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?

For the 2027-29 PGP batch, the Final Composite Score gives 50% weightage to the Personal Interview, 10% to the Analytical Writing Test and 40% to the Normalized Composite Score. The Normalized Composite Score is based on CAT performance and the Application Rating.

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 IIM Ahmedabad MBA fee?

The program 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?

IIMA awards 3 Gender Diversity Points to all non-male candidates and 0 points to male candidates. These points form part of the Application Rating used in the shortlisting composite.

IIM Ahmedabad PI Shortlist Composite Score 2027: Formula, Cutoff & CAT Weightage

IIM Ahmedabad has revised its PGP 2027–29 admission policy. The revised policy applies to candidates appearing for CAT 2026.

The new policy changes how candidates are evaluated. It also changes the way academic scores and undergraduate disciplines are classified.

Earlier, IIM Ahmedabad used six Academic Categories. These have now been replaced by 20 undergraduate disciplines.

Class 10, Class 12 and graduation marks will now follow a common academic rating table. The institute has also removed the earlier additional academic filters.

The final selection will have 50% weightage for the Personal Interview (PI). The Analytical Writing Test (AWT) will carry 10% weightage. The Normalised Composite Score will carry the remaining 40%.

Within the Composite Score, CAT carries 65% weightage. The Application Rating carries 35%. This gives CAT an effective weightage of 26% and the Application Rating 14% in the final selection.

Download PDF: IIM Ahmedabad PGP 2026–28 PI Shortlisting Criteria PDF

IIM Ahmedabad PI Shortlist Composite Score 2027: Formula, Cutoff & CAT Weightage

Check: IIM Ahmedabad PGP Admission Status 2026–28

IIM Ahmedabad PI Shortlist Composite Score 2027 Cutoff

IIM Ahmedabad has revised the PI shortlist methodology for the PGP 2027–29 batch.

The earlier Stage 1 and Stage 2 shortlisting system has been removed. The institute has also discontinued the earlier AC-RC based shortlisting process.
Under the revised policy, the shortlist is based on a Composite Score. It combines the candidate's CAT 2026 performance and Application Rating.
The Composite Score gives 65% weight to CAT and 35% weight to the Application Rating. The resulting score is then normalised within the candidate's undergraduate discipline.
The revised policy does not provide a fixed 2027–29 Composite Score cutoff table similar to the figures published under the earlier methodology.
Therefore, the previous cycle's category-wise figures such as 0.659095 for General and 0.562360 for NC-OBC should not be used as the 2027–29 cutoff benchmarks.
Candidates must first meet the prescribed CAT overall and sectional percentile cutoffs. IIM Ahmedabad then prepares the AWT-PI shortlist using the revised Composite Score methodology.

Check: IIM Ahmedabad Courses & Fees 2027

How the IIM Ahmedabad Composite Score Is Calculated?

For the PGP 2027–29 batch, IIM Ahmedabad calculates the Composite Score using two components: CAT 2026 performance and Application Rating.

Composite Score = 0.35 × Normalised Application Rating + 0.65 × Normalised CAT Score

The Application Rating considers Class 10, Class 12, graduation, work experience and gender diversity. Academic performance is assessed using a common rating table across 20 undergraduate disciplines, replacing the earlier six Academic Categories.

The resulting Composite Score is normalised within the candidate's undergraduate discipline. It is then used for the AWT-PI shortlisting process.

For final selection, the Normalised Composite Score carries 40% weightage. This translates into an effective 26% weightage for CAT and 14% for the Application Rating.

Important Note: The Composite Score methodology given above is based on IIM Ahmedabad's revised PGP 2027–29 admission policy for candidates appearing for CAT 2026. The earlier 2026–28 Composite Score cutoffs should not be used as the cutoff for the 2027–29 batch.

Application Rating Score Components

The Application Rating, or AR, is the sum of five separate rating scores. Nothing outside these five heads counts at the shortlisting stage.

Rating	Based On	Maximum Score
A	Class 10 marks	10
B	Class 12 marks, stream-wise	10
C	Bachelor's degree marks, discipline-wise	10
D	Work experience, capped at 36 months	5
E	Gender diversity, non-male candidates	3

The maximum possible AR is 38. Work experience below 12 months earns zero. Between 12 and 36 months the score is 0.20 multiplied by the months minus 11. Anything above 36

Class 10, Class 12 and bachelor's degree marks are assessed using the common academic rating table under the revised policy. Bachelor's degree scores are also considered according to the candidate's undergraduate discipline.

Work experience carries a maximum of 5 points. Candidates with less than 12 months of work experience receive no points. From 12 to 36 months, the score is calculated as 0.20 × (months of work experience − 11). Work experience beyond 36 months is capped at 5 points.

Candidates who are non-male receive 3 points under the gender diversity component. Thus, the maximum Application Rating is 38 points.

Read More: IIM Ahmedabad Placement

Normalised AR and Normalised CAT Score

Under the revised PGP 2027–29 policy, IIM Ahmedabad has changed the normalisation process.

Candidates are assessed within their respective undergraduate discipline. The raw composite score is compared with the highest scores in the same discipline.

For normalisation, IIM Ahmedabad uses the average score of the top 1% candidates in that discipline. The top group will include a minimum of 5 and a maximum of 100 candidates.

The earlier top-50 AR benchmark and AC-RC based normalisation system no longer apply to the 2027–29 admission process.

This means candidates are compared within their academic discipline rather than against a common benchmark across all applicants.

Composite Score Calculation Example

Consider a male engineering graduate with 92% in Class 10, 88% in Class 12 and 78% in graduation. He also has 24 months of work experience.

Under the revised academic rating table, his scores would be:

Component	Score	Points
Class 10	92%	10
Class 12	88%	8
Graduation	78%	5
Work Experience	24 months	2.6
Gender Diversity	Male	0
Total AR	—	25.6

For work experience, the score is calculated as 0.20 × (months − 11). Therefore, for 24 months, the candidate gets 2.6 points.

His Application Rating is 25.6 out of 38.

This Application Rating is then combined with his CAT 2026 performance to calculate the Composite Score.

The score is subsequently normalised within the Engineering and Technology discipline. This means the candidate's score is compared with the relevant candidates in the same undergraduate discipline.

The old top-50 average and previous-year Composite Score cutoffs should not be used for this calculation. The 2027–29 shortlist will follow the revised normalisation methodology.

Check: IIM Ahmedabad Scholarship 2026

CAT 2026 Percentile Cutoff for the IIM Ahmedabad PI Shortlist 2027

No composite score is computed for a candidate below the CAT percentile bar. A positive raw score in every section is also required. The figures below applied to the 2026-28 cycle and are the base for 2027.

Category	Overall Percentile	Sectional Percentile
General / EWS	95	85
NC-OBC	90	80
SC	85	75
ST	75	65

PwD candidates get a relaxation of 10 percentile points on both counts. Transgender candidates in the General category are assessed at NC-OBC cutoffs. The General bar was raised sharply from 80 overall and 70 sectional in the earlier cycle.

Check: IIM Ahmedabad: Admission 2027, Fees, Courses, Cutoff, Ranking, Placement

IIM Ahmedabad PGP 2026–28 PI Shortlisting Criteria PDF

Class 10, Class 12 and Graduation Marks for the PI Shortlist

IIM Ahmedabad has removed the earlier additional academic filters from the revised PGP 2027–29 admission policy.

Earlier, candidates had to meet minimum Class 10–12 average marks based on their Class 12 stream. A separate 80th-percentile graduation filter was also applied.

These filters no longer apply to the 2027–29 admission process.

Instead, Class 10, Class 12 and bachelor's degree marks contribute to the candidate's Application Rating. The marks are evaluated using the revised common academic rating table.

Percentage	Rating Points
55% or below	1
Above 55% to 60%	2
Above 60% to 70%	3
Above 70% to 80%	5
Above 80% to 90%	8
Above 90%	10

The same rating table is used for Class 10, Class 12 and graduation. Graduation marks are considered according to the candidate's undergraduate discipline.

Therefore, candidates are no longer rejected solely for failing the earlier P threshold or 80th-percentile graduation requirement. However, academic marks continue to affect the Application Rating and, consequently, the Composite Score.

IIM Ahmedabad AWT and PI Shortlisting Process 2027

The earlier Stage 1 and Stage 2 shortlisting system has been removed. The institute has also replaced the six Academic Categories (AC-1 to AC-6) with 20 undergraduate disciplines.

Under the revised process, candidates first need to meet the prescribed CAT 2026 overall and sectional percentile cutoffs.

IIM Ahmedabad then calculates a Composite Score using the candidate's CAT performance and Application Rating. CAT carries 65% weightage, while the Application Rating carries 35%.

The Composite Score is subsequently normalised within the candidate's undergraduate discipline. The revised policy uses the average score of the top 1% candidates in that discipline for this normalisation, subject to a minimum of 5 and a maximum of 100 candidates.

The AWT-PI shortlist is then prepared using the revised methodology. Therefore, the earlier Stage 1 cutoff table, AC-1 to AC-6 categories and Stage 2 category-wise merit list should not be used for the PGP 2027–29 admission process.

IIM Ahmedabad PI Shortlist 2027 (Tentative Dates)

IIM Ahmedabad releases its shortlist independently of the other IIMs. The dates below follow the pattern of the previous cycle.

Event	Expected Date
PI shortlist on IIMA website	Second week of January 2027
AWT and PI rounds	January to March 2027
Admission offers	Second week of April 2027
Acceptance of offer	First or second week of May 2027

AWT and PI are held in six cities. These are Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Mumbai and New Delhi. Two preferred cities are chosen in the CAT application form itself.

IIM Ahmedabad PI Shortlist Composite Score 2027 FAQs

Ques. Is a 99 percentile in CAT 2026 enough to get an IIM Ahmedabad PI shortlist?

Ans. Not necessarily. Candidates must meet the applicable overall and sectional CAT 2026 cutoffs and are evaluated using the revised Composite Score, which combines CAT performance and Application Rating (AR). A 99 percentile alone does not guarantee a PI shortlist.

Ques. Does work experience improve the IIM Ahmedabad PI Composite Score?

Ans. Yes. Work experience contributes to the Application Rating. Candidates with 12 to 36 months of work experience receive points based on the revised formula, while the maximum work-experience score is capped at 5 points.

Ques. Do non-engineers have an advantage in the IIM Ahmedabad PI shortlist?

Ans. The revised policy does not use the earlier Academic Category system. IIM Ahmedabad now classifies candidates into 20 undergraduate disciplines and normalises the Composite Score within the candidate's discipline. Therefore, candidates should refer to their applicable undergraduate discipline rather than an old engineer/non-engineer category.

Ques. Can candidates check their IIM Ahmedabad Composite Score after shortlisting?

Ans. The admission policy explains how the Composite Score is calculated, but it does not state that IIM Ahmedabad will provide every shortlisted candidate with a detailed breakdown of their calculated score.

Ques. Who receives the gender diversity score in the IIM Ahmedabad selection process?

Ans. Under the revised policy, non-male candidates receive 3 points for gender diversity in the Application Rating. Male candidates receive 0 points.

Ques. Is the same Composite Score used for the final admission offer at IIM Ahmedabad?

Ans. The Composite Score is used as part of the final selection process, but the final admission score also includes the Personal Interview (PI) and Analytical Writing Test (AWT). The final weightage is 50% PI, 10% AWT and 40% Normalised Composite Score.

Ques. What was the average Application Rating (AR) of the top applicants at IIM Ahmedabad?

Ans. The revised 2027–29 policy does not provide a fixed average AR for the top applicants as a benchmark. Candidates should therefore not use the previous admission cycle's AR figure as a 2027–29 cutoff or benchmark.

Ques. Do all IIMs follow the IIM Ahmedabad Composite Score formula?

Ans. No. Each IIM has its own admission policy and selection criteria. The Composite Score formula described here applies specifically to IIM Ahmedabad's PGP 2027–29 admission process.