PGP Admission Process for IIMB Batch of 2008
This document details the process that will be adopted for selecting candidates
for
admission to the Post Graduate Program in Management (PGP) at the Indian
Institute of
Management Bangalore (IIMB) for the batch of 2008.
IIMB has internally developed an admission process that seeks to identify the
most
promising candidates for the PGP program. This process has been progressively
refined
over the years based on cumulative data on the Common Admission Test (CAT)
applicants
and on the academic performance of the candidates that were admitted at IIMB.
The
process arrived at is based on the relationship of academic performance in IIMB
to past
academic performance, CAT score, performance in group discussion, interview and
prior
work experience. The selection criteria and weights given to various parameters
are based on
data from previous cycles as well as on inputs from the IIMB faculty body and
other relevant
stakeholders and are usually revised every year. The admission committee fixes
these criteria
and weights at the beginning of each admission cycle before looking at
information
pertaining to candidates applying in that cycle so as to avoid any bias.
IIMB has found over the years that students who perform well in the academic
program are typically those who have a consistently good academic record during
their
school, high school and graduation level, besides exhibiting sufficiently high
aptitude as
measured by the CAT. Therefore IIMB uses multiple parameters, namely academic
performance in school, high school and graduation programs as well as
candidates� scores in
CAT to judge the suitability of candidates for the PGP program. Relevant work
experience,
if any, is also given weight in the selection. Evaluation by multiple criteria
is also consistent
with empirical research on recruitment and selection that shows greater efficacy
of
recruitment processes that uses multiple criteria. The CAT score, over and above
being a
selection criterion, is also used to establish the minimum level of proficiency
that is expected
from the candidate in respective faculties as indicated by section wise minimum
scores in the
CAT. Multiple criteria are used to arrive at a composite score for every
candidate, which is
used to select candidates for the subsequent stage. The remaining part of the
document
explains this process in detail.
IIMB adopts a two-phase selection process and accordingly these selection
criteria
are applied in two phases. The first phase process is applied to all eligible
candidates who
appear for CAT 2007 to determine those qualifying candidates who will be called
for group
discussion and personal interview (GDPI). During the GDPI process, two faculty
members
will evaluate each qualifying candidate on his/her performance in the group
discussion,
his/her summary of the group discussion and his/her performance during the
personal
interview. In addition, for candidates having work experience, each interviewing
faculty will
evaluate the quality and relevance of the candidate�s work experience. These
scores, in
combination with the pre-GDPI selection parameters will be used cumulatively in
the
second and final phase of selection to identify the candidates who will merit
selection from
among those candidates who appear for the GDPI.
The selection process, parameters and weights used are uniform for all
categories of
applicants. Sufficient candidates are short listed at each stage in each
category to meet the
reservation requirement for each group, as applicable at that time.
