IIM Bangalore admission 2018: 25% weight to CAT 2017; highest to academics among top IIMs

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MBAUniverse.com News Desk |
September 12, 2017
IIM Bangalore will not award high weightage to CAT 2017 exam toppers although it has announced higher cut offs than IIM Ahmedabad, in CAT 2017 scores in shortlisting process. According to the IIM Bangalore admission policy 2018, the B-school will award 40% weight to CAT 2017 percentile score in shortlisting and 25% weight in final selection process
IIM Bangalore admission 2018
The admission policy of IIM Bangalore for PGP 2018-20 awards highest weight to academics in shortlisting for PI-WAT among other top IIMs namely IIM Ahmedabad, Calcutta and Lucknow

Despite announcing higher cut offs than IIM Ahmedabad, in CAT 2017 scores in shortlisting process, IIM Bangalore will not award high weightage to CAT 2017 exam toppers. The fact is revealed in the IIM Bangalore admission policy announced by the B-school for PGP 2018-20 batch. According to the IIM Bangalore admission policy 2018, the B-school will award 40% weight to CAT 2017 percentile score in shortlisting and 25% weight in final selection process.

IIM Banaglore Shortlist PGP 2018-20: Weightage announced
IIM Bangalore has announced following weights to CAT 2017 score and other factors in shortlisting criteria for PI-WAT round in admission to PGP 2018-20 batch:

Component Weight in percentage on a scale of 100
CAT 2017 exam score 40
Class 10 marks 20
Class 12 marks 10
Bachelors degree 20
Gender diversity  2
Work experience  8

The 40 points weight awarded to CAT 2017 score is not available on overall score but will be divided on the basis of performance in each of the three sections in CAT 2017 exam:  Verbal & Reading Comprehension (VARC) - 14 points, Data Interpretation & Logical Reasoning (DILR) - 16 points, and Quantitative Aptitude (QA) - 10 points.

The candidates with 90 percentile in CAT 2017 can expect to be shortlisted by IIM Bangalore provided they have excellent academics from class 10 to bachelor’s degree, 3 years of work experience and if they are female candidates bonus marks will also be awarded to them.

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Highest weight to Academics: IIMB Vs other IIMs
The admission policy of IIM Bangalore for PGP 2018-20 awards highest weight to academics in shortlisting for PI-WAT among other top IIMs namely IIM Ahmedabad, Calcutta and Lucknow. 

IIM Bangalore emphasizes consistent and high performance in past academics and all other parameters. Since IIMB follows a comprehensive multi-criteria process at the pre-PI stage, it is able to identify many candidates for the PI who have an excellent academic record and work experience but who, while doing well enough in the CAT 2017 to be in the first shortlist, may have narrowly missed the high score that would have been required if CAT 2017 alone was the basis for the PI shortlist. Such candidates effectively replace candidates who have only a high CAT 2017 score but score poorly in terms of their past academic record and work experience.

IIM Bangalore: 50% weight to academics
Moving ahead of other IIMs, the IIM Bangalore will award 60% weight to other parameters and only 40% weight to CAT 2017 scores in the shortlisting for PI-WAT round for admission to PGP 2018-20 batch. It includes 50% weight to academics and 10% to gender diversity and work experience.

IIM Ahmedabad: 30% weight to academics
IIM Ahmedabad has announced to award 70% weight to CAT 2017 scores and 30% score to academic profile in shortlisting for PI-WAT round.

IIM Ahmedabad Admission 2018: CAT 2017 cut offs announced; needs 70 sectional percentile

IIM Calcutta: 40% weight to academics
IIM Calcutta has announced to award 56% weight to CAT 2017 scores; 40% to academics upto class 12 and 4% to gender diversity in the 1st stage shortlisting criteria for admission to PGP 2018-20.

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

IIM Lucknow: 25% to academic profile & diversity
IIM Lucknow will award 60% weight to CAT 2017 scores; 20% and 5% weight to academic excellence and academic diversity respectively; 10% weight to work experience and 5% to gender diversity in shortlisting for PI-WAT round.

IIM Lucknow admission 2018: CAT 2017 cut offs announced; needs 90 overall & 85 sectional in CAT

CAT 2017 cut offs at IIM Bangalore
Following is the minimum required percentile in CAT 2017 to qualify for shortlisting at IIM Bangalore for PI round for admission to PGP 2018-20. While other IIMs have maintained same qualifying standard across all the 3 sections, IIM Bangalore has prescribed higher percentile for VARC section to qualify for the 1st stage shortlisting criteria.

The short list of candidates by IIM Bangalore will be based on candidates securing minimum section wise and aggregates percentile scores in the CAT 2017. The percentile cut-off scores for CAT 2017 are considered as follows apart from other key parameters. Please note that actual cut-offs for those who are called for interview could be much higher but if you do not score a minimum of the following scores in CAT 2017, you will not be considered for the 1st phase shortlisting and will be out of admission process at IIM Bangalore. 

Category VARC  DILR  Quant  Overall Percentile
General 85 80 80 90
NC-OBC 75 70 70 80
SC 70 65 65 75
ST 60 60  60 75
DA 60 60  60  75

Academic profile: 50% weightage
According to IIM Bangalore admission policy for PGP 2018-20 “For all candidates in the first shortlist, the candidates percentage scores in the 10th and 12th board exams are initially adjusted by dividing each such score by the 90th percentile score obtained in that board. The database of 10th and 12th scores of all CAT applicants of the past two years is used for identifying the 90th percentile score for each 10th and 12th board for this purpose.’

Class 10 marks: 20% weight
If you have scored 90% or above marks and are ranked among the 90 percentilers, you can expect to get a weightage of 20% in addition to the weightage awarded to other parameters.

Class 12 marks: 10% weight
Your 90% and above marks can take you through the 1st stage shortlist as this percentage can award you another 10% weightage in the shortlist for PI-WAT round for admission to PGP 2018-20. Last year class 12 marks were awarded 20% weight in shortlisting criteria.  

Bachelor’s degree: 20% weight
IIM Bangalore will award another 20% weightage to your high performance in Bachelor’s Degree. According to IIMB admission policy ‘For all candidates in the first shortlist, final scores obtained by the candidate are used for the bachelors’ degree and professional degrees (if any). Incomplete or intermediate scores are considered only if the candidate's final score is pending. Thus, for final year bachelor’s degree candidates, their incomplete graduation score would be taken in lieu of final graduation score. Graduation scores are adjusted within their respective disciplines. This gives the adjusted score for the bachelor’s degree for all candidates in the first shortlist.’ 

8% Weight to Work experience 
36 months or greater period work experience will be awarded the highest weightage of 8% in IIM Bangalore 1st stage shortlist for PGP 2018-20 admission process. The work experience will be accounted upto July 2017 as stated by IIM Bangalore admission policy. 

The B-school clarifies “The score will peak at 36 months work experience and will remain at that level for candidates with work experience exceeding 36 months. The work experience score (maximum 8 in the pre- PI stage) will be multiplied by the quality of work experience score on a 5 point scale (0.25 - 0.5 – 1 - 1.5 - 2) as given by interviewers in the PI process in Phase 2 to then arrive at a weighted work experience score.” 

2% weight to Women candidates
If you are a woman candidate you will be awarded an additional 2% weightage at the 1st stage shortlisting process. This weightage will be confined only for 1st stage shortlisting. According to IIM Bangalore “Gender diversity component is applicable only for the pre-PI rank list for interview calls, and will not be applicable for phase 2 of the admissions process (final offers of admission).” 

WAT & PI at IIM Bangalore: Your admission depends on it 
The final offers of admission to candidates in each category will be made strictly on the basis of the final aggregate score arrived at, after WAT and PI round. 

30 minutes WAT at IIM Bangalore 
During the PI process the candidates selected for interviewing during a particular half-day (morning or afternoon) session will have to take a Written Ability Test (WAT) on a topic provided by IIM Bangalore.

The topics will be on current socio-political, economic and business affairs, though other topics such as sports and those that require more creative thinking may also be included. The time provided for the WAT will typically be of about 30 minutes.

The performance of each candidate on the Written Ability Test (WAT) will be scored in terms of content and style. The scores given by an independent evaluator will be considered for WAT.

PI round: Evaluation criteria
During the interview, the panel will evaluate each candidate's performance on academic background, quality of work experience and other personal traits. 

Each interviewer will use the Personal Interview to comprehensively evaluate the candidate's motivation and ability to fit in and benefit from the PGP program. For Personal Interview – the average of the scores given by the interviewers will be considered. 

Final selection: 25% weight to CAT 2017 score 
Scores of both, WAT and interview, along with those of the pre-PI selection parameters (with the appropriate weightages) will be used cumulatively in the second and final phase of selection to identify the candidates who will merit selection from among those candidates who appear for the PI. The selection process, parameters and weights used are uniform for all categories of applicants.

The WAT score and the personal interview score after standardization across interview panels and sessions,will be added to the following other scores to arrive at the final aggregate score:

Final Admission offer: Components & Weightages

Component Percentage weight on a scale of 100
WAT score 10
Personal Interview (PI) 30
CAT 2017 score 25
10th Class board marks 10
12th class board marks   5
Bachelors degree marks 10
Work experience 10

IIM Bangalore: PGP at a glance

Intake in 2018-20 batch 400 (proposed to go up)
Flagship programmes PGP
Acceptable Exam scores CAT 2017
Fee Structure Rs 19.50 Lakhs

CAT 2017 is the mandatory exam to seek admission in IIMs. CAT 2017 will be held on November 26, 2017 and the registration process for the exam will end on September 20, 2017 at 5 PM. The candidates desirous of appearing in CAT 2017 should apply before the last date to avoid any technical glitches and last minute CAT registration rush.

Stay tuned to MBAUniverse.com for more updates on admission in IIM Bangalore

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CAT Previous Year Question Papers, Answer With Solution:
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Section 1: Verbal Ability & Reading Comprehension CAT 2017: Quiz 1 CAT 2017: Quiz 2
Section 2: Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning CAT 2017: Quiz 1 CAT 2017: Quiz 2
Section 3: Quantitative Ability CAT 2017: Quiz-1 CAT 2017: Quiz-2