IIM Ahmedabad Admission 2024 - Process, Selection Criteria & Eligibility

IIM Ahmedabad admissions are offered in various courses, such as MBA, Online MBA, PGPX and PhD. Admission to these courses is based on different entrance exams followed by other admission criteria. IIM Ahmedabad is well-known for its two-year flagship MBA (PGP) programme and its admission is based on CAT/GMAT scores. IIM Ahmedabad follows a rigorous admission process which begins with CAT registration. Candidates who meet the primary admission criteria are moved to the next round of the selection process which includes the Analytical Writing Test (AWT) and Personal Interview (PI). Final admission to MBA at IIM Ahmedabad is based on multiple factors such as CAT score, AWT-PI, diversity, past academic performance and work experience.

IIMA also offers admission to other courses such as MBA-FABM, MBA-PGPX, ePGP, ePGD-ABA and PhD. Candidates are required to qualify for the course-specific entrance exam to get admission to these courses. GMAT and GRE scores are accepted for admission to MBA PGPX programme and CAT/GMAT and GRE scores are accepted for ePGP. Further admission process involves a personal interview for admission to most courses at IIM Ahmedabad.

IIM Ahmedabad offers admission to management programmes at the PG, diploma and doctoral levels. IIM Ahmedabad admission process varies from one course to another. However, obtaining a valid score in a course-specific entrance exam is common in all. To get an overview, read the IIM Ahmedabad admission procedure mentioned below. 

Step 1: Eligibility Criteria and Entrance Exam

Students must check out the eligibility criteria for the desired course and take the course-specific entrance examination. IIM Ahmedabad admission to the MBA programme is based on a candidate’s performance in CAT and GMAT scores. Similarly, GRE/GMAT/IAT/CAT are accepted for admission to other courses. 

Step 2: Online Application

Once the students have qualified for eligibility, they can apply for desired courses at IIMA. The institute releases separate application forms for courses offered on its official website. However, students looking for IIM Ahmedabad MBA admission are not required to fill out a separate application form. 

Step 3: Shortlist 

IIM Ahmedabad releases a list of shortlisted candidates who are eligible for the next admission round. For MBA admission, the institute releases the shortlist based on the CAT Score and other criteria.  

Step 4: Writing Test and Personal Interview

The next admission round includes a writing test, personal interview or both. For IIM Ahmedabad MBA admission, candidates are required to appear for the Analytical Writing Test (AWT) and PI. 

Step 5: Admission Offer

After the completion of different rounds of selection, IIM Ahmedabad releases the list of selected students or shares the admission offer to individual candidates. Selected students can confirm their admission at a given time by paying the admission fee. 

Students looking for IIM Ahmedabad MBA admission must meet the eligibility criteria before applying. IIMA offers admission to its flagship MBA programme based on CAT scores for domestic applicants and GMAT scores for international applicants. The admission process involves two major steps, preliminary screening and admission test. As per IIM Ahmedabad admission criteria, candidates' academic performance and work experience are also taken into consideration for MBA admission.

IIM Calcutta MBA Eligibility and Selection Criteria

IIM Ahmedabad MBA Admission Process

The IIM Ahmedabad selection process for the MBA programme is a two-step process discussed in detail below. 

Step 1: Preliminary Screening

Firstly, a candidate is required to qualify for the IIM Ahmedabad CAT cutoff and eligibility criteria. Then, they are given Application Rating (AR) scores based on their previous academic performance and work experience. Final shortlisting for the next round of admission is based on the ‘Composite Scores’ and other factors. 

CS (Composite Score) = ARF_CS * Normalised AR score + CATF_CS * Normalised overall score in CAT-2024

• Application Rating Multiplication Factor for Composite Score (ARF_CS) = 0.35;
• CAT Multiplication Factor for Composite Score (CATF_CS) = 0.65

Step 2: AWT and PI

The second step of the IIM Ahmedabad selection process includes the Analytical Writing Test (AWT) and Personal Interview (PI). Final selection is based on the ‘Final Composite Score (FCS) calculated by considering various parameters.

FCS = PIF * Normalised PI Score + AWTF * Normalised AWT Score + CATF_FCS * Normalised CAT Score + ARF_FCS * AR

• Personal Interview Multiplication Factor (PIF) = 0.50 
• AWT Multiplication Factor (AWTF) = 0.10
• CAT Score Multiplication Factor for Final Composite Score (CATF_FCS) = 0.25
• Application Rating Multiplication Factor for Final Composite Score (ARF_FCS) = 0.15

IIM Ahmedabad Shortlisting Criteria 

IIM Ahmedabad uses different criteria for each step of MBA selection including, CAT cutoff, Application Rating scores and the final cutoff for AWT and PI. Let’s discuss the IIM Ahmedabad shortlisting criteria in detail.

IIM Ahmedabad Selection Criteria: Application Rating Scores 

IIM Ahmedabad selection process involves the calculation of Application Rating scores in the first round. AR score is a composite score of these four factors: 

• Class 10 Marks Rating Score (A)
• Class 12 Marks Rating Score (B)
• Bachelor Degree Rating Score (C)
• Work experience (D)

Application Rating Score (AR)= (A+B+C+D)

IIM Ahmedabad Selection Criteria: Class 10 Marks Rating Score (A)

IIM Ahmedabad Shortlisting Criteria: Class 12 Rating Score (B)

IIM Ahmedabad Shortlisting Criteria: Bachelor's Degree Rating Score (C)

IIM Ahmedabad Rating Scores for Work Experience (D)

IIM Ahmedabad Admission Weightage for AWT and PI Round

IIM Ahmedabad MBA PGPX admission is granted to working professionals with at least four years of experience in any industry. The minimum age requirement for admission to MBA PGPX is 25 years as of March 31 of that year. IIM Ahmedabad admission criteria for MBA PGPX is based on candidates' scores in GMAT/GRE and a personal interview. IIMA offers admission to the MBA PGPX course in three rounds in a year. 

IIM Ahmedabad MBA PGPX Eligibility and Selection Criteria 

Any graduate with a minimum of three years of work experience can apply for IIM Ahmedabad ePGP admission. e-Mode Post Graduate Programme (ePGP) is a two-year master's degree programme offered online. IIM Ahmedabad selection criteria for ePGP requires candidates to score valid marks in CAT/GRE/GMAT/IIMA Admission Test (IAT) scores. Final selection is based on the candidate’s performance in a personal interview. 

IIM Ahmedabad ePGP Eligibility and Selection Criteria 

Online MBA at IIM Ahmedabad is a PG course offered in blended mode. The eligibility criteria for the course is bachelor’s degree with 50% marks and a minimum of three years work experience. As per the IIM Ahmedabad admission criteria, candidates must be aged 24 or above in order to be eligible for Online MBA admission. CAT/GMAT/GRE/Online IIMA Admission Test (IAT) scores are accepted for IIM Ahmedabad admission in Online MBA course. 

IIM Ahmedabad Online MBA Eligibility and Selection Criteria

IIM Ahmedabad offers admission to international students in MBA under two categories, Foreign Nationals (FN) and Overseas Indians (OI). IIM Ahmedabad admission through GMAT is offered to international students. More details regarding IIM Ahmedabad admission criteria for international students are mentioned below: 

• International students should have a bachelor’s degree with at least 50% marks or equivalent grades. 
• Candidate should have a valid GMAT score (not the GMAT-Focus Edition). 
• They should have the required documents to prove his/her eligibility such as a foreign/Indian passport. 

Students after qualifying for IIM Ahmedabad CAT cutoff and eligibility criteria are selected for the next round of admission. The admission process includes an ‘Analytical Writing Test’ (AWT) and a ‘Personal Interview’ (PI). IIM Ahmedabad does not conduct GD for shortlisting candidates. To know more about how to prepare for the IIM Ahmedabad personal interview, keep on reading below. 

Know all about IIM Ahmedabad Interview

IIM Ahmedabad follows a rigorous selection process, making PI a tough task. After qualifying for the IIM Ahmedabad admission eligibility, students have to go through a personal interview round. IIM Ahmedabad interview questions are framed from the candidate’s academic, professional and personal life. Students are also asked about current news and topics. Below are some tips based on the IIM Ahmedabad interview experience shared by various participants. 

How to crack IIM Ahmedabad Interview?

The best way to crack the IIM Ahmedabad interview is to deeply understand the past experiences of candidates. Here we have shared the IIM Ahmedabad interview experiences of top candidates like Pulkit Sethia, Sara Mehta, and Bharat Karena to help you ace your interview. 

• As per Sara Mehta, who bagged a stellar 99.5 percentile in CAT 2022 and worked for a law firm, the interview experience was pretty intense. Firstly, she was asked about her native place, Faridabad. Then the interviewer asked critical questions like, “You want to pursue Civil Services, tell me honestly if you’d prefer the services over this programme” and “ Which IFS officers do you look up to? How will you handle quant?” Later she was asked questions about mathematics, politics, law, badminton, and the significance of the famous IIMA chocolate. 
• Bharat Karena who scored 96.77 percentile in CAT 2022 said that the duration of the interview was 25 to 30 minutes. He was asked about his studies, mathematics as he was an engineer, favourite subjects in UG and other questions related to engineering. One important question was “ Why do you want to do an MBA?” Other questions were related to his work experience in Asian Paints, why he changed the organisation, the latest trends in his field, etc.
• Pulkit Sethia who scored 99.6+ percentile in CAT and worked in ISRO was asked multiple questions about his work experience. The interviewer asked why he wanted to leave ISRO and join MBA. Then he was asked about his role and responsibilities in ISRO, the budget of ISRO and more questions about space, technology, statistics, Elon Musk, and his hobbies. This suggests how questions revolve around the candidate’s past experiences and areas related to that.

Various factors such as academic knowledge, work experience, analytical skills, etc. come into play while giving an Interview. Here are quick tips to prepare for the IIM Ahmedabad interview. 

1. Know your CV: The first thing an interviewer looks at is the CV of the candidate. So, go through your CVs in detail, frame out all possible questions, and write down the answers. 
2. Guidance: Go through the previous year’s participants’ interview experience available online and try to contact IIM Ahmedabad’s alumni in student forums or other social media sites. They will help you by providing the most accurate guidance. 
3. Current Affairs: Read the latest news and know about current trends in business, industry and other areas. Be updated about current happenings in the world. 
4. Domain Knowledge: A candidate must have in-depth knowledge about his subject/domain. Interviewers ask questions regarding the subjects, and topics related to graduation. 
5. SWOT Analysis: A candidate can do a personal SWOT analysis to know about his/her strengths and weaknesses. Various questions can be asked related to your qualities and defects. 
6. Practice: Practice interviews for IIM admission online or offline. It regularly will reduce fear and increase confidence on the big day. 

While an Indian candidate can’t get admission to the MBA programme without a CAT score at IIM Ahmedabad, two other courses do not require CAT scores. Those programmes are e-Post Graduate Programme in Management (e-PGP), ePost Graduate Diploma in Advanced Business Analytics (ePGD-ABA) and PhD. Admission to these programmes is based on the performance of students in the last qualifying exam and entrance exams. 

Is CAT mandatory to take admission in IIMs?

No, CAT is not a compulsory entrance test to enter into IIMs like IIM Ahmedabad. There are specific courses which don’t require students to qualify for the CAT exam. IIM Ahmedabad admission process to these courses such as PhD, e-PGP and ePGD-ABA requires students to score valid marks in other entrance exams such as GRE, GMAT, CMAT, GATE, UGC-GRF and ePGD-ABA qualifying-cum-aptitude test. 

Admission at IIM Ahmedabad without CAT

Given below is the gist of the admission criteria followed by IIM Ahmedabad for admission to courses without CAT. 

ePGP: The admission criteria to the executive PGP programme at IIM Ahmedabad do not require CAT scores. Instead, the work experience of the applicant along with scores in graduation/CA/CS/ICWA are considered for admission. 

ePGD-ABA: Candidates aspiring to get admission to IIM Ahmedabad ePGD ABA programme must qualify for GATE, GMAT or GRE in place of CAT to get selected. 

PhD: As per IIMA PhD admission criteria, candidates need to obtain a valid score in entrance exams such as GRE, GMAT, UGC-JRF, GATE, and ICAR-SRF in place of CAT. 

IIM Ahmedabad registration is the first step towards successful application. Students interested in IIMA MBA admission will be required to apply through the official website of CAT or GMAT. For admission to other courses such as PGPX, PhD, etc, students should apply through the official website of IIMA. Candidates looking for admission to these courses can check out the IIM Ahmedabad application process below. 

How to Apply for IIM Ahmedabad Admission? 

Step 1: Visit the official website of IIM Ahmedabad (www.iima.ac.in) 

Step 2: Select a course from the ‘Academics’ tab. 

Step 3: Click on the ‘Apply’ button. 

Step 2: Register using your mobile number and email ID.

Step 3: Fill out the IIM Ahmedabad application form with the necessary information. 

Step 4: Upload the required documents.

Step 5: Pay IIM Ahmedabad application fee online. 

List of Documents Required to Apply for IIM Ahmedabad Admission 2024 

• Class 10 mark sheet
• Class 12 mark sheet
• Graduation mark sheet
• Caste certificate (if applicable)
• Entrance exam scorecard
• Work-experience certificate
• Passport-size photographs
• Scanned copy of your signature

It is compulsory to pay IIM Ahmedabad application fees to complete the application process. The registration fee for IIM Ahmedabad MBA admission ranges from Rs 1,200 to Rs 2,400 for CAT exam. More details are mentioned below. 

IIM Ahmedabad Application Fees for MBA

IIM Ahmedabad Application Fees for PGPX