Should I leave IIM Indore and reattempt CAT for IIM A or B?
Honest answer: don't. IIM Indore is a strong tier-1.5 IIM, and the drop-year math rarely beats it. You'd be gambling a year of salary plus prep costs against roughly 25-35 percent odds of actually improving your CAT enough to land A or B.
What You'd Be Giving Up
IIM Indore averages around ₹22-25 LPA starting CTC, with the top quartile pulling ₹30-40 LPA. McKinsey, BCG, and Bain hire 15-25 combined per batch. HUL BMT, P&G, and ITC Brand take 8-15. Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan make occasional visits.
This isn't a fallback. It's a 25-year-old tier-1.5 program with alumni at every major firm: senior MDs at investment banks, partners at MBB, CXOs at FMCG majors. A year out costs roughly ₹8-12 L in foregone salary plus ₹1-2 L in prep. Real money.
The Improvement Math Nobody Talks About
Reattempters improve their CAT by 1-3 percentile points on average. To jump from 98.x to the 99.7+ that GEMs need for A or B is a 4+ point move. Roughly 25-35 percent of serious reattempters get there. The other 60-70 percent land at the same percentile or lower.
People underestimate how much of CAT is exam-day variance. Strong prep doesn't guarantee a higher score next year. The same candidate can score 98.5 one year and 97.8 the next.
If your original 98.x came from one obviously weak section (DILR at 88, say), drop-year math improves a lot. If overall prep was solid and you just didn't get over the hump, another year of the same prep usually produces the same result.
Where Drop Actually Makes Sense
You're at 97 or below and know exactly what tanked it. You're a fresher with little opportunity cost.
You have a specific reason for A or B that IIM Indore can't deliver: IIM Calcutta for the finance pipeline, IIM Ahmedabad for the MBB density. You're under 25.
Where It Doesn't
You've worked 3+ years and are 26+.
Career compression stacks against you. CAT was 98.5+ and you can't name a fixable weakness.
Career intent is generalist consulting, FMCG, or corporate strategy. Indore places into all three at competitive rates.
The MBB Delta Isn't What You Think
| School | Cohort Size | MBB Hires | Cohort % | Top Quartile % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| IIM A | 480-520 | 80-100 | 15-20% | 40-50% |
| IIM Indore | 480 | 15-25 | 4-5% | 12-15% |
MBB at IIM Ahmedabad hires roughly 80-100 across 480-520 cohort, a 15-20 percent shot for the average student. At Indore, MBB takes 15-25 across 480 students, roughly 4-5 percent of cohort.
The gap exists, but if you're a top quartile performer at Indore your real probability is closer to 12-15 percent.
Most Indore-to-MBB conversions happen through Term 1 CGPA and case practice, not via a drop-year detour.
The Risk-Adjusted Call
For IIM Indore offer holders weighing a drop, completing the program is usually the better risk-adjusted call. You can compare colleges to see placement breakdowns side-by-side, or build your MBA report to model career outcomes at different schools.
Pro Tip: From Reddit, we learnt that reattempters who actually converted A or B in cycle 2 almost always knew the specific reason their first attempt fell short: one tanked section, syllabus gaps, exam-day panic. Generic "I'll try harder" doesn't move the needle on CAT. If you can't point to a fixable gap, the drop year produces another 98.x and a thinner CV.