MBA from IIMs without CAT Exam: Check Courses List & Selection Criteria
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Not ready for CAT exam? You can pursue MBA from IIMs without CAT exam score. Check this article for the list of MBA programmes for which CAT score is not mandatory.
IIM Admissions without CAT
IIM Admission without CAT: Is it possible to pursue MBA from IIM without CAT score? This is a commonly asked question on various platforms. It is a very genuine question as IIMs are the top ranked B Schools and a management course from there ensures a successful career. But, at the same time it is tough to crack IIM admission, due to high difficulty level and even higher competition.
CAT is compulsory for full-time MBA programme. Fresh graduate who wish to pursue regular MBA from IIMs cannot escape CAT. However, working professionals have the option to seek admission through non-CAT route.
Some of the IIMs also offer 5-year Integrated Management Programme, admission to which is done after Class 12. For this BBA+MBA programme, candidates do not have to appear for CAT. In this article we have shared details of IIM MBA course without CAT which you can opt for as a working professional.
- IIM MBA Courses without CAT
- Executive MBA from IIMs without CAT
- Integrated MBA from IIMs without CAT
IIM MBA Courses without CAT
Management courses without CAT at IIMs include Executive MBA, Integrated Management Programme, PhD, MDP, FPM and professional certification courses. Read below all about MBA from IIMs without CAT.
An Executive MBA is designed for working professionals who seek to enhance their skills and advance their careers within the corporate hierarchy. Candidates must have a minimum of two to five years of work experience at an executive or managerial level to be eligible for this program. The Executive MBA can be pursued either in a full-time format or through a blended online mode.
Integrated Management Programme is a five-year BBA+MBA course after class 12. Candidates who have completed class 12 can apply for this course, which offers MBA degree at the end of fifth year. This is a popular course option for candidates who don’t want to go through the process of CAT preparation and qualifying it.
However, even for Executive MBA and Integrated Management Programme, candidates have to appear for entrance tests. They may not be as tough/competitive as CAT. Read below for further details.
Executive MBA from IIMs without CAT
MBA aspirants can pursue the course at IIMs without appearing for CAT exam but they will have to appear for other exams such as GMAT/GRE. Given below is the table indication MBA courses from IIMs without CAT (including courses that have CAT as one of the multiple exam options):
| IIM College |
Course |
Eligibility/Selection Criteria |
|---|---|---|
| ePGD in Advanced Business Analytics |
GMAT/GRE/CAT/GATE or the ePGD-ABA qualifying-cum-aptitude test |
|
| Online MBA |
IIMA Admission Test (IAT), CAT, GMAT, GRE |
|
| MBA-PGPX |
GMAT/GRE |
|
| EPGP |
GMAT/GRE |
|
| PGPEM |
GMAT/GRE or CAT |
|
| PGPPM |
Course is exclusively for officers from All India Services, Central Services and State Services |
|
| MBAEx |
GMAT |
|
| PGPEx-VLM |
Written Test |
|
| PGDBA |
PGDBA Entrance Test |
|
| PGPWE |
GMAT/ GRE/CAT/ XAT/ GATE/ PGP-WE Entrance Exam |
|
| IPMX |
GMAT/GRE |
|
| PGP-Finance |
GMAT/GRE/CAT |
|
| PGP-LSM |
GMAT/GRE/CAT |
|
| PGP-BL |
GMAT/GRE/CAT |
|
| EPGP |
EMAT/ GMAT/GRE |
|
| EPGP |
GMAT |
|
| PGPMX |
IIM Indore Aptitude Test for PGPMX |
|
| PGPEx and PGP(WE) |
GMAT |
|
| PGDBA Working Executives |
GMAT/GRE/CAT |
|
| One Year MBA-Global Supply Chain Management |
GMAT/GRE/CAT |
|
| One Year MBA-Digital Enterprise Management |
GMAT/GRE/CAT |
|
| MBA Working Executives (Chennai campus) |
Written Test |
|
| Executive MBA |
Personal Interview |
|
| Executive MBA |
Online Entrance Test |
|
| ePGP |
Personal Interview |
|
| MBA for Working Professionals |
IIM Nagpur Aptitude Test |
|
| Executive MBA |
GMAT/GRE/CAT/IIMJAT |
|
| Executive MBA |
GMAT/GRE/CAT/GATE/IIMSAT |
|
| Executive MBA |
GMAT/CAT/EMAT |
|
| MBA (Analytics) |
GMAT/CAT |
|
| MBA (Tourism & Hospitality Management) |
GMAT/CAT/IIM Sirmaur Test |
|
| Executive MBA |
GMAT/GRE/GATE/CAT/IAAT |
|
| PGPDGM |
GMAT/GRE/GATE/CAT |
|
| PGPEx |
GMAT/GRE/IIMV Test/CAT |
The selection process for Executive MBA programs at IIMs includes a Personal Interview and, for some courses, a Written Ability Test. Candidates should prepare based on the specific selection criteria of their chosen course.
Integrated MBA from IIMs without CAT
Given below is the list of IIMs that offer five-year Integrate Programme in Management (IPM). Admission to these courses also include entrance exam and personal interview.
| IIM College |
Course |
Eligibility/Selection Criteria |
|---|---|---|
| IIM Indore |
IPM |
IPMAT and WAT-PI |
| IIM Rohtak |
IPM |
IPM Aptitude Test and WAT-PI |
| IIM Jammu |
IPM |
JIPMAT and PI |
| IIM Bodh Gaya |
IPM |
JIPMAT and PI |
| IIM Ranchi |
IPM |
IPMAT and PI |
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Commonly asked questions
CAT cut off is prepared by all accepting colleges individually. There is no one authorized body to do so. Even the IIMs determine their admission cut offs separately.
There are over 170 cities where CAT exam is held. These 170 cities are spread across India consist of metropolitan cities, capital cities, Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities. Candidate can select up to five cities for allotment of test centre. The process of test city selection is a part of CAT application process. In the CAT application form, there is a field in which candidates have to select the cities. They need to select the city of preference in order of 1 to 5. The examination authorities will try to allot the test centre in the city of first preference. Thus, candidates must fill all the five cities carefully. They must choose their home city of city of current residence as the first preference. The test city option can only be changed during the form correction window. After that, the request for change of the city will not be accepted by the exam authorities.
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)
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Student Forum
Anything you would want to ask experts?Answered 19 hours ago
Some frequent traps in CAT exam are:
- Confusing the counts of original and new members in replacement vs. inclusion problems.
- Weighting by values instead of quantities or frequencies in weighted average setups.
R
Contributor-Level 7
Answered 19 hours ago
Yes. Most CAT-level problems involving replacements, group additions, or combinations are designed to test logical shortcuts rather than heavy calculations.
N
Contributor-Level 7
Answered 19 hours ago
Direct questions on Averages typically range from 1 to 2 per slot in the CAT exam. However, the concept appears across several other topics, including Mixtures & Alligations, etc.
R
Contributor-Level 7
Answered Yesterday
Candidates can refer to How to Prepare for Logical Reasoning for CAT by Arun Sharma and DILR for CAT by Nishit K. Sinha.
P
Contributor-Level 10
Answered Yesterday
Yes, Routes and Networks is an important topic for CAT DILR. It tests logical thinking, visualisation and the ability to analyse connections and pathways.
P
Contributor-Level 10
Answered Yesterday
CAT does not have a fixed number of questions from Routes and Networks. The topic may appear as part of a DILR set, usually comprising 4-5 questions.
P
Contributor-Level 10
Answered 2 days ago
Candidates should spend no more than 1.5 to 2 minutes on an Odd One Out question.
Contributor-Level 10
Answered 2 days ago
Many top scorers spend the first 8-10 minutes tackling independent VA questions, including Odd One Out and Para Summary, before settling into long RC passages.
Candidates preparing for CAT must devise a exam day plan based on how they perform during mocks.
V
Contributor-Level 7
Answered 2 days ago
In most of the recent CAT exam sessions, Odd One Out questions have appeared as TITA (Type In The Answer) questions with no negative marking.
L
Contributor-Level 7
Answered 2 days ago
Candidates can refer to How to Prepare for Logical Reasoning for CAT by Arun Sharma and DI & LR for CAT by Nishit K. Sinha.
P
Contributor-Level 10
Abhishek Dhawan is a content writer and editor with 7+ years of experience in education journalism. He holds a BA degree from the University of Delhi. At Shiksha, Abhishek primarily covers MBA and BBA entrance
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