Xth, XIIth, UG Scores and chances of IIM calls

Xth, XIIth, UG Scores and chances of IIM call is an age old question, which we will try to answer.

A gem of an article from the past, written in 2014 by Rajesh, since back then, he received a lot of queries from the students regarding their past academics and IIM calls (still does). However, we have added some flavours to make it more relevant to the current scenario.

Working in the CAT Prep industry comes with its own obligations. Helping students with their queries being one among them. And, there’s this one very specific query that pops up a LOT, and goes something like this

Hi, I have scored XX in 10th std, YY in 12th std, and ZZ in UG, What are my chances of getting into the IIMs, especially A, B, C, I, L, K? 

– CAT aspirants

What I think about this?

I am going to start with a quote from Donald Rumsfeld for this one “There are known knowns. These are things we know that we know. There are known unknowns. That is to say, there are things that we know we don’t know. But there are also unknown unknowns. There are things we don’t know we don’t know”.

Now, why have I written all this? This question, and its sister-questions, cousin-variants, nephews-nieces etc. can all be categorized under “No need to know unknowns”.

Suppose I were to tell you that to get a call from IIM B, C and L you will need to have 99.68, 99.71 and 99.23 with your profile, how exactly will it influence your CAT preparation? Further, let us say, you have attempted 82 questions in the paper with 10 minutes to go. You know that with this attempt number, you should be able to get 99.73. Will you stop right there and say, “I can take rest now. I don’t need any more marks.”

I took my first CAT (a relevant one) in 2000. Back then, the exam was paper-based. There were no percentile scores, no section updates, no new or baby IIMs. We guys took CAT in December. By about February, IIM A, B, C, L, I, K would post their interview invites by snail mail (no email either). So, if you did not receive that post, you can assume you just missed out. So, you had to keep the postman in good spirits. There are endless stories of guys nearly missing out on interviews because the post got mixed up.

Paralysis by Analysis

Now, thanks to this surfeit of information available, there is this enormous temptation to analyze everything and try to get some ‘certainty’. Whether this question gets 100 replies or 1000 replies, whether ‘experts’ chip in or experienced candidates share their ‘wisdom’, you are no more likely to know an exact target or a surefire solution than you were before.

So, forget about this, put your head down and prepare for the exam. There is one thing that you can be sure of. Ceteris Paribus, a higher CAT score will give a candidate a higher chance of getting any admits.

What are the chances of IIM Calls?

As far as your question is concerned, for IIM A, B, C you need 99.7+, for IIM I, L, K you probably have a shot with 99.5+. 95+ should give you a shot with the new and baby IIMs. If you are thinking, why couldn’t this guy have given this last paragraph without going on a rant? Where is the joy in that?

Caveat: CAT 2019 season threw in a lot of surprises. A few 99.5+ or 99.7+ percentilers did not receive any calls from certain (old) IIMs, instead, some candidates with lesser percentile got calls. Looks like IIMs have finally figured out a mechanism to pick the most suitable candidates through a black box of selection criteria. This does not mean you now have excuses to aim low. Aim for the highest as always.

Adding to the above facts, we have dedicated the following videos (From the archives), in a tribute to Hitchhiker’s Guide to the galaxy more or less says the answer to this question is 42.

Fun fact – Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy turns 42 this year!

This one’s more recent, but nonetheless the gist remains the same.

It must be obvious now, only certainties in life are death and taxes.

Rajesh Balasubramanian takes the CAT every year and is a 4-time CAT 100 percentiler. He likes few things more than teaching Math and insists to this day that he is a better teacher than exam-taker.