MBA Entrance Program Course

September to February marks the season of MBA Entrance Exams in Indian Education industry. This is the time where India’s top B-Schools try to pick the best candidates for their MBA programs via an extensive selection procedure, generally consisting of a written MCQ test followed by essay writing and a GD/PI session. With different institutes conducting their own tests, keeping track of all different MBA entrance exams has become quite a task. To help you and many other aspirants with preparation for their dream B school debut, we have compiled a comprehensive list of top 8 MBA Entrance Examinations in India.

CAT – Common Entrance Test
CAT is often considered the ‘holy grail’ of MBA entrance exams. Held annually in the month of October or November; the CAT enables aspirants to seek admission to all postgraduate management courses in all the Indian Institute of Management (IIMs). In addition to this, several other premium management institutes (165 to be exact), accept CAT scores for admission purposes, making it the most important MBA Entrance test in India. As per rough estimates, more than 2 Lakh aspirants appear for CAT annually every year.
Eligibility: Any graduate with minimum 50 percent or equivalent CGPA score can appear for CAT.
Application cost: The application form and information bulletin are available for Rs 1600.
Exam Pattern: CAT examination is conducted in two main phases, the first being a computerized written based test followed by a GD/PI round. The written examination covers Quantitative Ability, Data Interpretation & Logical Reasoning as well as Verbal and Reading Comprehension. The total duration of written test of 180 minutes, i.e. 1 hour for each aforementioned sections. Another prominent change in the CAT test pattern has been introduction of non MCQ questions, which need to be typed in the space given as part of the digital test paper. Candidates will also be allowed to use ‘basic on-screen calculator’ for calculation purposes. Based upon the final score of written test, candidates are shortlisted for a Personal Interview round by respective IIM. Several other institutes have Group Discussions as part of their selection procedure as well.
For information visit their website: www.catiim.in

XAT – Xaviers Admission Test
Conducted by XLRI, XAT is one of the oldest management entrance tests in India. XLRI annually conducts XAT in January across 33 major cities in India. More than 70 odd B schools accept XAT scores as its primary admission criteria along with personalized GD/PI rounds.
Eligibility: Any person with Bachelor’s Degree in any discipline from a recognized university is eligible to appear for XAT.
Exam Pattern: XAT examination consists of an MCQ format covering four main sections i.e. ”Verbal Ability and Logical Reasoning (VA)’, ”Quantitative Ability and Data Interpretation (QA)’ and ”Analytical Reasoning and Decision Making Ability (AR)’ and ‘General Awareness’. Apart from this, candidate also has to take up essay writing test. On basis of the merit score of XAT candidates are called in for personal interview or group discussions.
For information visit their website: www.xlri.net.in

MAT – Management Aptitude Test
Conducted by AIMA (All India Management Association); MAT is a credible entrance examination, which can be taken up by candidates four times in one year. MAT scores are widely accepted by several business schools and associate universities across India for selection procedure, making it one of the most popular management entrance exams in the country.
Eligibility: Any person with Bachelor’s Degree in any discipline from a recognized university is eligible to appear for MAT.
Exam Pattern: One of the key reasons for the popularity of MAT is its exam pattern. It gives candidates the choice of either appearing for an offline test or an online one depending upon the feasibility. MAT tests b-school aspirants in five main subjects i.e. Language Comprehension, Mathematical Skills, Data Analysis, Intelligence & Critical Reasoning and Indian & Global Environment Section.
For information visit their website: www.aima-ind.org

SNAP – Symbiosis National Aptitude Test
Symbiosis International University is one of the most well recognized private B schools in India. Over the years, it has carved a niche for itself by offering unique and rare MBA specializations to aspirants. SNAP is the national level aptitude test conducted for admission to all Post Graduate Management Programs offered by Symbiosis.
Eligibility: Any graduate with minimum 50 percent or equivalent CGPA score can appear for CAT.
Exam Pattern: SNAP is an objective styled MCQ test conducted in December every year. The syllabus consists mostly from four major topics namely, General English, Quantative Aptitude, General Awareness, Logical & Analytical Reasoning. Written exam also attracts 25 percent negative marking for every wrong answer.
• Form Available from: August
• Last day to Submit form: November
• Exam Date: December
For information visit their website: www.snaptest.org

NMAT – Narsee Monjee Management Aptitude Test
NMAT is the MBA entrance exam for securing admission to NMIMS. NMIMS (Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies) is a Mumbai based deemed university, which offers various management courses in different specializations. Run by Narsee Monjee Educational Trust, NMIMS has acquired quite a cult status among aspirants looking for executive or part-time MBA programs.
Eligibility: Any graduate with minimum 50 percent or equivalent CGPA score can appear for NMAT.
Exam Pattern: NMAT is a MCQ based test which is conducted over the period of two hours. The test covers topics like Language Skills; Quantitative Skills, Data Interpretation & Data Sufficiency; and Logical Reasoning. A merit list is prepared on basis of the score of the written examination and candidates are shortlisted for the GD/PI round based upon that. Another significant factor that is considered in the selection of candidates is the work experience, in case of executive MBA programs.
• Form Available from: Jul 2, 2015 to Oct 5, 2015
• Last day to Submit form: Oct 19, 2015
• Exam Date: Oct 6 – Dec 19, 2015
For information visit their website: www.nmims.edu

CMAT – Common Management Admission Test
CMAT is a national level entrance examination conducted by the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) for admissions to post graduate management programs offered by institutes accredited by the council. Until last year, AICTE use to conduct CMAT twice a year, from Academic Year 2016-17, the test will be conducted only once, i.e. January of every year.
Eligibility: Any graduate with minimum 50 percent or equivalent CGPA score can appear for CMAT.
Exam Pattern: CMAT is an online test with 100 objective type questions, which are to be answered in total time duration of 180 minutes. CMAT exam paper includes 25 questions from four main sections i.e., Quantitative Techniques & Data Interpretation, Logical Reasoning, Language Comprehension and General Awareness. With total 400 marks, each right answer earns candidate 4 marks, whereas 1 mark is deducted for every wrong answer.
• Form Available from: November
• Last day to Submit form: January
• Exam Date: Feb 19 – February
For information visit their website: http://www.aicte-cmat.in

IIFT – Indian Institute of Foreign Trade MBA Entrance Test
Indian Institute of Foreign Trade is one of the top B schools in India. IIFT offers MBA in International Business, which is one of the most sought after program as far as management aspirants in India is concerned. MBA-IB is aimed at developing capable cadre of business managers who can effectively handle multinational corporations in global setup. IIFT conducts its annual MBA entrance examination in November every year for admissions to IIFT Delhi and Kolkata campuses.
Eligibility: Any person with Bachelor’s Degree in any discipline from a recognized university is eligible to appear for IIFT MBA Test.
Application Cost: Application cost for IIFT MBA Entrance Test.
Test Pattern: IIFT conducts its own entrance examination for MBA International Business Program; it is covers a written test, essay writing test and a GD/PI round. The test paper covers diverse topics like English Comprehension, General Knowledge & Awareness, Logical Reasoning and Quantitative Analysis.
For more information visit: www.iift.edu

MH-CET – Maharashtra Common Entrance Test

As the name suggest, MH-CET is the main management entrance test for admission to the Two-year Full Time Post Graduate Degree Courses in MBA/MMS and PGDBM/PGDM in Government, University Managed, University Departments and Unaided Institutes in the state of Maharashtra.                                           Eligibility: Any graduate with minimum 50 percent or equivalent CGPA score can appear for MH-CET.

Exam Pattern: MH-CET is a computerized test objective test with multiple choice questions. The questions range from different subjects like Verbal ability, Reading comprehension, Quantitative analysis, Data interpretation, Data sufficiency, Analytical reasoning, Verbal reasoning and Non-verbal reasoning. Total number of questions in the test is 200, which are to be answered in 150 minutes.  There is no negative marking in MH-CET.

For more information visit: http://www.dtemaharashtra.gov.in