UG college tier matters significantly for SIP shortlists but becomes irrelevant by finals according to the three IIM ABC AMA hosts. They confirmed: "No one cares about tiers till SIPs, if you think you've got what it takes you'll make it." Summer internships weight tier heavily because recruiters have no IIM grade data to judge you. Top-tier MBB and IB summers at ABC go disproportionately to IIT/NIT/BITS/SRCC grads. However in finals, your IIM A/B/C grade becomes the primary filter and tier 2/3 UGs who ranked top 20% crack MBB regularly. At IIM Ahmedabad with Rs 27.5L fees and Rs 35.22 LPA avg, the tier penalty costs roughly 20-30% shortlist rate in summers but equalises in finals. Practical advice for tier 3 candidates: accept the summer hit, convert a decent summer PPO or mid-tier internship, then grind for rank in year