Top MBA Entrance Exams you must take - The new session of MBA entrance exams has begun. Lakhs of management aspirants across the country are gearing up to crack the top entrance exams to study at premier B-schools in the country. Though CAT or XAT are two of the most popular exams among the aspirants, there are several other national and state-level MBA entrance exams that candidate can appear for to broaden their chances of admission to a renowned B-school.
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In this article, Careers360 provides the list of national and state level MBA entrance exams that management aspirants should not miss. We will start with the national level exams followed by the state level ones and the specialised MBA entrance exams. The following table brings you the list of top MBA entrance exams in India along with the important dates.
Exam
Application Window
Exam Date
Result Date
Common Admission Test (CAT)
First week of August to last week of September
Single day test window in November (usually last week)
Second week of January
Xavier Aptitude Test (XAT)
Second week of August to first week of December
First Sunday of January
Last week of January
Indian Institute of Foreign Trade (IIFT)
First week of August to Second week of September
Fourth Sunday of November or First week of December
Fourth week of December
Common Management Aptitude Test (CMAT)
First week of Novemebr to last week of November
Fourth week of January
Second week of February
Management Aptitude Test (MAT)
Second week of December to third week of January
First week of March to third week of April
First week of July to third week of August
First week of October to third week of November
First and second week of February
First and second week of May
First and second week of September
First and second week of December
Last week of February
Last week of May
Last week of September
Last week of December
NMAT by GMAC
First week of July to First week of October
One and half months window from first week of October to third week of December
Second/Third week of January
Symbiosis National Aptitude Test (SNAP)
Third week of August to last week of November
Third Sunday of December
Maharashtra Common Entrance Test (MAH CET)
Third week of January to Third week of February
Second week of March
Third week of March
Tamil Nadu Common Entrance Test (TANCET)
First week of April to fourth week of April
Second week of June
Second week of April
Andhra Pradesh Integrated Common Entrance Test (APICET)
Third week of March to Second week of April
First week of May
Second week of May
Telangana State Integrated Common Entrance Test (TSICET)
First week of March to last week of April
Fourth week of May
Karnataka Post Graduate Common Entrance Test (PGCET)
Third week of May to Second week of June
Second week of July
Third week of August
Karnataka Management Aptitude Test (KMAT)
First week of June to Last week of July
First week of August
Fourth week of August
Odisha Joint Entrance Exam MBA (OJEE MBA)
Last week of January to fourth week of March
Himachal Pradesh University Management Aptitude Test (HPUMAT)
First week of April to third week of May
IRMA Entrance Exam
Second week of October to third week of January
First week of February
MICA Aptitude Test (MICAT)
Fourth week of August to Third week of November
First week of January to Last week of January
First week of December
Third week of December
Third week of February
TISS National Entrance Test (TISSNET)
Fourth week of October to First week of December
First week of January
UPES Management Entrance Test (UPES MET)
Third week of January to first week of February
Third week of April
Note: The above mentioned dates are based on last year’s schedule and subject to change based on the discretion of the exam conducting bodies.
Common Admission Test or CAT is the most popular MBA entrance exam with about 2 lakh takers every year. Conducted by the Indian Institutes of Management (IIM), the CAT is the entrance exam for 20 IIMs and approximately 100 B-schools across India. The number of seats offered by the 20 IIMs is approximately 4,000.
Since 2009, CAT mode was transformed from paper pencil based test to computer based test. Prometric India was the test conducting partner for the initial 5 years. From 2014 onwards, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) is the online testing partner.
The official notification was released on July 29. CAT 2018 will be conducted by IIM Calcutta, on November 25, 2018. The application process for CAT 2018 has already started.
CAT Eligibility: A candidate should secure minimum 50 per cent aggregate marks or equivalent CGPA in Graduation from a recognised University or Institute. Final year graduation students are also eligible to apply.
CAT Exam Pattern: CAT is a multiple choice objective type exam with 100 questions divided into three sections, Quantitative Ability, Data Interpretation & Logical Reasoning and Verbal and Reading Comprehension. CAT is a section wise time bound exam with each section having 1-hour duration. The total duration is three hours. The total number of questions is 100. Each question carries three marks and for each wrong answer, there is negative marking scheme of -1 mark. It is one of the toughest and most competitive MBA entrance exams in India. Over the past couple of years, CAT has seen the introduction of features like an onscreen calculator and non-MCQ type of questions. Incidentally, no negative marking scheme is there for the wrong answer to Non-MCQs.
Xavier Aptitude Test or XAT is the MBA entrance exam conducted by XLRI Jamshedpur for the admission in the Xavier Associate Management Institutes and over 140 B-schools across India. The total number of seats in XLRI Jamshedpur whose admission is conducted through XAT is 360. After CAT, XAT has the highest number of test takers, which is around 90,000.
The official registration for XAT 2019 has started from August 20 and will continue untile November 30. The exam would be conducted in online mode on January 6, 2019.
XAT Eligibility: The candidates should have a Bachelor’s Degree in any discipline from a recognised University or Institute. Final year graduation students are also eligible to apply.
XAT Exam Pattern: XLRI has changed the exam pattern from this year. Earlier, the exam used to have two parts carrying both subjective as well as objective questions. Now, for XAT 2019, the exam would have only objective (multiple choice questions) divided in four sections - Verbal Ability and Logical Reasoning, Decision Making, Quantitative Aptitude & Data Interpretation, and General Knowledge. Each question contains 1 mark and each wrong answer will get a negative marking of 0.25 marks. 0.05 marks will be deducted for unattempted questions beyond 8. The duration of the test is 3 hours. XAT is one of the toughest MBA entrance exams in India.
Indian Institute of Foreign Trade, Delhi is one of the top B-schools in India established by the Government of India (Ministry of Commerce & Industry). The institute conducts admission to its flagship MBA in International Business (MBA-IB) through the IIFT Entrance Exam. Held on the fourth Sunday of November every year, IIFT entrance exam is taken by around 60,000 candidates vying for 350 seats in the institute’s Delhi and Kolkata campuses.
IIFT 2019 will be conducted on December 2, 2018 in offline (paper-pencil) mode. The registration for IIFT 2019 has started from August 6 and will continue until September 14, 2018.
IIFT Eligibility: IIFT applicants should be graduates in any discipline of minimum three years duration from a recognised institute or university. Final year graduation students can also apply.
IIFT Exam Pattern: IIFT is held in a paper pencil based format over two hours duration. It is a multiple choice objective type test with 4 sections, Quantitative Ability, Data Interpretation & Logical Ability, Verbal Ability & Reading Comprehension and General Awareness. The number of questions varies from year to year. Last year the paper had 113 questions. There is differential marking system in this exam, i.e. each section has different marks for each question ranging from 0.50 to 1 mark per question. For each wrong answer, there is negative marking scheme of 1/3 of the allotted marks. The difficulty level of the exam is tough.
The Common Management Aptitude Test or CMAT is the annual management entrance test conducted by National Testing Agency. Until last year, the exam was conducted by AICTE. CMAT has resulted in the discontinuation of several state level MBA entrance exams such as RMAT (Rajasthan), GCET (Gujarat), PMET (Punjab) to name a few. The number of test takers has risen gradually from around 45,000 candidates in CMAT February 2012 to 88,942 candidates in CMAT February 2014. The CMAT scores are accepted by over 1500 B-schools across India which offer over 35,000 seats. Some of the prominent institutes include Jamnalal Bajaj Institute of Management Studies (JBIMS) Mumbai, Sydenham Institute of Management Studies, Research and Entrepreneurship Education (SIMSREE) Mumbai, Goa Institute of Management (GIM), Goa to name a few.
CMAT 2019 wil be conducted on January 28, 2019 in online mode. The application will sttart from November 1.
CMAT Eligibility: The candidates should be graduates in any discipline from a recognised institute with minimum 50 per cent marks in aggregate or equivalent CGPA. Final year graduation students are also eligible to apply.
CMAT Exam Pattern: CMAT is a computer based test. It is a multiple choice objective type test with four sections, namely, Quantitative Techniques & Data Interpretation, Logical Reasoning, Language Comprehension and General Awareness. Each section consists of 25 questions, making the total number of questions to be 100. The duration of the exam is three hours. Each question carries four marks and for each wrong answer, there is negative marking of one mark. The exam pattern is constant and the difficulty level ranges from easy to moderate.
MAT or the Management Aptitude Test is the MBA entrance exam conducted by All India Management Association (AIMA) for the admission in about 600 B-schools in India and abroad. MAT is conducted 4 times a year in the months of February, May, September and December. The exam is taken by around 20,000 test takers in each season. In the year 2009, AIMA introduced the computer based mode of MAT, the same year when CAT became computer based. Unlike CAT, MAT is conducted in both paper-pencil based and computer based modes where the candidate can choose which mode to opt for. While the paper pencil based MAT is conducted on the first Sunday of the month, the computer based MAT is scheduled from the second Saturday of the month for a window of two to three days, depending on the number of registrations received for the computer-based format.
MAT 2018 September will be conducted on September 2 (offline) and September 15 (online).
MAT Eligibility: The candidates should be graduates in any discipline from a recognised University or Institute. Final year graduation students are also eligible to apply.
MAT Exam Pattern: MAT is a multiple choice objective type test of 2 hours 30 minutes duration. It has five sections, each having 40 questions, making the total number of questions to be 200. The sections are Language Comprehension, Data Analysis and Sufficiency, Mathematical Skills, Intelligence and Critical Reasoning and Indian and Global Environment. Each correct answer bears four marks and for each wrong answer, there is 1/4 negative marking.
NMAT or the Narsee Monjee Aptitude Test is the MBA entrance exam, which was conducted by Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies (NMIMS) Mumbai, has been acquired by Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC) and has been renamed as NMAT by GMAC. The scores are accepted by 23 B-schools across India. Over 60,000 candidates register for the exam. The format of the NMAT exam was converted to computer based test from the traditional paper pencil based exam in the year 2010. NMAT by GMAC is conducted over a window of around 1.5 months from October to December every year. The USP of the exam lies in the fact that it can be attempted thrice. A candidate can make two attempts followed by the original attempt. The best of the three scores will be considered during the admission process.
NMAT 2018 exam will be conducted from October 4 to December 17. The registration from July 3 and will continue until November 3.
NMAT Eligibility: The NMIMS aspirants should be graduates in any discipline from a recognised institute or university with minimum 50 per cent marks in aggregate. Final year Bachelor’s degree students can also apply.
NMAT Exam Pattern: NMAT is a multiple choice objective type test of two hours duration. The exam consists of three sections namely, Language Skills, Quantitative Skills and Logical Reasoning questions. The total number of questions 120 but the number of questions per section varies. There is no negative marking scheme in the exam. The difficulty level of NMAT ranges from easy to moderate.
Symbiosis International University (SIU), Pune conducts MBA entrance exam for the admission in its 15 B-schools, which is known as Symbiosis National Aptitude Test or SNAP. There are around 1,900 seats across the 15 B-schools. The university has not divulged the number of test takers for SNAP but based on past trends, around 30,000 candidates take the test.
SNAP Eligibility: The candidates should be graduates in any discipline from a recognised university or institute with minimum 50% aggregate marks or equivalent CGPA. Final year students can also apply.
SNAP Exam Pattern: SNAP is a paper pencil based test of 2 hours duration. There are 4 sections, namely General English, Quantitative & Data Interpretation & Data Sufficiency, General Awareness: General Knowledge, Current Affairs & Business Scenario and Analytical & Logical Reasoning. The total number and marks of the exam is 180. While the first 3 sections have 40 questions, the last section has 60 questions. For each wrong answer, there is negative marking of 25% or ¼ of the total marks.
Apart from the national level MBA entrance exams, there are state level MBA entrance exams too. These are conducted for the admission in the state B-schools, both government and private. Unlike the national level exams, where the selection takes place through GD and PI rounds, the state MBA admissions take place through common counselling. Moreover, the similarity in the pattern lies in the fact that there is no negative marking scheme, unlike the national level MBA entrance exams. Let us have a look at the top state MBA entrance exams of India.
Maharashtra Common Entrance Test or is the state level MBA entrance exam for Maharashtra. Conducted by the Directorate of Technical Education (DTE), Maharashtra, the exam is held for the admission in 45,621 seats offered by 400+ B-schools in Maharashtra for their MBA/MMS/PGDM programmes. With the launch of the AICTE CMAT exam, MAH CET stood cancelled in the year 2013. After a hiatus of 1 year, MAH CET was relaunched by DTE in computer based format. Till 2012, the exam was conducted in paper pencil based format. Apart from the shift in format, there was no change in the exam pattern. MAH CET 2017 was taken by 88,226 candidates.
MAH CET Eligibility: The candidates should be graduates in any discipline from an institute or university recognised by Association of Indian Universities with minimum 50% marks in aggregate.
MAH CET Exam Pattern: MAH CET is an online objective type test. The question paper consists of 200 objective questions/ multiple choice questions to be answered within 150 minutes or two and a half hours. According to the marking scheme, there will be one mark for every correct answer. There will be no negative marking in the paper.
APICET is the MBA entrance exam for Andhra Pradesh B-schools. The exam is conducted by Andhra Pradesh State Council of Higher Education (APSCHE).
APICET Eligibility: Any Indian National graduate from a recognised university with a minimum of 50 per cent marks (45 per cent marks for reserved category candidates) are eligible to apply for the test. Final year students can also apply for the test.
APICET Exam Pattern: APICET is a computer based test of 2.5 hours duration. It is a multiple choice objective type test with 200 questions. There are three sections, Analytical Ability, Mathematical Ability and Communication Ability. Each question carries one mark, making the total marks of the paper to be 200. There is no negative marking scheme.
TSICET is the MBA entrance test for Telangana. The exam commenced in the year 2014. Earlier, ICET was the common test for Andhra Pradesh which was later bifurcated to APICET and TSICET after the state of Telangana was formed in 2014. The exam is conducted by Kakatiya University, Warangal on behalf of Telangana State Council of Higher Education (TSCHE).
TSICET Eligibility: Graduates in any discipline from a recognised institute or university with minimum 50 per cent marks in aggregate can apply for the test. Reserved category candidates must have minimum 45 per cent marks at graduation level. Candidates must be Indian citizens satisfying the local/non-local status requirements as prescribed by the Telangana State Council Education for Higher Education (TSCHE).
TSICET Exam Pattern: TSICET is a paper-pencil based test with total 200 questions. The test duration is 150 minutes or 2.5 hours to complete the test. There are 3 sections in the exam, Analytical Ability, Mathematical Ability and Communication Ability. Each question carries 1 mark and there is no negative marking.
TANCET or Tamil Nadu Common Entrance Test is the state level MBA entrance test for Tamil Nadu. The exam is conducted by Anna University, Chennai for the admission in close to 150 MBA seats in Tamil Nadu.
TANCET Eligibility: The candidates should be graduates in any field from a recognised institute or university with minimum 50% marks in aggregate. Final year graduation students can also apply.
TANCET Exam Pattern: TANCET is a paper pencil based test of 2 hours duration. It is a multiple choice objective type test with 100 questions from 5 sections, Reading Comprehension, English Grammar & Usage, Analysis of Business Situation, Quantitative Ability and Data Sufficiency. Each question carries 1 mark. For each wrong answer, 1/5 of the allotted marks will be deducted.
Post Graduate Common Entrance Test or PGCET is the MBA entrance exam for the B-schools in Karnataka. Karnataka Examination Authority (KEA) conducts the exam. For the academic year 2013-14, the MBA admission in Karnataka took place through CMAT scores. PGCET was relaunched in 2014 and conducted by Rani Channamma University on behalf of KEA.
PGCET Eligibility: The candidates should be graduates in any discipline from a recognised institute or university with minimum 50 per cent marks in aggregate. Final year graduation students can also apply.
PGCET Exam Pattern: PGCET is a paper pencil based exam of 2 hours duration. The questions are objective and multiple choice. There are two parts of the exam with 2 sections each. The sections are Proficiency in English Language, Test of General Knowledge, Test of Reasoning & General Intelligence and Quantitative Analysis. Each section carries 25 questions of 1 mark each. There is no negative marking scheme.
Karnataka Management Aptitude Test or KMAT is the entrance exam for the MBA admission of private B-schools in Karnataka. The exam is conducted by Karnataka Private Post Graduate Colleges Association (KPPGCA). The scores of KMAT will be accepted by 169 B-schools in Karnataka offering around 10,000 seats. KMAT MBA 2016 was taken by more than 1,000 candidates.
KMAT Eligibility: The candidates should be graduates in any discipline from a recognised University or Institute. Final year graduation students can also apply.
KMAT Exam Pattern: KMAT is a paper pencil based test of 3 hours duration. It is an objective type multiple choice exam with 120 questions divided into 3 sections. The sections are English Language, Mathematical Skills and Basic Aptitude. There is 1 mark for each correct answer and no negative marking scheme.
OJEE MBA is the MBA entrance exam for public and private management institutes of Odisha. The exam is conducted by Odisha Joint Entrance Exam Board. As many as 67 B-schools in Odisha accept OJEE MBA scores. Total intake in the participating institutes is 5489.
OJEE Eligibility: Candidates should be graduates in any discipline from a recognised institute or university with minimum 50 per cent aggregate marks (General category) and 45 per cent marks (for reserved category candidates). Only those candidates belonging to Odisha would be eligible to apply for the government institutes of Odisha. Test takers belonging to states other than Odisha will be eligible for admission in private B-schools of Odisha but not in the public ones.
OJEE Exam Pattern: OJEE MBA is a paper pencil based test of two hours duration. There are 120 questions from five sections including Verbal Reasoning, Analytical Reasoning, General Knowledge, Comprehension and Computer and Business Fundamentals. Each question carries four marks and for each wrong answer, there is negative marking of one mark.
Entrance Exams for specialised MBAs
There are several B-schools in India which offer specialised MBA programmes. These institutes conduct separate entrance exams whose questions are more in tune with the specialised programme. The following paragraph gives you the list of some such exams.
As the name suggests, IRMA Anand offers Post Graduate Management Programme in Rural Management. The number of seats offered for the PRM programme is 180. The number of test takers is approximately 10,000. Though IRMA entrance exam was the only mode of admission till the academic year 2013-15, from 2014-16 onwards, the institute accepted CAT scores but taking IRMA was compulsory. The pattern of the exam also changed and included only ‘Issues of Social Concern’ which was the differentiating section compared to CAT. The test was also conducted in computer based format for the first time.
IRMA Eligibility: The candidates should be graduates in any discipline with minimum 50% marks in aggregate. Final year students are also eligible to apply.
IRMA Exam Pattern: Based on the latest pattern, IRMA entrance exam, it was conducted in a paper pencil based format and had only 1 section, Issues of Social Concern. The duration was 25 minutes. It is a multiple choice objective type test. There will be 1/4 negative marking for each wrong answer.
Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS), Mumbai conducts the admission of its flagship programme Masters in Social Work. The pattern of the question paper reflects the programme and the questions require specific preparation as well as for other regular areas like Quant, Verbal Ability and Logical Reasoning to name a few. The mode of the test was changed to computer based from the traditional paper pencil based format in the year 2013. The TISSNET exam is taken by around 12,000 candidates. The number of seats offered by TISS in its MSW programme is 220.
TISSNET Eligibility: Candidates should be graduates in any discipline from a recognised university. Final year students can also apply.’
TISSNET Exam Pattern: TISSNET is a computer based test of 1 hour 40 minutes. It is an objective multiple choice test with 4 sections. The sections are Social Sensitivity, Knowledge on Contemporary Issues, Analytical Ability and Logical Reasoning. The total number of questions is 100, 40 in each section. Each question carries 1 mark and no negative marking scheme.
UPES Management Entrance Test (UPES-MET)
University of Petroleum and Energy Studies (UPES) Dehradun offers MBA programmes in the niche sector of energy management. For the admission, the institute conducts UPES Management Entrance Test or UPESMET. The number of seats across its 10 MBA programmes is 465.
UPES MET Eligibility: The candidates should be graduates in any discipline from a recognised institute or university with minimum 50% marks in aggregate in the board exam and graduation final exams.
UPES MET Exam Pattern: UPES MET is a paper pencil based objective multiple choice exam of 2 and half hours duration. The paper will consist of 160 questions across 4 sections, General English: Reading Comprehension, Verbal Reasoning, Verbal Ability; Quantitative: Data Interpretation & Data Sufficiency; General Awareness: General Knowledge, Current Affairs, Business Scenario and Analytical & Logical Reasoning. Each section will have 40 questions.
They say, more the merrier. The more MBA entrance exams you attempt, more would be your chance to get admission in your cherished B-School.
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