MBA entrance exam is mandatory for taking admission in any management institute - be it a government or private MBA college. Most of the leading and top B Schools across the country accept one or the other above mentioned MBA entrance exams for the 2 year full time MBA or PGDM or PGPM programmers.

While CAT is conducted by the Indian Institute of Management (IIM) and is considered the most popular among all the MBA entrance exams, taken by more than 2 lac MBA / PGDM aspirants. It is followed by XAT conducted by XLRI Jamshedpur, one of the oldest B Schools of the country. CAT is the biggest and most important MBA entrance exam, there are several other important ones. Colleges that come under the central or state government often conduct separate state MBA entrance exams or allow scores of some other tests. Every Year more than 2.3 lacs candidates registered for CAT Exam. CAT Registration for the CAT Exam 2020 is closed on Sep 23, 2023 and exam held on Nov 29, 2023 in three sessions.

mba entrance

This year CAT Exam time is reduced by 33% which is 3 hours to 2 hours; similarly SNAP Exam time also reduces 2 hours to 1 hours and no of question also reduces 105 to 60. First time SNAP Exam held in 3 days.

Similarly, following tests are conducted by the institutes as mentioned :

NMAT by NMIMS ( scores accepted by others too)

IIFT by as the name suggests, IIFT ( only for IIFT)

SNAP by Symbiosis group of Institutes ( for all institutes under the group)

X GMT by XIMB under Xavier University, Bhubaneswar

 

To get admissions in any of the top Business Schools / universities in India it is extremely important to achieve a decent score in these tests. For IIMs and few other institutes like MDI Gurgaon - CAT is the only test score which is accepted for admissions while GMAT score is accepted for NRI applicants in IIMs.

One thing critical here is to first check which all tests are accepted by which institutes. For that one can refer to Top 100 B schools or MBA Admissions in campusutra.

The next important thing is to sit for multiple exams which increases the options for the student. For example if CAT has not gone well due to some reason and the same student is also appearing for XAT or NMAT or CMAT the chances of a better and higher score in other tests increases and hence one can produce the highest score to the institute while applying.

 

NOTE -

 

  • Institutes generally consider the test score which is highest among all the scores.
  • Apart from the exams listed here which are most popular, there are other tests run by state governments which are generally accepted by government run universities and/or private institutes having a certain number of seat reservations for students appearing in those state run exams.

 

It is not a good idea to sit for only one of these exams targeting one institute or one particular programme in one of the institutes. So if you wish to get admission in IIMs, you need to appear for the CAT Exam, of course however, you should also prepare for XAT or may be also SNAP. The formats being more or less similar there is no additional preparation separately needed for these exams. The same preparation just with more practice sessions and more mock tests to understand the pattern of the exam is what is needed.

MBA (Master of Business Administration) is a highly valued professional degree that develops the necessary skills for business and management. It gives you the chance to stay ahead of others in profession and build a better career. So start planning from the entrance exams. Choose and select what all exams you should appear. And this is really the first important step.

IIFT , XLRI or Symbiosis are all at par with top IIMs and better than many IIMs. So in case you are not appearing for these exams thinking CAT is the only exam you need to appear, you may find yourself in trouble if you do not get into the top IIMs like a IIM Ahmedabad, IIM Bangalore, IIM Calcutta, Lucknow or Indore.

If you somehow do not make it for the full time 2 years MBA / PGDM Program these test scores will help you get into the MBA course that can be pursued as a full-time, executive, 1 year and part-time degree.

There are various courses for MBA in India but remember every good institute will ask for a good MBA entrance test score.

MBA is important in the corporate world as it raises the hiring opportunities for the candidates. With the MBA degree in hand, the candidates are offered a higher salary.

Refer to campusutra for regular placement updates of top management institutes of India.

To provide the information regarding the MBA exams, the list of top MBA Entrance Exam 2021 is given below CAT Exam conducted by IIMs, XAT Exam conducted by XLRI Jamshedpur, SNAP Test conducted by Symbiosis International University (SIU), NMAT by GMAC conducted by GMac for admission to NMIMS and few other B Schools, MAT Conducted by AIMA (All India Management Association), CMAT Conducted by NTA (National Testing Agency), NTA IIFT test conducted by NTA, XGMT Conducted by Xavier University, Tata Institute of Social Sciences National Entrance Test (TISSNET) conducted by Tata Institute of Social Science Mumbai and many others.

For taking any management entrance exam : Candidates possessing graduate degree with minimum 50 percent or equivalent CGPA score can appear for CAT.