Admission into institutions like IIM Ahmedabad, FMS Delhi and many more is very competitive and academic marks are one of the many criteria in the selection process. However, both institutes consider a holistic approach in admissions and having average academic marks does not fully disqualify you. Here is how you can improve your chances:
IIM Ahmedabad (IIM A):
CAT Score: A high CAT score is generally needed good especially in QA and VARC sections. The better your CAT percentile the better your odds, even if your academic marks aren't the best.
Work experience: IIM A gives high importance to qualitative work experience among the other parameters. A significant professional background with a flair for leadership could give a weightage against the average academic marks.
Extracurricular Activities: An experience track in anything outside studies such as leadership, innovation, or achievement may dramatically increase your chances.
Diversity: For reasons of diversity, IIM Ahmedabad gives weight to such diverse profiles. If you are bringing unique things to the table in this regard, such as diversity in picture or skill-set or experiences, it strengthens your application enormously.
PI & WAT: Gain superlative scores in both the Personal Interview (PI) and Written Ability Test (WAT). So, here are some of the critical rounds in which there is consideration of the academics along with the overall personality.
FMS Delhi
CAT Score: Much like IIM A, FMS Delhi also places an immense emphasis on CAT scores, especially in the Quantitative Aptitude (QA) and Data Interpretation (DI) sections.
Work Experience: Work experience may not be a deal breaker, but prior relevant practice will enhance your profile.
Academic Marks: While FMS may have its share of academic cutoffs, the weight assigned to overall performance is much greater than to just academic scores, thus good performance elsewhere can balance out poor academic marks.
