IIM Ahmedabad Admission 2023 - CAT PDF Download

IIM Ahmedabad, the premier business school in India, has unveiled its admission policy for the PGP 2023-25 batch, following similar announcements from other top IIMs. In keeping with its tradition of regularly updating its admission policy, IIMA has announced that it will not assign any weightage to the bachelor's degree for students who completed their graduation during the Covid-19 pandemic and were awarded only pass certificates instead of scores. Additionally, it has introduced several relaxations in the admission process.
IIM Ahmedabad has lowered its CAT cut-off for shortlisting and reduced the weightage assigned to CAT in the final selection process. The weightage given to profile and diversity at every stage of the selection process has been increased. IIM Ahmedabad has announced an overall CAT cut-off of 80%ile and sectional CAT cut-off of 70%ile, which is the lowest among all Old and New generation IIMs.Before delving into the current IIM Ahmedabad admission criteria, let's take a look at the key changes introduced in the IIM Ahmedabad admission process in the previous years and expected changes for this year. This article covers the IIM Ahmedabad admission criteria 2023, key features of the institute, important dates for MBA admission 2023, eligibility, fee, placements, and more.

IIM Ahmedabad Admission 2023-24: Key Changes in Criteria

For last year admission, IIM Ahmedabad considered 21820 candidates for shortlisting and finally shortlisted 1403 candidates based on CAT score cut off and 3 candidates based on GMAT cut off for PI-WAT round. IIMA has offered admission to 444 candidates to its PGP and PGP-ABM 2022-24 batch. IIM Ahmedabad has announced following important changes in shortlisting and final selection criteria for admission 2023

Key Changes in IIM Ahmedabad Shortlisting Criteria

• Lowest CAT 2022 cut off at 80%ile overall and 70%ile Sectional
• IIM Ahmedabad has decided to prepare an extended list of shortlisted candidates, consisting of candidates shortlisted after considering bachelor’s degree marks with 35% Weightage to Academics and Work Experience
• A shortlist will also be prepared for those candidates, who would be short-listed through pro-rata basis if the bachelor's degree marks had not been considered. The shortlist will be based on Class 10 & 12 marks with weightage of 25% to Academics & Work Experience. These 25 points will be pro-rated to 35. 
• Weightage to CAT 2022 score is 65%

Key Changes in IIM Ahmedabad Final Selection Criteria

• Total Maximum Weightage percentage is 100
• PI & WAT get weightage of 60%
• CAT 2022 Score gets a weightage of 25%
• Academics, Work Experience and other factors (Application Rating Multiplication Factor-ARF) gets Weight of 15% in final Merit List Generation

IIM Ahmedabad Admission Criteria: 6 Key Changes Over the Years

During last 5-6 years IIM Ahmedabad has brought about following important changes in its Admission criteria. IIM Ahmedabad admission Policy 2023 has remained on similar Lines:

1. CAT Cut Off Reduced: The officially announced and actually applied CAT cut off percentile has reduced in shortlisting during last few years, IIM Ahmedabad has reduced its overall CAT cut offs for shortlisting to 80%ile from earlier 90 percentile and sectional CAT cut offs to 70%ile from earlier 80-85%ile. Besides, there is not much difference between the minimum CAT cut offs as announced in IIMA admission policy and actual CAT cut offs. Below is shared the analysis for last 6 years:
   
2. Bachelor’s Degree Score: In last year admission process, IIM Ahmedabad did not award any weightage to Graduation marks to any category of applicants and the Candidates who graduated in the years 2020 or 2021 or graduated in 2022, for whom the university did not conduct the exams or did not award marks or CGPA but awarded only pass or pass marks or promotion in one or more years/semesters of bachelor’s degree/equivalent qualification, were eligible for shortlisting without any weightage to bachelor’s degree marks. For admission 2023, IIMA has again modified admission policy and will award due weightage to graduation score for the candidates who have or are appearing in the exam and will Not award any weightage for those who did not appear in the exam and were given the pass certificates only.  
3. Class 10, 12 Marks & Work Ex Get High Weightage: Academic Performance in Class 10 & 12 is Awarded High Weightage. The AR was computed considering class 10th marks, class 12th marks and candidate's work experience) and the points are pro-rated to 35.
4. Weightage to Diverse Profile of Key Achievers: IIMA shortlist includes key achievers in diverse academic areas. These candidates may have not scored very high CAT percentile but they are shortlisted on the basis of diverse profile despite low CAT percentile score
5. Weightage for CAT Score Reduced: CAT score weightage for shortlisting and final selection has been substantially reduced. While the weightage for CAT score in shortlisting stands reduced to 65% now from earlier 75%, CAT score weightage for final selection is only 25%
6. PI-WAT Get High Weightage: IIM Ahmedabad awards maximum weightage of 60% to Personal Interview (PI) and WAT, known as Academic Writing Test (AWT) in its final selection process. While the weight for PI round is 50%, the weight for WAT is 10%

IIM Ahmedabad: Key Highlights and USPs

The Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad (IIMA), a premier, global management Institute that is at the forefront of promoting excellence in the field of management education. It was founded as an innovative initiative by the Government, industry and international academia in 1961.

• Top Ranked: IIM Ahmedabad is ranked # 1 in Govt of India NIRF Rankings 2022 among top 125 management institutes in India. It is ranked # 2 among top Management Institutes in MBAUniverse.com B-school Ranking 2022. Its flagship two-year Post Graduate Programme in Management (PGP) is ranked 20th in the FT Master in Management Ranking 2020 and the one-year Post Graduate Programme in Management for Executives (PGPX) has been ranked 48th in the FT Global MBA rankings 2021.
• Accreditation: IIMA became the first Indian institution to receive international accreditation from EQUIS. Its PGP, PGP-FABM and other programs lead to award of MBA degree instead of PG Diploma.
• IIMA Making Global Foot-Print: IIM Ahmedabad has been consolidating its global footprint and today it has a network with over 80 top international institutions and a presence in Dubai. Its faculty members and close to 40,000 alumni, who are at the helm of influential positions in all walks of life also contribute to its global recognition.
• Offers Consultancy & Curated Executive Education: IIMA offers consultancy services and more than 200 curated executive education programmes in customized, blended, and open enrolment formats for a diverse audience comprising of business leaders, policymakers, industry professionals, academicians, government officials, armed forces personnel, agri-business and other niche sector specialists and entrepreneurs.
• High Placements: IIM Ahmedabad is one of the top B-schools that complete the final placements very early every year. IIMA completed its final placement 2022 in 3 days as early as in Mid February 2022 with top companies from multiple domains participating in placement process. All the participating students got placed across more than 20 cohorts. The salary data for placement is released after IPRS audit in the month of September. In placement 2021 IIM Ahmedabad registered highest domestic salary of Rs.55 LPA and highest international salary of Rs. US$154,355 Eqv INR 1.16 Cr. Average domestic salary in Placement 2021 was Rs.27,54,721 while average international salary in Placement 2021 was Rs.US$98962 Eqv INR 74,22,000.
• Over the 60 years of its existence, IIM Ahmedabad has been acknowledged for its exemplary contributions to scholarship, practice and policy through its distinctive teaching, high-quality research, nurturing future leaders, supporting industry, government, social enterprise and creating a progressive impact on society.

IIM Ahmedabad Admission 2023: Important Dates

IIM Ahmedabad Admission process 2023 had started with the opening of CAT 2022 registration and has closed with the close of CAT Registration 2022.  Important dates related to admission activities at IIM Ahmedabad are as below:

MBA Programmes Offered by IIM Ahmedabad

IIM Ahmedabad offers following 2 years full time MBA programmes:

• Post Graduate Programme in Management (PGP) leading to MBA Degree
• Post Graduate Program in Food and Agri-Business Management (PGP- FABM) leading to MBA degree
• The programmes are meant for fresh graduates as well as for graduates with work experience in supervisory cadre

MBA Programme: Specializations

IIM Ahmedabad offers bouquet of specializations in its PGP programme in the areas of Communication, HRM, Economics, Finance & Accounting, Information systems, Marketing, Organizational Behaviour, Production and Quantitative Methods, Innovation, Incubation and Entrepreneurship among others.

IIM Ahmedabad Batch Profile

• Total Batch Size: 444 students
• PGP 2022-24 Batch: 397 students
• PGP-FABM 2022-24 Batch: 47 Students

PGP 2022-24 Batch Profile

PGP at IIMA is its flagship 2 years MBA programme leading to award of MBA degree. Key highlights of PGP 2022-24 batch are: 

• Largest Batch: Number of Students increased to 397 from 393 last year
• Average Age Remains Unchanged: The average age of the class remains unchanged at 23 years
• More Women Students: IIMA PGP 2022-24 batch has 23 percent Women students
• Academic Diverse Batch: Batch comprises 66.5 per cent Engineers and 33.5 per cent non-engineers from arts, science and commerce backgrounds 

PGP-FABM 2022-24 Batch Profile

The Post Graduate Programme in Food and Agribusiness Management (PGP-FABM) is the only specialized 2 years full time programme offered at IIM Ahmedabad. The PGP-FABM equips students with skills that prepare them for careers in industries ranging from food marketing to agri-technology to agri-entrepreneurship. Key highlights of IIMA PGP-FABM Batch 2022-24 are:

• Batch Size: The PGP – FABM 2022-24 batch has 47 students
• Average Age Increased: The average age of the batch has increased to 23 years, as compared to 22 years in the last two years
• More Women Students: Women students make up 38 percent of the PGP- FABM 2022-24 batch
• Academic Diversity: IIMA PGP-FABM Batch is a mix of students from food, agriculture, and allied backgrounds

Key Trends in Gender Diversity

Following are the recent trends in batch size and gender diversity at IIM Ahmedabad:

IIM Ahmedabad Fees: Rs.24.61 Lakhs

Below is shared the PGP programme fee applicable for the 2023-25 batch at IIM Ahmedabad. The fee may be revised further for PGP 2023-25 batch

• The total program fees payable by PGP students at IIM Ahmedabad is Rs 24,61,000/- (inclusive of tuition fees of Rs.18,19,000/-).
• Laptop computer, personal expenses on boarding, travel, clothes and laundry are extra.
• The total programme fees for the 2023-2025 batch may increase further by 5 to 7 percent after making adjustment for inflations.

IIM Ahmedabad Intake: 450 Students

IIM Ahmedabad has an intake of 400 students in its PGP program and 50 students for PGP-FABM program. However, with the rigorous selection process, the batch size remains below 400 students in flagship PGP program. With a liberal admission policy focused on other parameters also apart from only CAT exam score, IIM Ahmedabad has achieved a gender diversity of 23% in the current PGP and 38% in PGP-FABM batch.

IIM Ahmedabad Placement 2022

• IIM Ahmedabad had completed its Final Placement Process 2022 for PGP 2020-22 batch in three days with all the three clusters in placement process getting over in February 2022. However, it is the policy of IIM Ahmedabad to release the placement statistics after IPRS Audit in the month of October/November. Top Recruiters from multiple domains participated across the 3 clusters in the Final Placements.
• The audited placement data 2021 reveal that PGP 2019-21 batch average salary had gone up remarkably at Rs.27.55 LPA while the highest domestic salary was Rs.55 LPA. The highest international offer was at Rs.1.16 Crore.

IIM Ahemadabad Final Placement 2022: Key Highlights

• IIM Ahmedabad conducted the entire process of Placement 2022 in Virtual Mode in 3 days
• Firms from different sectors and geographies participated in the Placement process
• IIMA followed the dream campus concept in Placement process 2022 and got 35 dream applications in the cluster process
• Prominent sectors and domains in IIM Ahmedabad placement season 2022 included Consulting, Investment Banking, Conglomerate, Consumer Goods & services, Retail, BFSI, Private Equity, Venture Capital, Asset Management among others
• 190 Marquee companies participated in Placement 2022
• 220 Different Roles were offered to IIMA students
• 400+ students participated in placement 2022 and all were placed in 20 cohorts in 3 days across three clusters
• 3rd cluster comprised 8 cohorts, which included Analytics & IT Consulting, Banking Insurance, Consumer Tech, Core Manufacturing & Infrastructure, Enterprises Tech, Financial Services, Fin Tech and Government Enterprises. Fin Tech firms rolled out the maximum number of offers and UnDosTres was the largest recruiter
• 50% offers rolled out in the cluster 3 process were international offers
• 2nd cluster comprised six cohorts - Advertising & Media, Conglomerates, Consumer Goods & Durables, Consumer Services, Pharma & Healthcare and Retail B2B & B2C
• 1st cluster had six cohorts, investment banking & markets, management consulting, advisory consulting, niche consulting, cards & financial advisory and private equity, venture capital & asset management.  
• Student-recruiter fit Process with over 150 students upgrading their offers during the process
• Boston Consulting Group with 47 Offers and Accenture with 32 offers emerged as top Recruiters
• Many new recruiters like A&W Capital, EY Parthenon, PWC US Advisory, Zomato among others participated for the first time and made offers
• IIM Ahmedabad follows IPRS standards and Salary Data for Placement 2022 will be released after the IPRS Audit in September/October 2022

Top Recruiters in IIM Ahmedabad Placements 2022

• 190 firms participated with around 220 different roles in IIM Ahmedabad placement process 2022. In the Final placements, firms which made the most offers on campus included Boston Consulting Group (BCG) and Accenture.
• Boston Consulting Group made the 47offers (including Pre-Placement Offers) at the end of the final placement process
• Accenture made 32 offers
• Among the Investment Banks, Goldman Sachs was the largest recruiter, making 6 offers, closely followed by Bank of America with 4 offers
• Private Equity, Venture Capital and Asset Management cohort witnessed close to 42% increase in number of net offers
• Management Consulting cohort witnessed close to 30% increase in number of net offers vis-à-vis last year
• In the consumer goods and general management domain, TAS made the highest number of 6 offers (including the pre-placement offers), followed by HUL, Mondelez and Emaar, with 3 offers each
• In the IT Consulting cohort, Tata Consultancy Services was the largest recruiter with 4 offers
• In the Laterals process, PayTM made the highest number of 20 offers followed by PwC (13 offers), American Express (11 offers) and OYO (10 offers)

IIM Ahmedabad Placement 2021: Key Highlights

Following are the key highlights of IIM Ahmedabad PGP placement 2021:

• Highest Domestic Package - Rs.55 Lakhs
• Average Domestic Package up at Rs.27.55 Lakhs from Rs.26.13 lakhs last year
• Highest International Package up at  US$154,355 Eqv INR 1.16 Cr
• Average International Package at US$98962 Eqv INR 74,22,000
• 131 firms participated with 170 different roles in the placement process in 2021

Top Recruiters in Placement 2021: Top companies  which made the most offers on campus included McKinsey, Boston Consulting Group, Tata Consultancy Services, GEP, Nomura, Avendus, Goldman Sachs, Gaja Capital, Brookfield. Hindustan Unilever, Samsung, CK Birla, Paytm, Amazon, FinlO, Microsoft among others

IIM Ahmedabad Admission 2023-24 Criteria: Eligibility, Process, Cut off, Selection Process

It is mandatory to appear in CAT 2022 exam for IIMA admission 2023. IIM Ahmedabad shortlists more than 1400 applicants based on CAT exam scores for final selection round and offers admission to 440+ students to its PGP and PGP-FABM programs.  Below is shared in detail the IIM Ahmedabad Admission 2023 process, eligibility criteria, cut off, weightages for key components in final selection process.

IIM Ahmedabad Admission Eligibility

• To meet the IIM Ahmedabad eligibility criteria, the candidate must hold a bachelor's degree, with at least 50% marks or equivalent CGPA (in case of the candidate belonging to SC/ST/PwD category, the eligibility criterion is relaxed to 45%
• The bachelor's degree or equivalent qualification obtained by the candidate must entail a minimum of three years of education after completing higher secondary schooling (10+2) or equivalent
• If the candidate is awarded grades/CGPA instead of marks, the equivalence would be based on the equivalence certified by the institution/university from where the bachelor's degree is obtained. In case the institution/university does not have any scheme for converting the CGPA into equivalent marks, the equivalence would be established by IIM Ahmedabad by dividing the obtained CGPA by the maximum possible CGPA and multiplying the resultant by 100 to confirm the eligibility of the candidate.
• A candidate appearing for the final year bachelor's degree/equivalent qualification examination and those who have completed the degree requirements and are awaiting results can also apply.
• It is mandatory for a final year student, who is provisionally considered eligible by IIM Ahmedabad and offered admission, to submit the mark-sheet and degree certificate of the final year bachelor's degree examination held on or before June 30, 2023.  The deadline to submit the mark-sheet and the certificate is December 31, 2023. 
• The candidate should appear in CAT 2022 exam and must score minimum prescribed score in the entrance exam to become eligible for admission.
• All selected candidates for the IIM Ahmedabad 2-year PGP must be of minimum 19 years age as on June 30, 2023.

IIM Ahmedabad Cut Off for Admission 2023

IIM Ahmedabad cutoff has been reduced for admission 2023. Only the candidates above the minimum cut-offs in the CAT 2022 sectional percentile ranks, the overall percentile rank and obtaining a positive (greater than zero) raw score in all sections of CAT-2022 will be considered for PI-WAT and all the subsequent stages.

IIM Ahmedabad Final Selection Weightage

Selection at this stage will strictly be based on the shortlisting of the candidates done separately for each category (General/SC/ST/NC-OBC/PwD) on the basis of their ‘Final Composite Score's (FCS). The final selection is based on a diverse set of attributes which includes performance in CAT, performance in AWT & PI, academic, co-curricular and extra-curricular achievements, work experience etc.

IIM Ahmedabad Admission 2023: How to Apply?

• Application process for admission at IIM Ahmedabad has opened with the start of CAT 2022 registration process.
• Candidates have to apply for CAT 2022 by the last date
• Application fee for CAT 2022 is Rs.2300/- (Rs.1150/- for SC/ST)
• On the page 4 of CAT 2022 application form, you need to select IIM Ahmedabad PGP and other programs also and select the interview city
• No need to apply and pay separately for IIM Ahmedabad Admission 2023
• After declaration of CAT 2022 exam result, you can check at IIM Ahmedabad website whether you are shortlisted by entering your CAT 2022 registration ID and password

 IIM Ahmedabad Admission Process at a Glance

Following steps are included in the IIM Ahmedabad Admission process:

• Step 1: The candidate must have appeared and scored the minimum required percentile in CAT 2022
• Step 2: Candidates are short-listed for AWT and PI from among the candidates who have a valid CAT-2022 score, who have applied to the programme and who satisfy the eligibility criteria for the programme  
• Step 3: After the AWT & PI round, admission offers are made by IIMA to successful candidates. The final selection is based on a diverse set of attributes which includes performance in CAT, performance in AWT & PI, academic, co-curricular and extra-curricular achievements, work experience among others
• Step 4: Final Admission Offer will be made to the candidates in the second week of April 2023 on the basis of Final Composite Score (FCS) which includes PI score, AWT score, CAT score and Academics
• Step-5: Admission offer letter would be sent to all successful candidates. Candidates, who are offered admission, need to confirm their acceptance by completing all the required formalities by the first/second week of May 2023.

IIM Ahmedabad Admission 2023: Key Points

The PGP programme at IIM Ahmedabad is renowned as one of the toughest MBA programmes in the world.  In regard to its admission process, IIM Ahmedabad has informed as under:

• IIM Ahmedabad is in a position to accommodate less than 0.1 per cent of the PGP applicants who apply for CAT 2022
• The selection process is rigorous and designed in a manner to ensure that only the very best succeed.
• IIM Ahmedabad admission process consists of the nationally administered Common Admission Test (CAT), and subsequent rounds of personal interviews
• The students are selected on the basis of their CAT scores, past academic performance and performance in the interviews.

IIM Ahmedabad Awards MBA Degree Instead of PG Diploma

• IIM Ahmedabad will award MBA degree to its students who successfully complete the PGP 2023-25 programme instead of Diploma as was done previously. Although IIM Ahmedabad has not changed the name of its flagship management programme from Post Graduate Programme (PGP) in Management to Masters of Business Administration (MBA), it has started conferring MBA degree now, consequent upon implementation of IIM Act 2017. The Act has empowered the IIMs to award MBA degree instead of Post Graduate Diploma. The two years PGP of IIM Ahmedabad is a full-time residential course for graduates from all disciplines wishing to choose a career in management.
• For the last 3-4 years IIM Ahmedabad admission policy has remained on same lines and it is expected that the IIM Ahmedabad admission 2024 process will remain on similar lines as this year. You need to begin your CAT preparation and by the time you become eligible to appear in CAT 2023, you would have completed a large part of your CAT exam preparation which will help you score high in the exam and improve your chances for IIM Ahmedabad admission 2024.    
• IIM Ahmedabad has been liberalising its admission criteria almost every year and this year also has not only reduced the CAT 2022 score weightage, but the CAT score cut offs for admission 2023 have also been modified to improve further the academic diversity in its class rooms. The non- engineers and the candidates from diverse backgrounds, stand a good chance to get into IIM Ahmedabad in 2023 even if they score a little low in CAT 2022 but have excellent academics coupled with work experience.
• IIM Ahmedabad is the top ranked B-school and every year it is the first among the 20 IIMs, to announce its MBA admission criteria immediately after the start of CAT 2022 registration process. The information provided by the IIM Ahmedabad Admission 2023-2025 is contingent upon the decisions and directions issued from time to time by the Central and State governments, and IIMA. Candidates are advised to regularly check CAT 2022 and IIMA websites for further information.