IIM Calcutta Admission: Lowers CAT 2017 cut offs with 56% weight; 40% goes to academics

If you are seeking your future with IIM Calcutta and if your academic scores in class 10 and 12 are excellent, your dependence on CAT 2017 percentile stands reduced susbtantially in admission to 2018-20 batch at this coveted B-school. IIM Calcutta has announced not only the lower cut offs in CAT 2017 percentile but has also reduced the weightage to be awarded to CAT 2017 scores in admission process for PGP 2018-20 and at the same time has increased the weightage to your academic profile.

Announcing its admission policy for PGP 2018-20 batch after release of CAT 2017 notification on July 30, the Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Calcutta has placed on record the 1^st stage shortlisting criteria which elaborate that apart from weightage to CAT 2017 score, major weightage will be awarded to academic profile upto class 12 and there will be no weightage to bachelor’s degree. 

The two-year Post-graduate Programme in Management (PGP) at IIM Calcutta (IIMC) is a full-time residential course for graduates from all disciplines wishing to choose a career in management. This Programme is highly ranked one.

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CAT 2017 cut offs lowered: Only 56% weight goes to CAT score
Further moving on the path of alluring more non-engineers, IIM Calcutta has changed its admission policy making it more lucrative for candidates from all academic backgrounds. According to IIM Calcutta Admission policy for 2018-20 batch, CAT 2017 percentile cut offs will be 80 percentile for each of the three sections while the minimum overall CAT 2017 percentile will be 90 for the first stage shortlisting. Apart from this IIM Calcutta will award only 56% maximum weight to CAT 2017 scores.

Minimum CAT 2017 Cut-off Percentile for short-listing

Candidates securing the above mentioned minimum percentile in each category in CAT 2017 will be considered for calculation of their composite score in shortlisting.

It may be noted that the actual section-wise and overall percentile of a short-listed candidate may be much higher than the above mentioned minimum percentile.  

40% weight to Academics
In last two years, IIM Calcutta has increased award of weightage percentage from 30% to 40% upto class 12 marks and reduced the CAT score weight to 56% to shortlist candidates at the first stage for PI-WAT round for admission to flagship PGP 2018-20 batch. 

Only class 10 & 12 marks eligible for weightage
If you have obtained 80 or above percentage of marks in Class X and  XII, you are entitled to get 10 points out of 50 for each of the two exams, making it a total of 20 points in shortlisting process at IIM Calcutta.  

These points will be further converted to weightage points with the application of simple formula-dividing the points awarded for aggregate percentage of marks by 10 and then multiplying it by 15. There will be a zero weightage if the candidate has scored less than 60 percent marks.

A candidate with 80 percent and above marks each in class 10 & 12 will get the weightage of 10+10=20 out of 50 points. It comes to 40%. Year before last, the weightage was of maximum 30 points out of 100 and therefore carried the total weightage of 30% only.

The selection of the candidates for admission to the 2018-20 batch of the PGP at IIM Calcutta is a two-step process. In the first step, candidates are short-listed for Written Ability Test (WAT) and Personal Interview (PI) from among the candidates who have a valid CAT-2017 score, who have applied to the programme and who satisfy the eligibility criteria for the programme.

Academic weightage matrix

Low score in CAT 2017 can be compensated by good marks in Class 10 & 12 while exploring admission opportunity in IIM Calcutta for PGP 2018-20 batch. Below is shared academic weightage which IIM Calcutta proposes to award for class 10 and 12 percentage of marks:

Class X Marks: 20% weightage
Maximum weightage of 10 points out of 50 (20%) will be awarded to class X marks as per the following criteria:

Percentage of marks: Weightage points

80% and above marks         : 10

75% to below 80% marks   :   8

70% to below 75% marks   :   6

65% to below 70% marks   :   4

60% to below 65% marks   :   2

Below 60% marks               :   0

Class XII Marks: 20% weightage
Class 12 marks will also carry good weightage of 10 out of total maximum 50 points in shortlisting students at the 1^st stage at IIM Calcutta. The criteria would be:

Percentage of marks: Weightage points

80% and above marks         : 10

75% to below 80% marks   :   8

70% to below 75% marks   :   6

65% to below 70% marks   :   4

60% to below 65% marks   :   2

Below 60% marks               :   0

Bachelor’s Degree marks: No weightage
Another key feature of the admission policy announced by IIM Calcutta for admission to PGP 2018-20 batch is that the highly ranked B-school will not award any weigthage to higher percentage of marks obtained in bachelor’s degree to shortlist candidates for admission to PGP 2018-20 batch.  Almost all the IIMs including IIMA awards weightage to graduation marks but IIM Calcutta has scrapped awarding any weightage even to the highest scorers in bachelor’s degree.

The shortlisting process for PGP 2018-20 batch at IIM Calcutta will now focus more on academic profile prior to graduation only.  No weightage to high percentage in graduation marks will be awarded in the shortlisting process by IIM Calcutta. According to IIM Calcutta ‘Candidates will be short listed on the basis of CAT 2017 score, past academic performance, and other criteria’

Opportunity for Non-engineers 
Making way for the candidates who are not able to score a very high percentile in Common Admission Test (CAT) 2017 due to a bit weak Quant or Data Interpretation, but have excellent academic back ground upto class 12, IIM Caclutta will now award higher weightage of 40 percent to academics for 1^st stage shortlisting. 20 out of maximum 50 points will be awarded to 80% and above marks scored in Class 10 and 12.

How to compute percentage of marks: IIM Calcutta way
According to IIM Calcutta ‘For computing the percentage of marks obtained in Class X and Class XII, the aggregate marks of all subjects that appear in the mark sheet/grade sheet would be considered irrespective of whether the Board considers them for calculation of percentage.’

The number of candidates short-listed for the PI stage would be the discretion of the institute and would depend on the batch size of 2018-20.

IIM Calcutta Admission: 1^st stage shortlisting weights
Methods of allotting weights to various components in shortlisting process like CAT 2017 score, Class X and Class XII aggregate percentages, and gender diversity factor for deriving the component score in each category for shortlisting the candidates for PI and WAT round as announced by IIM Calcutta are:

The Indian Institute of Management Calcutta (IIMC) was established as the first National Institute for Post-Graduate studies and Research in Management by the Government of India in November 1961. Over the years, IIMC has grown into a matured institution with global reputation, imparting high quality management education. It has been playing a pioneering role in professionalizing Indian management through its Post Graduate and Doctoral level programs, Executive Training Programs, Research and Consulting Activities.

IIM Calcutta plans to be an international centre of excellence in all aspects of management education in near future after becoming the only B-school in India to have been accredited by all the 3 reputed accreditations of AACSB, AMBA and latest EQUIS.

One of the top 3 IIMs and the dream B-school of CAT 2017 aspirants, IIM Calcutta will now offer yet higher vistas of knowledge and rigor in the forthcoming sessions to spread its wings making global footprints. A few of the past CAT toppers who are the notable alumni of IIM Calcutta include Patanjali G. Keshwani, Founder Lemon Tree Hotels- Batch 1983; Haresh Chawla, Partner India Value Fund Advisors - 29th batch; Meena Ganesh, CEO – EduRite - 20th Batch; K. Ganesh, CEO & Founder of TutorVista; Krishna Palepu, senior adviser- Harvard University; Rohit Pande,  Founder – Classteacher Learning Systems:32nd Batch; Prof. Sushil Khanna, Non-Official Part-Time Directors – NTPC among others.

According to Prof Saibal Chattopadhyay, Director IIM Calcutta, “The vision of the Institute is to be an international center of excellence in all aspects of management education. While we are recognized as one of the leading management institutes in Asia, we feel we need to expand our horizon and compete globally. The landscape of management education is changing very fast. Management education institutions such as ours need to compete with the best institutions globally if we are to remain relevant in future decades.”

Stay tuned to MBAUniverse.com for more updates on IIM Calcutta Admission 2018-20

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• CAT 2017 Notification release on July 30 by IIM Lucknow; 5 do’s on this Sunday