Is It Worth Preparing For CAT With Low Academics?

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With a couple of months left for CAT, those of you who want to get an MBA must be all blood, sweat, and tears. Do you count the minutes you take to chew your food, the hours of nap you take, and the time you spend on your cell phone? Grabbing numerous cups of coffee to stay awake and study, hoping this dedication and hard work will pave your way into your dream college for an education in management. But then there are moments when self-doubt takes hold of your thoughts and you can't help but wonder- is it even worth preparing for CAT with poor academic scores? Is it possible to get into an IIM with a low academic score?

And we know that this one thought must have led you to many sleepless nights. This is why we are here to help you tread this path of thorns and stop worrying about poor graduation marks. Because guess what- it is possible to get into an IIM with a low academic score. And we are not saying this lightly, we will share the proper reasoning to support our claim. So let's begin by having a look at the minimum eligibility criteria for admission to B-Schools.

Eligibility Criteria For Business Schools

Management schools offer a wide range of specializations and naturally, have a stringent admission process. From filling out the application form to preparing the interview process, every stage has its requirements.

Many leading B-Schools take into account the previous academic performance of applicants when shortlisting candidates for interviews or final selection. However, past academic performance is not a part of the eligibility criteria for all leading B-Schools, only for some of them. In fact, for certain IIMs, only the CAT score forms the eligibility criteria. 

At present, there are 20 IIMs in India. Moreover, of the 23 IITs in India, 7 offer postgraduate courses in management. The table below lists the eligibility criteria for MBA admission (as per the latest updates) into various IIMs, top B-schools, and IITs: 

*Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, some universities could not conduct exams for a few years and awarded only pass/promotion certificates to students based on varied criteria. Considering this, for the 2023-25 batches, the CAT Committee of 2022 of IIM A allowed candidates without requiring any minimum percentage of marks in the bachelor’s degree.

As is evident by the table above, for many colleges, the only eligibility requirement is the CAT score. Moreover, as you can see even if you don't have what could be called stellar academic grades, you are still eligible for admission into most top institutions for education in management. 

Please note: Meeting the minimum eligibility criteria is not a guarantee for a candidate getting shortlisted for the Personal Interview (PI) and/or final selection.

It is possible to get into IIM with low academic scores if you do well in CAT and the consequent stages of the admission process. Now let's move on to see what weightage these institutions attach to your academic background.

Weightage To Previous Academic Performance (PAP) at IIMs

All IIMs have different formulas to calculate the composite score of applicants after CAT performance to decide whom to call for personal interviews. In this formula, they have fixed weightage for CAT score, past academic performance, and work experience, among other factors. 

The table below lists the weightage different colleges attach to your academic performance and CAT score.

Please note: This is as per the latest selection criteria shared on the websites of the colleges. IIMs may change their selection criteria at their discretion.

Please note: Apart from CAT and previous academic performance, colleges attach a separate weightage to other factors not listed in the above table, such as gender diversity, academic diversity, work experience, personal interview performance, etc. Please visit individual websites of the college for further details about the detailed selection criteria. 

This goes to show that despite having poor academics, there is a chance for you to get into an Indian Institute of Management (though it may not be IIM ABC). And this is possible only because the composite score includes academic diversity, gender diversity, and other components which dilute the weightage of the academic profile. This is why acing the CAT exam can do wonders for you, so go ahead and set your CAT strategy right.

Now let's have a look at how your score from the entrance exam can balance out your academic performance. 

IIM Ahmedabad

IIM Ahmedabad is the best-ranking Indian Institute of Management in the country, having retained its top position on NIRF rankings for the last three years. Naturally, almost every MBA aspirant wishes to land a spot here. Now poor academics can demotivate you but note that IIM A gives interview calls to the top 50 scorers from every academic discipline, not considering the entire academic history. So if you are in the top 50 CAT scorers for your discipline, you have a shot at reaching the interview stage. 

The minimum CAT percentile requirement IIM A set to consider a student for an interview is 80 in overall percentile and 70 percentile in each of the three sections for the General and EWS categories.

So if your percentile is above the required minimum, it might compensate for the low scores in PAP. But if you don't get this minimum required percentile, you will not be considered to begin with.

As per the scores in 2022, candidates had to score around the 99.5 percentile (or above) to make it to the list. Whereas, for candidates from a non-engineering background, a percentile of 97.5+ was required, as per the 2022 scores.

IIM Bangalore

IIM Bangalore has consistently ranked among the top three management institutes in the country, as per the NIRF rankings. IIM Bangalore gives 55% weightage to CAT score and 30% weightage to PAP - equally divided between Grade 10 and Grade 12 marks i.e. 15% each to Grade 10 and 12. Additionally, it does not take into account graduation marks for eligibility criteria or for calculating the composite score. This means that you have a chance of getting shortlisted for IIM B, despite a low academic record in graduation. Additionally, IIM B also takes into account an applicant's work experience. Lastly, it also awards a weightage to professional courses like Chartered Accountancy, Cost Accounting, and Company Secretary certifications.

As per the IIM Bangalore admission criteria for PGP 2023-25 batch, the minimum overall percentile cutoff for IIM B was 85 and the minimum sectional percentile cutoff was 80 for each of the three sections. Thus, there are various factors to consider when applying for IIM B and a high CAT score can offset a low academic score in certain cases.  

IIM Calcutta

IIM Calcutta is also one of the top business schools in the country. It considers only those candidates who score at least 75 percentile in QA, 80 in DILR & VARC, and an overall percentile of 85. So if wish to get into IIM Calcutta and your X and XII aggregates are above 80%, you can expect a call at the 99.7 percentile. But you need to score around 99.8 or more to get an interview from IIM Calcutta in case your X and XII scores lie in the 70s. IIM Calcutta does not take into account your graduation score. 

Please note that these are general guidelines and the actual cutoff may vary each year, depending on several factors, such as the number of applicants, the exam's difficulty level, etc. 

IIM Lucknow

This institution does not consider applicants' marks in 10th and only weighs their graduation score and performance in Grade 12. However, it requires the candidates to score a minimum sectional percentile of 85, and an overall percentile of 90, to be considered in the first stage of the process.  

IIM Lucknow gives a 10% weightage to your marks in class 12, 10% to marks in graduation, and 60% weightage to your CAT score. Like all other institutes, it also takes into account your work experience, giving it 10% weightage. So if you have poor to moderate academic scores, doing the best in the CAT exam is key to landing a spot at IIM Lucknow. A safe score in CAT that gets you into IIM Lucknow will thus, depend on your PAP and work experience. 

IIM Kozhikode

Just like IIM Calcutta, IIM Kozhikode also gives a total weightage of 40% to PAP, only taking into account the marks scored in classes 10th and 12th. It does not consider your graduation score. Even this minute detail can make a huge difference when trying to figure out a strategy for getting into an IIM. For example, in this case, if you did not score extremely well in your graduation, it doesn't matter much. 

So IIM K calls for an overall percentile of 85 in CAT and a minimum sectional percentile of 75 in each of the three sections. You can adjudge what will be the safe score to offset poor class X scores and XII scores. Say, a percentile of around 99.8 or more can get you through this IIM, in case you are preparing for CAT with low average marks in academics. 

IIM Indore

This Indian Institute of Management gives the highest weightage to PAP across all IIMs. With a weightage of around 34% to your class X marks and 40% to marks in 12th, it is unlikely to get a call from this IIM if you haven’t scored well in X and XII, irrespective of your CAT percentile. However, if you’ve scored less in graduation only, you can expect a call from IIM Indore. In addition, IIM Indore normalizes your board percentages before putting them in the composite performance - an important factor for boards like TN and Andhra, which are known for mark inflation. 

Remaining Newer IIMs

All the newer Indian Institutes of Management (including Visakhapatnam, Bodh Gaya, Sirmaur, Nagpur, Sambalpur, and Amritsar) have similar minimum criteria for considering applicants for admission after the CAT results are out. These management colleges require candidates to score an overall CAT percentile of 85-90 (on average), with a minimum sectional percentile set at 70. So if you’ve scored well above 90% in your academics (X, XII, and graduation), a CAT percentile of 97% will easily fetch you a call from one of these new IIMs. Otherwise, you will need a CAT percentile of around 99.2+ to move along the application process.

The IITs - IIT Bombay and IIT Delhi

The Shailesh J. Mehta School of Management (SJMSoM) is a part of IIT Bombay. It offers MBA in four specializations- Finance, Operations, Human Resources, and Accounting. The minimum application eligibility remains the same as mentioned in the table above. The institution gives no weight to Class 10th marks, and only 10% weightage to PAPs which is a boon for those who have low class 12th marks, or an average graduation score.  However, aspirants must do well in CAT since the institute needs candidates to score a minimum overall percentile of 90, and 80 per section, to be considered. 

It is also possible to get into the Department of Management Studies (DoMS) which is a part of IIT Delhi. DoMS ranks well in the top 10 schools of management in India, as per the NIRF 2023 rankings. The minimum criteria of application are the same as SJMSoM in IIT Bombay, and the minimum percentile requirement is also the same.

This shows it is quite possible to get into a top school of management like an IIT or IIM even with low academics. Now let's have a look at the other premier management schools and how you can get into them with low-class X scores and other academic profile components. 

Other Top B-Schools: XLRI, FMS, JBIMS, MDI

While IIMs are the most popular choice for most MBA aspirants, there are other leading B-Schools known to produce some of the best business leaders today.

Most of these other premier B-Schools don’t award a significant weight to the academic background during the shortlisting procedure, while still offering a wide range of specializations. A score of 99.7 percentile and more in your respective exams can fetch a call from these institutes (except JBIMS) with high chances of conversion. If you’re looking forward to getting into one of the best B-Schools with low academics, you must consider these other institutions instead of sticking all your eggs in one basket (IIMs).

So, just in case you’re preparing and planning on nailing CAT with a high percentile, do not let yourself down because of low academics. You have a solid shot at getting into the college of your dreams if you just work hard, diligently prepare for the interview process, and put your best foot forward. We wish you all the best for the upcoming CAT season.