MBA aspirants often have several questions before the admission test. How important are the CAT scores? Will poor academic scores hamper admissions? How important is it to have work experience before pursuing an MBA?
In this explainer video, T.I.M.E. Chennai Centre Director Arvind Mantry says, “There are 12 IIMs which give 100 per cent weightage to the CAT score, such as IIM Trichy, Rohtak and Udaipur. Three IIMs — Ahmedabad, Kozhikode and Lucknow — give CAT scores 60-80 per cent weightage. IIM Bangalore, Calcutta and Visakhapatnam give 40-60 weightage to CAT score, while the IIMs at Indore and Nagpur give less than 40 per cent weightage.”
On the importance of work experience, Mantry says, “Almost 40 per cent of the students studying at IIMs are fresh graduates. In the first stage of the admission process, there are 16 IIMs that give zero weightage to work experience, three give 5-10 per cent and only one IIM assigns more than 10 per cent weight to work-ex.”
“Even if you secure a rank of around 45,000-50,000, you can still get a seat in a B-School where the average salary is ₹10 lakh.”