IIM Ahmedabad is one of the top b-schools in India and follows its own distinct selection criteria after CAT result is announced. The selection is done in three phases and various parameters are considered before declaring the final merit list of selected students.
One of the biggest confusion after appearing for B-school entrance exams is the evaluation procedure. There is a void in information and the candidates are not aware of the parameters basis which their performance is judged and get calls from colleges. The Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) being some of the most desirable b-schools follow very structured selection criteria. IIM Ahmedabad has announced the selection criteria for the 2021-23 MBA, CAT 2020 cut off and admission process.
There is no change in IIM A's selection process. The admission process includes shortlisting candidates basis CAT 2020 score, Analytical Writing Test and Personal Interview (PI). The overall qualifying CAT cut off for IIM A is 80 percentile for General, 75 percentile for NC-OBC and transgender categories, 70 for SC and PwD and 60 for ST. The shortlisting will begin after CAT 2020 result which will be released in January 2021.
After appearing for CAT 2020 exam, you would be interested to know your expected percentile and the process to make it to one of the top MBA colleges of the country - IIM Ahmedabad. Once the exam is conducted, you will be able to find the CAT 2020 Exam Analysis here and get an understanding of your expected CAT 2020 score using our CAT 2020 Percentile Predictor.
The most frequently asked questions by B-school aspirants is, ‘What after the score of the exam is declared?’ Since different colleges accept scores different entrance exams, the selection criteria for 2020 is also different for every college. Same goes for IIM Ahmedabad. Being the top business school in the country, IIM Ahmedabad receives thousands of applications every year.
| CAT College Predictor 2020 | CAT 2020 Cut Off |
IIM Ahmedabad is one of the best and oldest Indian Institutes of Management in the country. Students seeking admission in masters of business administration apply for IIM Ahmedabad through CAT. Like all other Indian Institutes of Management, IIM-A will follow selection criterion 2020 to shortlist students for group discussions, writing ability tests and personal interviews.
In order to help you understand the evaluation criteria better, we have gathered the information regarding evaluation criteria of top B-schools in India.
IIM Ahmedabad CAT Cutoff, Admission Policy, GD&PI Weightage
IIM Ahmedabad Selection Criteria 2021-23
IIM Ahmedabad has a three-step evaluation process to shortlist students that include:
1. Preliminary screening for IIM Ahmedabad
The preliminary screening is done on the basis of Application Rating (AR) and CAT score secured by the candidate. The candidate has to clear defined overall cutoff as well as sectional cutoffs in order to qualify the first stage. The minimum cutoff requirements for IIM Ahmedabad are as follows:
Minimum Cut-offs of CAT-2020 Percentile Ranks
| Category | Verbal & Reading Comprehension Percentile Rank (PVRC) | Data Interpretation & Logical Reasoning Percentile Rank (PDILR) | Quantitative Aptitude Percentile Rank (PQA) | Overall Percentile Rank (PT) |
| General | 70 | 70 | 70 | 80 |
| Non-OBC-transgender | 65 | 65 | 65 | 75 |
| SC | 60 | 60 | 60 | 70 |
| ST | 50 | 50 | 50 | 60 |
| PwD (General, NCOBC-cum-transgender, SC) | 60 | 60 | 60 | 70 |
| PwD (ST) | 50 | 50 | 50 | 60 |
AR evaluated on the basis of your throughout the academic performance and marks scored in class 10 board exams, class 12 board exams as well as graduation. AR is computed on the basis of the following tables:
For those who apply through the GMAT score (Foreign candidates), the minimum cut off has been fixed at:
Verbal: 40
Quantitative: 50
Total: 72
Class 10 Board Score
| Percentage in Class 10 Board Exams | Rating Score A |
| <= 55 | 1 |
| > 55 and <= 60 | 2 |
| > 60 and <= 70 | 3 |
| > 70 and <= 80 | 5 |
| > 80 and <= 90 | 8 |
| > 90 | 10 |
Also Read:What after CAT 2020 Exam? Here are Some Important Things To Do
Class 12 Board Score (Commerce)
| Percentage in Class 12 Board Exams | Rating Score B |
| <= 50 | 1 |
| > 50 and <= 55 | 2 |
| > 55 and <= 65 | 3 |
| > 65 and <= 75 | 5 |
| > 75 and <= 90 | 8 |
| > 90 | 10 |
Class 12 Board Score (Science)
| Percentage in Class 12 Board Exams | Rating Score B |
| <= 55 | 1 |
| > 55 and <= 60 | 2 |
| > 60 and <= 70 | 3 |
| > 70 and <= 80 | 5 |
| > 80 and <= 90 | 8 |
| > 90 | 10 |
Class 12 Board Score (Arts)
| Percentage in Class 12 Board Exams | Rating Score B |
| <= 45 | 1 |
| > 45 and <= 50 | 2 |
| > 50 and <= 60 | 3 |
| > 60 and <= 70 | 5 |
| > 70 and <= 85 | 8 |
| > 85 | 10 |
Bachelor’s Degree
| Percentage in Bachelor’s Degree (AC-1) | Rating Score C |
| <= 55 | 1 |
| > 55 and <= 60 | 2 |
| > 60 and <= 62 | 3 |
| > 62 and <= 65 | 5 |
| > 65 and <= 70 | 8 |
| > 70 | 10 |
| Percentage in Bachelor’s Degree (AC-2) | Rating Score C |
| <= 50 | 1 |
| > 50 and <= 53 | 2 |
| > 53 and <= 55 | 3 |
| > 55 and <= 57 | 5 |
| > 57 and <= 63 | 8 |
| > 63 | 10 |
Also Read: How to Approach CAT 2020 Question Paper?
| Percentage in Bachelor’s Degree (AC-3 & AC-5) | Rating Score C |
| <= 55 | 1 |
| > 55 and <= 60 | 2 |
| > 60 and <= 65 | 3 |
| > 65 and <= 70 | 5 |
| > 70 and <= 80 | 8 |
| > 80 | 10 |
| Percentage in Bachelor’s Degree (AC-4 & AC-6) | Rating Score C |
| <= 60 | 1 |
| > 60 and <= 65 | 2 |
| > 65 and <= 70 | 3 |
| > 70 and <= 77 | 5 |
| > 75 and <= 85 | 8 |
| > 85 | 10 |
| Percentage in Bachelor’s Degree (AC-5) | Rating Score C |
| <= 50 | 1 |
| > 50 and <= 55 | 2 |
| > 55 and <= 60 | 3 |
| > 60 and <= 65 | 5 |
| > 65 and <= 75 | 8 |
| > 75 | 1 |
Rating Scores for Work Experience (Rating Score D)
| Work Experience in Month (as filled in the Application Form) | Rating Score D |
| < 12 months | 0 |
| >= 12 and <= 36 months | MF * (number of months of work experience – 11) |
| > 36 months | 5 |
| Work-experience Multiplication Factor (MF) = 0.20 | |
Also Read: Exam Day Tips for CAT 2020 - Key Tips to Help You Succeed
Application Rating Score: AR= (A+B+C+D) |
Following are the list of disciplines according to CAT Application:
AC-1: Medicine, Surgery and other Professional courses (70% + required in CAT)
AC-2: Charted Accountants (CA), Company Secretaryship (CS) and Cost and Works Accountancy (ICWA) - (63 Percentile and above required in CAT)
AC-3: All commerce, finance, economics, hospitality and management degrees (80% + required in CAT)
AC-4: All Computer Application, Technology, Engineering, IT and Architecture related degrees (85% + required in CAT) and All agriculture-related fields apart from agriculture engineering, medicine and surgery (80% + required in CAT)
AC-5 All Humanities/Arts, Design, Education, Fashion, Law and Rural studies related degrees (75% + required in CAT)
The AR score for class 10, class 12 and graduation are added together. However, a normalized AR score is the total AR score divided by top 50 AR scores among all the applicants.
Also Read:Do’s & Don’ts for Writing the CAT Exam
2. Screening for AWT and PI at IIM Ahmedabad Admissions 2021
The second screening is done in two stages
Stage 1: Candidates who have performed very well are shortlisted in this process. This is done by either selecting top 100 performers or by selecting 1% out of all the applicants of IIM Ahmedabad from all categories. These candidates appear for AWT and PI on the basis of their composite scores (CS) which is calculated as follows:
| CS (Composite Score) = ARF_CS * Normalised AR score + CATF_CS * Normalised overall score in CAT-2020 |
The Criteria are as follows:
Criteria C1-C3
C1: PT >= 80, PQA >= 70, PDILR >= 70, PVRC >= 70
C2: P ≥ Minimum cut-offs (specific to the category and the stream as shown in the table provided below), where P is the average of the percentages of marks scored in 10th and 12th std. examinations.
| Stream in 12th std. | General-cum-EWS Category | NC-OBC-cum-transgender Category | SC Category | ST Category | PWD (General, NC-OBC-cum-transgender, SC) | PWD (ST) |
| Science | 80 | 75 | 70 | 65 | 70 | 65 |
| Commerce | 77 | 72 | 67 | 62 | 67 | 62 |
| Arts & Humanities | 75 | 70 | 64 | 59 | 64 | 59 |
C3: Percentage of Marks obtained in Bachelor’s Exam >= Minimum cut-off percentage set by the institute on the basis of the candidates in the ACRC pool among those who have applied for IIM Ahmedabad. This is evaluated on the basis of AC (check above tables for reference).
Criteria C4-C6
C4: PT >= 80, PQA >= 70, PDILR >= 70, PVRC >= 70
C5: Percentage (10th and 12th standard exams) >= 80 (Science), 77 (Commerce), 75 (Arts/Humanities)
C6: Percentage of Marks obtained in Bachelor’s Exam >= Minimum cut-off percentage set by the institute based on the candidates belonging to AC-1 to AC-6.
Stage 2: this is the category-wise selection of candidates. Once the students from all categories (General, NC-OBC, SC, ST, DA) have been evaluated basis stage 1, additional candidates are shortlisted for AWT & PI following a procedure similar to the process of stage 1. Only criteria C1 and C2 are followed at this stage.
3. IIM Ahmedabad Final Selection 2021
Finally, the ranks of students in each category are separately evaluated on the basis of their final composite scores (FCS). For this, the normalized PI and AWT scores of candidates will be calculated by dividing the actual scores with the top 1% scores in PI and AWT respectively.
FCS = 0.50 (Normalized PI Score) + 0.10 (Normalized AWT Score) + 0.25 (CS)+0.15 (AR), where
FCS= Final Composite Score
PIF= Personal Interview Multiplication Factor
AWTF=AWT Multiplication Factor
CATF_FCS= CAT Score Multiplication Factor for Final Composite Score
Candidates who have any doubt regarding the selection process of IIM A may ask questions on the Collegedekho QnA zone.
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