The school recently revised its admission criteria for its postgraduate program. If you’re considering your application, you need to pay close attention to the changes to give yourself the best chance of admission.
Here’s our breakdown of the application process, what’s changed, and what this means for applicants.
First, what is the IIM Bangalore Post Graduate Programme in Management?
The Post Graduate Program in Management (PGP) is a master's level program, culminating in the award of a Master of Business Administration degree.
This two-year, full-time residential program is designed to prepare students for leadership positions in an ever-evolving global business landscape.
The curriculum spans six trimesters over two years, with a summer project in between.
How does the admission process for IIM Bangalore work?
IIM Bangalore has a two-phase selection process for its PGP.
The initial phase of the selection process applies to all eligible candidates who participate in the Common Admission Test (CAT 2023). These candidates are shortlisted to determine the individuals to be invited for a personal interview (PI).
The second phase of the selection process refers to when those candidates who are chosen for the personal interview are also mandated to complete a Writing Ability Test (WAT), which is administered by the institute.
What factors does IIM Bangalore consider?
IIMs employ a multifaceted approach to selecting candidates, taking into account their CAT score, performance in Written Ability Test (WAT), Group Discussion (GD), and Personal Interviews (PI).
IIM Bangalore also examines applicants’ academic achievements in Class 10 and 12, undergraduate degree, and section-wide CAT scores.
Additionally, the institute considers relevant work experience in its selection process.
How has the IIM Bangalore admission process changed in 2023?
Under the revised admission policy, the weightage assigned to the personal interview has been increased from 35% to 40% this year, underscoring the pivotal role of the PI in the admissions process.
At the same time, the institute has scaled back the significance of marks obtained in Classes 10 and 12 during the initial shortlisting phase. This has reduced their weightage from 15% to 10% each.
In the final phase, the weight attributed to Class 10 and Class 12 marks has been further decreased from 10% to 5%.
IIM Bangalore has also reinstated the use of graduation marks as a factor in both the selection and final phases of MBA admission.
Graduation marks will now carry a weightage of 10% in the selection phase and 5% in the final phase. It's worth noting that this component was excluded from the admission policy in 2022.
The decision to reintroduce graduation marks, along with the distribution of weightage among various components, is based on data from previous admission cycles and feedback from the IIMB faculty and other relevant stakeholders.
Other components such as CAT scores, gender diversity, writing ability test, and work experience will maintain the same weightage as in the previous year's admission process.
A summary of the final phase selection criteria for IIM Bangalore
In the final phase selection criteria for IIM Bangalore, the following components and their respective weightages are considered:
- CAT 2023 score: 25%
- Class 10 marks: 5%
- Class 12 marks: 5%
- Graduation marks: 5%
- Work Experience: 10%
- Writing Ability Test: 10%
- Personal Interview: 40%
Do I need to take the CAT to get into IIM Bangalore?
The CAT is a big part of the admission process for the PGP at IIM Bangalore.
This year, the IIMs witnessed a historic surge in the number of CAT registrations. According to Professor Sanjeet Singh, the exam convener, approximately 3.3 lakh candidates registered for CAT 2023.
This marks a significant increase compared to the 2.55 lakh candidates who registered last year and the 2.31 lakh applicants in 2021.
This record-breaking number of registrations demonstrates the growing interest and participation in the CAT examination since its inception in 1977.
Image by Trilok Rangan, used under this license.
