CAT / MAT

IIM criteria for Overseas students

Indian students are given a good opportunity to apply for the IIM's as well as othertop business schools through the CAT entrance exam, but there are a number of NRI's and foreign nationals who are also eligible to apply either through CAT or GMAT&get themselves enrolled in these institutions based on certain specific criteria. The IIM's usually admit about 1-4 overseas candidates every year but most of the other top private B-Schools have 15% seats reserved for NRIs.

NRI's are those who have been staying outside India for a period of at least 18 months, either studying or working.

Foreign Nationals from other countries also qualify if they have the required educational qualifications.

For all overseas students,

• Having a very good CAT/ GMAT score, is an absolute must & is the basic criteria considered by the IIM's as well as other business schools in India. Based on past data, most IIM's accept candidates with GMAT score ranging from 700-760. These are not very high considering that most Asian applicants seeking admissions in top business schools abroad have to achieve the same level of competency (>720)
  
• Candidates with very good academic background will be given first preference.
  
• Work experience, between 4-10 years is mandatory.

Certain IIM's have also set their own individual criteria for Overseas students as mentioned in the IIM website:

IIM Ahmedabad -Indians residing outside India, and foreign nationals, fall under the "Overseas Candidates" category. To qualify as an Indian resident abroad, a candidate should be an Indian who expects to live, work or study outside India for at least 12 months continuously as of December 15, 2009. Overseas candidates who expect to be resident in India during the period July 1, 2009 to December 15, 2009, will, however, have to take the Institute's Common Admission Test (CAT).

The second stage of the admission process, i.e. personal interviews, will be held in India. An overseas category candidate who applies with a GMAT score instead of a CAT score should have scored at least 45 in the quantitative and verbal sections and should have a total scaled score of at least 700.

IIM Bangalore- To be eligible to apply through the GMAT route, a candidate must have resided abroad for at least 18 months in the preceding three years and should not be in a position to appear for CAT 2009. The first short list among such applicants is created by applying the same percentile cut-offs, as used for the general category in the CAT route.

Tution Fees- While IIMs charge about US$ 20K per year as tuition fees from overseas candidate per year, top-private colleges charge from US$20K-35K per year as Tuition fee. The tuition fee for students qualifying from CAT exam is around Rs.3 lacs per year.

Thus getting admissions to IIM's via the GMAT route is quite competitive but provides an avenue for overseas students who cannot apply for CAT exam in India. Only those willing to stay in India & write the CAT exam here can use scores they have received.

Also being highly competitive, with about 200 students applying for 20 seats on an average, it makes sense to have an honest appraisal of oneself before applying to any of these institutes.