How to Get Admission in IBA Karachi? (Step by Step Guide)

If you are aiming to study Business related subjects and are interested in choosing careers that are not mainstream, you should definitely opt for applying at IBA (Institute of Business Administration). IBA is known to be as one of the highest-ranked institute specialized for Business Studies. This institute was founded in 1995 by Pakistani government with the support of Wharton School and University of Southern California. Along with this, IBA has a lot of affiliations from different institutes around the world; some of them being Northwestern University, Indian School of Business and Babson College.

As this is one of the leading institutes of the country, it aims to put Karachi especially on the entrepreneurial map of the world. As the curriculum, methodology of teaching and the course material is developed in the supervision and consultation of experts in industry and lead resource persons, its only goal is to motivate and strengthen the education system and bring it on to the next level.

Coming to the Admission process, it should be noted that the admission is done strictly on merit basis irrespective of the candidates’ religion, caste, creed or their socioeconomic status.

Eligibility Criteria:

The eligibility criterion for all the programs is different.

Undergraduate Degree Programs:

• If the candidate has done intermediate and has a HSSC qualification, he should have a minimum of 65% marks on his/her certificate. If the applicant has done PRE-ENGINEERING or from MATHEMATICS background in intermediate, he/she should have minimum 60% marks.

• If the candidate is from A level background, he/she should have a minimum of 2 B’s and 1 C in the principal subject in such a way that there should not be a grade lesser than a C in those subjects. In the case of Mathematics in A levels, the candidate should have a minimum of 1 B, 2 C’s including a major in Mathematics and making sure that there is not a lesser grade than a C.
• If the candidate has a Canadian/American High School Diploma, then he should have a minimum of 80% score.
• If the candidate is from an International Baccalaureate background, he should at least have 25 points out of 45.
• The rest of the candidates having different academic background other than these should provide with an equivalence certificate from IBCC.

Graduate Degree Programs:

• Applicants who have applied for MBA and MS programs should have an academic background of minimum 16 years of education out of which 4 years should be spent in an HEC recognized university.
• The candidate should at least have a minimum of 2.5 CGPA or 60% in the last degree.
• A 60% aggregate is required along with marks obtained in every subject.
• If the candidate has given GMAT, he/she should have a minimum of 600 score and 160 in Quantitative and 150 in the verbal section of GRE which is required for test exemption.
• Also, candidates with some work experience will be preferred by the university.

Admission Procedure

Online Application:

Candidates are supposed to log onto the official website of IBA which is (www.iba.edu.pk) in order to fill an application form because only online application forms are accepted.

Click on the following link and you will be directed to the online application form. https://onlineadmission.iba.edu.pk/?tab=undergraduate

• After filling the online application form, you will receive a login ID and a password on your email address.
• When you log onto the website using the same login ID and password, the form for the Aptitude test will appear.
• You are supposed to fill out your SAT-I score, where applicable.
• Then you are supposed to upload a recent, colored, passport-sized photograph of yourself. Anybody who fails to upload a picture according to the instructions given would not be processed for further admission.
• After submitting the application form, print out the fee challan and deposit the required amount (Rs 4000/-) which is the admission processing fee at any Faysal Bank branch within the due date.
• The admit card will be generated and those candidates who are exempted from giving the aptitude test will be selected if they are eligible on the basis of their SAT-I score. But they will be required to appear on the interview day.

Once you have filled out your online application form and paid the dues, your admission process will start:

1. Issuance of Admit Cards:

Your admit card will be generated between the dates stated on the form and will be sent to the candidates’ registered email address. Along with this, applicants will be notified of this on their phone numbers via SMS. Then candidates are supposed to first download the admit card and then get it printed by logging onto the site by using your Login ID and password.

The admit card will contain a photograph of yourself with your details.

As the bank transactions will be tracked so there won’t be any need to send the paid fee vouchers.

2. Aptitude Test:

Next step would be the aptitude test which is conducted in Karachi as well as other cities simultaneously. The test date will be announced on the official website of IBA or you will get to know that from media if you have followed the related things regarding IBA and admissions.

You will be given a choice to choose the location of the test when you are filling out your online application form for IBA.

When the admit cards will be issued to the candidates, they will provide you with all the right details about your test Centre, date, and reporting time and schedule of the test.

You are supposed to go through all the instructions given on the back side of the admit card and make sure you follow them promptly.

When you go to the test Centre to give Aptitude test, you are required to bring that Admit card along with your photo ID in order to verify yourself and appear in the test.

Only those students who pass this test will be further allowed to be a part of the Group Discussion and the interview later on.

Those candidates will be exempted to give this test that will be eligible on the basis of their SAT score.

3. List for Interview:

If you have qualified for admission based on your Aptitude test score, your name will appear on the interview list. For this activity, date and time will be mentioned on the official website and the selected candidates are supposed to report to the venue and time of the activity.

4. Group Discussions:

In Group Discussions, different applicants are divided into groups and each group is given a topic to debate and present their views on, along with some major discussion. During this process, a lot of things are judged accordingly including one’s communication skills, interpersonal skills, leadership qualities and confidence is also assessed.

5. Interview:

The last step in the admission process is Interview. These interviews are conducted in order to evaluate the level of academic aptitude, maturity, confidence, interpersonal skills, body language and career focus of the candidate.

6. Successful Candidates:

Those lucky candidates, who are selected, will be notified through a list uploaded on the website. These candidates will receive their admission letter, fee challan along with some other documents through an email which will be sent by the admission office.

For the issuance of admission letter, all the selected candidates will have to submit the transcripts bearing proof that they meet the minimum academic eligibility criteria for the specific degree programs.

Enrollment into the University:

After the successful admission, candidates are now supposed to enroll in the university keeping in view that they have cleared out all the dues and fee in prescribed banks and only those who have met the academic eligibility criteria are supposed to submit the fee otherwise a hectic process of refunding the fee will follow.

These documents should be submitted by the candidates in original along with some copies which should be attested by a gazette officer to complete the enrollment process.

• Matriculation or O level Certificate
• HSSC/ A level transcript/ certification with the mark sheet
• Bachelors’ degree with transcript (in the case of postgraduate degree programs)
• Masters Degree along with transcript/marks sheet (in the case of doctorate degree programs)
• Equivalence certificates by IBCC in the case of foreign degree programs
• Work experience certificate (if any)
• Migration certificate of any university/board concerned except for Karachi Boards
• A copy of the original Fee Challan deposit slip which should be submitted where applicable.
• It should be kept in mind that university holds the authority of permanently debarring any student who provides fake or forged information about his/her grades, work experience, family, financial status or any other required material.

Documents Required:

For Undergraduate Students:

• You will need your Matric/O level Certificate
• Intermediate/ A level/ equivalent qualification certificate
• IBCC equivalence certificate in case of O / A level qualification
• National Identity card or Birth Certificate of yourself.

For Graduate Students Only:

• Matriculation/ O level certificate
• Intermediate/ A level/ Equivalent qualification certificate
• Graduation degree marks sheet
• Graduation Degree
• Your birth certificate/National Identity Card
• HEC equivalence Certificate in case of a foreign degree
• Work Experience Letters (where applicable)

Terms and Conditions of the Admission Process:

• As discussed above, the admissions are done strictly on merit basis. Any candidate not falling under the merit won’t be allowed to be admitted into the university. Admission are fully dependent on the candidates’ scores irrespective of their religion, color, caste, socioeconomic background or race hence there are no discriminations however.
• It should be kept in mind that IBA does not have reserved seats or quota sorts of any kind and there won’t be any effort made in order to fill all the available seats or somehow lower the criteria for insufficient number of candidates applying for some degree.
• IBA conducts an Aptitude test for candidates to get in which will be supervised by professionals and the results will be decided by the Admission Committee practicing rigorous methods wholly based on statistical analysis.
• There will be only one aptitude test held for both the campuses of IBA, at Karachi and candidates can choose their specializations after a minimum of 2 years for undergraduate degrees, and after 1 year for graduate degree programs.
• The admission of the candidate will be done if:
• he/she has applied online by filling the application form and registered to take the Aptitude test.
• The required fee for application processing is duly paid and admit card is received.
• The candidate has qualified the Aptitude test and provided proof in the case of exemptions of Aptitude test by providing with his/her SAT-I/SAT-II/GRE/GMAT score (whichever is applicable at that time).
• The candidate should participate in the group discussion and has given his/her interview, and has passed both the things.
• The candidate should provide with the equivalence certificate in case of a foreign degree holder beforehand so there are no issues later on.

Remember that this high-ranked institute accepts students wholly on merit basis so work hard and give your best because to study and gain knowledge in a renowned university is considered very lucky.