IIM Sambalpur offers an MBA as its flagship program in three different specializations, with General Management being the most preferred choice among students. Admission to the MBA course is based on CAT exam scores and a personal interview. The CAT 2025 exam will be held on 30th November 2025, and the further admission process, including the PI and WAT, usually takes place in March and April.

For shortlisting candidates for the Personal Interview, the institute considers academic scores (10% weightage), CAT score (40% weightage), work experience (20% weightage), and gender diversity (10% weightage). The final admission decision is based on the candidate’s performance in the Personal Interview and the Pre-PI score, which is calculated using the above parameters.

1. IIM Sambalpur Admission Dates 2026
2. IIM Sambalpur MBA Admission 2026
3. MBA  Admission Process at Similar Institute
4. IIM Sambalpur Executive MBA Admission 2026
5. IIM Sambalpur B.S. Admission 2026
6. IIM Sambalpur PhD Admission 2026
7. IIM Sambalpur Admission FAQs

IIM Sambalpur Admission Dates 2026

Candidates seeking admission to IIM Sambalpur MBA course need to register themselves and appear for the CAT exam. Important dates regarding PI & WAT and CAT 2025 are given below-

Students can find GDPI Dates of IIM Sambalpur for MBA Programme in the table below:

Source: Reddit

IIM Samabalpur MBA Admission Dates 2026

IIM Sambalpur B.S. Admission Dates 2026

The institute offers admission to its BS courses are based on JEE Main/CUET UG score. The candidates need to fill an application form available on the official website of IIM Sambalpur. Important dates regarding admission process is given below:

IIM Sambalpur B.S. College Specific Dates 

IIM Sambalpur MBA Admission 2026

For admission to the MBA course at IIM Samabalpur, the candidates need to have passed a bachelor’s with at least 50% marks. The candidates need to have secured a minimum CAT percentile (Overall & Sectional) to be considered for further admission process. The more detailed admission process is given below.

IIM Sambalpur MBA  Admission Process for Indian Candidates

IIM Sambalpur follows a three-step admission process for admission to the 2-year MBA course offered at the institute.

Step 1: The application forms of the candidates are applicable for the next step of the admission process if they have secured a minimum CAT percentile. The minimum CAT percentile for general category candidates was 90 percentile in 2024, and 65 percentile as the sectional CAT cutoff.

Note: All the candidates shortlisted in Step 1 will be sent an email in January 2026 containing a link to an online application form on the admission portal of IIM Sambalpur. The online application form will have to be completed and submitted by the candidate by a stipulated deadline.

Step 2: Pre-PI Shortlisting

The candidates who have fulfilled the step-1 criteria and filled the application form, a Pre-PI score will be calculated based on the following criteria out of 80-

• CAT score = 40
• Class X = 3
• Class XII = 3
• Graduation = 4
• Work Experience = 20
• Gender Diversity = 10

Prior Academic Performance

The following Table gives details of the marks to be awarded for prior academic performance.

Work Experience

The score for the Work Experience will be calculated based on the total months of completed work experience of the candidate as of 31st January 2026. The following Table provides details of the marks allocated for the work experience component.

Gender Diversity

10 marks will be awarded to female and transgender candidates only.

Step 3: Personal Interview & Final Merit- List

• Based on the Step-2 shortlist, all the eligible candidates will be required to attend the Personal Interview (PI) process conducted by IIM Sambalpur.

• The PI score (out of a maximum of 25 marks) will be added to the adjusted Pre-PI score (adjusted to 75 marks instead of the earlier 80 marks) (as in step 2) to obtain the final merit score. Candidates who do not obtain a certain minimum score in the PI process would not be considered for the merit list

Offer Acceptance Policy: A candidate receiving an admission offer from IIM Sambalpur and accepting the offer within the stipulated date needs to send an Offer Acceptance Amount of INR 50,000 along with the Offer Acceptance Form on IIM Sambalpur’s admission portal.

IIM Sambalpur has released PI shortlist calls for MBA 2026-28 based on CAT 2025 scores. Many candidates got calls, some after first getting a rejection email. General category calls are mostly for composite scores above 50 to 52. 
Source: Reddit

IIM Sambalpur MBA Batch Profile

The approximate batch size of the MBA course at IIM Sambalpur is 320. As per the batch profile of the MBA course at IIM Sambalpur over the past few years, the percentage of engineering graduates has decreased since 2023. The number of freshers and female candidates has also been increasing steadily. A more detailed batch profile for the MBA course at IIM Sambalpur is given below.

IIM Sambalpur Cutoff

The candidates who have scored above the minimum cut-off in all the sections and the overall CAT percentile will be shortlisted for the personal interview. The minimum cutoff percentile does not guarantee an interview call letter from the institute. The candidates will receive an interview call letter as per the composite score based on CAT Score, Academic Scores, Gender Diversity, and Work Experience.  IIM Sambalpur CAT cut-off for MBA General in 2024 is mentioned in the table below-

# For male candidates having at least one year of relevant work experience, and for all the female candidates, the minimum overall percentile in the General Category will be reduced to 85.

IIM Sambalpur CAT Cutoff 2024 for MBA (BA)

For the MBA 2026–28 batch, the institute has removed sectional cutoffs at the shortlisting stage. Candidates are now required to meet only the minimum overall CAT percentile to be eligible for the Personal Interview. IIM Sambalpur Cutoff for 2026-2028 admission is given below:

MBA Admission Process at Similar Institute

Students often compare similar colleges such as IIM Amritsar, IIM Jammu, TAPMI, etc. while searching for MBA admission at IIM Sambalpur. While all IIMs (Jammu, Sambalpur & Amritsar) use CAT as its initial shortlisting criteria for further admission process at the institute. TAPMI considers CAT/XAT/NMAT scores for its initial shortlisting criteria. Admission process for MBA course at these institutions are given below-

IIM Sambalpur Executive MBA Admission 2026

IIM Sambalpur offers an Executive MBA course for candidates having work experience of at least 3 years, and passed a bachelor’s degree with at least 50% marks.

IIM Sambalpur Executive MBA Selection Criteria

Personal Interview

Upon being shortlisted (Profile Based), the candidate shall appear for a personal interview in front of the Expert panel.

Statement of Purpose (SOP)

The candidate should submit an SOP not exceeding 2000 words and should include a discussion about their career path, interests, professional contributions, goals, and the driving force behind pursuing ExeMBA.

*Merit List will be prepared based on Personal Interview, Academic Qualification, Relevant Work Experience and Statement of Purpose (SOP).

IIM Sambalpur B.S. Admission 2026

IIM Sambalpur offers B.S. course at the UG level in two different specializations. For admission to these courses, the candidates need to have at least 70% marks in 10+2. More details about the admission process is given below-

IIM Sabalpur B.S. Eligibility Criteria

• Must have either passed their Standard XII/HSC or equivalent examination in the year 2024 or 2025, or be currently appearing for Standard XII/HSC or equivalent examination, with results expected by June 2025.

• Min. 70% in both Standard X/SSC and Standard XII/HSC or equivalent examinations (General Category); 65% for SC/ST/OBC-NCL/ PwD and EWS Categories.

• Must have passed English language examination in both Standard X/SSC and Standard XII/HSC or equivalent examinations.

• Max age: 21 years (as of July 31, 2026); relaxations as per Govt. norms.

IIM Sabalpur B.S. Entrance Exam Requirement

• Bachelor of Science (B.S.) in Management & Public Policy: Common University Entrance Test-Undergraduate (CUET UG) 2026: General Aptitude & English subjects scores (mandatory for all applicants).

• Bachelor of Science (B.S.) in Data Science & Artificial Intelligence: JEE (Main) 2026 score (mandatory for all applicants).

IIM Sabalpur B.S. Admission Process

Apply Online via IIM Sambalpur Admission Portal

• Submit CUET (General Aptitude & English subjects) 2026 Test score.
• Standard X/SSC and Standard XII/HSC or equivalent examinations scores, certificates, category/ PwD proofs.

Merit List Preparation

Entrance Exam Score: The final merit list will be prepared based on the respective entrance exam Score.

IIM Sambalpur PhD Admission 2026

The candidates who wish to apply for the PhD program at IIM Sambalpur should fulfill the eligibility criteria mentioned below:

Education

• Master’s degree with 60% marks , or
• Postgraduate Diploma from IITs/ IIMs/ Other reputed Universities with 60% marks or
• Bachelor’s degree with a professional qualification like CA, ICWS, CS with 60% marks
• Integrated Masters degree with 60% marks or
• 4-year bachelor’s degree with 6.5 CGPA

Entrance Exam

The applicants will have to appear for CAT/ GRE/GATE/GMAT/JRF (UGC/CSIR), taken during the last 2 years OR Research Aptitude Test (IIMSAT) at IIM Sambalpur. Those who have already passed a 2-year PGP/ MBA with a 6.0 CGPA are exempted from the exams mentioned above.

Age Limit

The candidates should not be more than 40 years of age.

IIM Sambalpur Ph.D. Admission Process

• Application Form: Interested candidates will have to fill out the PhD application form on the IIM Sambalpur website.

• Shortlisting for PI : The applicants will be shortlisted based on their percentile in the qualifying examination.

• Personal Interview : The shortlisted candidates will have to appear for the personal interview.

• Final Merit-list: The final merit list of the selected candidates will be prepared based on Personal interviews, Academic Qualifications, Relevant Work Experience, and SOP.

IIM Sambalpur Admission FAQs

Ques. What are the reservation criteria followed by IIM Sambalpur for MBA admission?

Ans. IIM Sambalpur follows the reservation policy according to Government of India norms, which are as follows:

Ques. Is there any admission offer acceptance fee charged by IIM Sambalpur?

Ans. Yes, the candidates who have received an admission offer from IIM Sambalpur and are accepting the offer will have to pay an acceptance fee of INR 50,000.

Ques. Can I withdraw from MBA admission after accepting the admission offer at IIM Sambalpur?

Ans. Yes, the candidates can withdraw from MBA admission after accepting the offer. If the candidate withdraws within the withdrawal period, then the acceptance amount will be refunded with only INR 1,000 deducted. But if they withdraw after the withdrawal period, then no refund will be given.

Ques. How much weightage does gender diversity have on MBA final selection?

Ans. Gender diversity is considered while calculating the final composite score of the candidates for final selection. Gender diversity has a weightage of 10 points, which will be given only to female or transgender candidates.

Ques. What is SOP required during ExMBA admissions at IIM Sambalpur?

Ans. SOP refers to the Statement of Purpose which is an essay of not more than 2000 words. It includes details about the candidate’s career path, interests, professional contributions, goals, and the driving force behind pursuing the ExMBa program.

Ques. Can I get admission into the IIM Sambalpur PhD program without appearing for any exam?

Ans. Candidates who have passed two-year full-time PGP/ MBA from IIMs or Institutions/ Universities in NIRF 2023 top 50 Ranking with a minimum CGPA of 6.00 and above or a minimum of 60 percent marks or equivalent are exempted from the test score.