Common Admission Test of CAT is one of the most popular management entrance exams in India as it opens the door for admission at Indian Institute of Management, the top B-schools in the country. The CAT 2020 will be conducted on 29th November 2020 and the results for the same will be announced around the second week of January, 2020. Soon after the announcement of the CAT exam results the B-schools in the country will start announcing the details of their admission process such as the shortlisting cut-offs and selection procedure.
IIMs announce their CAT cutoff percentile which helps students determine which of the 20 IIMs they should expect a call from. However, the actual picture is quite different from this as there happens to be a huge difference between the IIMs Call Cutoffs and IIMs eligibility cutoffs. Let us first understand what exactly are these two cutoffs and then we will get to know the difference between these two.
What is IIM Eligibility Cutoff and IIM Call Cut-offs?
The eligibility cutoff is the minimum CAT Cutoff score that the candidate needs to obtain in the CAT exam to be eligible for the IIMs admission process. Candidates must however understand that there is no official IIM call cutoff for the CAT exam takers. Each institute that accepts CAT score announces their own CAT cutoffs. The cut-offs announced by the individual institutes consist of both sectional and overall cutoffs and the candidates need to satisfy both the cutoffs to be eligible for the second round of the admission process.
Also Read: CAT Previous Year Papers: Why you should practice them?
Hence, the eligibility cutoffs for each of the IIMs are different and candidates must first check them before applying for the admission process at the IIMs. In case, a candidate falls within the eligibility Cutoff range of a particular IIM, it is not necessary that they will receive a call from that IIM. Eligibility Cutoffs are usually announced by the IIMs before the announcement of the CAT Results. These cut-offs are popularly released as "IIM Admission Criteria" on the official website of each institute including the IIMs.
For say: Candidates can refer to the CAT previous year cutoffs for the IIM-A in the table below:
| Category |
Verbal and Reading Comprehension percentile rank (PVRC) |
Data Interpretation & Logical Reasoning percentile rank (PDILR) |
Quantitative Aptitude percentile rank (PQA) |
Overall percentile rank (PT) |
| General |
70 |
70 |
70 |
80 |
| NC-OBC-cum-transgender |
65 |
65 |
65 |
75 |
| SC |
60 |
60 |
60 |
70 |
| ST |
50 |
50 |
50 |
60 |
| PwD (General, NC-OBC-cum-transgender, SC) |
60 |
60 |
60 |
70 |
| PwD (ST) |
50 |
50 |
50 |
60 |
IIM Call Cutoffs, on the other hand are the actual cut-offs based on which the candidates are called in for the second round of the admission process (i.e. for the GD/PI/WAT round). These cut-offs depend upon the number of the candidates who score percentile equivalent to more than the ones mentioned in the admission criteria. There is no official announcement for these cutoffs however just like the eligibility cutoff these cutoffs too differ from institute to institute.
What leads to the difference between these two cut-offs?
The difference between the two cutoff occurs because the Eligibility Cutoffs are the minimum CAT percentiles (both sectional and overall) that the candidates need to obtain to be shortlisted in the list of candidates who can be considered for the second step of the admission process. The IIM Call Cutoffs on the other hand are the actual cutoff based on which the candidates are called for the WAT/PI rounds. The actual call cut-off, however, depends on the number of candidates available from top. IIMs generally shortlist candidates three times the number of the available seats for the WAT/PI rounds. Thus, if IIM A were to select thrice the number of the candidates than the seats available then it would probably get the required number of candidates within a small range of percentile say the top 2-3 percentile students. This is because the number of students of appear for the CAT entrance exam is usually in the count of 1-2 Lakhs every year and the institute can easily find thousands of candidates within the top 2 -3 percentile who satisfy the institute's selection criteria.
So, here's all you need to know about the difference between the IIM Eligibility Cutoff and IIM Call Cutoffs. For more such MBA related information visit the MBA section on jagranjosh.com. You can also subscribe to our newsletter to receive the latest updates directly in your inbox.
Also Read:
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Use CAT Percentile Predictor 2021 to know your estimated CAT cut offs and predict calls from IIMs and Non-IIMs accepting CAT score for admission.
