For converting your call into admission just passing out with flying colors in CAT is not
sufficient enough, you need to have a strong profile too. Having a reputable profile for aspirants willing to study management plays a key role during the interview (especially some top Indian Institute of Management, Indian School of Business). Candidates with an excellent academic background stand a better chance of getting selected. But, what about those whose academic background is average? No need to worry if you are from the latter category this blog is written for you guys only, there are few strategies that will help you build an exceptional profile.
Decent academic background
Academics do matter in IIMs especially if you are aiming for the top ones, IIM Ahmedabad
has certain criteria related to past academic background, IIM Ahmedabad gives 30%
weightage to past academic and 70% weightage to CAT scores, your past work experience, internships with some reputable firms also matters during the selection procedure. For more details regarding the weightage of past academics, you can visit
'https://www.iima.ac.in/web/pgp/apply/domestic/admission/selection-process/
When it comes to IIM Bangalore they strictly focus on your consistency, performance in past academic and work experience. IIM Bangalore gives weightage to multiple aspects like your past academic performance in high school, Intermediate and graduation score, CAT score, Internships, past work experience, and performance in the interview, for more details regarding the weightage of past academics you can visit
https://www.iimb.ac.in/programmes/nsrpredoc/faqs
Talking about IIM Calcutta your work experience and graduation score doesn’t play any role everything solely depends upon your CAT score and class X and XII marks which should be above 80% For more details regarding the weightage of past academics you can visit
https://www.iimcal.ac.in/programs/pgp/admission/admission-policy/admission-procedure-for-domestic-candidates
By this time, you must have got the idea about the past culture of top IIMs (A, B, C) and the way they treat your academic background. No need to worry if your high school scores or graduation scores are not up to the mark there are still many golden opportunities lying for you ahead, just chin up.
Work experience
Let your work speak for you, having up to scratch work experience profile is capable enough of giving you a slight edge over others despite low academics in some cases, most IIMs and other prestigious B-schools give weightage to work experience ranging from 5% to 15%. Personal interviews can be intimidating but if you have decent work experience you can easily steer the interview towards your work profile moreover if you have any remarkable achievements at your workplace it’s an add-on to your profile.
Sports spike
Gone are the days when people used to say “you will ruin your career if you play”; just turn around and tell them your sport is going to take you to top B-schools of the country. Yes, you heard it right, IIMs do give preference to candidates belonging to sports background. But that does not mean representing your school at any sports is going to be your admission call for IIMs, the order of preference is International level, National level, state-level,district-level, college level, others. Along with your CAT score and past academic background, your extra-curricular activities also play an important during a personal interview, especially if you have represented your country.
Diversity factor
Lately, IIMs have approached a very unique method for admission criteria in order to give
high weightage to the non-engineer candidates. There is an example of a candidate who
managed to score 72%ile with B. Tech in agriculture background this gave him an edge over others to secure a seat in the top B-school of the country. Not only academic diversity IIMs give importance to gender diversity too, at the time of shortlisting extra points are given to female candidates. Over the past few years, there has been an exponential rise in the number of female candidates appearing and securing a seat at the top B-school of their choice, and this number is expected to rise in upcoming years.
Social activities
Another way to improve your profile is by taking up a serious position at an NGO. In some
instances having an NGO, experience works in your favor, more than which NGO you choose to game up your profile, your position at that particular NGO plays a key role; it depicts your leadership quality. working with an NGO that has global reach also helps in building your profile. You can also do internships from premium world institutes such as from the University of Columbia, University of Pennsylvania, Cornell University, and many others from Ivy league, It will surely give you some brownie points.
Other Top B-schools of the country
Keeping unrealistic expectations can get insidious for you. Who does not want to study in
those prestigious classrooms of IIMs? But in reality very few get this pride, that does not
mean the rest need to lose hope. Just choose the smarter way, there are many other B-school in our country about which people have little knowledge. FMS Delhi, MDI, JBIMS, NITIE, SP Jain, XLRI, and IITs don’t give much emphasis on past academics. Getting percentile somewhere near 99.7+ can fetch you an interview call from these institutes. In fact, there are few baby IIMs also who take admission solely based on your CAT score. So, it’s better to look for other better options available rather than wasting your time in guilt just because you were not able to perform well in your X, XII, or graduation. Now you have the chance to prove yourself, give your 100% in CAT, and make your dream of studying at the top B-school in the country come true.
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