Tier 3 college candidates actually have an advantage at IIMs in getting calls but face challenges in placement. The AMA commenter 7rulycool from IIM ABC said: "B Schools have found a way to normalise school scores, but this, no." referring to board scores across different boards/colleges.
Tier 3 candidates often have inflated UG GPAs due to grade inflation - a 9.5 CGPA at tier 3 engineering college is not comparable to a 9.0 CGPA at IIT.
IIMs partially adjust for this via interview performance, but not in shortlist scoring. So tier 3 candidates with 9+ UG acads get full UG points and compete on CAT. At IIM Ahmedabad (Rs 27.
5L fees, Rs 35.22 LPA avg, 99%+ CAT cutoff), tier 3 engineering candidates with 99.9+ percentile convert regularly.
The placement catch: in SIP and finals at IIM ABC, tier matters significantly for first-round filters - tier 3 candidates face 30-40% lower shortlist rates. So getting into IIM ABC from tier 3 is achievable, but you face a steeper placement fight. The counter-strategy: CFA L2 + finance work-ex + national case comp wins + strong year 1 IIM CGPA + SIP PPO.
Combined these compensate for tier 3 background within 1 year. FMS (Rs 2.43L fees, Rs 34 LPA avg) is less tier-discriminating in placements than IIM ABC.
SPJIMR (Rs 26.5L fees, Rs 32 LPA avg) has even lower tier filters due to profile-based selection. Check your eligibility at collvera.