IIM Amritsar

This page outlines the process that will be used for selecting meritorious candidates under each category of admission, that is, General, NC-OBC, SC, ST, EWS and PWD, for admission to the Masters of Business Administration (MBA) Program at the Indian Institute of Management Amritsar for the batch of 2020-22.

The selection process, selection criteria and weights given to various parameters are decided by the Admissions Committee annually. The Admission Committee finalizes the process, fixes these criteria and weights at the beginning of each admission cycle before the CAT Written test. This is to ensure that the admissions process is objective.

The admissions process is divided into two stages. The first stage comprises of shortlisting candidates for Personal Interview (PI)/ Written Ability Test (WAT). The second stage comprises of shortlisting candidates for decision regarding admission to the MBA Program.

IIM Amritsar uses a composite score of multiple parameters like marks in 10th and 12th Board exams, marks of Graduation Program, quality of work experience, gender and academic diversity, and candidate's section wise scores in CAT to judge the suitability of a candidate for the MBA Program. The following sections explain the process.

Candidates are advised to clearly present marks related information at the 10th, 12th, and graduation level, and information relating to their branch of study in their graduation. Incorrect presentation of information will be construed as misrepresentation, resulting in the candidate’s application not being considered for the next level in the selection process. IIM Amritsar’s decision in this matter will be final and no further discussion will be entertained with regard to the processing of such application.

Stage 1: Pre - Personal Interview (PI) Process

6. The first stage of the process is applied to all eligible candidates who appear for CAT 2019 to determine candidates to be called for PI/ WAT.
7. The first shortlist comprises of candidates who have secured a pre-determined minimum percentile score on each section and overall score of CAT 2019. Candidates obtaining a positive (greater than zero) raw score in all sections of CAT-2019 will only be considered. Further processing for PI/WAT is done only for candidates who are selected in this first shortlist. The pre-determined minimum percentile cut-off scores applicable for the first shortlist for CAT 2019 for the MBA batch of 2020-2022 are given in Table 1.

Table 1: Minimum Percentile Scores applicable to CAT2019 for the MBA batch of 2020-2022

8. All further processing for standardization of scores and selection for PI/WAT are limited to candidates selected to the first shortlist as described in point 7 above.
9. For all candidates in the first shortlist based on the process outlined in point 7 above, candidate’s percentage scores in the 10th and 12th board exams are initially adjusted by dividing each such score by the 90th percentile score obtained in their particular board.
10. For all candidates in the first shortlist based on the process outlined in point 7 above, an adjusted score is calculated for the candidates graduating discipline. This is done by dividing the percentage final scores score obtained in the graduating discipline of the candidates (bachelors’ degree and/or professional degrees, as the case may be), by the 90th percentile score. Incomplete or intermediate graduate scores are considered only if the candidate's final graduation score is pending. Thus, for final year bachelor’s degree candidates, their incomplete graduation score would be taken in lieu of their final graduation score.
11. For all the shortlisted candidates based on the process outlined in point 7, and adjusted scores as outlined in points 9 and 10 above, the weights for the parameters are fixed as: CAT score = 45%, 10th board = 10%, 12th board = 10%, Bachelors = 20%, Gender Diversity = 10%, and Work Experience = 5%.
12. The above process results in a list of candidates ranked in order of merit based on the above criteria. From the ranking list prepared by the process outlined above, a reasonable number of candidates will be called for PI/WAT based on the order of their rank.

Stage 2

13. The second stage of the selection process comprises of the following two components. (a) Written Ability Test (WAT), and (b) Personal Interview (PI).
14. All candidates will be required to take a WAT on a topic provided by IIM Amritsar. The time provided for the WAT will typically be about 20 minutes. The WAT submission will be evaluated separately.
15. During the interview, the panel will evaluate each candidate's academic background, quality of work experience and other personal traits.
16. Pre-PI scores and PI / WAT scores (with appropriate weightages) will be used cumulatively in the final phase to select the candidates for the program. The selection process, parameters and weights (specified in Table 1 above) used are uniform for all categories of applicants. Sufficient candidates will be shortlisted at each stage from each social category to meet the reservation requirement for each group, as applicable for that particular admissions cycle.
17. The final ranking list of candidates for admission to the MBA 2020 program will be based on the aggregate scores obtained after applying the following weights. (a) 10th board marks=5%, (b) 12th board marks=5%, (c) bachelors / professional degree marks=10%, (d) work experience=10%, (e) academic diversity (applicable only to non- engineering candidates) = 5% (f) gender diversity (applicable only to female candidates) = 5%, (g) CAT=25%, (h) PI=25%, and (i) WAT=10%.
18. The final offers of admission to the selected candidates  from each category will be made strictly on the basis of the final rank based on aggregate score calculated as outlined in point 17 above.