What are the estimated cut-offs for the top B-Schools?

This question was topmost in the minds of everyone who took the Common Admission Test 2005.

CAT trainers ARKS Srinivas and Rahul Reddy, of T.I.M.E., a training institute for CAT aspirants, offered sound advice during the a chat with Get Ahead readers on November 21.

• CAT 2005: Analysis, solutions, answer key... more

ARKS Srinivas is the director of T.I.M.E, Mumbai, and an alumnus of IIM-Calcutta. He has an engineering degree in Electronics and Communication from Osmania University and has worked with Maruti Udyog [Get Quote] Limited in Gurgoan, Delhi and Kolkata before joining T.I.M.E., Hyderabad, as the director of the CAT course. Teaching is his passion and he has been training students in CAT for eight years.

Rahul Reddy is an alumnus of IIM-Calcutta. After working with Hindustan Lever and Merck Electronics, he set up T.I.M.E.'s Kolkata branch.

Here is the transcript: 

Part II: Will you get a call from the IIMs?

mannu: Hi ARKS... I have scores of QA 9.67... DI 9.... VA 21... Can u throw some light as to where i stand... and will i be able to get calls from spjain, mdi, nitie???

ARKS Srinivas: Hi mannu, NITIE slightly doubtful, others you should get!

vishu:  Hi ARKS , My score according to TIME is QA-16 DI-13.6 VA-20 Overall 49.6 with 1.5 years work ex in Software and very good academics , WHat are my chances for IIMs and SP JAIN ?

rahulreddy: Should get IIM calls. SP also.

Anant: Sir, what are my chances for IIM(15 VA,15.33 QA,12 DI).Please let me know. I have 31 months of work ex

rahulreddy: Outside chance for IIM-I or K.

pranav: ARKS - Beginner's tips for CAT 2006 ?

rahulreddy: Hi. Trend is towards more difficult and logical questions, so depth of knowledge and fundamental concepts needs to be very strong. Start early, practise regularly and keep cool.

grihamantri: MR REDDY ONE MORE THING..I HAVE TALLIED MY MARKS WITH JUST CAREER LAUNCHER ANSWER SHEET..DO I NEED TO CHECK WITH OTHERS TOO

rahulreddy: Hi, no need, your score is not marginal to be affected by one or two minus or plus marks.

DINESH: MY SCORE IS 30.66.CAN I EXPECT CALLS FROM TAPMI,NIRMA,SOMAIYA

rahulreddy: Hi, check previous answers.

Aarti: I have a overall score of 35 but i have 0 in DI ,Will i get call from any institute?

ARKS Srinivas: Apply to KJ Somaiya/ Wellingkar, Nirma, FORE or any of these.

akx: hi. i got score of 40 with Quant-14,DI-9 and VA-17. what are my chances for getting thru allied institutes thru CAT and which ones should i apply to ??

rahulreddy: MDI, NITIE possible. IMT, TAPMI, UBS, etc, very good chance.

Brij: Sir, what makes u think thet the cut-off's r gonna b as low as u have projected??...I mean, u r saying with 35+ 1 can xpect a call frm IMTG n with 31 frm IMI...Whereas NO OTHER INST. I REPEAT NO OTHER R QOUTING MARKS AS LOW AS THAT...Could u explain on what basis r u qouting your projections...R they JUSTIFIED??

ARKS Srinivas: Hi Brij, There are so many 'key' differences in different institutes keys. Like there are at least 10 differences in T.I.M.E. and IMS's keys.

That shows that there is a lot of ambiguity that is there in each of the questions. The paper was without question extremely dicey.

If you have seen our AIMCATs, whenever the paper the difficult, the cut-offs have gone below 45. To add to that, if you have analysed last year's marks -- 33 marks was 89.69 percentile. Any more doubts?

MBATracker: Hi..Rahul ..my score total 44,qa-15, va 18, di 11..i passed out this yr frm IIT-KGP ..so 6 months workex ..can i expect calls frm IIMs.

rahulreddy: Hi, pretty good chance for 1-2 IIM calls. Keep in touch.

Neeraj_eai: I am a software engineer with 2 yr of work Ex.. Do u suggest me to take cat or GMAT to climb up my career ladder and succeed.

rahulreddy: Hi. A complex question. Mail me at rahul.reddy@time4education.com for a detailed answer.

sourya: are cut-offs relaxed in ANY way considering work ex and academic record?

ARKS Srinivas: To an extent YES.

punitjindal: Im am getting 46 as per CL and 52 as per PT? What is your say.. English section is varies from 16 to 22.. Very confused.

rahulreddy: Hi, please check T.I.M.E. We gave the cut-offs last and have spent maximum time of them also our record is very good over the years.

chasu: Hello Sir,compared to IIMs does the cut off for other B-schools be low? Particularly SP Jain.

ARKS Srinivas: YES.

naveen: can you please give us cut offs for FMS and XLRI ,IIFT please.

ARKS Srinivas: Hi Naveen, the papers are not over yet!

pranav: dear sir, what can be the overall cut off for someone who's with 8 yrs of experience .. assuming he's made thru all the sectional cut-offs ... would appreciate your reply.

rahulreddy: Hi. At eight years why not consider ISB, PGP Ex of IIM and SP Jain?

gori: dear Mr. RAHUL REDDY kindly tell mi what should i do to score good in snap. i know i have the knowledge and potential but i made silly mistakes in CAT. PLEASE REPLY.

rahulreddy: Hi mail me at rahul.reddy@time4education.com. Will send you a detailed reply within 24 hours.

grihamantri: I'M SORRY MR REDDY BUT ONE LAST THING PLEASE....SO U MEAN THAT THERE ISNT A MAJOR DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE ANSWER SHEETS OF DIFFERENT INSTITUTES..THANX YOU HAVE BEEN OF IMMENSE HELP.

rahulreddy: Haven't checked much but most differences are in RC/ VA for the inferential Q.

mahadevan: Hello sir..I am a student ot TIME.I have managed to get a score of 17.33-QA 17-DI and 15-VA.will i make it to SPJAIN,MDI,IMT-G ???(Total=49.33) Also what is the percentile required for making it thru SPJAIN ?

rahulreddy: Should get multiple IIM calls. SP depends also on profile.

DINESH: HELLO ARKS.MY SCORE IS30.66.I HAVE POOR ACADAMICS.WHAT CALLS I EXPECT.

ARKS Srinivas: You should get close to 85 percentile, so apply accordingly. You final chances will depend on your performance in GD and Interview also.

mahadevan: Hello sir..I am a student ot TIME.I have managed to get a score of 17.33-QA 17-DI and 15-VA.will i make it to SPJAIN,MDI,IMT-G ???(Total=49.33) Also what is the percentile required for making it thru SP JAIN ?

ARKS Srinivas: Absolutely! You will make it to the IIMs too.

honey: Srinivas; I am getting a overall score of 12. I've a work ex of 5 yrs. Can i get any good college?

ARKS Srinivas: Frankly Honey, there is little chance.

chandupatil: dear sir, what can be the overall cut off for someone who's with 8 yrs of experience .. assuming he's made thru all the sectional cut-offs ... would appreciate your reply.

ARKS Srinivas: Will be marginally lower (say 2 to 3 marks).

manish b: Hi I got 21 in verbal, 9 in DI and 9.67 in QA.. I have 18 months work experience... What institutes can i expect a call from?

ARKS Srinivas: All CAT institutes except IIMs I guess.

manish: sir, do you really that cat score of 61+ as stated by rediff is realistic one to get into IIM as maths and DI are comparatively tough.
 
ARKS Srinivas: 61+ will get you nothing less that 99.6 percentile -- and probably 5 calls. The analysis was put up hurriedly. I think they will change it after a rethink. CAT 2005 was indeed tough!

Mitesh: CAN U PLEASE ADIVCE ON THE CHANCES WITH SCORE OF 30-35 n ONE YEAR EXP????CAN I EXPECT MDI,SPJAIN GIVEN MY WORK EX?

ARKS Srinivas: Hi Mitesh, MDI very doubtful. SP JAIN an OUTSIDE.

chetanp: Sir, I am Getting Quant 13,Verbal 21,DI-17.25 ,is there any chance that i get call from the IIMS???I have applied to SPJAIN MDI also.please REPLY.

ARKS Srinivas: Hi Chetan, absolutely YES. Prepare for GD and Interview without delay.

vibhor_tikiya1: Sir, Please Reply. What is the error tolerance of the TIME solutions in Verbal.

rahulreddy: Hi, 2-3 Q at maximum.

supriya kulkarni: hi,is a balanced score of 30 good enuff for MICA. I have media background.

rahulreddy: Hi Supriyau have a chance, no guarantees.

harish: HiMy scoresQA-14VA-19DI-16I have 3 years experience.What are my chances?

rahulreddy: Hi. Definitely 4 or more IIM calls.

qwerty2005: Besides level of questions difficulty, do you account for increasing number of students taking the exam and increasing level of students' intelligence n preparations also, while projecting low cut-offs..Have the standards of IIMA fallen low enuf to have a cut-off of below 60-65 marks...i think not yet...

rahulreddy: Hi I give CAT every year. It's about crunching data and analysing, not about thinking. My score of 61 last year fetched 99.71.

Bharti: Sir, I am going to get 2 marks in Quant, 14 in Verbal and About 10 in DI, What are the chances of getting call from IIM INDORE for EXECUTIVE MBA.I am having 8 Year EXPERIENCE. What are those other institutes where i can apply for Executive MBA, PLEASE REPLY.

rahulreddy: Hi. 2 marks would not make it.

Rekha [Images]: Dear Arks, how do you feel, the decrease in the number questions going to effect the selection. Because, more number of questions will give more number of diff results and therefore refined selection.

ARKS Srinivas: The difficulty level has increased. If you see GMAT and GRE, they have less questions, but more difficult in a way. Hence the refinement will come with less questions, but with with more difficulty.

abhisheknjain: my scor is 62 with work ex of 45 months? where should i go IIM A , AIM manila or ISB.

ARKS Srinivas: Hi Abhishek, all IIMs should be better than AIM or ISB at this stage.

arun: sir please answer my questions...my cat2005 scores after analysis are Quants:11.334 Verbal:-0.333 DI:1. what would be my percentile and which college might i apply?what will be the score & percentile for SP Jain?

rahulreddy: Overall of 12 is very low. Can't suggest good colleges at that level.

richa: Good morning sir! My section-wise break-up is QA-6.67, VA/RC-24, and DI-18.67. Do you think I stand a chance of being called by any of the IIMs for an interview? What are the other institutes I can look at, considering this score?

rahulreddy: Hi QA is very low, though overall is good. Outside chance from IIM-I or K.

saraf_ankur: Sir, I have a score of quant 10, DI 11 and verbal around 30 totalling to around 51. Can I expect a call from any iim? What overall percentile can i expect? Also, in case i dont clr cutoff in quant, can i expect calls from any other institute?

rahulreddy: Hi, QA is touch and go. But should get calls from more than one IIM.

CATOID:  KINDLY REPLY SIR,I M POSTING SINCE LAST 50 MINS,i m expecting a score of 21-23(13.7-VA,3.7-QUAN,6.7-DI),will i get a call from nirma?which other institutes should i apply to?Also, sir,i m from arts background with good acads,if that may help in shortlisting for nirma?

rahulreddy: Hi, you have an outside chance for Nirma. And yes, good academics helps. Also consider Amrita, ITM, etc.

mahadevan: Hi sir...I am sorry...I just got the scores mixed up..I am scoring 17 (VA), 17.33 (DI), 15 (QA)...total(49.33)...will i make it 2 SpJAIN,MDI,IMT,NITIE?...plz reply asap sir.

rahulreddy: Yes to all.

chandu: SIR, WITH A SCORE OF 30.66 I WUD LIKE TO KNOW SOME GOOD B-SCHOOLS I CAN APPLY. I HAVE GOOD ACADS. WILL THAT HELP ME IN GETTING A CALL FROM TAPMI / NIRMA? I AM FROM ENGG. BACKGROUND.

rahulreddy: Hi pretty good score. Around 90 percentile. Yes for MICA, TAPMI. time almost running out. Any further queries mail me at rahul.reddy@time4education.com. Relax, guys, what's over is over. Focus on the next exams, GD and interview.

bkr1: hello sir. I got 42(QA: 6,VB:20,DI:16) what will be my percentile. Any chances from A+ institutes?

rahulreddy: Hi. 42 should be 96 percentile look at IMT, MICA, BIM, etc.

MajorNArayana: Sir I am posting from past 40 mins. please answer. Sir, I m Major VA Narayana Retd Army officer with 12 years of work experience. I am also Visually handicapped. My likely marks would be PS:10, VA/RC:7.66, and DI : 8.66.What are the chances of me getting the calls from any of the IIMs only. I am also appearing for entrance to be conducted by Iit. How do u rate Iit. Shall I join if I get a seat.

ARKS Srinivas: Dear Major Narayana, I am sorry, but getting calls from the IIMs would be very, very difficult. In fact, very unlikely. If you mean IIFT or IIT -- both are good. You can get back to us at our email ids.

rambo: hi arks.PLEASE PLEASE REPLY... i am getting a total of 25 VA(14.33),QA(6),di(4). wha institutes do u suggest.

ARKS Srinivas: NIRMA, FORE< Wellingkar, ITM, AMRITA, SDM -- any three from these.

rahulreddy: Everybody, signing off. Keep your chin high and do well. Mail me at rahul.reddy@time4education.com. 

ARKS Srinivas: Friends, due to to time constraints, we have to sign off. Please get back to us at arkss@time4education.com or rahul.reddy@time4education.com. ALL THE BEST FOR OTHER EXAMS.

Part II: Will you get a call from the IIMs?

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