Is getting into IIM Ahmedabad possible for an average student?

If you are already convinced that an average student cannot make it into IIM Ahmedabad, then you won’t be giving your best. Remember it's your mindset that determines your chances of admission. 

I will narrate an anecdote of a friend who took the CAT, a few months ago. He had done a B.E. in electronics and comm. from a top local institute in Bengaluru and worked for 10 months in an IT role. He received a list of colleges he should target from his coaching based on his scores and overall profile. 

Nevertheless, he wanted to get into IIM Ahmedabad. He had no one to guide him and his list did not have a single IIM. It seemed almost impossible but he did not give up. 

Ultimately, he made it into IIM Ahmedabad and all his friends were shocked. They couldn’t believe someone with an average profile like him.

It depends on what you mean by average. One of my friends got admission to IIM Ahmedabad last year. He is from an engineering background. He didn’t attend any IIT or NIT. Here is his take on the admission process.

Interview Calls:

For the shortlist of interview calls, CAT scores get around 65-75% weightage and past academics get 30-35% weightage. Engineers need higher scores in graduation compared to other streams. If your 10th/12th score is above 90-95% and your graduation score is above 85%, you can expect a call with 99.65 percentile. If your 10th/12th percentile is less than 90/85%, you will need a percentile above 99.8. 

Final Section - Once you reach the AWT/PI section, your past academics will no longer matter. But you will still need to study your graduation subjects to do well in the interview. 

My friend’s profile was quite average so it’s evident that an average student can get into IIMA. But you need to have the required CAT percentile and past academic score.