New IIMs may have common admission rule

The country's seven new Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) may adopt common admission criteria from next year, saving thousands of IIM aspirants from having to evaluate complex selection eligibility separately for each of the B-schools.

The country's seven new Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) may adopt common admission criteria from next year, saving thousands of IIM aspirants from having to evaluate complex selection eligibility separately for each of the B-schools.

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The human resource development ministry and directors of the new IIMs will on Thursday discuss the dramatic new proposal and a slew of other joint initiatives the government wants the B-schools to undertake, top government sources have told HT.

Four of the new IIMs this year jointly held personal interviews (PIs) and group discussions (GDs) — the second stage of the admission process.

But the Thursday's meeting may for the first time lead to IIMs collaborating on setting joint selection criteria, sources said. The plan for common admission criteria apart from common PIs and GDs, listed on the agenda for the meeting, is aimed at simplifying the admission process for students.

Common admission criteria — if agreed to by the new IIMs — could include the Institutes sharing cut-off determination formulae and the weightage they decide to give to applicants' class X, class XII and undergraduate marks.

These students — screened out because of criteria that would have eliminated them independent of how well they scored in the CAT, but which were hidden till the CAT results were declared - have challenged the IIMs in the Delhi high court. They are arguing they would not have wasted their time and resources if the IIMs had declared pre-CAT criteria upfront.

The directors and the HRD ministry will also discuss plans for faculty exchanges among them and using information technology to meet teacher shortage problems, and put in place a mechanism for regular interaction between the IIM heads.