IIM Waitlist Movement: Meaning & Past Trends

Every year, approx 2.50 Lakh aspirants apply for admission to PGDM/PGP/MBA programmes offered by the 20 IIMs in India. As the total number of seats in IIMs are app 7500 as on 2025, every student cannot make it to IIMs.

For the IIM waitlist movement, a decisive moment in the admissions journey has begun. To the majority of the aspiring candidates, it's more than just a wait; it's a second chance at making it to the top Indian MBA colleges such as IIM Ahmedabad, IIM Bangalore, IIM Calcutta, and the like. With thousands of aspirants targeting limited seats, an appreciation of such waitlist trends only provides clarity, strategy, and most importantly-hope.

For the year 2025, with many opting for online CAT coaching under expert guidance, applying to multiple IIMs has made waitlist conversions all the more important. Let us decode how this movement works, what it signifies, and what it means for you.

Although many aspirants succeed for IIMs WAT-Group Discussion/Personal Interview round and pass it too, as their composite score for final selection is less than others, they miss the final selection chance.

What is IIM selection process?

For getting into IIMs students need to pass through a rigorous selection and filtration process. Generally it is into three phases.

1. CAT
2. WAT
3. PI
4. Some IIMs may also go for Group Discussions

(Also Read:Group Discussion Topics)

On the basis of the scores, minimum IIM cut offs in the sectional percentile ranks, the overall percentile rank is selected for the next stages.

Candidates get shortlisted for WAT, GD & Personal Interview.

In the final selection stage, selection is strictly based on the shortlisting of the candidates done separately for each category (General/SC/ST/NC-OBC/PwD) based on the Final Composite Score’s (FCS).

Also Read: IIM Common Admission Process - CAP 2025

Highlights IIM Waitlist Movement 2025

There is no accurate data available on IIM waitlist. Daddysdata Analytica team has researched collected some data from varied sources on internet. We have collected information from various sources like blogs , students answering and then filtetred the information in order to serve the best data.

Expected IIM Waitlist Conversion 2025

Past Trends and Dates

IIMs Shortlist for Admissions 2024: Important Dates:

Important dates for IIM Shortlist 2024 for GD-PI-WAT rounds for PGP/MBA admissions 2024:

What is the IIM Waitlist Movement?

Once the initial merit lists are released, selected candidates are given a deadline to accept or reject their admission offers. But not everyone accepts — some go for global B-schools, others prefer private Indian colleges with niche specialisations, and some simply drop out due to personal reasons.

These unclaimed seats don’t go vacant — they’re passed on to candidates on the IIM waitlist.

This process of reallocating seats is known as waitlist movement, and it can be the make-or-break moment for many aspirants. From IIM Ahmedabad’s modest waitlist shift to IIM Indore’s massive movement across categories, the trend varies greatly — and every year brings surprises.

IIMs Shortlist 2025: Seats and Expected Number of Candidates

IIMs shortlist 2025 generally will have app 10 times more candidates as compared to their number of actual seats. Below is the mention of the available seats in IIMs in 2025 along with expected number of shortlisted students for the different IIMs.

Shortlisting for CAP will be done by coordinating IIM in discussion with each participating IIMs.

Top IIMs Shortlists

The below information is on the norms and highlights of IIMs shortlists for all the top IIMs which include IIM A, IIM B, IIM C, IIM I and others. We will keep on updating this article for the IIM shortlist 2025.

Also Read: Top 50 MBA Colleges in India

IIM Ahmedabad (IIMA) Shortlist: See Shortlisting Criteria and Highlights

IIM Ahmedabad will release PI shortlist for PGP and PGP FABM programmes at the same time. This is released on day of CAT result or a day later after release of CAT result.

Once the IIM Ahmedabad shortlist is declared, aspirants may see their admission status by login with their CAT 2024 registration number and email ID at IIM Ahmedabad PGP admission 2025 website. Shortlisted students will have to submit online Interview Form at IIM A website before the last date as mentioned on the website.

IIM calls for Interview

Or the final admission IIMs the candidates are called after finishing the shortlisting process for GD-PI-WAT rounds. This is noteworthy that IIMs selection focuses more on the student quality and not just the CAT exam scores. The students profile is prepared and that plays an important role for improving diversity in the IIM classrooms.

Also Read: How an MBA aspirants should prepare for an interview?

IIM Selection and Shortlisting criteria emphasis is on the following 3 Parameters:

1. CAT Scores: Each IIMs shortlisting criteria specify its minimum required sectional as well as overall percentile score.
2. Also Read: How to Get Admission in IIMs without CAT?
3. Academic Profile & Diversity: IIMs selection criteria gives weightage to excellent academic record till graduation. Candidates coming from Non-Engineering background are also given extra weightage. Girl aspirants are also given weightage to promote gender diversity in the IIM classrooms.
4. Work Experience: A supervisory experience of 2 to 3 years can get extra weightage of 5 to 10% in selection process.

Here this is worth explaining that couple of aspirants who has topped in CAT or even candidates with 99%ile may not at a call from IIM A. As the admission process focus on diversity aspirants with even 90 %ile may get a call due to their profile, academic diversity regardless of scoring low in the CAT.

IIM Shortlist Criteria at a Glance: Key Components & Weightage

Also Check:IIM Admission Predictor

Key Factors That Drive IIM Waitlist Movement

The IIM waitlist dynamics aren’t random — they’re influenced by several real-world factors. Here's what shapes how far the waitlist moves each year:

1. Acceptance Rates

Top-tier IIMs like IIM Ahmedabad, IIM Bangalore, and IIM Calcutta typically have higher offer acceptance rates. This means fewer students drop out — leading to lower waitlist movement, especially in the General and EWS categories.

However, newer and mid-tier IIMs often see a significant waitlist shift as many top-rankers opt for other options.

2. Multiple Offers and Alternative Preferences

With CAT toppers receiving calls from multiple institutes — including FMS Delhi, XLRI, ISB, and global B-schools — not everyone sticks with their IIM offer. Some may prefer:

1. Lower fee structures (like FMS Delhi),
2. Preferred campus location (e.g., Delhi over Kozhikode),
3. Specialized MBA programs.

This triggers waitlist movements in top IIMs, making space for the next-in-line candidates.

3. Category-Wise Movement Trends

Waitlist movement isn't uniform across categories. For instance:

1. OBC and SC categories often see moderate to high movement.
2. General category movement is generally lower in top IIMs but high in mid-tier ones.
3. PwD category sometimes experiences slower movement due to fewer applications and higher acceptance.

Understanding category-specific trends is essential to estimate your chances of conversion.

4. Strategic Withdrawals & Timing

Some candidates delay confirmation to top B-schools abroad or private colleges, only withdrawing at the last minute. This can cause last-round waitlist conversions — often surprising those who had mentally moved on.

So if you’re waitlisted, stay prepared. Last-round calls often go to serious, ready-to-enroll candidates.

2024 IIM Shortlist: Main Highlights, Short listing Criteria:

1. IIM Ahmedabad Shortlist

1. 1246 candidates were shortlisted for PI-WAT round by IIM A.
2. CAT cut off lowered to 80.75 percentile from 83.32 for general category
3. For EWS category CAT cut off had gone down to 85.34 percentile from 90.75 last year
4. 940 out of 1246 shortlisted candidates were male constituting 75% of shortlisted candidates
5. 67% candidates were engineers in the IIMA shortlist

Following weightages were awarded in IIMA Shortlisting process. The IIMA shortlist included major achievers in diverse academic fields. These aspirants may not have scored very high CAT percentile but they were shortlisted on the basis of diverse profile despite low CAT percentile.

IIM Bangalore (IIMB)

IIM Bangalore will release PI shortlist almost within a week after announcement of CAT exam result. Last year, IIMB shortlist was released after 11 days of CAT result on January 17, 2024. The PI-WAT round began in February and continued till second week of March. IIM Bangalore conducted the PI-WAT round in different cities like Bangalore, New Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai and Hyderabad on different dates.

IIMB Shortlist Criteria

IIM B Focused more on academic profile, IIM Bangalore shortlist was prepared considering candidate’s academic performance, quality of work experience among others. CAT score was not the only point in IIM Bangalore shortlisting criteria.

The Weightage of 40 points for CAT percentile score was divided further into the performance in each of the three sections to shortlist candidates for PI round as under:

IIM Calcutta (IIMC) Shortlist: Shortlisting Criteria, Highlights

IIM Calcutta shortlist 2025 will be released around 20 days after the declaration of CAT exam result. Last year IIMC released the shortlist on January 25, 2024. IIM Calcutta has changed the title of its flagship 2 years full time management program to MBA from PGP. IIM Calcutta shortlisting criteria prescribe less weightage to CAT cut offs and greater weightage to academics

IIM Calcutta Shortlist: Key Highlights

1. IIM Calcutta was the last among the top three IIMs to release its shortlist for PI round
2. IIM Calcutta conducted PI round online instead of in-person interviews
3. CAT Cut off was reduced to 85 percentile
4. CAT sectional cut off for Quantitative Ability reduced to 75 percentile for General category
5. For other categories also QA minimum required percentile was reduced to 65 and below
6. Weightage for CAT score reduced to 56% in shortlisting for PI round
7. Weightage for Academics and Diversity was increased to 44% in shortlisting process
8. 15% weightage for Bachelor’s degree awarded in shortlisting
9. Class 10 score weightage reduced to 10% from 20% in shortlisting
10. Class 12 score weightage reduced to 15% from 20% in shortlisting

EWS category reservation as per GoI norms started with requirement of reduced percentile in CAT exam

IIM Lucknow (IIML) Shortlist: Shortlisting Criteria, Highlights

IIM Lucknow will release the shortlist for PI-WAT in the third week of January 2025. Last year IIML released the shortlist on January 16, 2024. A comprehensive list of 8044 candidates shortlisted for PGP, PGP‐ABM and PGP‐SM was placed on IIM Lucknow website.

IIM Lucknow Shortlist of Candidates: Programme wise

For admission 2024, programme wise Number of candidates considered and finally shortlisted for IIM Lucknow PI WAT were as below:

IIM Lucknow Shortlisting Criteria

*Maximum marks for diversity factor (DFa and DFb) cannot exceed 20 (for PGP-ABM Program only).

IIM Lucknow Shortlist: Key Highlights

1. 8044 candidates were shortlisted for WAT & PI Round
2. Candidates shortlisted for PGP, PGP-ABM and PGP-SM program 2024-23 batch in different categories could check their programme wise status
3. Blank cell in the shortlist as released by IIM Lucknow meant that the candidates had not qualified for the respective programme
4. Candidates shortlisted for WAT‐PI based on composite score cut‐offs needed to submit their WAT‐PI form online
5. A candidate's name was dropped for WAT‐PI if he/she failed to submit the form online within the stipulated deadline.

IIM Kozhikode (IIMK) Shortlist: Shortlisting Criteria, Highlights

IIM Kozhikode will release the shortlist 2025 within 3-4 days after declaration of CAT exam result. Last year IIM Kozhikode shortlist was released on January 7, 2024 for final selection round for PGP 2024-23 batch. Candidates could check their short list status by login with CAT registration ID and email id on IIM Kozhikode official website

IIM Kozhikode Shortlisting Criteria

Last year, IIM Kozhikode released the shortlist of candidates for PI stage on the basis of five parameters. IIMK shortlisting criteria included - CAT score, academic scores of class X and XII and Academic & Gender diversity, work experience. There was no weightage to the academic scores after class 12.

IIMK shortlist was prepared in each category and was created based on an Aggregate Index Score (AIS). The AIS was computed based on the performance in CAT , Class X and XII marks and diversity. The weight of each component in the AIS was as follows: