is less than 80% then a WAT-GD-PI call from
- IIM-A or IIM-B is ruled out even with very high CAT percentiles
- IIM-C is most definitely possible since there is no weightage
- IIM-L is definitely possible since the weightage is quite low
- IIM-I most definitely since there is no weightage
- IIM-K is possible since the weightage is moderate
The table below summarizes calls you can expect for most of the typical Academic profiles.
If two out of three among X, XII and Graduation are below 80 then I am afraid there is only a very slim chance of getting a call from any one of the old IIMs.
In case there is a combination I have missed out on, say 80-90-70, you can deduce it from the table and the analysis provided. You have to do at least some DI!
Can Work Experience can compensate for a slightly lower CAT Score?
If you look at the weightage for work experience, C and I have no weightage for work-ex, only A, B, L & K give 5, 8,10 and 13.33 percent weightage to work-ex.
So, those who have work experience of two years and above (and good acads) can get a call from IIMs A, B, L, and K at a CAT percentile between 98.5 and 99.
In fact, we have had a girl candidate with 4 years of experience, a good academic profile and belonging to the General Category get a call from B at 96.5 percentile.
Which IIMs are freshers most likely to get a call from?
Freshers are with a good academic profile are likely to get a first call from A, C and L since all the three have more than 50% weightage for CAT Score, provided they score in excess of 99.50 (GEM).
The shortlisting criteria of various IIMs for a final call
The criteria for the final call will more or less remain the same with a few changes coming in here and there. Some b-schools bring in weightage for work experience in the final call stage and others remove weightage for some components such as Gender Diversity from the final stage.
But we will be running ahead of ourselves if we are discussing those elements at this stage. It is best that we cross the bridge when we get to it.
Later this year, the IIMs will announce their criteria for the next batch. Apart from IIM-B, most of the IIMs have tended to make some changes or the other every year. So, do not treat the criteria as set in stone!
Do not worry about what you can’t change, control and change what you can
This post wasn’t intended to demotivate test-takers rather, as I had mentioned earlier, it has stemmed from a lot of queries posted by aspirants.
Some of you might feel dejected at this point of time that — Oh, I didn’t know that IIM-A will not be possible! What’s the point if I can get a call only from one or two old IIMs?
Just take a breather and ask this question to yourself — What is the goal?
- To get into IIM-A or to build a great career?
Getting into IIM-A might be much easier than surviving IIM-A!
- Do you know that a number of students (sometimes as high as 20) from reputable graduation colleges drop out after the first trimester at IIM-A being unable to handle the heat!
- Do you know that big consulting firms such as McKinsey barely give shortlists to candidates who are not from IITs or NITs.
We have to always play with the cards we are dealt. We have to always play the current round well. There is no point wishing for other cards or trying to undo other rounds, both are exercises in futility.
So what is it that you can control and change?
- Your X, XII or Grad Marks — NO.
- Your preparation towards getting a great CAT Score – YES.
And remember there is always FMS — the b-school with a fee of Rs. 2,00, 000 and average salary in excess of Rs.25,00,000 — that has close to 85% weightage for CAT score both for the first call and the final call. The only scores that matters for FMS are the CAT Score and WAT-PI Scores.
So do not waste your time and mine asking me about whether you will get a call from the old IIMs. It changes nothing in terms of prep plan and application strategy (if you have to ask me whether you will get calls then it means that you have to apply to good schools other than the IIMs).
It is crunch time, NOW
I hope all the readers of this blog are aware that crunch time has started.
A lot of aspirants waste a year and get it on a second or third attempt since they do not bring their A-game early on. They still operate in the college mentality and believe that they can pull it off by getting semi-serious and taking all mocks from September.
Only after trying and failing a few times do they put in their all. Cracking the IIMs and getting that awesome salary is not tough but it is definitely not going to be as easy as getting a 90 or a 9 in your engineering. The CAT is a different kettle of fish altogether.
Those who succeed not just on the CAT(or GMAT) but also at a premier b-school and in their professional life later are those who are willing to plan, prep and put their best foot forward.
I’ll leave you with a story of one of the best students I have had in recent times. A fresher in his third year of engineering, he had enrolled for the GMAT with us and attended most of the classes diligently. Each and everything I told him, right from reading the GMAT blog to planning the mocks he followed to the T. After every Mock he brought his laptop along to discuss how he could get better (he was not late even for a single appointment).
He was taking the exam in Bangalore and so before he left to take the exam, he came to me to discuss a bit of the mental part of test-taking with me (he said he gets tense when he is unable to solve a QA problem and I had sorted out the issue for him)
Three days later texted me saying he got a 760!
I asked him whether he was applying to the ISB YLP program and he said he was planning to work for three years and then apply to premier MBA programs abroad; he was not looking at any school in India!
For some reason, throughout these 3-4 months, I had not asked him which college he was from. Listening to his career plans, I asked him which college he was studying in and he replied that he was from IIT-Madras!
Given the stereotypes surrounding IITians’ ability and their attitude, it had not even remotely occurred to me that he might be from IIT-M. I thought he was a bright student from CEG, SSN, or SRM (the biggest colleges other than IIT-M in Chennai)
If an IITian can be so diligent, organized and focused about his prep, that too for GMAT, I am sure many of you reading this blog should also do the same.
The CAT Writer 
Hello sir, I wanted a opinion on whether i should repeat or not. can you please tell me a platform where i can connect with you?
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Hi Rugved,
You can go this:
and leave a comment. I’ll reply in 24 hours, if I am not on leave.
All the best!
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In the recent changes by IIMB they have dropped graduation marks and increased cat and 12th
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Hi Sajal,
Thanks for pointing it out. I clearly remember making the changes to the table, but I guess I posted the same without updating it first.
Thanks again!
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I am a non-engineer with the following marks in class 10/12/grads – 89/76/69 respectively. I am surprised that an above 80 in grads is required because in our college (National Law University, Jodhpur), even the batch topper does not get above 75% marks. Anyways, I am foregoing placements as I am more interested in a career in management. As I would’ve gotten a package of around 16LPA from my college, I want to join a B-school which would give me the opportunity to get an offer of 26LPA or more. Would my profile turn out be an obstacle in achieving this goal if I try my best in CAT? Is there any hope for me in other good B-schools apart from old IIMs?
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Hi Richik,
One of the things that schools do is normalise percentages across boards (they will not use absolute percentages).
I do not think your profile will be an obstacle at all. If anything, it will be a huge plus in the IIM-A process given the emphasis on diversity and thus selecting people from within their education pool rather than across pools.
So, I have students from Symbiosis Law School get IIM-A calls at 88 percentile.
You do not need to worry at all about your chances to crack a Top 30 b-school.
Just put your head down, prep, and get a great score.
And yeah, do something during the gap year than just preparing.
All the best!
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Thank you so much for your reply Sir. I am relieved to hear that.
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Hi sir, I haven’t seen anyone with marks like mine so posting them here for a review: 10th- 95%, 12th- 97% but grad marks have a tremendous drop with a 6.6 cgpa. My grad marks are haunting me during my prep. I am a gen female doing economics from DU. No work ex. Would appreciate knowing if there is a percentile I can get to get calls from ABC, FMS and SP Jain. Thank you!
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Hi Mona,
You should easily get a call from at least 4 of the 6 old IIMs, not to mention all the other schools you have mentioned.
IIM-A will. be tough but most of the rest should happen.
Just wanted to say — any of the old IIMs should get you a great job. I have had students with a stellar profile and CA having doubts about schools beyond ABC but feeling completely elated with the outcomes and experience at other schools — https://thecatwriter.com/2023/05/22/my-mba-journey-iim-l-2/
All the best!
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Hello sir
I had scored 66.5% in 10, 90 in 12th(commerce) and 64.05 in grad (B.com P DU)
I wasn’t serious about my studies the whole life other than those 5-6 months of 12th standard due to which my score in 10th and grads is pretty low
And also I have been doing business full time as most of my college passed in online mode
I was taking classes regularly and I was planning to take a break from business and start studying full time for CAT from mid September but unfortunately I met with an accident which had led to 2 weeks of another break from studies .
And now I’m worried that very less time is left to give my 100%
I want your guidance for two things
1 Should I give my 100% for the rest of the time and give an attempt or should I give an attempt next time?(because in the second situation I will go on to manage my business again for now and give my 100% for the next attempt by taking break from business 5-6 months before CAT)
2 As my school and grads marks are low should I expect call from top B schools?
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Hi Raghav,
On this my take has always been simple. If you give your hundred percent the first time, you will exactly know yourself and the test. It is like playing one final 100 percent and the next time you will know what it takes to win a final.
If you leave your best for next time then we’ll you are leaving everything on things going perfectly to plan.
Do not think go for it this time.
All the best!
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With respect to your profile, you might not get calls from every single top b-school but you can get into one of the top schools.
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As you mentioned in one of the comments about a student’s chance of getting into the top 30 b-schools of the country. I request you to post a new article regarding the same (top 30 b-schools of the country according to you) as we are all applying for colleges, and your list might bring some clarity as to where we should apply.
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Hi Chirag,
At IMS we have a classification of programs (not schools) into various categories or buckets than a strict numbering.
You can find the list here: https://www.imsindia.com/top-b-schools/
Based on the expected percentile, current salary, and profile you can choose to not go below a particular bucket.
Hope this clarifies,
All the best!
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Sir I am a regular BCom student who is interested in getting a MBA with the hope of making a career for myself in Investment Banking. I don’t have any work experience yet and I graduated in April 2023 with a 9.22 CGPA (76% as per Mum Uni) from a tier 1 college. I scored 82% in 10th (CBSE) and 86% in 12th (MH-HSC). How realistic are my chances of getting calls from BLACKI or top 20 Bschools if I make the cut in CAT 2024? I don’t have any peers with the experience or knowledge around me so I’d really appreciate the help. Will clearing CFA L1 affect my profile positively?
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Hi Aryan,
Given that you have an 8/8/9, you will get calls from atleast 3-4 out of the 6 old IIMs and from the other IIMs as well.
As far as CFA L-1 goes, it might not directly help you during admissions into the IIMs. It will give you something to talk about during interviews. For SPJIMR, it will definitely help during admissions.
Otherwise, the big reason for you to do it is to make you resume competitive for those I-banking jobs.
Hope this clarifies,
All the best!
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Hello sir,
My profile is 82.33/79.20/73.20 [B.Com]
I got 85 percentile in Cat 2023
got QA – 95
LRDI -85
VA – 60
VA messed up a lot on the d day.
I am planning to take CAT again this year. I will graduate in June 2024 so will it be a gap year, i watched some YouTube videos they said it won’t be considered a gap year.
Sir just wanted to know, is my profile good enough for IIM Mumbai, XLRI, or FMS.
read the article though maybe BLACKI won’t be possible with this profile.
Thanks, sir for all your valuable inputs.
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Hi Vineet,
Technically it is not a gap year and they will not consider it as such but they might ask what you have been upto since graduation. one the So make sure you take up something that is alignment with your MBA aspirations — certification programs, CFA L1 prep incase you want to get into Finance etc.
I think you should be able to get calls from new IIMs and FMS.
Hope this clarifies,
All the best!
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Thanks alot sir.
Sir can you write a blog on which kind of certification an mba student should do according to their interest, something like that, it would be really helpful.
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Hi Vineet,
This blog has a few pointers.
Regards,
Tony
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Hello sir my academics are 75% in class 10th,67% in class 12 and I am General Female engineering undergrad student with a cgpa of 8.18 currently do I have any chances of getting into Old IIMs like A,B,C? most preferably IIM C?
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Hi Esha,
I’ll be honest it will be a bit of a tough ask to get calls from A, B and C since all of them have weightages for X and XII. Your best bet is infact IIM-L since they have no weightage for Xth marks.
I have always believed that A-B-C or nothing is the most self-defeating prep strategy. There are may be 10-20 jobs that are available at A,B C and none of the other IIMs and those jobs need profiles that only 20-40 people in the batch have!
So unless you have that profile beforehand and want those jobs as well, aiming for A-B-C or nothing is to set goals that will end getting you nothing, put insane amount of pressure and set you up for immense disappointment. Do not think school first, think about career options aligned to your profile & interests and the colleges that will give you the same.
Hope this clarifies,
All the best!
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Hi sir,
I scored 90+ in X and XII but due to some reasonable excuses my grad score is around 72. is there any chance ABC would send me a call and I get to explain in interview why I received so low.
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Hi Goutam,
IIM-A will be tough but you will get a call from 3 to 4 of the others.
So don’t get disheartened. Just focus on getting the best score for now.
Hope this helps,
All the best!
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Thanks sir!
Stoics never get disheartened!
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Hello sir,
My academic profile is: 95.6% in 10th, 93.2% in 12th and 84% in under graduation BBA in marketing, I’m in my final year of college and will be appearing for CAT 2024 in less than a month. I am scoring between 80-90 percentile in my mock tests.
I have two questions
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Hi Sakshi,
Your profile is pretty strong for calls from the IIMs.
If you are scoring 80-90 in the mocks then you will score 90-95 in the actual actual CAT. This means that you will get calls from atleast the new IIMs. If you score 97 and above you stand a chance to get calls from the old IIMs.
Mental stamina is a huge thing for test-taking. To develop this I suggest the following:
1. Start a pranayama practice every day in the morning. Whenever I have done this regularly ot gives me more mental energy and keeps my mind one-pointed. Art of living has a good sets of exercises. You can follow the exercises in this video until 25 mins:
But to do the Ujjayi breath, you should first watch this video:
2. Be very deliberate in the amount you talk, it depletes a lot of energy.
3. Be very intentional in what you consume, watching. a lot of videos also takes up our bandwidth.
Adding herbal supplements like Brahmi capsules will also help a lot with focus.
Whenever you prep apart from mock-tests, it should be for two hours with the phone off.
And atleast once during the season take two mocks in a row.
Hope this helps,
All the best!
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Hello sir,
My Academic profile : 95.6% in 10th, 93.2% in 12th and 84% in my undergrad BBA in marketing. I’m in my final year of college and will be appearing for CAT 2024 in less than a month. I am scoring between the 80th and 90th percentile in mock tests. I have two questions:
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Hi sir, i have scored 72 percent in 10th , 48 percent in 12th and 77 percent in graduation. I have 3 years of gap year after 10th i.e i have passed my 10th in 2015 and 12th in 2020 due to surgery. I am a non engineer and i i choose to do B.Sc in Hospitality and Hotel Administration from IHM( Best in India ). I have made up my mind to do mba from IIM. Please let me know if there is any possibility to get into any IIM with my profile taking into consideration that i belong to NC-OBC category. I have given multiple mocks and i am sure i can get a good percentile in CAT.
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