Exams
The most important exam for MBA aspirants in INDIA remains CAT. The CAT score is accepted by most top colleges. But there are some colleges which have separate exams like XAT, SNAP, NMAT, MICAT etc
All of the mentioned exams are aptitude exams and have multiple choice questions based on verbal ability, reading comprehension, quantitative ability, data interpretation skills, data sufficiency and analytical and critical reasoning. Some exams also have a section on General Knowledge.
The good thing as an aspirant is that the core preparation for almost all the exams is similar with level of difficulty varying with the given exam. Since CAT has the most comprehensive syllabus, a student prepared for CAT can easily manage the other exams.
| Test | Notification Date | Exam Date | No of Questions | Duration | Negative Marking | Sections | Colleges Accepting Test Score |
| CAT | Aug | Last Sunday of Nov | 66 (CAT 2021) | 120 mins (Sectional Time Limit 40 mins) | Yes | 1) Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension 2) Logical Reasoning and Data Interpretation 3) Quantitative Aptitude | All IIMs, IITs, MDI Gurgaon, FMS Delhi University, SP Jain Mumbai, NITIE Mumbai, Great Lakes, IMT, IMI Delhi and more than 100 other colleges |
| IIFT | Jul | First Sunday of Dec | 110 | 120 mins | Yes | 1) Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension 2) Logical Reasoning and Data Interpretation 3) Quantitative Aptitude 4) General Knowledge | IIFT Delhi and Kolkata |
| SNAP | Aug | Dec and Jan | 60 | 60 mins | Yes | 1) General English 2) Analytical and Logical Reasoning 3) Quantitative Aptitude | SIBM Pune, SIBM Bengaluru, SIBM Hyderabad, SIIB, SCMHRD, SIMS, SITM, SIOM |
| NMAT by GMAC | Jun | Oct – Dec | 108 | 120 mins (Language 28 mins; Quant 52 min; Logical Reasoning 40 mins | No | 1) Language Skills 2) Logical Reasoning 3) Quantitative Skills | NMIMS Mumbai, NMIMS Bengaluru, XIMB, ITM Navi Mumbai, VIT etc |
| XAT | Aug | First Sunday of Jan | 75+25 | 165 mins + 15 mins | Yes | 1) Quantitative Ability 2) English and Logical Reasoning 3) Decision Making 4) General Knowledge | XLRI, XIMB, XIM, XIME, XISS, SP Jain Mumbai, XBS, Xaviers University, BIMTech Noida, FORE, Great Lakes, IMT etc |
| CMAT | Oct | Jan | 100 | 180 mins | Yes | 1) Quantitative Techniques 2) Language Comprehension 3) Logical Reasoning 4) General Awareness | Great Lakes Chennai, IFMR, KJ Somaiya, Wellingkar Institute of Management, XIME, BIMTech, Goa Institute of Management etc |
| MAH CET | Jan | Mar | 200 | 150 mins | No | 1) Logical Reasoning 2) Abstract Reasoning 3)Quantitative Aptitude 4) Reading Comprehension / Verbal Ability | JBIMS, Welingkar, SIMSREE etc |
| TISSNET | Oct | Jan | 100 | 100 mins | No | 1) General Awareness 2) English Proficiency 3) Maths and Logical reasoning | Tata Institute of Social Sciences |
| IRMASAT | Oct | Feb | 40 | 80 mins | Yes | Issues of Social Concern + CAT/XAT Score | Institute of Rural Management Anand |
| MAT | Feb May Sep and Dec | 200 | 150 mins | Yes | 1) Language Comprehension 2) Data Analyis 3) Mathematical Skills 4) Indian and Global Environment 5) Intelligence and Critical Reasoning | Balaji Institutes, FLAME School, DY Patil Business School, ITM University, Jaipuria Institute, Asia Pacific, BIMTech, Chitkara, Alliance, SRM, VIPS etc | |
| IBSAT | Jul | Dec | 140 | 120 mins | Yes | 1) Verbal Ability 2) Reading Comprehension 3) Quantitative Aptitude 4) Data Interpretation | ICFAI Hyderabad, Pune, Gurgaon, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Kolkata, Ahmedabad, Jaipur, Dehradun |
| MICAT | Sep | Dec and Feb | Part 1 – 35 Part 2 – 105 Part 3 – 4 | Part 1 – 25 min Part 2 – 105 min Part 3 – 35 min | Part 2 Only | 1) Part 1 – Psychometric 2) Part 2 – Verbal Ability, Quantitative Ability, General Awareness, Divergent and Convergent Thinking 3) Part 3 – Descreptive Test | MICA Ahmedabad |
Colleges
When dreams are big, you need to put in extra work to succeed, and nothing succeeds like success. The Common Admission Test (CAT) is designed to test for aptitude and potential of students by IIMs. It is accepted in 20 IIMs and many other prominent colleges including-
Faculty of Management Studies (FMS) Delhi
Management Development Institute (MDI) Gurgaon
SP Jain Institute of Management and Research, Mumbai
All IITs for their respective Management Schools
National Institute of Industrial Engineering, Mumbai
And scores of other non- IIM institutes….
Including all relevant exams, colleges that an MBA aspirant can look to target are
| Sl. No. | Institute | City | Expected Cutoff | Exam Expected | APPLICATION FORM LINK |
| 1 | FMS | Delhi | 99%ile | CAT | http://fms.edu/ |
| 2 | IIT B (SJMSOM) | Mumbai | 98.5%ile | CAT | |
| 3 | XLRI | Jamshedpur | 98%ile | XAT | https://www.xlri.ac.in/ |
| 4 | Jamnalal Bajaj | Mumbai | 98%ile | MH- CET | https://jbims.edu/ |
| 5 | NITIE | Mumbai | 95%ile | CAT | https://www.nitie.edu/ |
| 6 | MDI | GURGAON | 94-96%ile | CAT | https://www.mdi.ac.in/ |
| MURSHIDABAD | https://www.mdim.ac.in/apply-online | ||||
| 7 | SP Jain | Mumbai | Profile Based | XAT, CAT | https://spjimr-pgdm.nopaperforms.com/ |
| 8 | IIFT | Delhi | 95-98%ile | IIFT | https://iift.nta.nic.in/webinfo/public/home.aspx |
| 9 | IMT | GHAZIABAD | 90-92%ile | CAT/ XAT/GMAT | https://www.imt.edu/admissions/pgdm/ |
| NAGPUR | |||||
| HYDERABAD | |||||
| 10 | IMI | DELHI | 90%ile | CAT/GMAT | https://admission.imi.edu/ |
| KOLKATA | |||||
| BHUBANESWAR | |||||
| 11 | IRMA | Anand | 85-90%ile | XAT, CAT + IRMASAT | https://www.irma.ac.in/programmes/pgdmx-r-executive-post-graduate-diploma-in-management-rural/admissions/apply-online |
| 12 | TISS | Mumbai | TISSNET | https://testreg.tiss.edu/login/ | |
| 13 | IIT D | Delhi | 97%ile | CAT | |
| 14 | IIT Madras | Chennai | 95%ile | CAT | |
| 15 | IIT Roorkee | Roorkee | 94%ile | CAT | |
| 16 | IIT KGP | Kharagpur | 90%ile | CAT | |
| 17 | SIMSREE | Mumbai | 99%ile | MAH-CET | http://simsree.org/Simsree/ |
| 18 | NMIMS | Mumbai | 94%ile | NMAT | https://nmat.nmims.edu/?utm_source=nmimsadmbanner |
| 19 | SIBM | Pune | 97%ile | SNAP | https://snap2020.ishinfosys.com/SNAP20/Register/Index.aspx#_ga=2.216504534.1318991810.1601279414-1579981172.1601279414 |
| SCMHRD | Pune | 95%ile | |||
| (OTHER SYMBIOSIS INSTITUTES) | Lower | ||||
| 20 | MICA | Ahmedabad | 80%ile | CAT/XAT + MICAT | https://www.mica.ac.in/ |
| 21 | IIT K | Kanpur | 90%ile | CAT | |
| 22 | GIM | Goa | 85%ile | CAT/XAT/CMAT/GMAT | https://forms.gim.ac.in/ |
| 23 | DU DFS | Delhi | 90%ile | CAT | |
| 24 | SRCC GBO | Delhi | GBO Entrance Exam | ||
| 25 | KJ Somaiya | Mumbai | 82-85%ile | CAT/XAT/CMAT/GMAT | https://simsr.somaiya.edu/en/admissions/mba |
| 26 | TAPMI | Manipal | 85%ile | XAT, CAT | |
| 27 | Welingkar | Mumbai | 82-86%ile | XAT, CAT | https://www.welingkar.org/ |
| 28 | XIMB | Bhubaneshwar | 90%ile | XAT/CAT/GMAT | https://ximb.edu.in/admission/mba-business-management/ |
| 29 | IIFM | Bhopal | 80-82%ile | XAT, CAT | http://iifm.ac.in/admission/ |
| 30 | BITS | Pilani | 75%ile | CAT/XAT/GMAT | https://www.bits-pilani.ac.in/pilani/management/MBAadmission |
| 31 | LBSIM | Delhi | 80%ile | CAT/GMAT | https://forms.lbsim.ac.in/ |
| 32 | IBS | Hyderabad | 70%ile | IBSAT/XAT/NMAT/CAT/GMAT | https://admissions.ibsindia.org/ibsat2020/registration/index.asp?src=WEBSITE&rm_src=WEBSITE |
| 33 | FORE | DELHI | 85-87%ile | XAT, CAT | https://www.fsm.ac.in/admissions-in-pgdm |
| 34 | Nirma | Ahmedabad | 80%ile | CAT | https://management.nirmauni.ac.in/admission-aid/postgraduate/mba-and-mba-hrm/ |
| 35 | Great Lakes | Chennai | 85%ile | CAT/XAT/GMAT/CMAT | https://application.greatlakes.edu.in/ |