CAT aspirants worry about many things before the exam, but the most common concern is their academic performance in school and college. While IIMs require a minimum of 60% for eligibility, many fear that top B-schools prefer only candidates with outstanding academic records, as seen in past batch profiles.
However, this isn’t entirely true. Strong academics alone don’t guarantee admission—many top scorers lack qualities and experiences that other aspirants bring to the table. Instead of stressing over past academics, focus on what can improve your chances of getting into your dream B-school.
In this blog, we will guide you on how to stand out in the admission process despite low academic scores, provide tips to achieve a high percentile in CAT, and highlight top MBA colleges that consider candidates with lower academic records.
How to Stand Out in the Admission Process Despite Low Academics?
Before diving into the details, keep in mind that these factors vary for each aspirant. Focus on both of these factors that maximize your advantage rather than trying to excel in everything. Even consistent effort in each area can significantly boost your profile over other candidates.
Work Experience
Work Experience may be the best thing you can do to justify your academics. If you can score a job with great management experience or position or your scope of work creates a huge impact. Then, surely it will benefit you than most of the candidates.
Extra-curricular Activities
A candidate with a strong academic background may have an edge in marks, but you can still stand out by showcasing your extra-curricular activities. These experiences demonstrate teamwork, leadership, problem-solving, and other essential soft skills—whether it’s leading a project, winning competitions, excelling in sports, or working on live projects. While academics are a factor in MBA admissions, they are not a necessity, nor something to cry upon.
Tips to Score a High CAT Percentile
While both the above factors are true, there’s more to it. Last but not least, your strong CAT percentile can create an effective cover over your academics and also increase your chances of getting a call from dream MBA colleges. A candidate with strong academics won’t even qualify for the admission process if they fail to clear the cutoffs. On the other hand, someone with lower academics but a high percentile can confidently participate without any worries. Now, here are your tips:
Well-Informed about Everything
First, you should remember that you know every single detail about the CAT exam. This includes the syllabus, marking scheme, exam pattern, score vs. percentile, accuracy, frequent topics, question types, and distractions to avoid at all costs. For all details, you can refer to the iQuanta website or have a call with our team clearing your donuts.
A skilled woodcutter who spends the first hour sharpening his blade and choosing the right tree will always outperform a fool who blindly chops at everything in the forest.
Practising the Right Questions from the Right Study Material
These days, no one wants to spend a dime—everyone chases the previous year questions and free study materials online. But what many forget is that not all online resources are reliable, and most are often outdated.
Since the CAT exam is constantly evolving in difficulty, question formats, and structure, it’s crucial to limit your study materials to the right ones. This is where iQuanta helps by providing high-quality, expert designed study material that mirrors the real CAT exam, consisting of recent trends and hidden patterns to give you an edge.
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Understanding the Concepts and Creative Applications
Aspirants with a low academic background often struggle to grasp concepts, and even when they do, their doubts remain unresolved since they rarely get the attention they need.
But it shouldn’t be this way. That’s why iQuanta offers dual pedagogy classes, covering both concepts and their application. This ensures you not only build a strong foundation but also learn to apply concepts effectively to the right questions under time pressure.
Top MBA Colleges with Low Weightage to Academics
These colleges not only give low weightage to academics in their selection criteria but also provide a great promising career post-MBA.
| MBA College | Average CTC |
| FMS Delhi | 34.10 LPA |
| XLRI Jamshedpur | 29.89 LPA |
| JBIMS Mumbai | 27 LPA |
| IIFT Delhi | 29.10 LPA |
| IIT Bombay | 28.01 LPA |
| SIMB Pune | 28.16 LPA |
| IIT Delhi | 25.82 LPA |
| NMIMS | 26.63 LPA |
| SCMHRD | 23.71 LPA |
