IIM Ahmedabad Selection Criteria 2025: Check Selection Process
Summary: This blog will help prospective students who want to understand in detail the IIM Ahmedabad Selection Criteria 2025 for the two-year Postgraduate Programme in Management (PGP).
IIM Ahmedabad Selection Criteria: In this blog, we are going to take a closer look at the selection process for IIM Ahmedabad. We will break down the key factors that come into play, like your academic performance, entrance exam scores, and personal interviews. We will also learn about how work experience and extracurricular activities can influence your application and what you can do to strengthen your profile.
IIM Ahmedabad Selection Criteria 2025: Process in Detail
The admission and selection process for candidates applying to the PGP at IIMA for the 2025-27 Batch involves two main steps.
Initially, candidates who have a valid CAT-2024 score, have completed their application to the program, and fulfil the eligibility requirements will be shortlisted for the Analytical Writing Test (AWT) and Personal Interview (PI).
Important Note: Foreign nationals holding a foreign passport and residing in India are required to have taken either the test-centre-administered GMAT Focus Edition or the GMAT Exam in its previous format. They should apply under the Supernumerary Quota category. For further information, please refer to the following URL: https://iima.ac.in/index.php/academics/mba/admissions/international.
Read More: CAT Result 2024: Check CAT Score & Percentile @iimcat.ac.in
IIM Ahmedabad Selection Criteria 2025: Shortlisting and Selection Criteria
1. Preliminary Screening
In CAT-2024, there are three sections: ‘Quantitative Ability’ (QA), ‘Data Interpretation & Logical Reasoning’ (DILR), and ‘Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension’ (VARC). Candidates must meet or exceed the specified minimum cut-offs for sectional percentile ranks, achieve a satisfactory overall percentile rank, and secure a positive raw score (greater than zero) in each section of CAT-2024 to be eligible for further stages.
Table 1: Minimum Cut-offs of CAT-2024 Percentile Ranks
| Category | Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension percentile rank (PVARC) | Data Interpretation & Logical Reasoning percentile rank (PDILR) | Quantitative Ability percentile rank (PQA) | Overall percentile rank (PT) |
| General/ EWS | 70 | 70 | 70 | 80 |
| NC-OBC /Transgender | 65 | 65 | 65 | 75 |
| SC | 60 | 60 | 60 | 70 |
| ST | 50 | 50 | 50 | 60 |
| PwD (in General/ EWS/ NC-OBC/ Transgender/ SC) | 60 | 60 | 60 | 70 |
| PwD (in ST) | 50 | 50 | 50 | 60 |
The IIM Ahmedabad selection Criteria mandates that during various phases of the selection process, candidates will be evaluated using an ‘Application Rating’ (AR) score. This score is the total of five individual rating scores: ‘A’, ‘B’, ‘C’, ‘D’, and ‘E’. Scores A, B, C, and D reflect the percentage of marks earned in the 10th grade, the 12th grade (with variations based on whether the candidate studied ‘Science’, ‘Commerce’, or ‘Arts & Humanities’), the bachelor’s degree (with distinctions based on the specific discipline), and work experience as of July 31, 2024. The gender diversity score, labelled as E, assigns a score of 0 to male candidates and a score of 2 to all other candidates.
Read More: CAT Cutoff
Table 2: Rating Scores- 10th Std. Examination (Rating Score A)
| Percent score in 10th Std. Exam | Rating Score A |
| <= 55 | 1 |
| > 55 and <= 60 | 2 |
| > 60 and <= 70 | 3 |
| > 70 and <= 80 | 5 |
| > 80 and <= 90 | 8 |
| > 90 | 10 |
Table 3: Rating Scores – 12th Std. Examination (Rating Score B)
| Science Stream | Commerce Stream | Arts/Humanities Stream | |||
| Percent score in 12th Std. | Rating Score
B |
Percent score in 12th Std. Exam | Rating Score
B |
Percent score in 12th Std. Exam | Rating Score
B |
| <= 55 | 1 | <= 50 | 1 | <= 45 | 1 |
| > 55 and <= 60 | 2 | > 50 and <= 55 | 2 | > 45 and <= 50 | 2 |
| > 60 and <= 70 | 3 | > 55 and <= 65 | 3 | > 50 and <= 60 | 3 |
| > 70 and <= 80 | 5 | > 65 and <= 75 | 5 | > 60 and <= 70 | 5 |
| > 80 and <= 90 | 8 | > 75 and <= 90 | 8 | > 70 and <= 85 | 8 |
| > 90 | 10 | > 90 | 10 | > 85 | 10 |
Table 4: Rating Scores – Bachelor’s Degree Examination (Rating Score C)
| AC-1 | AC-2 | AC-3 | |||
| Percent score in Bachelor’s Degree | Rating Score
C |
Percent score in Professional courses | Rating Score
C |
Percent score in Bachelor’s Degree | Rating Score
C |
| <= 55 | 1 | <= 50 | 1 | <= 55 | 1 |
| > 55 and <= 60 | 2 | > 50 and <= 53 | 2 | > 55 and <= 60 | 2 |
| > 60 and <= 62 | 3 | > 53 and <= 55 | 3 | > 60 and <= 65 | 3 |
| > 62 and <= 65 | 5 | > 55 and <= 57 | 5 | > 65 and <= 70 | 5 |
| > 65 and <= 70 | 8 | > 57 and <= 63 | 8 | > 70 and <= 80 | 8 |
| > 70 | 10 | > 63 | 10 | > 80 | 10 |
| AC-4 & AC-6 | AC-5 | ||
| Percent score in Bachelor’s Degree | Rating Score C | Percent score in Bachelor’s Degree | Rating Score
C |
| <= 60 | 1 | <= 50 | 1 |
| > 60 and <= 65 | 2 | > 50 and <= 55 | 2 |
| > 65 and <= 70 | 3 | > 55 and <= 60 | 3 |
| > 70 and <= 75 | 5 | > 60 and <= 65 | 5 |
| > 75 and <= 85 | 8 | > 65 and <= 75 | 8 |
| > 85 | 10 | > 75 | 10 |
Read More: Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad Placement 2024
Table 5: Rating Scores- Work Experience (Rating Score D)
| Work Experience in Month (as filled in the CAT Application Form) | Rating Score D |
| < 12 months | 0 |
| >= 12 and <= 36 months | MF * (number of months of work experience – 11) |
| > 36 months | 5 |
Work-experience Multiplication Factor (MF) = 0.20
Application Rating Score: AR= (A+B+C+D+E)
The normalized applicant AR score is calculated by taking the individual’s AR score and dividing it by the average of the top 50 AR scores within the applicant pool, which consists of candidates who applied to IIMA and took the test for CAT-2024.
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2. IIM Ahmedabad Selection Criteria 2025: Shortlisting for AWT & PI
Shortlisting will be carried out in two stages.
Stage 1:
IIMA aims to identify outstanding candidates based on their previous academic achievements and CAT performance, regardless of their academic backgrounds. To achieve this, top applicants from various academic disciplines are chosen for the AWT and PI, determined by their composite score (CS), while adhering to specific eligibility criteria.
For each academic category (AC), if the number of applicants from the SC/ST/NC-OBC/PwD categories who take CAT-2024 is at least 100, the leading 5% of candidates within each category (General/SC/ST/NC-OBC/PwD) will be shortlisted for AWT and PI according to their CS. This selection will be made while observing the upper limits specified in Table 6 and ensuring that candidates meet criteria C1-C3.
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Table 6a: The upper limits (UL) on the number of candidates to be shortlisted per RC for AC-1, AC-2, AC-3, AC-5
| Category | Upper Limit (UL) Per ACRC |
| General | 100 |
| NC-OBC/Transgender | 57 |
| SC | 32 |
| ST | 16 |
| PwD | 6 |
Table 6b: The upper limits (UL) on the number of candidates to be shortlisted per RC for AC-4
| Category | Upper Limit (UL) Per ACRC |
| General | 150 |
| NC-OBC/Transgender | 85 |
| SC | 48 |
| ST | 24 |
| PwD | 9 |
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- IIM Ahmedabad maintains the authority to modify the Shortlisting and IIM Ahmedabad Selection Criteria whenever deemed necessary.
2. 5% or the values presented in Table 6a, whichever is smaller.
3. 5% or the values presented in Table 6b, whichever is smaller.
IIM Ahmedabad Selection Criteria 2025- Criteria C1-C3:
To be eligible for admission, candidates must meet specific minimum scores for various aspects of the IIM Ahmedabad selection criteria 2025. Firstly, marks for certain assessments (PVARC, PDILR, PQA, and PT) must not fall below set thresholds. Additionally, as outlined in the specified table, the average percentage of marks from the 10th and 12th grades must meet minimum cut-offs based on the applicant’s category (General, SC, ST, etc.). For bachelor’s degree marks, candidates need to achieve at least the 80th percentile within their applicant group. If fewer than 100 candidates from specific categories apply, the evaluation will focus on the top performers based on a composite score, leading to further interview selection.
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IIM Ahmedabad Selection Criteria 2025- C4-C6:
To qualify, candidates need to meet the following criteria:
- C4: PT ≥ 80, PQA ≥ 70, PDILR ≥ 70 and PVARC ≥ 70.
- C5: Have an average score of at least 80% in Science, 77% in Commerce, or 75% in Arts/Humanities based on the 10th and 12th grade marks.
- C6: To qualify, the percentage of marks obtained in the bachelor’s examination must meet or exceed the minimum cut-off percentage, which will be determined at the 80th percentile based on the marks of candidates within the relevant AC group of the applicant pool. This applicant pool consists of candidates who take CAT-2024, apply to IIM Ahmedabad, and belong to the associated AC.
Please note that for AC 1, distinct shortlists will be created by calculating a Composite Score (CS) based on an 80th percentile cutoff for bachelor’s degree marks, applying the C3 and C6 criteria for Part I and Part II, respectively.
Stage 2: After selecting candidates from Stage 1 across all categories (General, NC-OBC, SC, ST, and PWD), additional candidates will be shortlisted for AWT & PI based on their composite score (CS), provided they meet the criteria of C1 – C2.
3. IIM Ahmedabad Selection Criteria 2025- Final Selection
The selection process at this stage will focus solely on shortlisting candidates for each category (General/SC/ST/NC-OBC/PwD) according to their ‘Final Composite Score’ (FCS). The number of candidates chosen from each reservation category will adhere to the proportions mandated by law.
IIM Ahmedabad Selection Criteria 2025- Important information:
IIMA will be holding its Analytical Writing Tests and Personal Interviews (AWT & PIs) in several cities, including Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Mumbai, and New Delhi. As part of the CAT application process, candidates must select two cities where they wish to attend the AWT and PI. If you are shortlisted for these assessments, you can expect an email notification around the second week of January 2025.
Additionally, candidates applying to IIMA’s Post-graduate Programme can check their shortlisting status by visiting the IIMA website (www.iima.ac.in), also in the second week of January 2025. Please note that regret letters will not be sent to those who are not shortlisted for the AWT and PI.
