IIM Bangalore MBA Admission 2026: CAT cut-offs remain high; interview gets 40% weightage in final round

The Indian Institute of Management Bangalore (IIM Bangalore) has announced the admission policy for postgraduate programmes in management (PGP) through the Common Admission Test (CAT 2025) scores. Admission to MBA at IIM Bangalore will follow a two-stage selection process, with the highest weightage to the personal interview in the final round.

Selection for the two-year full-time residential MBA programme will be done in two stages - minimum CAT cut-off and previous academic qualification and scores obtained in personal interview and written ability test (WAT).

Additionally, candidates must submit two reference letters in the online application, preferably from an employer or from a teacher in an academic institution where they have studied.

IIM Bangalore, ranked number 2 in the NIRF management rankings 2025, has second highest CAT cut-offs after IIM Ahmedabad for MBA admissions. General category candidates should have an overall mark above 85 percentile to be eligible for the second stage of selection process, in addition to meeting the selection criteria in previous academic and work experience.

Also read CAT 2025: IIM Bangalore gets more women, fewer engineers over 3 years of MBA admissions

IIM Bangalore MBA: Stage 1 selection criteria

Category-wise CAT overall and sectional cut-offs for the first round of selection for MBA admission. These CAT cut-offs are based on the 2025 MBA admission process.

“These are cut-offs used for preparing the first shortlist. The scores of those called for interviews were higher,” IIMB said.

Also read IIM Kozhikode MBA Admission 2026: CAT cut-off stays at 85 percentile; three-stage selection explained

IIM Bangalore: Stage 2 selection process

In the final selection process, personal interview is given the highest weightage of 40%, followed by CAT scores, which is allotted 25%.

"The second stage of the admissions process at IIMB consists of a personal interview (PI) and a Written Ability Test (WAT) where candidates will be required to write a note. The PI and the WAT will happen on the same day and in the same location. The duration of the WAT is approximately 30 minutes. The WAT will be evaluated based on the content and style of the note," the institute said.