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CAT Score Weightage In All Top IIMs | Criteria | Selection Process
September 29 2025

CAT Score Weightage in IIM's - a quick readย IIMs are considered Indiaโ€™s premier national institutes providing quality management education and research. IIMs primarily offer postgraduate, Doctorial and executive education programmes. The flagship programme of IIMs is the two-year post-graduate programme. These two-year programmes are residential in nature. The Fellow / Doctoral Programme in Management (FPM) is a full-time doctoral level programme in management, leading to the award of a PhD. The Executive Post Graduate programmes are targeted at working professionals. remove the background color for this paragraph

The weightage of the CAT score for IIMs has indeed been decreasing in recent years.

  • CAT Score Weightage: Ranges from 20% to 65% for the shortlist stage. This means a good CAT score is still important, but it's not the sole factor for getting shortlisted for WAT/PI.
  • Shortlisting: IIMs use a combination of factors for shortlisting, including CAT score, academic performance, work experience (for some programs), and diversity factors.

  • WAT/PI: Once shortlisted, candidates appear for Written Ability Test (WAT), Group Discussion (GD), and Personal Interview (PI). These rounds assess your communication, analytical, and leadership skills.

Let's get to the point straight away!

College

CAT Weightage(%)

IIM Bangalore 40
IIM Indore 35
IIM Ahmedabad 65
IIM Calcutta 56
IIM Lucknow 60
IIM Udaipur 60
IIM Trichy 50

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First and foremost advice for students aiming for such top colleges and having low history of scores in 10th, 12th or graduation, is to aim for a very high score in CAT. As you can see above, many of these colleges before rolling out calls have a high amount of CAT score weightage.So, no use of cribbing over the past when you have an opportunity to better your future. There is still a lot that you can achieve.ย 

Prepare for CAT in a smart way But what to do if you did not score as much in CAT as required? You still have hope!

ย CAT score weightage hope

As times are changing, many colleges are shifting towards profile based calls from heavy reliance ob CAT score weightage which means that you can get into top colleges even if you didn't score as well in CAT as you would have liked. All of this depends on your profile. Some of the colleges with profile based calls are SP Jain, IMT Ghaziabad etc.

Build profile through certificationsย 

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Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Q1. How much weightage does CAT score carry in IIM admissions?
Depending on the institute, CAT score weightage ranges from 20% to 65% in the shortlisting stage.

Q2. Which IIM gives the highest weightage to CAT score?
IIM Ahmedabad (65%), followed by IIM Lucknow and IIM Udaipur (60%).

Q3. Besides CAT score, what other factors are considered in shortlisting?
IIMs also evaluate academic performance, work experience, and diversity factors.

Q4. What happens after getting shortlisted through CAT?
Shortlisted candidates appear for WAT, GD, and PI, which assess communication, analytical, and leadership skills.

Q5. Can I get into a top B-school if my CAT score is not very high?
Yes. Many colleges, including SP Jain and IMT Ghaziabad, offer profile-based calls, where your academics, work experience, and profile matter more.

Q6. What should students with weaker academics (10th/12th/graduation) do?
Focus on achieving a very high CAT score to balance past academic records, since many IIMs still give significant weightage to CAT marks.

Q7. How can I strengthen my profile for profile-based calls?
You can build your profile through certifications, internships, projects, and leadership roles.

Related Article:

The Ultimate Guide to Cat Exam Preparation

CAT Preparation in 5 months : Toppers Strategy

Author
Anisha Mukhija

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