Lucknow: Common Admission Test or CAT is the gateway to India’s one of the prestigious management institutes, Indian Institute of Management (IIMs). To get admission in their dream management institute, thousands of students across the nation took this aptitude test which was conducted online last year on November 29.
Shortlisting for IIM’s admission for session 2021-23 has already begun and the students are being selected on the basis of Written Ability Test (WAT), Group Discussion rounds (GD), and personal interview (PI). In view of the COVID-19 crisis across the country, examinations are to be conducted online.
There are currently 20 IIMs across the nation, with most offering Masters in Business Administration (MBA) degrees instead of Post Graduate Diploma in Management (PGDM). The top IIMs like IIM Ahmedabad, IIM Calcutta, IIM Bangalore, IIM Lucknow, IIM Kozhikode, and others had announced their admission criteria for session 2021-2023 in August 2020. To note, the most important aspect of IIMs admission is students’ CAT percentile.
Here are some expected changes in IIMs Admission Policy for 2021
Outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic has changed a lot, from the way of living to work and study. Where all the schools and colleges opted for online classes due to corona virus outbreak, examination pattern also underwent a major overhaul. Provided to such a scenario, two major changes for IIM’s 2021 session admission could be exercised by the management.
–Many IIMs may drop their Written Ability Test (WAT) and Group Discussion (GD) rounds and only conduct personal interview (PI) rounds online before offering admission to students.
–All the IIMs, including top IIMs like IIM Bangalore, IIM Ahmedabad. Also, IIM Calcutta may conduct online classes for the academic session 2021-23.
Understand the stages of IIM admission and selection process
Stage I: Shortlisting of candidates on the basis of their CAT score
2. Shortlisted candidates then are required to log in with their CAT ID to submit their name and CAT score.
Stage II: Screening of candidates for GD-PI/ WAT
In this second phase, the applicants for WAT/ GD-PI are listed on the basis of their CAT score and academic records, after which interview letters are sent to the selected candidates.
Stage III: Calculation of Composite Score and Final Selection
On this stage, to finalize candidate’s selection, the composite score of each applicant is calculated based on various parameters.
The final selection process for IIM admission involves assessing a candidate for a specific set of parameters. Also, calculating his/ her composite score.
Parameters for IIM Admission 2021-2023
Class 10 Score
Class 12 Score
Graduation Score
WAT/ GD-PI
Academic Diversity
Gender Diversity
Work Experience
For the unversed, CAT or Common Admission Test is one of the largest MBA entrance exams conducted in India, annually. The CAT score is also accepted by more than 100 non-IIM institutes across the country, some of which are as reputed as the IIMs.
