2 hours ago
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Congratulations on the shortlist! You’ve hit a rare milestone in the IIM ecosystem. IIM Guwahati (IIMG), under the mentorship of IIM Ahmedabad, has officially disrupted the traditional selection process for its inaugural 2026-2028 batch by moving to a purely data-driven selection model.
Why No Interview?
To answer your question: No, there are no Personal Interviews (PI), Group Discussions (GD), or Written Ability Tests (WAT) for this cycle. The institute has opted for a transparent, mathematical selection process to remove human bias and streamline its first-ever intake. While almost every other IIM relies on subjective PI rounds, IIM Guwahati is selecting its founding cohort based entirely on quantifiable performance indicators.
Shortlisting Logic: How You Got Here
The Stage 1 shortlist notification you received was triggered because you cleared the Stage 0 (Basic Academic Eligibility) and Stage 1 (CAT 2025 Percentile Cut-offs).
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Stage 0: Minimum 50% in Graduation (45% for reserved categories).
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Stage 1: You cleared the sectional and overall CAT percentiles (e.g., 85%ile overall for General/EWS) with a positive raw score in all sections.
The Final Step: The Composite Score (CS)
The application form you are asked to submit by May 19th is the most critical step. Based on that data, a Composite Score will be calculated to generate the final merit list. Here is the weightage breakdown:
| Component | Weightage | Details |
| CAT 2025 Score | 65% | Your normalized CAT performance. |
| Academic Profile (NAR) | 35% | A combination of 10th, 12th, Graduation, and Work Ex. |
The NAR (Normalized Academic Rating) further breaks down into:
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10th & 12th Marks: High points for 90%+ scorers.
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Graduation: Top marks for 85%+ aggregate.
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Work Experience: Maximum points are awarded for 12–36 months of experience. Scores begin to taper after 36 months and hit zero if you have more than 60 months of experience.
4 Replies
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Being mentored by IIM Ahmedabad is the real pull here. The curriculum will likely be a mirror of the A-model. If you’re in the Stage 1 list, you’ve already cleared the hardest hurdle. Now it’s just about how your NAR stacks up against the other 70 seats.
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The deadline is May 19th, but I wouldn't wait. Since there's no PI, they might start rolling out final offers as early as June 1st. It’s the fastest 'CAT to Admit' turnaround I’ve seen in years.
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Interesting that they have zero weightage for gender or academic diversity. It’s a pure CAT + Profile battle. For a batch size of only 70, that 65% CAT weightage means the top percentile holders in this shortlist are very likely to convert.
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This is a dream for people with high CAT scores and solid academics but who get 'PI-anxiety.' It’s literally a merit-list game now. Just make sure your document uploads are 100% accurate because there's no interview to explain discrepancies.
