CAT Selection Process 2023: Check IIM Admission Criteria

CAT 2023 Selection Process begins after the declaration of CAT 2023 Results. Read the article to understand more about the complete CAT 2023 Admission Process.

CAT Selection Process 2023

Common Admission Test or CAT is one of the most prominent and important management entrance tests in the country. It is a national level screening test for MBA aspirants. The CAT entrance exam is conducted by the Indian Institute of Management (IIMs) every year for admitting students to the various management programs offered at the various IIMs campuses around the country. This year, IIM Indore has taken up the onus of conducting the CAT 2023 exam on 26th November 2023 

⇒ Download CAT Admit Card 2023

Aspirants should note that admission to the respective IIMs (each IIM campus) has been given the authority to decide their own selection process and admission criteria. However, there are certain basic criteria that every candidate must keep in mind to prepare their best for the selection process. The CAT 2023 selection process has been discussed in detail below to help the candidates:

CAT Exam Cutoff

Cat cutoff is the minimum score that candidates need to achieve in the CAT entrance exam to be eligible for participation in the admission process for the institutes accepting the CAT score. The CAT Cutoffs are announced on the basis of the percentile scores of the candidates that appeared for the exam after the declaration of the CAT results. Each institute accepting the CAT score including the IIMs announces their own CAT cutoff score. Candidates can check the cutoff score for the particular institutes on the institute's websites to check out whether they are eligible for participation in the institute's admission process or not.

Check CAT Eligibility Criteria

CAT Exam - Selection Process After the Entrance Exam   

As mentioned above, the CAT selection criteria vary for one IIM campus to another. However, there are certain common elements that all MBA aspirants should be well prepared for. The common elements in the CAT selection process are as given below:

Step 1: Appear for the CAT Entrance Exam

MBA aspirants first need to appear for the CAT Entrance Exam that is conducted usually in the month of November. The CAT exam results are announced by the exam conducting body along with the CAT overall and sectional cut-offs. Based on the candidate's performance in the CAT exam, different IIM campuses send out call letters to the qualifying candidates. Each IIM campus defines their own individual cut-offs.

Check here CAT Syllabus

Step 2: Appear for Written Ability Test /Group Discussion Round

Qualifying candidates are called in for a Written Ability Test/Group Discussion Round. The written Ability test is a recent development in the IIM selection criteria. The majority of the IIM campuses now conduct the WAT rounds instead of the previously popular Group Discussion rounds. However, there are some IIM campuses that still conduct the GD rounds so you need to prepare yourself for both. The WAT rounds are aimed at testing the communication and writing skills of the candidates and generally involves an essay writing competition among the candidates. The topics of the WAT Round usually are taken from the contemporary happenings around us. Whereas the topics for the GD rounds have been seen to range from diverse fields such as current affairs, politics, sports, economics, social events, and others. Some of the common skills that the candidates are tested for in the WAT rounds are as given below:

• Grammar Skills
• Language Skills
• Vocabulary
• Writing Ability
• Expression
• Clarity of Thought

Step 3: Appear for Personal Interview (PI) Round

Candidates who qualify the group discussion/wat rounds are called in for the personal interview session. In the personal interview round candidates are interviewed by a panel of senior interviewers. This round of the selection process is basically aimed at understanding the candidates personality, attitude, his interests towards management as a career choice etc. There are certain criteria based on which the interviewers put up questions and assess the candidate's profile, these include

• Past Academic Records
• Communication Skills
• Personality
• Confidence

Step 4: Individual Final Merit List

Lastly, each of the IIM's releases its own final merit list comprising of the list of candidates who have been offered admission at the institute. As discussed above, IIM campuses have the authority to decide upon their own admission and selection criteria. Some of the factors based on which the IIMs release the final merit list are:

• Class 10th and 12th Marks
• CAT exam score
• Overall performance in WAT, GD and PI rounds
• Work Experience
• Gender Diversity Factor
• Reservations

Know the CAT exam centre 2023

CAT 2020 - Documents required for Admission

After the successful completion of the CAT selection process the candidates who make it to the final merit list will be required to complete the admission process by submission of the required documents and other admission formalities. Candidates are required  to keep the following documents handy for the CAT 2023 admission process:

• Class 10th marksheet and Passing certificate
• Class 12th marksheet and Passing certificate
• Graduation degree certificates
• CAT Scorecard
• Reservation category certificates (if applicable)