Should an OBC NCL non-engineer male with 30 months at an edtech and CAT 89.26 percentile reattempt or settle for U/T/R baby IIMs?

With 89.26%ile in CAT, you will likely receive calls from IIM Udaipur, IIM Ranchi, and IIM Trichy, and stand a reasonable chance of converting one of them given your 30 months of work experience and OBC NCL category. The decision to reattempt hinges on three factors: whether you can realistically push past 95%ile in the next attempt, how much your edtech role adds differentiation in interviews, and whether you're willing to delay your MBA by a year for a shot at older IIMs or top non-IIMs like FMS, MDI, or XLRI.

What 89.26%ile Gets You

Your current percentile opens doors to the newer IIMs but falls short of the 97–98%ile threshold needed for IIM Calcutta, IIM Lucknow, or FMS. Baby IIMs like Udaipur, Ranchi, and Trichy have placed their 2024 batches at average packages between ₹17–19 LPA, with median closer to ₹15–16 LPA.

Fees hover around ₹16–18 L for the two-year programme, so payback is roughly 12–15 months if you land a median offer.

From Reddit, we learnt that OBC NCL candidates with 89–90%ile and strong work experience often convert one baby IIM interview into an admit, especially if the edtech stint involved product, sales, or curriculum design rather than pure operations. Your 30-month tenure is a plus during the personal interview, but it won't offset a weak percentile when competing for shortlists at older IIMs.

When to Reattempt

Reattempt makes sense if you can identify and fix specific CAT weaknesses. Run a CAT prep plan to diagnose sectional gaps: many 89%ile scorers have one lagging section (often VARC or DILR) that, if improved by 10–12 raw marks, can push the overall score past 95%ile.

If you've already plateaued after multiple mocks and see no clear path to improvement, a reattempt is a gamble.

Alternatively, pivot to the GMAT Focus and target 675+. A strong GMAT score, combined with your work experience, opens ISB's one-year programme (₹42.5 L fees, ₹35.6 LPA median for 2024) and several European one-year MBAs. The GMAT route is especially viable if your CAT struggle is rooted in exam-day pressure or the three-hour format rather than aptitude.

When to Accept

If your goal is a career pivot into consulting, product management, or general management and you're indifferent between Tier-1 and Tier-2 brand equity, the baby IIMs deliver. IIM Udaipur placed 100% of its 2024 batch, with recruiters including Deloitte, PwC, Asian Paints, and Aditya Birla Group. The alumni network is growing, and the IIM tag still carries weight in India. Delaying by a year for a marginal brand upgrade may not justify the opportunity cost of lost salary and seniority.

Use the compare colleges tool to model ROI: if the delta between a baby IIM median (₹16 LPA) and your target school's median is less than ₹5 LPA, and you're not certain of a percentile jump, accept the bird in hand.