CAT Cutoff 2024: Overall & Sectional CAT Cutoffs For IIMs and Top MBA Colleges (Expected)

What Exactly Does The CAT Cutoff Mean?

The CAT exam reaches up to approximately 3.3 lakh registrations, with the number increasing every year, out of which more than 2.8 lakh candidates appeared. This makes it difficult for colleges to select the ideal candidates from this vast pool. An added complexity to the criterion is that other colleges will also be selecting candidates for their own batch simultaneously.

Therefore, the top MBA colleges in India decided to bring in something called the CAT Cutoff. This represents a minimum percentile requirement that the particular B-school decides upon based on the following:

• Reputation of College
• Number of Aspirants for the College

These two factors are somewhat interrelated because the better the reputation of the college, the more candidates would want to gain admission there.

There are other factors, such as the quality of the faculty, the placement record and even the college's location. The last factor matters because if there are two colleges with an equally competent student base, companies would rather visit the college which is closer to their location. This is why colleges tend to crop up in industrial hubs such as Mumbai and Bangalore.

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Factors Affecting CAT Cutoffs 2024

CAT cutoff 2024 for each B-school will be been determined based on several factors that comprise the selection process for MBA/PGDM. Some of the key factors that determine the IIM cutoffs category-wise are mentioned below:

• Number of Test Takers for the CAT exam: If the number of test-takers increases, the CAT Cutoff generally increases too. This is because while the number of people that the college calls for further processes is generally the same, the increase in the number of test-takers means that people getting admission calls are at higher CAT Cutoffs.
• The difficulty level of the exam: On the other hand, an increase in the difficulty level of the CAT exam would lower the percentiles. This is the case due to a drop in the score of a majority of candidates.
• The number of seats in the B-school: When the number of seats increases, the colleges call more people to fill these seats, which leads to a decrease in the CAT Cutoff. Also, the cut-offs would be very high and competitive for a limited number of seats in one of the top B-schools.
• All India Ranking of the B-school: The reputation of a university and the cutoff score go hand in hand, as top institutes will get the best candidates with high percentiles applying for their programs. So a university that changes to a rank of a higher reputed institute would consequently have a higher cutoff.

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The Final Admission CAT Cutoff 2024 (Expected) For Top IIMs

Based on the CAT cutoffs of 2023, we have collected similar data for CAT 2024 cutoffs to give an idea to all the aspiring CAT takers about the required percentiles of the colleges that they might be targeting and mould their CAT 2024 preparation accordingly.

The CAT cutoffs for percentile-based calls of general category candidates are higher than those of reserved categories. According to the trends over the past few years, the CAT Cutoffs for IIMs for the year 2024 are as follows:

If you are a CAT 2024 aspirant and want to get into your dream b-school, the first step for you is to have a deep understanding of the CAT syllabus and CAT exam pattern 2024 before starting with your preparation. Refer to the above-mentioned CAT cutoffs and plan your study routine accordingly.

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Minimum Qualifying CAT Sectional Cutoff (Expected) For Top IIMs

CAT cutoffs for IIM admission for the year 2024 will fall within the bracket of 95-100 percentile for General candidates. For the top 6 IIMs, the CAT 2024 cutoffs may reach as high as 99.99 and 100 percentile, whereas, for newer IIMs, it will range between 95-97 percentile. The CAT cutoff 2024 for NITIE Mumbai, which is now IIM Mumbai, is expected to be around 94 percentile.

Refer to the table below for a better understanding of the qualifying CAT sectional cutoffs for the year 2024.

If you are looking forward to improving your sectional scores, get your hands on the detailed preparation strategy for each section, you can refer to: Preparation Tips for CAT QA | Preparation Tips for CAT DILR | Preparation Tips for CAT VARC

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The Final Admission CAT Cutoff 2024 (Expected) For Top Non-IIM B-Schools

While most aspirants aim to get into the older IIMs as they are considered to be the best B-schools in India, not everyone can accomplish this goal. However, several other colleges have almost the same level of repute as the IIMs. These colleges include SP Jain, FMS, MDI Gurgaon, IIT Delhi, JBIMS, NITIE, etc. The CAT cutoffs for these colleges are often as high as and occasionally even higher than those of the IIMs.

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CAT Cutoff 2024: Score vs Percentile (Expected)

The given expected percentile and scores are based on inputs provided by CAT-takers in CL’s score calculator. The actual cutoffs for CAT 2024 will be collated after the CAT 2024 results are out.

Based on the CAT 2023 results and cut-offs, candidates can expect a higher level of difficulty for CAT 2024 this year. The ideal score required to gain admission to the top B-schools with a 99+ percentile is expected to be lower, ranging between 80-90. Here are the expected CAT scores vs percentiles 2024 for your reference:

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Can An Average Student Clear The CAT Cutoff 2024?

Being an average student does not necessarily mean that you are someone with a poor academic foundation and weak analytical skills.

You need to understand that you have what it takes to get into an IIM and are viable to crack any sort of examination that comes in your way, provided you work smartly and analyze your own learning pattern. Consistency is mandatory. Focus on your objectives and re-invent your working pattern in other formats.

Meticulous management of your time will help you stay focused. Breaking up your studying time into small chunks helps concentrate more and mind mapping can straightaway hit the nail on the coffin and help you ace CAT or any competitive test for that matter.

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What To Do With CAT Cutoff 2024?

The CAT exam represents a milestone in the life of several candidates. Therefore, they need to plan their entire CAT Exam Preparation extremely carefully. This is where the CAT Cut Off and the CAT Score come into play.

Every candidate has a basic idea of what they can achieve in the CAT exam with a good level of preparation. Keeping this in mind, the candidate needs to build a shortlist of business scores for which they can aspire. While making this shortlist, the candidate must acknowledge the institutes' selection criteria and usual CAT scores.

These selection criteria are usually available on the college website itself or on some other internet source. With the help of the selection criteria, the candidate can make a realistic estimate of the B-schools that the candidate has a fair chance of getting selected.

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How To Match Up Your Scores To Crack CAT Cutoff 2024

Summarize the course curriculum - Identify and prioritize the topics that require the most amount of attention that require deep learning. You can refer to the previous year's CAT question papers, question banks framed specifically for the candidates and the individual weightage of each section in the CAT exam.

Devote your time to Online Sectional Tests

• The test series and sectional tests allow candidates to prepare themselves according to the different sections of the CAT exam and identify their weaker areas. It is an easy-to-use prep tool that would help candidate analyze their performance at every step.

Plan your Schedule

• The limited time between today and the CAT Exam means the need to establish a sound schedule for how to prepare for CAT. This plan needs to cover all the major areas and requires the candidates to have a good idea of their strengths and weaknesses.

Segregation of Time

• Over the period of 1 month, the time to be spent on each section has to be carefully sub-divided so that every section receives adequate attention. After all, each section in the CAT exam also has its own sectional cut-offs which means that focusing on a couple of sections to maximize the score is not possible. While planning the schedule, the candidate needs to ensure that they assign adequate time to each section and maximize their score at the same time.

Video lectures on QA and Reasoning by experts

• It is extremely important for the candidate’s CAT Preparation that they attend as many video lectures as possible in this 1-month period. At this stage of time, the candidate should be prepared to attend a lecture every second day if not every day, even if he/she is a working professional. This will ensure that they have the maximum amount of exposure when they actually sit for the CAT Exam.

Mock Practise Tests

• It is important to practise tests and analyze the mocks given so that the candidate can keep track of their progress and identify the areas where some additional efforts might be required. Also, get in touch with previous exam analyzes and the latest exam notifications related to shifting of the exam dates, change in the syllabus, paper pattern and dynamic ranking scheme that is to be followed that particular year. Additional information adds up to your knowledge.

Get in touch with your Peers and Faculty Members

• Aligning yourself with a training expert can help you in a number of unanswered ways. This is why candidates prefer to stay in touch with the academic team, search for daily updates on the student portal and buddy up with ex IIM Alumni who can be torchbearers in times of need. A good networking circle sets a benchmark in making you academically polished, strong and noticed.

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Conclusion

The CAT Cutoff is just another tool that the candidate has in his locker. It gives the candidate a better idea of where they need to focus their efforts and the kind of CAT Score and CAT Percentile that they need to aim for. This is especially important because while aiming for 100%ile is good, there should also be a realistic target for the candidate to chase.