Common Admission Test or CAT is a popular MBA entrance exam in our country that serves as a gateway to the coveted IIMs and other top B-Schools. With over 2 lakh candidates vying for about 5000 seats in the IIMs, CAT is one of the most grueling entrance exams. It is a computer-based test that assesses a candidate's acumen in English, Mathematics,
Logical Reasoning and Data Interpretation. Lately, there have been some modifications in the type and number of questions in the exam. Keeping up with the varying difficulty level of questions and exam pattern, B-schools have changed their CAT cut-offs from time to time.
In 2021, CAT was held on 28th November in three slots. Right after taking the exam, students start preparing for the next rounds of the selection process which includes the WAT/ GD and PI rounds. However, the exact admission rounds differ from one college to another in the level and type. So, you must have a broad idea of the cut-offs of your dream B-school in order to prepare for the exam as well as the subsequent selection process. In this article, you will get to know about the recent CAT cut-offs of the top-ranked management institutes.
CAT Cut-off
CAT scores are used as a primary screening tool by B-Schools for shortlisting candidates for further admission rounds.
CAT results are generally out in the month of January and the students start receiving calls from various B-schools as per their score and profile. While some colleges give more weightage to the candidate's CAT score, some others focus equally on his/her profile and CAT score. Generally, B-schools decide their CAT cut-off after considering a wide range of factors. Listed below are some of the main factors used for determining CAT cut-off:
Major Factors behind CAT Cut-off
- Difficulty level of the exam
- Total number of students who have appeared for the latest CAT exam
- Total number of admission seats in the institute
- Ranking and reputation of the institute.
Due to COVID-19 situation, there were comparatively a lesser number of students who had appeared for CAT 2020. Also, it is to be noted that initially, the cut-offs for old IIMs used to be higher than those for new IIMs. However, in last few years, some IIMs have started putting more emphasis on candidate's profile than the CAT score. The following table illustrates the last year CAT cut-offs of top colleges:
Top B-schools - CAT Cut-off
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Rating
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Approx. cut-off percentiles Gen.
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Institutes
|
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A+
|
CAT Percentile 94+
|
FMS, MDI-G, IISc-B, JBIMS, IIM-RH, IIM-RN, IIM-RP, IIM-KS, IIM-UP, IIM-T, IIM-BG, IIM-Sam, IIM-Srm, IIT-R
|
|
CAT Percentile 90+ (includes profile-based)
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IIM-I, IIM-J, IIT-B, IIT-D, IIT-KH, IMT-G, IMT-D
|
|
CAT Percentile 80+ (includes profile-based)
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IIM-A, IIM-B, IIM-C, IIM-L, IIM-K, IIM-N, IIM-V, IIM-Asr, SPJIMR, NITIE, IIT-KN, KJSIMSR
|
|
A
|
CAT Percentile 80+
|
DU, UBS-CHD, IMI-D, IMT-N, GLIM, FSM, IRMA, TAPMI, NIRMA, WIMDR-M, IIFM, LBSIM, LIBA, IFMR, MICA
|
|
B+
|
CAT Percentile 70+
|
IMT-H, BIM, BIMTECH, MISB, MDI-M
|
Above-mentioned are the cut-offs of CAT 2020. For the upcoming session, the cut offs are expected to be on the similar lines. Apart from the overall CAT cut-off, most of the B-schools also have sectional cut-off criteria for admission to their MBA programs. Additionally, the overall CAT cut-off varies from one management course to another in a few colleges. For more information, you can checkout the official websites of the respective colleges.
