As claimed and published by CAT Centre 2014, the much awaited result of CAT 2014 exam is expected to be declared in the 3rd week of Dec 2014. With Dr Rohit Kapoor saying “We are in the activity of processing the results. Final checks are also underway. As far as dates are concerned, we will shortly announce it on our website. Request the candidates to wait for now” it appears that the declaration of CAT 2014 result may not be delayed.
No change in shortlisting criteria appears in admission process 2015 at IIMs and other top rated B schools like FMS, MDI, SPJIMR, NITIE, IMT, BIMTECH, FORE, TAPMI. Out of 1.97 lakhs candidates registered for CAT 2014, how many would be shortlisted by these top rated B schools is the big issue and how many will be able to convert this call is the biggest issue.
IIMs short list candidates 8-10 times of intake
Around 4 thousand students will be admitted in various PGDM programmes in 2015 at 19 IIMs in all. Out of them 7 are the older IIMs namely IIMA, B, C, L, I, K, S who admit about 3000 students. Then there are 6 new IIMs namely IIM Ranchi, Rohtak, Raipur, Kashipur, Trichy and Udaipur with an intake of 700 students. Adding to this score Govt of India has announced setting of another 6 IIMs in other states. These IIMs will start functioning from admission session 2015 adding another 300 seats for PGDM batch 2015-17.
IIMs shortlist 8-10 times candidates for final admission round. It means around 30 thousand candidates will be shortlisted for final admission round according to the admission policy 2015 already declared by different IIMs.
15% didn’t take CAT 2014: Calculate your chances
Approximately 15 percent candidates didn’t take CAT 2014 exam despite getting registered for it. It means out of 1.97 lakhs candidates, around 28 thousand couldn’t take CAT 2014. Now the total number of test takers is left with 1.69 candidates. CAT in fact is taken seriously by around 40 to 50 thousand candidates who get the opportunity of final admission offers from top rated B schools.
Now you have to be among top 30-40 thousand to get shortlisted by IIMs or other top B schools. The issue now is how you can satisfy the shortlisting criteria of these top rated b schools. It may not be so difficult to find out, if you can assess yourself on a few key yardsticks detailed below.
Will the high percentile suffice…
CAT 2014 takers have been asking if the high percentile be good enough to get shortlisted in older IIMs? Experts say no! Number of candidates with a percentile as high as 99+ were not shortlisted for final admission round in CAT 2013, while many candidates with a percentile of 91-92 got shortlisted and converted the call to older IIMs. The minimum cut off percentile declared by most of the IIMs is 90+ but it has riders too.
In fact it is not only the overall percentile but also the sectional percentile which the CAT 2014 taker must have also cleared. Once you clear the sectional cut off you clear the threshold only, now you need to be considered in merit position on the basis of high sectional percentile. If you score very high in one section and low in other section, despite scoring a high overall percentile, your sectional percentile is not balanced. This may bleak your chances of getting shortlisted by IIMs for final admission round.
How it happens…
IIMs award weightage to academic profile also. On a scale of 100 the weightage to CAT 2014 score would ofcourse be the maximum say about 70 to 78 points, the weightage to academic profile is 15 to 25; to work experience it is 5-10 points; to gender diversity it is 3 to 5 points and another weightage of 2-3 points could be awarded for being from non-engineering back ground.
For example IIM C, on a scale of 100 awards 77 point weightage to CAT 2014 percentile; if you have scored 81+ percent marks in class X and class XII you will get an additional weightage of 20 points while gender diversity will be awarded another 3 points in shortlisting for final admission round.
It clearly indicates that despite scoring high percentile in CAT 2014 you need to have excellent academic background and by chance if you are female it will be an additional advantage. Please note above is only an example of one B school, every IIM has its own shortlisting criteria which may have varying weightages.
After shortlisting, need to convert the call
While the role of CAT 2014 is very important to explore admission opportunities, the weightage of Academics, work experience, Written Ability and Personal Interview after this computer based written CAT 2014 in final admission round has increased tremendously.
IIMs have 2 stage admission process after CAT 2014 results are declared to select the candidates for the 2015-17 batch of PGDM. In the first step, candidates are short-listed for Group Discussion(GD), Writing Ability Test(WAT) and Personal Interview (PI) from among the candidates who have a valid CAT 2014 score, who have applied for the programme and who satisfy the eligibility criteria for the programme. Number of IIMs have substituted GD by WAT or have added WAT to GD, in either case the importance of WAT and PI in final admission round is more than the weightage to CAT 2014 scores to convert the call of admission. Candidates therefore have to ensure to score high in PI round to convert the call in IIMs.
Related Links
CAT 2014: Result marking process decoded; Calculate percentile using GATE formula
CAT 2014: Result may throw surprises; Different Marking and score normalization scheme adopted
CAT 2014: Result D Day anxiety haunts the minds of Exam takers; worried about ups & Downs
CAT 2014 Result expected on Dec 20: Declaration date to be announced shortly
CAT 2014: IIM A,B,C, L Admission Process; evaluate your profile for admission 2015
Stay tuned to MBAUniverse.com for more updates on IIM admission after CAT 2014.
