What CAT percentile is needed for IIM Ahmedabad MBA admission 2027?

The announced minimum for General and EWS is 95 overall percentile. You also need 85 percentile in each of the three sections. The actual interview call score runs much higher than this floor.

Is CAT compulsory, or does IIM Ahmedabad accept GMAT and GRE?

CAT is compulsory for the two-year MBA and MBA-FABM for Indian candidates. GMAT or GRE is used only for MBA-PGPX and the Dubai one-year MBA. Foreign passport holders may use a test centre GMAT under the Supernumerary Quota.

Can final year students apply for IIM Ahmedabad MBA 2027?

Yes, final year students can apply. They must submit a certificate from their principal or registrar confirming their status. Admission stays provisional until the degree marksheet is submitted.

How is the final merit list calculated at IIM Ahmedabad?

The Final Composite Score gives 50% to the Personal Interview. CAT carries 25%, the Application Rating carries 15% and the AWT carries 10%. Selection is done separately within each reservation category.

Is work experience necessary for IIM Ahmedabad MBA admission?

No, freshers are eligible and are admitted every year. Work experience only adds points to the Application Rating score. You need at least 12 months to score anything, and 36 months to score the maximum 5 points.

Is direct admission or management quota available at IIM Ahmedabad?

No. IIM Ahmedabad admits strictly on merit through the published selection process. There is no management quota, donation seat or direct admission route.

What is the application fee for IIM Ahmedabad MBA admission 2027?

IIM Ahmedabad does not charge a separate MBA application fee. You pay the CAT 2026 registration fee of INR 2,700. SC, ST and PwD candidates pay INR 1,350.

What is the IIM Ahmedabad MBA fee?

The programme fee was INR 27,50,000 for the 2025-27 MBA batch. This included tuition of INR 20,10,000. The fee for the 2027-29 batch will be announced later and is subject to revision.

How many students does IIM Ahmedabad admit every year?

IIM Ahmedabad inducted 458 students in June 2026. Of these, 414 joined the flagship MBA and 44 joined MBA-FABM. Intake is not a fixed sanctioned figure and shifts slightly each year.

Does IIM Ahmedabad give extra marks to female candidates?

Yes. All non-male candidates receive a gender diversity score of 3 points. This is added into the Application Rating score used at both stages.

IIM Ahmedabad Final Composite Score 2027: Calculation, Weightage & Selection Criteria

IIM Ahmedabad Application Rating (AR) score is a profile score. It decides who is shortlisted for AWT and PI. The AR score adds five rating scores: A, B, C, D and E. They cover Class 10, Class 12, graduation, work experience and gender.

The maximum AR score for the PGP 2026-28 batch is 38. Academics alone carry 30 of those 38 points. Work experience adds up to 5 points. Gender diversity adds 3 points.

The AR score carries 35% weight at the shortlisting stage. That stage decides the Analytical Writing Test and Personal Interview calls. Its weight falls to 15% at the final selection stage. The full method is published on the IIMA admissions page at iima.ac.in.

DO Check: IIM Ahmedabad MBA Admission Policy 2027

IIM Ahmedabad Final Composite Score 2027: Calculation, Weightage & Selection Criteria

IIM Ahmedabad Application Rating Score Components and Maximum Points

Each of the five rating scores has its own point table. The AR score is simply their total.

Rating Score	Based On	Maximum Points
A	Class 10 percentage	10
B	Class 12 percentage, stream-wise	10
C	Bachelor's degree percentage, discipline-wise	10
D	Work experience in months	5
E	Gender diversity	3
AR	A plus B plus C plus D plus E	38

A male candidate can therefore reach a maximum of 35. Only rating score D can be a decimal.

Class 10 Marks: Rating Score A

Rating score A uses the percentage scored in the Class 10 board examination. The same table applies to every stream and every category.

Percentage in Class 10	Rating Score A
Above 90	10
Above 80 up to 90	8
Above 70 up to 80	5
Above 60 up to 70	3
Above 55 up to 60	2
55 or below	1

The jump to 10 points needs more than 90 percent. A candidate at exactly 90 percent gets 8 points.

Read More: IIM Ahmedabad Placement

Class 12 Marks: Rating Score B by Stream

Rating score B changes with the stream studied in Class 12. Arts and Humanities candidates reach each slab at lower marks.

Rating Score B	Science	Commerce	Arts and Humanities
10	Above 90	Above 90	Above 85
8	Above 80 up to 90	Above 75 up to 90	Above 70 up to 85
5	Above 70 up to 80	Above 65 up to 75	Above 60 up to 70
3	Above 60 up to 70	Above 55 up to 65	Above 50 up to 60
2	Above 55 up to 60	Above 50 up to 55	Above 45 up to 50
1	55 or below	50 or below	45 or below

Example: A score of 72 percent is worth 5 points in Science. The same 72 percent is worth 8 points in Arts and Humanities.

Check: IIM Ahmedabad Scholarship 2026

Check: IIM Ahmedabad Courses & Fees 2027

Bachelor's Degree Marks: Rating Score C by Academic Category

Rating score C depends on the discipline of the bachelor's degree. IIMA sorts every degree into six Academic Categories, marked AC-1 to AC-6.

Rating Score C	AC-1	AC-2	AC-3
10	Above 70	Above 63	Above 80
8	Above 65 up to 70	Above 57 up to 63	Above 70 up to 80
5	Above 62 up to 65	Above 55 up to 57	Above 65 up to 70
3	Above 60 up to 62	Above 53 up to 55	Above 60 up to 65
2	Above 55 up to 60	Above 50 up to 53	Above 55 up to 60
1	55 or below	50 or below	55 or below

Engineering, science and arts degrees sit in the remaining categories. Their slabs are set at higher marks.

Rating Score C	AC-4 and AC-6	AC-5
10	Above 85	Above 75
8	Above 75 up to 85	Above 65 up to 75
5	Above 70 up to 75	Above 60 up to 65
3	Above 65 up to 70	Above 55 up to 60
2	Above 60 up to 65	Above 50 up to 55
1	60 or below	50 or below

What the Academic Categories Cover

AC-1: Medicine and surgery degrees such as MBBS, BDS, BAMS and BHMS
AC-2: CA, ICWA, CMA, CS and Fellow of the Institute of Actuaries of India
AC-3: Commerce, economics, finance and management degrees such as B.Com, BBA and BMS
AC-4: Engineering, technology, architecture, science and agriculture degrees, including BCA and B.Sc
AC-5: Arts, humanities, design, education, law and rural studies degrees
AC-6: Any discipline not listed in AC-1 to AC-5

Dual degree holders are placed in one category by the Admissions Committee. Both degrees must be entered separately in the CAT application form.

IIMA Bachelor degree rating score

IIMA Bachelor Rating score

Work Experience: Rating Score D

Rating score D counts work experience as on July 31, 2025. The months are taken from the CAT application form.

Work Experience	Rating Score D
Less than 12 months	0
12 months to 36 months	0.20 x (months minus 11)
More than 36 months	5

Example: 24 months of work experience gives 0.20 into 13. That works out to 2.6 points. Freshers score 0 here and lose 5 of the 38 points.

Gender Diversity: Rating Score E

Rating score E is 0 for male candidates. All other candidates get 3 points. This includes female and transgender applicants.

This component was worth 2 points for the PGP 2025-27 batch. That rise pushed the maximum AR from 37 to 38.

How Marks Are Counted for the AR Score?

The rules on marks decide the point slab. Four of them catch candidates out most often.

All subjects on the Class 10 and Class 12 marksheets are counted. This holds even when the board leaves some out of its own percentage.
For the bachelor's degree, the percentage awarded by the university is final.
Boards awarding only letter grades must issue an equivalence certificate.
Final year candidates are rated on all completed semesters.

CA, ICWA, CMA and CS candidates are rated under AC-2. Rating score C uses the average of Inter and Final marks.

How the Normalised AR Score Is Calculated?

The raw AR score is not used directly. It is divided by the average of the top 50 AR scores.

For the 2026-28 cycle that divisor was 38. It stood at 37 for the 2025-27 cycle. An AR of 30 works out to a normalised 0.79.

AR Score Weightage in IIM Ahmedabad Shortlisting and Final Selection

The AR score is used twice, with different weight each time. Its influence is far larger at the shortlisting stage.

Stage	Weight of AR	Weight of Other Components
Shortlisting for AWT and PI	35%	CAT 65%
Final selection	15%	PI 50%, CAT 25%, AWT 10%

The shortlist runs on a Composite Score. The published formula is CS = (AR x 0.35 / 38) + (CAT score x 0.65 / 204).

The final merit list runs on a Final Composite Score. It adds the normalised AWT and PI scores at 10% and 50%.

Marks Cut-offs That Apply Alongside the AR Score

A high AR score does not by itself clear the screen. The Class 10 and 12 average must cross a separate cut-off.

Category	Science	Commerce	Arts and Humanities
General and EWS	80	77	75
NC-OBC	75	72	70
SC	70	67	64
ST	65	62	59

A second gate applies to bachelor's degree marks in Stage 1. It is set at the 80th percentile of the academic group.

IIM Ahmedabad AR Score Calculation Examples

Two worked cases show how the components add up.

Example 1. A male B.Tech candidate scores 92 in Class 10. His Class 12 Science score is 88. He holds 82 percent in engineering with 24 months of work experience.

A is 10 and B is 8. C is 8 under AC-4 and D is 2.6, while E is 0. His AR score is 28.6, or a normalised 0.75.

Example 2. A female B.Com candidate scores 85 in Class 10. Her Class 12 Commerce score is 78. Her graduation percentage is 76 with 14 months of work experience.

A is 8, B is 8 and C is 8 under AC-3. D is 0.6 and E is 3. Her AR score is 27.6. That sits close to the first candidate despite lower marks.

AR Score Needed for an IIM Ahmedabad Call

IIMA sets no fixed AR cut-off. It publishes the minimum Composite Score for each category.

Category	Minimum CS in Stage 2	Candidates Shortlisted in Stage 2
General	0.605604	193
EWS	0.529701	56
NC-OBC	0.511349	174
SC	0.453585	99
ST	0.382786	69

The numbers above cover the category-wise stage only. Stage 1 shortlists top performers within each academic discipline first.

Example: the first candidate contributes 0.263 to his CS. He then needs about 107 raw marks in CAT 2025. That takes him to the General cut-off of 0.605604. An AR of 35 would cut the need by about 18 marks. The full cycle data sits in the official shortlisting criteria for PGP 2026-28.

IIM Ahmedabad Application Rating (AR) Score FAQs

Ques. Does IIM Ahmedabad consider Class 10 and Class 12 marks for the Application Rating (AR) score?

Ans. Yes. IIM Ahmedabad awards Rating Scores A and B based on Class 10 and Class 12 performance. Together, these account for 20 out of the 38 Application Rating (AR) points.

Ques. Can a high CAT percentile compensate for a low Application Rating (AR) score at IIM Ahmedabad?

Ans. Only to a certain extent. During PI shortlisting, CAT carries 65% weightage, while the Application Rating contributes 35%. A strong CAT score helps, but candidates must also satisfy the academic requirements used in the AR calculation.

Ques. How does IIM Ahmedabad calculate the Application Rating (AR) for CA candidates?

Ans. Candidates with CA, CMA/ICWA, CS, or FIAI qualifications are evaluated under Academic Category (AC)-2. Their Rating Score C is calculated using the average marks obtained in the Intermediate and Final examinations.

Ques. Does more than 36 months of work experience increase the IIM Ahmedabad AR score?

Ans. No. Rating Score D for work experience is capped at 5 points. Candidates with 36 months or more of eligible full-time work experience receive the maximum score.

Ques. Do female candidates receive additional Application Rating (AR) points at IIM Ahmedabad?

Ans. Yes. Non-male candidates receive 3 Gender Diversity points (Rating Score E) as part of the Application Rating. This was 2 points in the 2025–27 admission cycle.

Ques. Is the Application Rating (AR) also used for IIM Ahmedabad PGP-FABM admissions?

Ans. Yes. PGP-FABM also uses the 65% CAT + 35% Application Rating formula for PI shortlisting. Preference is given to candidates with agriculture and allied discipline backgrounds.

Ques. Does the IIM Ahmedabad Application Rating include extracurricular achievements or college reputation?

Ans. No. The Application Rating (AR) is calculated only from academic performance, work experience, and gender diversity. Extracurricular achievements, leadership qualities, and other personal attributes are assessed during the AWT and Personal Interview stages.

Ques. How many candidates received IIM Ahmedabad AWT and PI calls for the 2026–28 MBA batch?

Ans. IIM Ahmedabad shortlisted 1,308 candidates for the AWT and Personal Interview. The category-wise breakup included 564 General, 336 NC-OBC, 186 SC, 109 ST, 63 EWS, and 50 PwD candidates.