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

Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Kozhikode will begin the registration process on August 25 for the Common Admission Test (CAT 2025), a gateway for management education at premier colleges such as IIMs However, securing admission in IIMs involves more than just a high score in CAT exam.

IIMs adopt a multi-stage selection process to evaluate on various parameters, including academic performance, work experience, as well as additional written ability test (WAT) and interview rounds.

On July 30, the IIMs announced that PN Ram Kumar of IIM Kozhikode will be the CAT 2025 convener and the institute has been given the responsibility to administer the national-level management exam.

The CAT application form was made available on August 1 on the newly launched official website, iimcat.ac.in, for the academic year 2025. Applicants have been given time till September 13 to complete the registration process. They are also required to opt five cities out of approximately 170, where they prefer to give their exam.

This year, the CAT exam 2025 will be conducted on November 30 in three sessions. The exam is similar to last year’s question paper, which is divided into three sections - Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension (VARC), Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning (DILR), and Quantitative Ability (QA).

Also read CAT 2024: Older IIMs attract more students with work experience; engineers’ count falls

What is a good CAT score?

All 21 IIMs will be admitting students for its management and doctoral courses based on the CAT scores. To be eligible for IIM admissions 2025, candidates are required to obtain a minimum qualifying mark in the entrance exam. As per the past three years’ CAT cut-off trends, the qualifying marks have remained consistently high for all top IIMs.

A CAT score between 95-80 percentile will be considered good for getting admission in the top-tier IIMs. A CAT percentile between 85-80 could also get students shortlisted for admission in NIRF-ranked institutes. However, a high score in CAT alone does not guarantee admission.

CAT 2025 two-step selection process

Each IIM follows a two-step selection process for admission to management and doctoral programmes. In the first step, candidates are shortlisted for Analytical Writing Test (AWT) and Personal Interview (PI) using a pre-PI score. The score is calculated based on CAT percentile and “Application Rating” (AR), which takes into account Class 10, 12 marks (varies for science, commerce, arts, and humanities streams) performance in bachelor’s degree, work experience, and gender diversity.

The selection criteria post-PI will be based on a different formula. It typically involves candidates’ performance in interview, CAT, and overall academic and work experience.

IIM Admission 2025: Selection criteria

Although the preliminary selection for admission is based on CAT cut-off percentile, IIMs generally formulate their own selection criteria, which also includes applicants’ performance in Class 10 and 12 board exams.

Candidates can check institute-wise selection criteria at top IIMs based on 2025 admission. The updated selection process or changes in the weightage will be announced on the respective official websites of the IIMs.