The eligibility for CAT has hardly changed since 2014 although eligibility criteria required for
pursuing MBA at various IIMs may keep changing. One important point should be taken into
consideration that there exists a ‘Golden Rule’ of ‘Age No Bar’ to appear in CAT exam, IIM MBA
eligibility criteria doesn’t restrict any candidate to seek admission on the basis of age bar. However,
one of the areas of concerns in CAT exam eligibility and IIM MBA eligibility is that although you
are allowed to appear in CAT 2018 exam with 2 years of graduation in old system, one is not
allowed to pursue the management course at IIM unless graduation degree with minimum 3 years
duration is completed. Except this fact CAT eligibility for 2018 and IIM MBA eligibility for 2019-21
course remain the same.
According to the information bulletin released by IIM, a candidate is eligible to appear in CAT if
he/she holds Bachelor’s Degree with at least 50% marks or equivalent CGPA. The required % mark
for the candidates belonging to Scheduled Caste (SC), Scheduled Tribe (ST) and Differently Abled
(DA) categories is only 45.
As most of us are aware that candidates in their final year of Graduation too are eligible to
apply for CAT’18 , If selected, such candidates will be allowed to join the programme
provisionally, only if she/he submits a certificate within 6 months from the Principal/
Registrar of the College/Institute stating that the candidate has completed all the
requirements for obtaining the bachelor’s degree/equivalent qualification on the date of the
issue of the certificate.
Pivotal Points to ensure CAT eligibility 2018
Any age bar or conditions relating to age are not imposed to appear in CAT exam.
One is further allowed to appear in CAT exam even if one has done graduation in old
system of 2 years graduation provided the degree is UGC recognized.
Candidates applying for CAT are required to fulfill one of the following CAT eligibility criteria
–
A. Have completed Bachelor’s degree with the required percentage of marks, or
B. Have completed professional degree (CA/CS/ICWA) with required percentage, or
C. Should be in the final year of Bachelor’s degree with required percentage
The percentage of marks obtained by the candidate is usually calculated based on the
practice followed by the respective University/Institution.
The conversion to percentage of marks in case of grades / CGPA would be based on the
procedure certified by the respective University/ institution in accordance with the CAT
exam eligibility criteria.
The equivalence would be established by dividing the candidate’s CGPA by the maximum
possible CGPA, and multiplying the result with 100 as per the CAT eligibility, if any
University/institution shows inability to follow the predefined schemes for converting CGPA
into equivalent marks,.
Most of us are unlikely to be unaware that mere fulfilment of minimum CAT eligibility criteria
will not ensure consideration for short listing by IIMs.
A notable requirement suggested by IIMs in CAT eligibility is that a valid and unique email
account and a phone number must be declared and maintained by candidates throughout
the selection process.
Eligibility may be verified by IIMs at various stages of the selection process, the details of which are
provided at the website www.iimcat.ac.in.