If you don’t get through IIM, what’s your plan-B?
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As a management aspirant, your sole focus is to get into the top B-school of the country. But despite a good CAT score, sometimes things don’t go the way you planned.
Sample this – more than 2.14 lakh aspirants took Common Aptitude Test (CAT) while 92,000 appeared for XAT in 2012. All these CAT and XAT takers are trying to aim for about 3,000 seats (approx 2,800 in 13 IIMs and 180 seats in XLRI). In other words, less than 1% (0.98 to be precise) students make it into the IIMs and XLRI.
IIM or XLRI may be your first choice, but it is not the only choice. Speaking on the issue, Vineet Raj Kapoor, shiksha expert and owner of VirtualSoft Technologies P Ltd says, “First, let's understand that IIMs too end up missing good students, like good students may end up missing IIMs. And a success in Management is not dependent upon the pedigree of the degree, but on the resourcefulness of a person. Colleges only try to assess which student is a good bet, and the by the nature of this statement, the earlier building and training of a student matters more to them than their training. Typically most of the business successes never passed out of IIMs. Just pick a nice college, and concentrate on your skill development through reading, participation in activities and contest, and try to do useful work in every assignment (never to fill up your marks).”
At the end of the day, you can always opt for a gap year, and re-take CAT/XAT for better scores.
Here’s a list of potential top management institutes, apart from the IIMs, that you can apply to on the basis of CAT scores:
| CAT score |
Institute |
| Above 95 percentile |
|
| Between 90 to 95 percentile |
|
| Between 85 to 90 percentile |
|
| Between 80 to 85 percentile |
|
| Between 75 to 80 percentile |
|
| Between 70 to 75 percentile |
|
| Between 60 to 70 percentile |
|
| Between 50 to 60 percentile |
|
| Below 50 |
|
| Some other institutes accepting CAT |
Here are some good institutes one can opt for on the basis of XAT scores.
| XAT score |
Institute |
| Between 95 to 85 percentile |
|
| Between 85 to 75 percentile |
|
| Between 75 to 65 percentile |
|
| Between 65 to 55 percentile |
|
| Between 55 to 45 percentile |
|
| Some other institutes accepting XAT |
|
Apart from CAT and XAT, an MBA aspirant can also opt to take other management entrances such as MAT, GMAT, SNAP, NMAT, CMAT and other state-based tests.
| MAT Score |
Institute |
| Between 650 to 550 |
|
| Between 550 to 450 |
|
| Between 450 to 400 |
|
| Some other institutes accepting MAT |
|
| SNAP Score |
Institute |
| Between 110 – 100 |
|
| Between 100 – 90 |
|
| Between 90 – 80 |
|
| Between 80 – 70 |
|
| Between 70 – 60 |
| GMAT Score |
Institute |
| Between 750-650 |
|
| Some other institutes accepting GMAT |
|
| Other entrance exams |
Institute |
| NMAT (between 210 to 200) |
NMAT-SVKMs NMIMS (Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies) |
