IIM Visakhapatnam vs IIM Udaipur: the interview-heavy machine against the 94 invitation

Two solo-door IIMs, two opposite ideas of what should decide a seat. IIM Visakhapatnam shortlists at 82 overall and hands nearly half the final score to the interview; IIM Udaipur shortlists at 94 by invitation and hands over half to the CAT score itself. Vizag’s printed bill is Rs 23,58,590 before its outside-the-headline extras; Udaipur’s Rs 21,51,258 already has hostel and mess inside. Both official pages were re-read today, 22 October 2026. The lower bar sits at the coast; the lower bill sits in the Aravallis.

The two bills, side by side

	IIM Visakhapatnam (PGP 2026-28)	IIM Udaipur (MBA 2026-28)
Printed total	Rs 23,58,590 grand total (Rs 11,79,295 x 2 years)	Rs 21,51,258 across six terms
Structure	Rs 3,79,765 tuition x 6 + Student Welfare Rs 40,000 in terms 1 and 4	Term I Rs 3,29,955 (acceptance adjusted) through Term VI Rs 3,51,250
Hostel and mess	A Rs 25,000-per-term advance (mess, AC, printing) OUTSIDE the headline	INSIDE every printed term — hostel Rs 25,000-26,250, mess Rs 24,255-28,298
Caution deposit	Rs 40,000, outside	Rs 20,000, inside Term I
All-in as printed	About Rs 25.5 lakh with the deposit and six terms of advances	Rs 21,51,258 residential
Aid	Financial-aid pages linked from the fee page	Printed aid line for annual household income below Rs 6,00,000
Document	Official program-fee page	Official fees-and-financing page

The honest label: Vizag’s Rs 23,58,590 is not the whole bill — the deposit and the per-term advance add about Rs 1.9 lakh — while Udaipur’s number is the whole residential stay. Like-for-like, Udaipur is roughly Rs 4 lakh cheaper.

Two bars, two philosophies

Vizag prints the lowest General first-shortlist bar in this comparison series: 82 overall with 70 sectionals (EWS and NC-OBC 72, SC 50, ST/PwD 40) — with the printed caution that these are shortlist bars, not admission bars. Udaipur prints 94 overall with 75 sectionals (EWS 81, NC-OBC 81, SC 66, ST 42, DAP 42) and runs shortlisting by email invitation after CAT. Twelve percentile points separate the two doors at the first cut. The practical read: a General candidate at 85-93 has a printed shot at Vizag and none at Udaipur; at 95-plus, both doors are open and the formulas decide.

The formulas behind the lists

Vizag’s final aggregate, printed to the mark: PI 48, CAT 25, Class X 4, Class XII 4, Bachelor’s 4, gender diversity (female and transgender) 5, work experience 10 — the heaviest interview block in the series. And its Phase-3 carries a rule no other page in this series prints: candidates already shortlisted for the PGP interview by IIM Bangalore, Kozhikode, Lucknow or Indore need not sit a separate Vizag PI — the average of those institutes’ PI scores is imported, provided at least one is attended. Udaipur’s final, printed as percentages: Normalised CAT Score 55%, PI 25%, Profile 20% — with the explicit line that the CAT SCORE, not the percentile, is read. At Vizag, the interview room decides; at Udaipur, the CAT hall does.

The Phase-2 middle at Vizag

Between the bar and the interview, Vizag scores a detailed application out of 100: CAT 50 (split VARC 18, DILR 14, QA 18), Class X 10, XII 10, Bachelors 10, gender diversity 10, work experience 10 on a printed curve — zero under 12 months, the full 10 across 24-36 months, tapering to 2.5 beyond 48, measured to 31 December 2025. Nothing at Udaipur has an equivalent published middle layer; its page moves from invitation to PI to the 55/25/20 final.

The quota question, answered from print

Neither institute prints any management, institutional or discretionary route — no IIM does. Both admit through CAT 2025 and their solo published processes under Government of India reservation law. An agent quoting a priced seat at either campus is selling fraud; both official pages are the verification.

Who should pick which

• Pick Vizag if your percentile sits in the 82-93 band — its printed first bar is the only one of the two you clear — or if you interview well: a 48-weight PI is the biggest lever any page in this series prints.
• Pick Udaipur if you carry a 94-plus percentile and a strong CAT score, and want the fully residential bill settled in print — Rs 21,51,258 with hostel and mess inside, and an aid line under Rs 6,00,000 household income.
• Either way — both are solo doors outside JAP and CAP, so one CAT registration can hold both. Watch your email for Udaipur’s invitation after the result, and fill Vizag’s detailed Phase-2 application carefully — it is scored, not decorative.