CAT 2024 : Cutoffs

The expected CAT 2024 cutoffs for admission into the MBA 2025 batch at top IIMs are between 95-100 percentile. For candidates in the General and NC-OBC categories, the cutoff for top IIMs is projected around 98-100 percentile. For SC, ST, and PwD category candidates, the cutoff will be slightly lower. Non-IIM institutes are anticipated to have CAT 2024 cutoffs in the 94-100 percentile range. Each institute will determine its cutoff based on overall candidate performance in the CAT 2024 exam.

Top MBA colleges like FMS, MDI, SPJIMR, IMT, and MICA publish their qualifying CAT cutoffs for shortlisting candidates for the WAT-PI (Written Ability Test and Personal Interview) rounds. However, they do not release the final cutoffs. Many private and public colleges, however, do share their cutoffs in the public domain. It's important for MBA aspirants to know that the cutoffs for top colleges like SPJIMR, IMT, and MDI are typically lower than those for the IIMs.

Key Highlights of CAT 2024 Cut Offs

• For IIMs and top MBA programs, the minimum CAT cutoff is generally around the 90th percentile.
• Cutoffs are highest for premier IIMs, such as IIM Ahmedabad, IIM Bangalore, IIM Calcutta, IIM Lucknow, and IIM Kozhikode, reaching the 99th percentile or above each year.
• Tier 2 MBA colleges usually set their CAT cutoffs around the 70-80 percentile, while Tier 3 colleges accept scores in the 60-70 percentile range.
• CAT 2024 cutoffs are expected to be within similar ranges for these different tiers of MBA colleges.

Expected CAT 2024 Cutoffs

Here’s an estimate of the expected CAT 2024 cutoff scores based on exam difficulty level:

CAT Percentile	VARC Score	DILR Score	QA Score	Overall Score
99.9%	48	36	48	106
99.5%	44	32	32	89
99%	40	28	28	80
98%	36	25	24	71
95%	30	19	19	57
90%	25	16	15	49
85%	21	13	12	40
80%	19	11	10	36
75%	17	10	9	31
70%	15	9	8	29

Key Points to Remember for CAT Cutoffs

• Minimum CAT Cutoff: Candidates must meet the minimum cutoff to qualify for admission consideration at MBA colleges.
• Sectional Cutoffs: Top IIMs also require candidates to clear sectional cutoffs in addition to the overall score.
• High Cutoffs for IIMs: General category cutoffs for top IIMs typically fall between the 98-100 percentile range. For reserved categories, these cutoffs range between 95-98 percentile.
• Non-IIM Cutoffs: Colleges such as FMS, MDI, and SPJIMR set their CAT cutoffs between 90-99 percentile.
• Qualifying vs. Final Cutoffs: IIMs announce the qualifying cutoff before the CAT results are out. The final cutoff, however, is only available to shortlisted candidates when they log in to their accounts.
• Application and Course Preferences: In the CAT application, candidates need to specify their preferred IIMs and courses for consideration during WAT-PI rounds.

Most B-schools use two types of cutoffs to determine eligibility:

1. Qualifying Cutoff: The minimum score required for a candidate to be considered for the GDPI round.
2. Final Cutoff: Based on the overall scores, this is what determines who will receive an admission call.

Factors Determining CAT Cut Offs

The CAT 2024 cutoffs for each institute are based on a few key factors that contribute to the selection process for MBA/PGDM programs. Some of the main factors that impact IIM cutoffs for each category are:

• Difficulty Level of the CAT Exam: Higher difficulty often results in lower cutoffs, while easier exams lead to higher cutoffs.
• Number of Candidates Appearing: The more candidates that sit for the exam, the higher the cutoffs due to increased competition.
• Number of Candidates Passing: Higher pass rates can raise the cutoff, as more candidates qualify for further selection.
• Past CAT Cutoff Trends: Cutoffs are often influenced by previous years’ trends. In top colleges like IIMs, they generally remain at 99+ percentile. For institutes like SPJIMR, MDI, and FMS, cutoffs stay between 95-97 percentile, while for Tier 2 colleges, they hover around the 70-80 percentile range.
• Number of Seats in Each Institute: Fewer seats lead to higher cutoffs, especially in top-rated programs.
• Institute’s National Ranking: Higher-ranked institutes tend to have higher cutoffs, as they attract more applicants.

In general, colleges with historically high cutoffs rarely experience significant drops. This is especially true for top-rated institutions like the IIMs, where cutoffs have consistently been 99+ percentile.

Qualifying CAT Cut Off vs. Final CAT Cut Off

The MBA selection process at IIMs involves two types of CAT cutoffs: the qualifying cutoff and the final cutoff. Here’s a breakdown of their differences:

Qualifying CAT Cut Offs	Final CAT Cut Offs
Also known as the IIM eligibility or shortlist cutoffs, this is the minimum percentile needed to qualify for the PI shortlist (i.e., the WAT/GD-PI round).	Also called the IIM call cutoffs, these are the minimum percentiles required to actually receive an interview call for the WAT/GD-PI round.
Meeting the qualifying cutoff does not guarantee a WAT/GD-PI round invitation.	Meeting the final cutoff does not ensure admission.
Set before the CAT results are announced.	Determined after the CAT results are declared.
Announced by each IIM in its admission criteria and selection process notification for that academic year.	The final cutoffs are not officially disclosed by IIMs or other top MBA institutes.
Generally, the qualifying cutoffs are over 90 percentile for most IIMs, although IIM Ahmedabad’s cutoff has been around 85 percentile in recent years.	Final cutoffs are typically 99+ percentile for top IIMs and 95+ percentile for the newer IIMs.
Both sectional and overall cutoffs apply to qualifying cutoffs.	The final cutoffs also have sectional and overall requirements.
Set according to categories: General category cutoffs are usually around 90 percentile, while reserved categories may have cutoffs around 70 or lower.	Final cutoffs are also category-based. General category male students from engineering backgrounds typically face higher cutoffs than female students, non-engineering candidates, or those from reserved categories.

CAT Cut Offs 2024 for IIM Admission

For 2024, the CAT cutoffs for IIM admissions are expected to range between 95-100 percentile for General category candidates. The top six IIMs are likely to have cutoffs reaching as high as 99.99 or even 100 percentile, while the newer IIMs could have cutoffs between 95-97 percentile. Additionally, the CAT cutoff for IIM Mumbai (formerly NITIE Mumbai) is anticipated to be around 94 percentile.

Below is a table showing the qualifying CAT 2024 cutoffs for IIM admission. These cutoffs are estimates based on previous trends and apply to admissions for the 2025 intake.

IIM	Qualifying CAT Cutoff
IIM Ahmedabad	85
IIM Bangalore	85
IIM Calcutta	85
IIM Lucknow	90
IIM Indore	90
IIM Kozhikode	85
IIM Amritsar	90
IIM Nagpur	85
IIM Sambalpur	93
IIM Trichy	93
IIM Raipur	93
IIM Ranchi	90
IIM Kashipur	94
IIM Vizag	80
IIM Udaipur	93
IIM Bodhgaya	93
IIM Shillong	75
IIM Sirmaur	92
IIM Rohtak	95
IIM Jammu	93

Expected Final CAT Cut Offs 2024 for IIMs

The final CAT cutoffs are generally much higher, especially for General category candidates. These are the percentile estimates that candidates must achieve to receive interview calls. While cutoffs for General category applicants remain high, ranging 98-100 percentile for top IIMs, reserved category candidates benefit from a lower cutoff.

Here’s a table with the expected final CAT cutoffs for the 2024 admissions cycle:

IIM	Expected CAT Cutoff (Percentile)
IIM Ahmedabad	99-100
IIM Bangalore	99-100
IIM Calcutta	99
IIM Lucknow	97-98
IIM Indore	97-98
IIM Kozhikode	97-98
IIM Amritsar	95-96
IIM Nagpur	95-96
IIM Sambalpur	95-96
IIM Trichy	94-95
IIM Raipur	94-95
IIM Ranchi	94-95
IIM Kashipur	94-95
IIM Vizag	92-94
IIM Rohtak	92-94
IIM Udaipur	92-94
IIM Bodhgaya	92-94
IIM Shillong	90
IIM Sirmaur	90
IIM Jammu	90
IIM Mumbai	90

CAT Cut Off 2024 for Top MBA Colleges (Non-IIM)

While the CAT cut-offs for the top MBA colleges outside the IIMs are slightly lower, they’re still quite high. Most leading MBA institutions have CAT cut-offs at or above the 95 percentile. However, some colleges ranked by NIRF admit students with CAT percentiles in the 70-80 range.

Below are the expected CAT 2024 cut-off percentiles for General category students seeking admission to some of the top non-IIM MBA colleges for the 2025 intake:

Top MBA College	Expected CAT Cut-Off (Percentile)
FMS, Delhi	98-99
IIFT, Delhi	95-99
SPJIMR, Mumbai	95-99
IMT, Ghaziabad	95-97
JBIMS, Mumbai	96
MDI, Gurgaon	97-99
IMI, New Delhi	90
XIM, Bhubaneswar	91
GIM, Goa	85
K J Somaiya, Mumbai	86
TAPMI, Manipal	80
FORE, New Delhi	85
IFMR, Chennai	80
IRMA, Anand	80
MICA, Ahmedabad	80
LIBA, Chennai	70
XIME, Bangalore	70

CAT Cut Off: Score vs. Percentile

For MBA admissions, most B-schools look at the CAT percentile rather than the raw score. Percentiles indicate a candidate’s rank compared to others. To ensure fairness across different sessions, raw scores are converted into percentiles so that no one is advantaged by a potentially easier exam session.

While scoring high on the CAT is essential, the percentile also depends on the number of candidates taking the test and the overall difficulty level. Here’s an estimated range of CAT scores and their corresponding percentiles:

Percentile	VARC	DILR	QA	Overall Score
99.5 %ile	44	36	39	101
99 %ile	41	31	36	91
98 %ile	35	28	31	80
95 %ile	29	22	24	66
90 %ile	24	18	17	53
85 %ile	20	15	14	45
80 %ile	17	13	11	40

Previous Years' CAT Cut-Offs for Top IIMs

Over the years, CAT cut-offs for the top IIMs have consistently increased, making them highly competitive. Below are some past cut-off trends based on official data and RTI findings.

CAT 2019 Cut-Offs

At IIM Bodh Gaya, the 2019 CAT cut-off for General category male candidates was set at 91 percentile. The table below outlines the sectional cut-offs for all categories:

IIM Bodh Gaya Cut-Off 2019 (Male Candidates)

Category	Overall CAT Cut-Off	QA	DILR	VARC
General	91	80	80	80
EWS	70	60	60	60
NC-OBC	73	60	60	60
SC	50	45	45	45
ST	38	30	30	30
PWD	35	30	30	30

For female candidates, the cut-off percentages for IIM Bodh Gaya were slightly lower in 2019:

IIM Bodh Gaya Cut-Off 2019 (Female Candidates)

Category	Overall CAT Cut-Off	QA	DILR	VARC
General	88	75	75	75
EWS	70	55	55	55
NC-OBC	70	60	60	60
SC	50	43	43	43
ST	35	30	30	30

CAT 2018 Cut-Offs

Below are the CAT 2018 cut-offs for some of the top IIMs:

IIMs	CAT 2018 Cut-Off (Percentile)
IIM Ahmedabad	81.53
IIM Bangalore	90+
IIM Calcutta	95+
IIM Lucknow	90+
IIM Indore	90
IIM Kozhikode	95.5
IIM Rohtak	90+
IIM Trichy	96
IIM Udaipur	90

Category-Wise CAT Cut-Offs for IIMs (2017 & 2016)

In previous years, cut-offs varied by category. Here’s a glimpse of the 2017 and 2016 cut-offs for some of the top IIMs:

IIM Ahmedabad CAT Cut-Offs (2017 & 2016)

Category	2017 Cut-Off	2016 Cut-Off
General	100	100
NC-OBC	100	99.99
SC	99.82	99.97
ST	99.92	99.88
DA	99.28	99.97

IIM Bangalore CAT Cut-Offs (2017 & 2016)

Category	2017 Cut-Off	2016 Cut-Off
General	90.72	92.48
NC-OBC	81.48	81.14
SC	75.22	76.35
ST	70.01	75.22
DA	64.21	76.21

IIM Kozhikode CAT Cut-Offs (2017 & 2016)

Category	2017 Cut-Off	2016 Cut-Off
General	95.16	94.82
NC-OBC	80.19	81.14
SC	65.03	65.56
ST	55.28	55.23
DA	56.02	55.86

CAT Cut-Offs: IIM Admission and Selection Criteria

After the CAT 2024 results, IIMs will initiate the admission process for MBA/PGP programs. Candidates meeting the required cut-off are eligible for the WAT/GD-PI rounds. Each IIM has its own selection process, generally comprising three steps: CAT score-based shortlisting, WAT/GD-PI round, and the final selection.

Upon receiving an invitation for the WAT/GD-PI round, candidates must present the following documents:

• Original and self-attested photocopies of Class 10, Class 12, and Graduation mark sheets.
• Original and self-attested photocopies of caste/class and/or disability certificates (for SC, ST, NC-OBC, and PwD categories).
• Final-year Bachelor’s degree candidates must present a certificate from their institution confirming that they’ve obtained at least 50% aggregate or equivalent marks (45% for SC, ST, and PwD candidates) based on the latest available grades/marks.