IIM Ahmedabad MBA Admission 2027 Policy Gets a Major Change, Check What’s New

IIM Ahmedabad MBA admission 2027: The Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Ahmedabad has revised its admission criteria for the Post Graduate Programme (PGP) 2027-29 batch. Under the revised policy, the institute will now use CAT percentiles, instead of normalised CAT scores, to shortlist candidates for the personal interview round.

IIM Ahmedabad MBA Admission 2027: Minimum CAT-2026 Percentile Cut-Offs

The minimum overall and sectional CAT percentile cut-offs vary by category and differ for candidates with and without disabilities.

For candidates without benchmark disabilities (non-PwD):

These sectional cut-offs apply across all three CAT sections: Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension (VARC), Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning (DILR), and Quantitative Ability (QA).

For candidates with benchmark disabilities (PwD):

IIM Ahmedabad MBA Admission 2027: Selection Process

IIM Ahmedabad’s admission process involves two stages: the first stage shortlists candidates for the Analytical Writing Test (AWT) and Personal Interview (PI), while the second stage calculates the Final Composite Score (FCS) to determine final admission offers. Notably, the personal interview carries the highest weightage in the final selection process.

Stage 1: Shortlisting for AWT and Personal Interview

Candidates are shortlisted based on a composite score, calculated after applying basic eligibility filters to those who appeared for CAT 2026.

Applicants must meet three conditions:

• Be at least 19 years old by June 30, 2027
• Be Indian nationals, as reported in their CAT application details
• Have applied for IIM Ahmedabad’s two-year, full-time Post Graduate Programme

For candidates meeting these conditions, the institute calculates a raw composite score. The first component of this is the Raw Application Rating (RAR), which considers:

• Class 10 and Class 12 marks
• Undergraduate academic performance
• Gender
• Full-time work experience

After applying the prescribed CAT percentile cut-offs, the institute prepares the shortlist for AWT and PI, ensuring representation from applicable reservation categories.

Stage 2: Final Selection and Composite Score

After candidates complete both the Analytical Writing Test and Personal Interview, IIM Ahmedabad calculates the Final Composite Score (FCS) using the following formula:

FCS = 0.50 × Normalised PI Score + 0.10 × Normalised AWT Score + 0.40 × Normalised Composite Score

This means:

• Personal Interview score — 50% weightage
• Analytical Writing Test score — 10% weightage
• Normalised composite score (from Stage 1) — 40% weightage

Why the Shift to CAT Percentiles Matters?

Moving from normalised CAT scores to CAT percentiles for shortlisting represents a meaningful methodological shift. Percentile-based cut-offs are generally considered more stable and comparable across different CAT sessions and difficulty levels, since they reflect a candidate’s relative standing among all test-takers rather than relying on a normalisation formula that can vary based on exam-specific factors.

Key Highlights

Why This Matters?

This policy change directly affects how thousands of CAT 2026 test-takers will be evaluated for one of India’s most sought-after MBA programmes. Candidates aiming for IIM Ahmedabad’s PGP 2027-29 batch should now specifically track their percentile scores, both overall and sectional, rather than focusing only on normalised scores, since percentile performance will be the determining factor for securing a shortlist for the AWT and Personal Interview stage under this revised policy.

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