To get admission to IIM Indore, you have to clear the CAT exam successfully and it is considered one of the toughest exams in India. But here are the names of some of the best books which will be very helpful for the preparation for the CAT exam.

Pearson's IPMAT Book :

• This is a very popular book for IPMAT. It is one of the oldest books for CAT preparation and it also includes analysis of past year patterns. 
• The latest version of this book would be more refined and will have some more valuable information that will be needed for your preparation. 

Arun Sharma :

• This book is very popular for CAT quant preparation. 
• The first two levels of this book can also be used for IPMAT quant preparation. 

Maths NCERT Book :

• This book is very underrated as many students don't give much importance to this book. 
• But this book is very important for your maths preparation. 
• There will be many questions in the exam based on this book. 

Others :

• Apart from these books, also go through some coaching materials such as TIME's career launcher, online coaching videos as these include valuable information. 
• Practice previous year’s question papers as this will give you an idea of how tough the exam is going to be. 

Hence, these are some of the important books which will be very important for your CAT preparation. If you go through all these books then you will surely clear the CAT exam and get admission to IIM Indore. 

Both SJMSOM and IIM Indore are distinguished B-Schools in this league. IIM is a brand name on its own and offers certain perks that make it a better choice. 

• Specialization: SJMSOM is known for its Operations and IT/Analytics/Consulting. Most of the students remain confused in choosing their specialization and tend to delve into their options at the end of their first year. This can be quite helpful if you want to explore your options in the first year and then choose a specialization. 
• Placements: The factor that affects placements is the batch size. The less the batch size the more efficiently and steadily the placements are done with. Often IIM Indore completes their placement before SJMSOM and other IIMs. However, the competition at IIM Indore is high. According to the recent placement highlights the average CTC offered at SJMSOM and IIM Indore is 20 LPA and 23 LPA. 
• Campus: IIM Indore has a splendid campus situated out of the city. The campus is huge and is one of the best campuses in India. At SJMSOM, the campus is to be shared with engineering students. However, this is not much of a problem for students. IIM Indore also provides more extracurricular opportunities.

Hopefully, this would be helpful for you in making the right choice.

The selection list of every top IIM is mutually exclusive. If you get shortlisted by any of the IIM, you have a 100% chance of changing it, the percentile in CAT wouldn't matter. The conversion depends upon how you perform in an interview and the assessment of it.

Over the years, the waitlist movement has been constant but not many get a call from these institutes and choose to do different things in their lives, but they also do not choose any other institute over it. 

For IIM LKI, waitlist movement varies a lot due to the following reasons:

• The first might be the overlapping with ABC.
• The second could be the conversion of candidates to A or B but they might not have made it to the L/K/I.
• Third, only a few leave their seats to go for ABC in one attempt.

These factors sway each year and affect the WL movement. It is difficult for anyone to predict the waitlist for any of the IIMs.

According to one of my friend's personal experiences, you should recognize what you want to do in life further. Whether you want to continue in a technical field or a management field. The next thing is the decent package and the prestigious company, you get your placement.

If Engineering is your choice -

• If you manage to get into IIT Kharagpur or IIT Bombay and spend approximately INR 10 Lakhs for the entire course. 
• Then the salary package you receive is INR 10-11 LPA. 
• So in this case you can clearly demarcate the difference between expenditure and earning. 

If IPM is your choice -

• If we consider that you have taken the IPM course in IIM Indore and spend INR 26 Lakhs till the completion of the course. 
• Then get the placement of around INR 17-18 LPA.

Comparing these we can see that by the time your package reaches INR 12-13 LPA being an engineer from IIT, the salary of the IPM graduate reaches very high. So this is where the difference is being created.

Thus we can say that rather than just focusing on return on investment, look for the average package that will last for your entire life.

Both the institutes provide almost the same learning experience and are considered to be one of the best B-Schools to join in India. But IIM Lucknow has some advantages over IIM Indore.

• At IIM Lucknow students receive more consulting and finance based job roles. Companies like Citi, JP Morgan, Morgan Stanley, Black Rock, Avendus, Arga Investments, Investec offer front end roles for the students. Additionally, there are many Corporate Finance roles offered by banks such as Yes, HDFC, ICICI, etc.

• As the batch size is smaller in IIM Lucknow which in turn makes the learning experience better as the faculty can interact with more students and clear any doubts that one may have.

• According to the NIRF Rankings 2020, IIML stands at 4th position while IIMI stands at 7th in India among the management institutes.

• IIM Lucknow has a strong research base compared to IIM Indore, which helps students to find opportunities to work in live projects and pursue their own research as well. IIM Lucknow has 117 published conference papers over the years while IIM Indore has 98 FPM theses. Both the institutes provide support for students to pursue new research.

• One other important factor is the alumni base. IIM Lucknow has a larger well-developed alumni network compared to IIM Indore which helps in the placements.