What are the IIMs' selection criteria?

Search: The Web Rediff

HOME NEWS BUSINESS GET AHEAD CRICKET MOVIES SPORTS SHOPPING MATCHMAKER MOBILE RINGTONES BLOGS JOBS | CARS

Careers Information You Can Use Living Leisure Money Newsletters What's this?

Home > Get Ahead > Careers > Cracking CAT

Get Rediff headlines in Your daily

Aquarius
your inbox ! predictions:

What are the IIMs' selection criteria?

October 25, 2005

What is the weightage given to your performance in the Common

Admission Test, the group discussion and the personal interview if
you want to get admission to an IIM, asked a student in a recent Get
Ahead chat with CAT expert AKRS Srinivas, director of T.I.M.E.,
Mumbai.

This was his answer: "The distribution varies from IIM to IIM.
However, a broad way of distribution is as follows -- written test: 40 to
Article Tools Looking for books on
60 per cent; group discussion and interview: 30 to 40 per
cent, academics and work experience: 10 to 20 per cent." • Career
Email this article

Top emailed links

● • Fiction
CAT: Tips, strategies...more Print this article

Contact the editors • Travel

Srinivas is an alumnus of IIM-Calcutta. He has an engineering degree
in Electronics and Communication from Osmania University and has Discuss this article
• Self-help
worked with Maruti Udyog Limited in Gurgoan, Delhi and Kolkata
before joining T.I.M.E., Hyderabad, as director of the CAT course.
Teaching is his passion and he has been training students for CAT for • Food & Cooking
the last 15 years. Today in Getahead

Fot those of you who missed the chat, here is the transcript:

Vikram: Hi,I have work experience of five years in call centre, 2 years
at the entry level and 2 years as Team Leader i am ataking CAT this
year howver iam facing problem in Quant i am still not confident.My
first qstn is what should do for Quant Secondly should i aim for
abroad what say you which if you can help me with this ,of course
recover my fees by staying in there i mean job scenario as such.

http://in.rediff.com/getahead/2005/oct/25cat.htm (1 of 6)11/16/2005 6:15:33 PM

What are the IIMs' selection criteria?

ARKS Srinivas: Vikram, if you look at CAT for the last few years, you Thank you for the real music
require to score about 10 to12 marks in Quant. Concentrate on key Do you have a yen for pasta?
areas like Geometry, Numbers, Quadratic Equations, Inequalities and Want to ace CAT? Revise
a couple more and you should easily reach that score.
Worried about the new GRE?
Do you speak English well?
Customer care associates for BPO
sheela: How tough was CAT 2004? Study fashion designing at NIFT
Study in Australia
ARKS Srinivas: Hi Sheela. CAT is a relative grading exam. It does
not matter how tough it is. Last year, for instance, people with 52+ Entrepreneurs: Win Rs 2,00,000
marks got calls from the IIMs. How safe are mutual funds?
Today in Cricket

Pakistan tame England in Multan

jackson: Does work experience of 6 months count in any of the IIM's Inzamam delighted with result
for people who have just graduated? Hodge, Symonds for Windies Test

ARKS Srinivas: It does to an extent. However, the IIMs give more Yuvraj's century rescues India
weightage to people with more than one year of work experience. South Africa elect to field
'Tough for Ganguly to return'
India to keep experimenting
England scent victory
narayan: How good is FMS? IS there any cut off in FMS entrance
test? Is that toucher than CAT? How much must one score to get into India-South Africa ODI dossier
FMS SA gunning for record ODI run
Today in Sports
ARKS Srinivas: Hi Narayan, FMS is as good as any of the top 10
institutes. There is, of course, a cut-off. FMS gives more weightage to 'Anger over pullouts justified'
the written test.
James leads Cavaliers to victory
Magath expects Ballack to stay
Portugal held by N. Ireland

vpower: Sir, during the start of mock tests, i used to get great scores Nalbandian overpowers Coria
(alongwith cutoffs) although in the last 3-4 tests my performance has Tajikistan put Pakistan out
dropped. any tips of wat i am doing wrong
Maharashtra down Bengal
ARKS Srinivas: I guess you need to find out what went wrong in the Federer survives Ljubicic scare
last few weeks. Either you have not been studying enough or the 'I played like a champion'
papers are getting difficult. Another reason could be that the tension
Organisers slam Agassi pullout
is slowly building up in you. Relax and concentrate on the exam
instead of the result.

msk: what is the distribution of performance in GD and CAT to get

into IIMs?

ARKS Srinivas: The distribution varies from IIM to IIM. However, a

broad distribution is as follows -- written test: 40 to 60 per cent; GD
and interview: 30 to 40 per cent; academics and work experience: 10
to 20 per cent.

pks: Hello Sir I would like to know what should be the strategy for
those who are weak in maths and data interpretation. What is the
minimum one should attempt to qualify in these two areas. Which

http://in.rediff.com/getahead/2005/oct/25cat.htm (2 of 6)11/16/2005 6:15:33 PM

What are the IIMs' selection criteria?

chapters need to be given more importance to get better marks in

math?pks.

ARKS Srinivas: Hi PKS. This seems to be the general problem. First,

you need to realise that getting about 15 marks in QA would be much
more than sufficient.

To get that, you need to divide Quant into the following areas:
Numbers and Geometry (which should get the most questions), QE
and Progressions, Inequalities, Functions and Graphs (which is
second in line as far as the number of questions expected is
concerned) and then Arithmetic ie ERPV, Percentages, Averages,
Time and Work and Time and Distance.

You can take these eight to nine topics and spend three days on each
of them till the CAT.

hari: Sir, i am studying in XII clas... i would like to know if i could take
the CAT next year to know where i stand....or is there anyother way to
asses my relative performance.

ARKS Srinivas: No Hari, you can take it only in your final year of
graduation.

Jaspinder: Hi ARKS..i want to ask...how much does work ex counts

in the IIM Selection?

ARKS Srinivas: Have answered this. Almost all institutes give it

about 5 to 15 percent weightage.

Manoj: Hello Srinivas, i am working in a software engg (B.Tech-IIT R)

and will take cat next year-2006...so how to plan it from today to next
yr Nov'06.

ARKS Srinivas: Hi Manoj. Since CAT for you is a year away,

concentrate on Reading Comprehension and Verbal Ability. Start
working on Basic Speed Math fundamentals and basics of Math from
January-February. You can join a coaching class sometime in the
January-April period.

rk: Sir should i give mock cats of various coaching classes every day
from now ....or should i revise because i feel test practise is ideal
practise.

ARKS Srinivas: This is a very good question. The purpose of writing

mock tests is to judge where you stand vis-a-vis the junta. It is also a
way to check on whether your strategies are working or not.

Try to improve your performance from mock to mock. Take two mock
tests in a week -- a total of about eight to 10 from now to CAT. That
should be more than enough.

http://in.rediff.com/getahead/2005/oct/25cat.htm (3 of 6)11/16/2005 6:15:33 PM

What are the IIMs' selection criteria?

hi: Hi, I am currently doing Master's in Australia and thinking of going

for IIMs. Do I need to appear for CAT or GMAT?

ARKS Srinivas: You can appear for CAT also. But GMAT would do
for some of the IIMs.

ashirvad: hi ARKS, my strong point is VA/RC. i normally get b/w 25-

30 in mockcats in this section. but those toppers get in the range of
40 and above. im worried since my scores r very low when compared
to them.what should i do to get my score to that level.

ARKS Srinivas: Hi Ashirvad. Though toppers get 40+, it should be

fine even if you score 25 marks as long as you score about 15 to 20
each in the other two sections.

rk: Sir i have people telling me that u shud cross 50 in all mock cats
which i fAil to cross but am working at it ...do u feel i can still make
it ....my accuracy is 80 percent ...n attempt abt 55 to 60 questions.

ARKS Srinivas: At the end of the day, you have to perform on D-day.
Quietly study and do not bother about rumours. If you can do your
best on D-day, you will make it.

dev: Hi Arks .... how to enhance my speed in DI ..i cant attempt mor
than 25 in a 3 sec paper.

ARKS Srinivas: Dev, 25 attempts in a DI section is GOOD.

jairam: I am 36. Is there any age limit for taking CAT exam?

ARKS Srinivas: No, there is none.

srividhya: hello sir, i want to improve in quant and dI.

ARKS Srinivas: Spend about two to three hours each on these areas
for the next 20 days. Every other day, take a slip test on one of these
areas.

Keep analysing each paper and solve as many questions as possible.

This will improve familiarity with the questions and help increase your
marks.

vpower: Sir,my strategy is that i scan the paper across all sections
and mark easy,moderate and difficult. I solve the easy (45 mins)
moderate (40 minutes) and difficult (35 mins) (across all sections). Is

http://in.rediff.com/getahead/2005/oct/25cat.htm (4 of 6)11/16/2005 6:15:33 PM

What are the IIMs' selection criteria?

this a good strategy solving questions across all sections.

ARKS Srinivas: Hi, I think it is better not to waste too much time in
marking the difficulty levels; it is an unproductive job. Divide the paper
into sections and then divide the time accordingly.

sudhir: what is cat?

ARKS Srinivas: Common Admission Test. You need to take it if you

want admission to the best management institutes (IIMs) in the
country. Other management institutes also take CAT scores.

raghav: Sir ,this is raghav. Can please confirm whether quant can be
conquered in these 30 days.

ARKS Srinivas: Yes, Raghav. Very much so.

abhinav_111_sh: what would my percentile be if say i have a score

of 12i in Quant, 18 in DI and 25 in EU+RC. what would have it been if
it ws the score in last year paper n what can it be this year around.

ARKS Srinivas: Should be a comfortable 99.2+ and you should get a

couple of calls from the IIMs.

Thims: I done my doctoral degree and am working for a MNC. Still I

feel to study Business courses. Please advice me.

ARKS Srinivas: Hi Thims, It depends on what you want to do after

that. If you are into research, then management research or teaching
could be an option. However, you need to decide what aspirations
make you think of doing an MBA.

CATnMOUSE: Can someone with 6 yrs of work ex and 10+2+2

education take CAT ?

ARKS Srinivas: I don't think so!

ST: Sir, i would like to know the marks, i would require to atleast get a
call from the IIMs(am a ST canditate).

ARKS Srinivas: ST, the marks will be significantly lower. It could be

in the 80 percentile range for some of the IIMs.

kanasu: Till Now I am able to score aroun 30+ in Mock test having 55
+ as cut off. Do you think I have chance to get in IIMs.

http://in.rediff.com/getahead/2005/oct/25cat.htm (5 of 6)11/16/2005 6:15:33 PM

 What are the IIMs' selection criteria?

ARKS Srinivas: Kanasu, you need to think that you can get it.
Theoretically, if you add one mark per day from now on wards. You
can cross 60. You need to study in a very focused manner. You can
still make it.

DON'T MISS!

● How important is vocabulary

● Do you need an MBA from Wharton?
● 10 tips to ace CAT
● Why English Usage is so important
● Are you good at group discussions?
● Why do you want an MBA?
● Key GD tips, revealed
● Countdown to CAT: A few tips
● CAT 2004: Strategies, tips... more

Share your comments

What do you think about the story?

Read what others have to say:
Number of User Comments: 2

Sub: enquiry

is there way to crack cat in 25days having appeared two times earlier

Posted by pranodbhat

Sub: Can NRIs appear in CAT?

Is there a online test scheme for CAT? I want to appear from London,
possible?

Posted by s das

Disclaimer

HOME NEWS BUSINESS GET AHEAD CRICKET MOVIES SPORTS SHOPPING MATCHMAKER MOBILE RINGTONES BLOGS JOBS | CARS

Copyright © 2005 rediff.com India Limited. All Rights Reserved.

http://in.rediff.com/getahead/2005/oct/25cat.htm (6 of 6)11/16/2005 6:15:33 PM