If you have scored between 75-85%ile in CAT 2018, what are the options in front of you? What all business schools can you get shortlist calls from? How can you prepare for interviews with these business schools?
Here is a guide that can help you answer all these questions!
Take a look.
Which B-Schools May Shortlist You
| 75%ile - 80%ile | 80%ile - 85%ile |
| IBS Hyderabad | BITS Pilani |
| SRCC Delhi | Delhi School of Management |
| Kirloskar Institute of Advanced Management Sciences | IIFM Bhopal |
| Alliance School of Business, Bangalore | Delhi School of Economics, Delhi University |
| GLIM Gurgaon | Loyola Institute of Business Administration |
| IFMR GSB | CIMR, Mumbai |
Which B-Schools You Can Apply To
| B-School | Last Date For Registration |
| IBS Hyderabad | 31st January 2019 |
| SRCC GBO, Delhi | 25th January 2019 |
| Kirloskar Institute of Advanced Management Studies | Registrations open now! |
| Alliance School of Business, Bangalore | 10th January 2019 - Closes soon! |
| GLIM Gurgaon | Registrations open now for the second cycle! |
| IFMR GSB | 31st January 2019 |
| BITS Pilani | 15th February 2019 |
| IIFM Bhopal | 20th February 2019 |
| Delhi School of Economics, Delhi University | 5th February 2019 |
| Loyola Institute of Business Administration | 31st January 2019 |
| CIMR, Mumbai | Registrations open now! |
What should you do next? Get Your Queries Answered By IIM Grads. Post your CAT Score and Percentile here.
How To Prepare For B-School Interviews
Now that it has been established that your percentile can get you shortlisted for some top institutes, it is now time to start preparing for the interviews that are likely to begin from early February.
Listed below are some tips on how you can ace your MBA interviews:
5 Ways To Ace Your GD/PI Preparations – Must read!
Interview Prep Strategy By An IIM Ahmedabad Alumnus – Must read!
The Secret To Cracking GD-PIs At Top Indian B-Schools
How To Prepare For Writing Ability Test – Tips From An IIM Lucknow Student
How To Prepare For An MBA Interview – Tips From An Expert
InsideIIM is conducting an exclusive workshop for all MBA aspirants looking to enter a top business school this year.
If you’re in Mumbai on 12th January 2019 and want to make it to a top management institute, you don’t want to miss this free workshop with GD-PI experts.
Register for the workshop here.
Date – 12th January 2019
Venue – Mumbai
Should You Take CAT Again?
While your current CAT percentile may get you shortlist calls from the aforementioned management institutes, is it worth it to go for one more attempt at CAT and improve your scores?
To answer this, let us explore three cases:
Case 1 - Your profile is not suitable for certain B-schools
Certain business schools such as IIMs, FMS, MDI etc. rely not just on your CAT score but also on your academic profile and work experience. A candidate at any of these business schools is likely to have the following profile:
10th Percentage: 85% - 90+%
12th Percentage: 85% - 90+%
Graduation Percentage: 75% - 85+%
In addition to this, approximately 60-70% of the batch will have work experience of 12 to 48 months, which also works in their favour.
If the business school you aspire to join has strict parameters such as this, it may not be worth attempting CAT 2019, since it is unlikely that you will receive a shortlist call from these institutes even with a stellar CAT percentile (99+).
However, if your academic profile is suitable for most business schools, then explore the next two cases to identify if you should appear for CAT '19.
Case 2 - If you fall in the 75%ile - 80%ile bracket
If you fall in this bracket, it is likely that there is something amiss in your preparation strategy, but nothing you cannot fix in a span of 11 months! You're not too far behind in terms of reaching the 90+%ile or even the 95+%ile mark in CAT.
What is certain is that, should you not join a business school in 2019, your preparation plan and the commensurate effort has to be exponentially better than what you had for CAT 2018. If you think you can do that, 2019 may be the year for you!
Case 3 - If you fall in the 80%ile - 85%ile bracket
You're in close proximity to a brilliant score that can get you calls from tier-1 management institutes, but you're not quite there yet. With an 85%ile score, you have scored below 100 marks and need to score approximately 60-70 more marks to reach the 99+%ile mark. This means revamping your preparation strategy for at least 2 out 3 sections, if not all.
Depending on your work experience and other pressing commitments and obstacles, CAT is definitely worth retaking if you think you have the calibre to completely restructure your exam preparation strategy and ace CAT 2019!
Here are the B-schools that will shortlist you if:
Stay tuned for more updates around CAT 2018 results!
