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Vipra Shrivastava
Senior Manager - Content
Updated on Dec 24, 2025 23:19 IST
If your CAT exam score is less than 90 percentile but above 85 percentile you can make it to many government or private institutes. If you have a CAT score of 85 percentile and above you need to make a selection that's best for your career goal. Here's a list of colleges accepting CAT score above 85 percentile.

Is your CAT score 85 percentile? Don't worry, you can still get a good MBA college in your preferred location. Check the list of top MBA colleges with CAT score 85 percentile and above. 

CAT cut off range 85 and above

An excellent CAT score only way to get into a top institute for an MBA/PGDM programme. Not really. If you don't have 99 percentile, even then you can get a good MBA college. Candidates who score between 90-100 CAT percentile can get admission into the IIMs and other top MBA institutes. But, these colleges are out of reach for candidates who score less than 90 percentile in the CAT exam (unless they belong to Reserved category). So, what if your CAT score is less than 90 percentile? Don't worry, there are a large number of reputed B-schools with good placement, that accept 85 percentile in CAT. So, CAT 2025 qualifiers must focus on college selection for admission. And the first thing to do is to check the CAT cut off and admission criteria of the colleges/institutes of preference.

Latest: CAT 2025 result out @iimcat.ac.in - live updates

Table of contents
  • Is 85 percentile good in CAT?
  • MBA Colleges Accepting 85 Percentile in CAT and Above
  • MBA Admission and Selection Criteria: An Overview

Is 85 percentile good in CAT?

Yes, 85 percentile is good in CAT, if you're not targetting only the IIMs. MBA aspirants with 85 percentile in CAT can get through many reputed government and private MBA colleges with great pedagogy and placement record. In this article, we have shared admission details of some of the popular MBA colleges accepting 85 percentile in CAT and above. Do take a look at the list and fill the admission form accordingly.

Also Read: What after CAT Result 2025?

 MBA Colleges Accepting 85 Percentile in CAT and Above

Take a look at some of the popular MBA colleges in India accepting CAT score 85 percentile and above. Candidates who score as much and more in CAT exam stand a chance of getting admission into these colleges. Check the list and make a choice. 

CAT 85 percentile colleges

Total Fees (approx.)

IIM Nagpur

INR 18.60 lakh

IIM Amritsar

INR 16.00 lakh

IIM Bodh Gaya

INR 15.75 lakh

Goa Institute of Management, Goa

INR 19.40 lakh

FORE School of Management, Delhi

INR 18.27 lakh

Altera Institute, Gurgaon 

INR 16.44 lakh

Loyola Institute of Business Administration, Chennai

INR 18.89 lakh

Great Lakes Institute of Management

INR 9.45 to 11.45 lakh

TA Pai Management Institute

INR 17.34 lakh

*IRMA, Anand

INR 15.17 lakh

*MICA, Ahmedabad

INR 26.00 lakh

KJ Somaiya Institute of Management Studies & Research, Mumbai

INR 11.69 lakh to 18.78 lakh

Nirma University, Ahmedabad

INR 9.68 lakh to 16.25 lakh

Lal Bahadur Shastri Institute of Management (Delhi)

INR 16.50 lakh

BITS Pilani Dept. of Management

INR 2.48 lakh to 10.28 lakh

Institute of Management, Banaras Hindu University

INR 98,900 to 2.41 lakh

IMI, Delhi

INR 22.00 lakh

Vinod Gupta School of Management, IIT Kharagpur

INR 10.31 lakh to 25.00 lakh

Department of Management Studies, IIT Madras

INR 1.26 lakh to 17 lakh

Department of Management Studies, IIT Roorkee

INR 8.31 lakh

Institute of Management Technology, Nagpur

INR 14.27 lakh

University Business School, Chandigarh

INR 28,200 to 2.39 lakh

Delhi School of Management-DTU

INR 3.02 lakh

Department of Management Sciences, Pune University

INR 1.33 lakh

Bharathidasan Institute of Management, Tiruchirapalli

INR 13.07 lakh

*MICA, Ahmedabad accepts CAT score to screen candidates for its own entrance exams –  MICAT. Candidates applying to MICAT must note that having CAT score will not make them eligible for admission. They will have to appear for these in house exams to be able to qualify for Group Discussion and Personal Interview.

CAT Percentile predictor prepared by Shiksha.com helps students to get their predicted CAT percentile on the basis of their expected exam score. So, predict your CAT score by clicking the link below:

CAT Percentile Predictor

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MBA Admission and Selection Criteria: An Overview

Selection criteria and admission process of most of these institutes includes three steps:

  • Inviting application forms and screening of candidates on the basis of CAT 2025 result
  • Group Discussion and Personal Interview (GD/PI)
  • Final selection of candidates

Inviting Application Forms

B-schools start inviting applications for admission from September onwards. Some institutes, on the other hand, invite applications only after the declaration of CAT result, i.e. in January. The process of filling up the application form typically includes, online registration on the official website, filling up the online application form and payment of application fee. 

Personal details to be filled in MBA admission forms:

  • Name
  • Date of birth
  • Residential address
  • Parents/Guardian name
  • Family income
  • Domicile
  • City
  • State
  • Nationality

Academic details to be filled in MBA admission forms:

  • Class 10 marks
  • Class 12 marks
  • Graduation marks
  • CAT score (incase application process begins after CAT result declaration)
  • Choice of course
  • Work experience (if applicable)
  • SOP/LOR (if applicable)

After the application process gets over, a list of selected candidates is made and calls are made to each candidate for participation in Group Discussion and Personal Interview.

Group Discussion and Personal Interview (GD/PI)

Group Discussion and Personal Interview are basically personality assessment tests. They are conducted to judge the candidate’s communication skills, knowledge, personality, confidence, presence of mind, aptitude, leadership qualities, etc. Every candidate is required to be present in person to participate in the GD/PI, as the final selection is majorly based on candidate’s performance in this round. 

Final Selection of Candidates

Final selection for MBA admission is based on the candidate’s overall performance in academics, CAT exam and GD/PI. However, it may be noted that every institute has its own parameters to select candidates for admission. MBA aspirants must check individually, the admission criteria of each of the institutes they are targeting. They must fill the form of only those colleges whose minimum eligibility criteria they meet.

Also Read:

Check CAT cut offs and predict calls from IIMs and other Top MBA Colleges, whether your CAT score is 70 percentile, 80 percentile or 90 percentile. Check Fees, Placement Reviews, Admission, Shortlist Criteria and eligibility of all MBA Colleges by clicking the link below:

Predict IIM & Non IIM Calls

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Q:   Can I get into UBS Chandigarh with 80 percentile in CAT?
A:

UBS Chandigarh accepts CAT score percentile for admisison to MBA and MBA in Human Resource Management. The cutoff was released as percentile, for different categories belonging to the All India quota. For the General AI category candidates, the cutoff percentile for MBA in Human Resource Management was 85. Therefore, it is difficult to get admission to MBA in HRM at 80 percentile among the General AI category candidates. 

Q:   What is the cutoff for MBA in Great Lakes, Gurgaon?
A:

It is mandatory for the candidates to get a minimum perentile of 70 in CAT exam for the admission to MBA course at Great Lakes, Gurgaon.

Q:   What is the CAT exam cutoff required to get admission to IIM Bangalore?
A:

The CAT cut offs for IIM Bangalore hovers between 97-100 percentile. The qualifying CAT cut off required for being eligible for IIM Bangalore's Written Ability test (What) and Personal Interview PI is 85 percentile for General category students, whereas for SC candidates, it is 70 percentile. For ST candidates, it is 65 percentile and for PwD candidates it is 60 percentile. Given below are the sectional and overall qualifying CAT cut offs for IIM Bangalore.

  • General category: 80 VARC 75 DILR 75 Quantitative Aptitude 85 (Overall)
  • NC-OBC category: 75 VARC 65 DILR 65 Quantitative Aptitude 75 (Overall)
  • EWS category: 70 VARC 65 DILR 65 Quantitative Aptitude 75 (Overall)
  • SC category: 65 VARC 60 DILR 60 Quantitative Aptitude 70 (Overall)
  • ST category: 55 VARC 55 DILR 55 Quantitative Aptitude 65 (Overall)
  • PwD category: 50 VARC 50 DILR 50 Quantitative Aptitude 60 (Overall)
Q:   How much CAT score is required for FORE School of Management PGDM course?
A:

FORE School of Management accepts valid CAT score for admission to the MBA/ PGDM courses. Final selection will be based on the CAT/XAT/GMAT score, performance in the Extempore, PI, academic performance and work experience.

FORE School of Management cutoff stood at 85 for the past three years i.e. 2023, 2024 and 2025 for the General All India category students. Considering the previous year cutoff trend, the estimated FORE School of Management CAT cutoff 2026 will be 85 percentile for the PGDM (General specialisation). 

Q:   Who are eligible for BITS Pilani?
A:

There are multiple courses offered by BITS Pilani - Birla Institute of Technology and Science. These courses are offered at the UG and PG levels in the course field, such as Engineering etc.., among others. Check below the table to know the detailed course-wise eligibility for some popular courses:

CoursesEligibility & Selection Criteria
BE

Class 12 from a recognised board with a minimum 75% aggregate

BPharma

Class 12 from a recognised board with a minimum 75% aggregate

MSc

BSc or equivalent with a minimum 75% aggregate

ME

ME/ MPharm from a recognised institute/ university with a minimum of 60% aggregate

MPharm

ME/ MPharm from a recognised institute with a minimum of 60% aggregate

MBA

BE/ BTech/ BPharm/ BArch/ MCA/ MSc or ant first-degree course with 60% aggregate

PhD

MBA or equivalent two-year Management course with a minimum aggregate of 65%

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About the Author
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Vipra Shrivastava
Senior Manager - Content

Vipra Shrivastava is MA in English Literature from Delhi University with extensive experience in content writing of over 14 years. She has been handling content for Management, Accounting and Commerce streams for 8

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