PGP Admission Process for IIMB Batch of 2019

This document details the process that will be adopted for selecting candidates for admission to the Post
Graduate Program in Management (PGP) at the Indian Institute of Management Bangalore (IIMB)
for the batch of 2019.

IIMB has internally developed an admission process that seeks to identify the most promising
candidates for the PGP. This process has been progressively refined over the years, based on
cumulative data on the Common Admission Test (CAT) applicants and the academic performance
of the candidates that were admitted to IIMB. The process arrived at is based on the relationship
between academic performance of students of the PGP in IIMB and their past academic
performance, their CAT score, performance in the admission interview and prior work experience.
The selection criteria and weights given to various parameters are based on data from previous cycles
as well as on inputs from the IIMB faculty body and other relevant stakeholders. The selection criteria
are usually revised every year. The admission committee fixes these criteria and weights at the
beginning of each admission cycle before looking at information pertaining to candidates applying in
that cycle so as to avoid any bias.

IIMB has found over the years that students who perform well academically in the PGP are typically
those who have a consistently good academic record during their secondary school, higher secondary
school and graduation level, besides exhibiting sufficiently high aptitude as measured by the CAT.
Therefore IIMB uses multiple parameters, namely academic performance in 10th & 12th grades,
graduation programs as well as candidates's section wise scores in CAT to judge the suitability of
candidates for the PGP. Relevant work experience, if any, is also given weight in the selection.
Evaluation by multiple criteria is also consistent with empirical research on recruitment and selection
that shows greater efficacy of recruitment processes that use multiple criteria. The CAT score, over and
above being a selection criterion, is also used to establish the minimum level of proficiency that is
expected from the candidate in respective faculties as indicated by section wise minimum scores in
the CAT. Multiple criteria are used to arrive at a composite score for every candidate, which is
used to select candidates for the subsequent stages. The remaining part of the document explains this
process in detail.

IIMB adopts a two-phase selection process and accordingly these selection criteria are applied in
two phases. The first phase of the process is applied to all eligible candidates who appear for CAT
2018 to determine those qualifying candidates who will be called for personal interview (PI).
Candidates selected for the PI process will be required to take a Written Ability Test (WAT) on a
topic to be provided by IIMB. The topics chosen will typically reflect current socio-political,
economic and business affairs, though other topics such as sports and those that require more creative
thinking may also be included. The time provided for the WAT will typically be about 30 minutes.
During the interview, the panel will evaluate each candidate's academic background, quality of work
experience and other personal traits. The WAT submission will be evaluated separately. The
scores of the WAT, interview and pre-PI scores (with appropriate weightages) will be used
cumulatively in the second and final phase to select the candidates for the programme.
The selection process, parameters and weights used are uniform for all categories of applicants.
Sufficient candidates are shortlisted at each stage in each category to meet the reservation
requirement for each group, as applicable at that time.

Phase1

1. The first shortlist of candidates is based on candidates securing minimum section-wise and
aggregate percentile scores in the CAT. Candidates obtaining a positive (greater than zero)
raw score in all sections of the CAT-2018 will only be considered. The percentile cut-off
scores used for CAT 2017 are shown in Table 1. All the subsequent processing, standardization
and selection is limited to candidates belonging to this first short list alone. This means that the
CAT score alone is used as the basis for arriving at the first short list.

Table 1:For the batch of 2018-20 based on CAT 2017

Minimum Percentile requirements for the 1st shortlist*
Section 1 Section 2 Section 3
CATEGORY Aggregate
(VARC) (DILR) (QA)
General 85 80 80 90
NC-OBC 75 70 70 80
SC 70 65 65 75
ST 60 60 60 70
PWD 50 50 50 60
* These are cut-offs used for preparing the first short-list. The scores of those called for interviews
were higher. .

2. For all candidates in the first shortlist as stated in Table (1), the candidates percentage scores in
the 10th and 12th board exams are initially adjusted by dividing each such score by the 90th
percentile score obtained in that board. The database of 10th and 12th scores of all CAT
applicants of the past two years is used for identifying the 90th percentile score for each 10th and
12th board for this purpose.

For all candidates in the first shortlist as stated in Table (1), an adjusted score is calculated for the
bachelor’s degree for each of the candidates based on the final scores obtained by the candidate are
used for the bachelors’ degree and professional degrees, as the case may be, is used for this purpose.
(. Incomplete or intermediate graduate scores are considered only if the candidate's final score is
pending. Thus, for final year bachelor’s degree candidates, their incomplete graduation score
would be taken in lieu of final graduation score.
3. For all candidates in the first shortlist as stated in Table (1), candidates with Chartered
Accountancy, Cost Accounting, and Company Secretary certifications are eligible for weightage
 under the category of professional course. No other professional course is eligible for
weightage under the said category. The professional course score is also standardized for all
candidates in the first shortlist.

4. For all candidates in the first shortlist as stated in (1), the score / weight for work experience is
calculated as: Pre PI score for Work Experience
= 8x/36 if 0 < x < 36
= 8 if x >= 36
Where x is the months of work experience up to July 2017, as captured in CAT application form
(and substantiated in the application to IIMB). This implies that the score will peak at 36 months
work experience and will remain at that level for candidates with work experience exceeding 36
months. The work experience score (maximum 8 in the pre-PI stage) will be multiplied by the
quality of work experience score on a 5 point scale (0.25 - 0.5 – 1 - 1.5 - 2) as given by interviewers
in the PI process in Phase 2 to then arrive at a weighted work experience score.

5. For all candidates in the first shortlist as stated in Table (1), the maximum of the work experience
score and the professional course score is considered for selection under a common parameter
of work experience, since both provide professional work experience relevant to a management
programme.

6. For all candidates in the first shortlist as stated in Table (1), the weights for the parameters are
fixed as:
CAT = 40, 10th board = 20, 12th board = 10, Bachelors = 20, Gender Diversity = 2, Work
Experience = 8.
The 40 points for CAT are derived from the performance in each of the three sections as follows:
Verbal & Reading Comprehension (VARC) - 14 points, Data Interpretation & Logical
Reasoning (DILR) - 16 points, and Quantitative Aptitude (QA) - 10 points.
The gender diversity component is applicable only for the pre-PI rank list for interview
calls, and will not be applicable for phase 2 of the admissions process (final offers of
admission)

7. For all candidates in the first shortlist as stated in Table (1), the weighted total of the six
components namely (a) work experience or professional course, (b) CAT, (c) 10th board, (d) 12th
board, (e) bachelors, (f) gender diversity as stated above is calculated for calling candidates for
the PI. Sufficient candidates will be invited for PI to enable selection based on the additional PI
evaluation components: (a) WAT, (b) personal interview, and (c) assessment of the qualityof work
experience (if any).

8. For all candidates in the first shortlist as stated in Table (1), the top 10 candidates in each of the
following : total score in CAT, adjusted Bachelors’ score (commerce, arts, and science disciplines),
and Professional (CA / ICWA / CS), from the first shortlist, as created using the criteria in Table (1)
automatically qualify for PI. These candidates are given a chance to appear for PI due to their
exceptional performance in these categories. However, at the end of Phase 2, all such candidates
 must merit selection based on the composite aggregate score, like any other candidate.

For all candidates in the first shortlist as stated in Table (1), normalization or standardization in any
component stated above is carried out as per the following formula. All standardization is
done with reference to the qualifying first shortlist or its subdivisions; Standardized score,
truncated between 0 and weight (wt) is computed from the raw score (val) as:
Max [0, min {wt, wt/2 + ((val-mean) / sd) * wt / 6}]

Phase2

9. The performance of each candidate on the Written Ability Test (WAT) will be scored in terms of
content and style. Each interviewer will use the Personal Interview to comprehensively
evaluate the candidate's motivation and ability to fit in to and benefit from the PGP. All
candidates will be required to provide two confidential reference letters from their employers or
from teachers in the academic insitutions where they had been students previously. These reference
letters will also be used in the personal interview evaluation.The average of the scores given by the
interviewers in the personal interview will be conconsidered, while for the WAT, the scores given
by an independent evaluator will be considered.

10. The work experience score will be multiplied by the quality of experience score, as evaluated by the
interviewing panel as an assessment of the relevance of the work experience to the program. The
quality of work experience score will be evaluated on a 5 point scale (0.25 - 0.5 - 1 - 1.5 - 2) by
each member of the panel during the interviews. The average quality of work experience score
will be multiplied by the pre-PI work experience score and accordingly the work / professional
experience component score used in Phase 1 will be revised to arrive at a weighted work experience
score.

11. The scores in all past academics will also be updated, if required, on the basis of actual mark sheets
/ grade cards submitted. Unless otherwise mentioned, percentages would be calculated by
considering all subjects that the candidate has appeared for in the examination.

12. The WAT score (weight = 10), and the personal interview score (weight = 30), after
standardization across interview panels and sessions, will be added to the following scores to arrive
at the final aggregate score.
CAT (weight = 25), 10th board (weight = 10), 12th board (weight = 5), Bachelors (weight =
10), Weighted Work Experience (weight = 10).

13. The final offers of admission to candidates in each category will be made strictly on the basis of the
final aggregate score as mentioned in (12).

Since IIMB follows a comprehensive multi-criteria process at the pre-PI stage, it is able to identify
many candidates for the PI who have an excellent academic record and work experience but who,
while doing well enough in the CAT to be in the first shortlist, may have narrowly missed the high
score that would have been required if CAT alone was the basis for the PI shortlist. Such candidates
effectively replace candidates who have only a high CAT score but score poorly in terms of their past
academic record and work experience. IIMB emphasizes consistent and high performance in past
academics and all other parameters.
 Admission into the Post Graduate Program through GMAT

A separate process will be used for processing applications from candidates who apply with a valid
GMAT score. To be eligible to apply with a GMAT score, a candidate must have resided abroad for
at least 18 months in the preceding three years (January 2015 to December 2017) and should not be /
have been in a position to appear for CAT 2017. The GMAT code for IIMB PGP is Q9H-KK-49.

An evaluating committee will go through the each application in detail and in particular will evaluate
the academic background, the international experience, and the GMAT scores of the candidates.
The evaluating committee members will also assess whether the candidate is likely to gain admission
through CAT. Finally the evaluating committee will recommend in favor of the candidate or
recommend rejection.

All candidates who have been recommended would be required to appear for a Personal Interview (PI)
process, either in person or through a remote video conferencing. The PI process would be similar to
the process followed for the candidates shortlisted for PGP Domestic Admissions, and comprises of a
Written Ability Test (WAT) followed by an interview with the interviewing panel. Candidates
appearing for the PI process through remote video conferencing would be required to take the Written
Ability Test (WAT) through email.

The performance of each candidate on the WAT will be evaluated in terms of content and style. Each
interviewer will use the Personal Interview to comprehensively evaluate the candidate's motivation
and ability to fit in and benefit from the PGP program. All candidates will be required to provide
two confidential reference letters from their employers or faculty and this will also be used in the
personal interview evaluation. For Personal Interview – the average of the scores given by the
interviewers will be considered, while for the WAT, the scores given by an independent evaluator will
be considered.

The evaluating committee would again assess the overall performance of the candidates and make a
final offer. There will be no quota or fixed number of seats for such candidates. There will also be
no wait-lists for the same reason.i

August 08, 2018

i
All information in this document is pertinent to the admissions cycle (2019) alone and therefore, no inference can be made from
this document about the admissions process that will be used for future admission cycles at IIMB. IIMB reserves the right to
change, modify or adopt any new admissions process that it deems necessary, at any point.
Any dispute concerning Admissions for the PGP Batch 2019-21 would be subject to jurisdiction of the competent courts within the
territorial jurisdiction of city of Bangalore Only