Should you skip applying to IIMs with weak 10/12 boards and focus on exam based schools?

Yes - with weak 10/12 (below 75%), strategically skip IIM Indore/Kozhikode and focus on FMS, XLRI, and ISB for maximum efficiency. With 10th and 12th below 75%, the board penalty at IIM I (39+20 points) and IIM K (25+15 points) is practically insurmountable even at 99+ percentile. At FMS (Rs 2.43L fees, Rs 34 LPA avg, 98+ cutoff), the shortlist is 100% CAT-based, so your weak boards don't block calls. Final selection at FMS penalises boards at 5% for 60-75% and 10% for 75%+, so weak 10/12 costs 5-15 points on 100-point final scale - recoverable with strong interview. At XLRI (Rs 30.6L fees, Rs 28 LPA avg, XAT 95%+), XAT score dominates. At ISB (Rs 43L fees, Rs 34 LPA avg, GMAT 710+), no board weight; work-ex and profile dominate. For candidates with 60-75% boards, the winning strategy: (

1. Target FMS and IIM A/B via CAT (ABC lightly weights boards), (

1. Take XAT for XLRI, (

1. Take GMAT at 720+ for ISB and US MBA option. Don't burn application fees on IIM I/K with weak boards - you won't convert. NMIMS Mumbai (Rs 25L fees, Rs 18 LPA avg, NMAT 209+) also lightly weights boards and is worth targeting. The AMA commenter's question about private institutes weight is accurate - SP Jain, XLRI, ISB, NMIMS largely ignore or lightly weight boards. Use your time efficiently - stack the deck in your favour. Check your eligibility at collvera.com/eligibility