‘I got 99.6 percentile in CAT exam but no top IIM called for interview’: What CAT 2025 aspirants should know

Paras Raorane

I am a mechanical engineer with two years of work experience, having recently scored 99.6 percentile in the Common Admission Test (CAT exam) last year. But despite this, I did not receive interview calls, let alone admission offers, from any of the top eight Indian Institutes of Management (IIM) – Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Lucknow, Kozhikode, Calcutta, Mumbai, Shillong and Indore. I also secured 99.8 percentile in XAT 2025, and yet could not get an admission offer from XLRI Jamshedpur, though I did get selected for the Delhi campus.

With aspirants busy preparing and strategising for one of India’s most competitive management exams, my journey challenges a common misconception many of them carry – a high percentile alone guarantees admission to top colleges. It's only in hindsight that I realise that, besides good performance in CAT, one also needs to have a certain profile, as the institutes evaluate everything from the quality of your past work experience to the company where you were employed and the positions you held.

The interview preparation is as important as the CAT preparation itself.

Also read IIM admissions 2025 go beyond CAT cut-offs; how top B-schools weigh your scores, academics, work experience

IIMCAT: Board exam scores, work experience

Of course, there are things you can’t control at this stage: for instance, I had scored relatively low in the Class 12 board exam, which brought down my composite score.

So, if a fresher with low board scores is planning to target CAT 2025, I would suggest that they first get some work experience, at least for a couple of years. Then, they can look to add more points in their resume by participating in various college events and being part of different clubs. This will all help improve your profiling especially during the interview stage.

The composite scores are calculated both for shortlisting the interview candidates as well as for the final admissions. The weightage for various criteria differs from college to college. Also, the composite score calculations for pre- and post-interview stages are also different.

Also, the institutes have different ways of declaring results. IIM Lucknow, for instance, provided me with a detailed explanation of the composite score calculation. IIM Shillong, on the other hand, simply lets us know if we have been selected or not, without any explanation. This was particularly confusing, as several people with lower percentile and comparable work experience got interview calls.

IIM Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Calcutta and more

Then there’s educational background. Being an engineer, I didn't get the diversity marks that are given to non-engineers by the majority of IIMs. There are extra marks for women, too. Hence, it’s important to have realistic expectations when you prepare for CAT.

And don’t assume it’ll be a cakewalk to get into the top three IIMs – Ahmedabad, Bangalore and Calcutta – or even others like Lucknow, Kozhikode and Indore if you scored 99%.

Also read IIM Ahmedabad raises CAT cut-off 2025, tightens selection criteria for MBA, PGP admissions 2026

I did get admission offers from newer IIMs like Udaipur, Ranchi and Trichy as well as XLRI Delhi and MDI Gurgaon, but since I had benchmarked certain institutes, I didn’t get enrolled this year and have continued with my job.

I am not really satisfied with the selection process as some of the colleges didn't reveal marks for the interview and other parts of the evaluation process. If I am told where I am lacking in particular, I would have improved myself in those aspects. I didn’t find the process to be completely transparent.