After the CAT exam results in December, IIMs begin a multi-stage admission process: PI shortlists come out in January, WAT and Personal Interview rounds happen February through March, and then — the moment every aspirant waits for — the first merit list (final admission offer list) drops in April or May.

The first merit list is the actual admission offer. It is categorically different from the PI shortlist. Being on the first merit list means you have been offered a seat in that IIM's flagship MBA/PGP programme. You must respond — typically within 5–7 days — by accepting the offer and paying the seat acceptance fee. Miss the deadline and the seat goes to the next candidate on the waitlist.

Tracking the exact date of each college's first list matters for two reasons. First, if you receive multiple offers, you need to know which ones come out earliest so you can make an informed decision without losing any seat. Second, the release date triggers the waitlist movement — once the first round of acceptances is complete, rejected seats cascade down the waitlist, often into July.

This page compiles exact (or best-available-approximate) first merit list dates for both the 2026 cycle (CAT 2025) and the 2025 cycle (CAT 2024) for all 21 IIMs and leading non-IIM B-schools, with direct links to each institution's official result portal. For 2026, IIM admissions are now split across three tracks: CAP (3 IIMs), JAP (4 IIMs), and independent processes.