Generic

Because the weightings differ. IIM Sambalpur gives work experience 20 marks out of 100 while IIM Indore gives Class 12 alone 25. IIM Calcutta awards up to 6 points for a non-engineering background; IIM Sirmaur awards 5 for an engineering one. The same CAT score against different profile weightings produces genuinely different outcomes.

IIM Indore states it informs shortlisted candidates in January. IIM Kozhikode publishes its Stage 2 shortlist on its registration portal, with offers around the first week of May. Interviews across the system generally run February to April following the January CAT result. No consolidated per-IIM release calendar is published, so treat this as a pattern rather than a schedule.

It clears the published floor at IIM Bangalore, IIM Calcutta, IIM Mumbai, IIM Kozhikode, IIM Guwahati, IIM Visakhapatnam, IIM Lucknow and IIM Indore, provided sectional requirements are also met. Whether it produces a call depends on the ranking stage, where academics, work experience and diversity are added. At IIM Lucknow, 90 overall with any section below 85 does not clear at all.

Published General-category minimums range from 82 at IIM Visakhapatnam to 97 at IIM Rohtak, with IIM Ahmedabad at 95, IIM Lucknow and IIM Indore at 90, and IIM Bangalore, IIM Calcutta, IIM Mumbai and IIM Kozhikode at 85. These are floors for entry to the ranking pool, not the score at which calls were actually made.

No. IIM Raipur states that it does not allow deferment of an admission offer to subsequent years, and IIM Calcutta states that candidates offered admission for a particular batch cannot be deferred to any subsequent year for any reason whatsoever.

The Written Ability Test asks candidates to write a note or essay on a topic given at the venue. At IIM Bangalore it runs approximately 30 minutes and is assessed on content and style, carrying 10 marks out of 100. At IIM Kozhikode it carries 20% of the final score, the highest WAT weight among the IIMs.

Yes. CAT typically carries only 25 to 35% of the final composite score at the older IIMs. At IIM Calcutta, the interview and WAT together carry 56 of 100. A candidate who clears the shortlist on CAT but performs poorly in the interview can fall below candidates with lower CAT scores.

IIM Lucknow requires 12 out of 40, and states that candidates who do not pass will not appear in the final merit list. IIM Shillong sets category-wise minimums of 20% for DA and ST, 25% for SC and 30% for EWS and OTHERS, in both PI and communication proficiency. Most IIMs do not publish a threshold.

It ranges from 48 marks out of 100 at IIM Calcutta — the highest in the system — through 40 at IIM Lucknow and IIM Bangalore and 40% at IIM Shillong, down to 20% at IIM Mumbai, IIM Rohtak and IIM Tiruchirappalli, and 15% at IIM Ranchi. IIM Guwahati has no interview stage for Batch 2026-28.

No. Across the Batch 2026-28 admission policies, the dominant format is WAT followed by PI, with Group Discussion barely featuring. IIM Bangalore, IIM Calcutta, IIM Lucknow, IIM Kozhikode and IIM Mumbai all describe a written component plus an interview, without a GD round.