My score for 10-12& engg. Aggregate is 94 87 and 75. I want admission only in IIM Ahmedabad. What should be my CAT score?
Which engineering university are you from?
Hi Aditya,
For entrance into IIM Ahmedabad your CAT percentile must be really high. I personally know students in General Category, Male who haven't got a call from IIMA at 99.82%ile. So, if you fall into the same category, you should target a 99.9 given your undergraduation percentage is 75.
It depends on the cumulative score of your application and hence this should be a decent target. Once you get a shortlist, you need to be exceptionally good at WAT-PI to make the cut.
All the best
In order to crack the GD and PI, you must be aware of what is happening around you. Make a habit of reading newspapers like The Hindu, ET etc. daily. Make yourself acquainted with sports, politics and economics. Apart from reading newspapers, read editorials, blogs, posts, novels, basically anything you lay your hands on. This will not only widen your horizon, but will also give you the ability to analyze every situation under a different lens. This will help you in both GD and PI. Now lets analyze the three topics one at a time:
Group Discussion:
GD or group discussion is a situation where 5-6 of the participants will be made to sit around a table and will be given a topic. The participants need to put forward their views and criticism about the topic at hand. Remember, GD is not a debate. You do not need to get aggressive over a point of view. Its a discussion where everyone puts forward their take on the topic. So dont turn it into a fish market. You guys are not Trump and Kim Jong-un trying to settle nuclear supremacy!! You are just a bunch of students discussing a random issue thrown at you. So act accordingly.
To get selected in a GD, you should try to put new perspectives on the table. For example, if a topic such as The Indian cricket team is not as good as they seem to be. The opponents are just weak is thrown at you, you are expected not only to analyze from the prospective of the male Indian cricket team, but you are also expected to put across the table the point of view from the Indian womens cricket team and under 19 cricket teams perspective. Without extensive reading, you wouldnt be able to diversify your way of thinking.
GD topics can basically be of the following types:
Social
Political
Economics
Legal
Technical
Social Topics Social topics are those which are a burning issue of the society in the recent past. Example- Triple talaq, Should capital punishment be banned in India?
Political Topics These topics are related to the politics going on in the country, as well as the political relation of our country with its neighbors. It also includes the global political situation. For example: Middle East crisis, Flight of Rohingyas, Immigration and refugees, Doklam issue.
Economic Topics- These topics deals with the economic scenario of our country and the global business economy as well. Example: Ease of doing business in India, Free trade in developing countries, GST, etc.
Thanks,
Azim
Technical topics Now in this case, topics from your graduation course is very unlikely. In this case, technical topics means business technical topics like: How effective is digital marketing in the present world?, What is important- brand or quality?
Abstract topics- You need to think out of the box to decipher the abstract topics. Dont take the literal meaning of the topic. Read between the lines and use your imagination to get the actual meaning of the topic. The beauty of these topics are, they are deciphered differently by different person. Few examples of abstract topics are No man is an island, Pink pajamas flew over the red fort, Borderless world etc.
Listen what the others have to say and then put your point. Listening is also a skill. Maintain eye contact and make subtle hand gestures. If somebody counters your point, dont get aggressive and attack him.
WAT:
Just like GD, you have to be aware of the current situation if you want to crack WAT. Usually you are given a statement and you have to write an essay supporting the statement or against the statement. WAT tests your clarity of thought more than anything. So give proper justification for why you are supporting/ not supporting the statement. Make proper bullet points. Mention the point and elaborate it in a paragraph. After writing two or three paragraphs on your viewpoint (with proper justification) write a small paragraph on the opposite view points as well. This shows that you are open minded and flexible to changes. Make a proper introduction and a proper conclusion. Site facts and figure in support of your answer.
Personal Interview:
Keep in mind the following points to prepare for a PI:
Stay aware of all the current affairs happening across the world. Be it national or international. Accustom yourself with basics of economics, sports and politics. You can face questions from any topic under the sun. Be accustomed to guesstimates as well.
Be prepared with your CV. Know yourself better than anyone. Have an answer ready for all the major decisions of your life, like your choice of undergraduate stream or even your choice of subjects in your eleventh standard.
Always, always, always be ready with the answer to Tell me something about yourself. In the answer to this question dont reiterate your CV. Its already in front of them. Tell them something that they do not know. For example, dont just tell the name of your school. Talk about the values and Morales that your school have imbibed in you. Tell them about what you have actually learned from your school apart from education. Tell them about situations that has helped you grow as a person. About tough situations and how you have handled those stormy days. You might not remember all of these days at one go. Take time, introspect and find out the real you.
Thanks,
Azim
However funny it might sound, know the meaning of your name. If you are named after a famous personality, know about him/her as well.
Be prepared with HR questions like Why MBA?, Which specialization?, Why this college?, strength/weaknesses.
Always remain calm, composed and relax. Dont let your anxiety show on your face. Be confident and keep a smile on your face. Try to sit for as many mock GD/PIs as possible. That will help you a lot.
Thanks,
Azim Musa Shaikh
Dear Aditya,
The shortlisting takes place on the basis of the Applicant Rating (AR) Score which involves points for your every score in past academics.
It also depends on the top 50 AR scores and your relative score as compared with them.
Since you have a good track record, I would recommend you to focus more on score maximum 99.8x+ %ile for a decent probability of getting shortlisted for PI-WAT round.
Also, you can find the detailed description under the PGP admissions tab of IIMA website.
Hope this helps!
Whatever answer you give be sure you know in & out of that topic. So if you say that you are interested in technology & want to be a tech entrepreneur then prepare well to answer any question on tech startups & tech ecosystem right from current scenario in tech stocks, VC , AI and other technologies. Be specific and clear of what you want to do and have knowledge about it.
And build an interesting story considering all the facts and experiences about your life. This will surely help!
According past records CAT cutoff for IIM Ahmedabad in year 2015-2017 was 99.67 percentile irrespective of your past academic record or work experience.So that's that and also you have to pass GD PI round.
Goodluck
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