MBA Entrance Exams 2020-21 in India: Top 13 MBA Entrance Exams you must Take

Updated on Nov 29, 2020 - 8:16 p.m. IST by Mahima Bahl #CAT

MBA Entrance Exams 2020-21 in India: Completed your Bachelor’s and looking forward to getting a postgraduate degree from reputed B-School but confused as to how to get admission? Earlier the admissions in business schools were accepted on the basis of merit. But, with an increasing number of interested candidates, most of the B-Schools have changed their admission criteria and take admissions on the basis of MBA entrance exams. In India, when the thought of pursuing an MBA pops up in mind, IIMs or XLRI Jamshedpur come up simultaneously. But due to competitive admission criteria and limitation of seats not everyone can be alumni of IIMs / XLRI or any other top b-school. Hence Careers360 in this article of MBA Entrance Exams 2020 in India brings to you major MBA entrance exams which are being conducted in 2020 along with the details, registration dates, exam dates, and related information.
Latest CAT Update: CAT 2020 result has declared by IIM on January 2, 2021. Also know about CAT cutoff 2020.

MBA Entrance Exams 2020-21 in India: Top 13 MBA Entrance Exams you must Take

Important Dates of MBA Entrance Exams 2020 in India

Before planning to appear in any MBA entrance exam and start the preparation, first and foremost candidates should be aware of important dates related to those exams. The dates mentioned in the tabular form are updated continuously according to the respective notifications issued by competent authorities that are conducting the exam.

MBA Entrance Exam 2020: Important Dates

MBA Entrance Exam Name	Registration Start Date	End of Registration Process	Exam Date
CAT 2020	August 5, 2020	September 23, 2020	November 29, 2020
CMAT 2021	First week of November 2020	Second week of December 2020	Fourth week of January 2021
IIFT 2021	November 6, 2020	December 20, 2020	January 24, 2020
IBSAT 2020	July 1, 2020	December 16, 2020	December 26 and 27, 2020
XAT 2021	September 12, 2020	November 30, 2020	January 3, 2020
TISSNET MBA 2021	To be Notified	Last week of November 2020	First week of January 2021
SNAP 2020	September 24, 2020	December 1, 2020	December 20, 2020 January 6, 2021 January 9, 2021

Major MBA Entrance Exams in India

Given below is a list of major MBA entrance exams in India. These MBA entrance exams are popular in India and some of them have lakhs of registered candidates every year on the basis of their popularity. The MBA entrance exam in India can be given by candidates who wish to appear in IIMs or any B-Schools other than IIMs.

The MBA entrance exams in India can be divided into three parts:

Level	MBA Entrance Exam
National Level	CAT CMAT XAT IIFT SNAP NMAT by GMAC IBSAT
State Level	TS ICET AP ICET JEMAT MAH MBA CET
University Level	B-MAT NIPER JEE MBA CUSAT CAT

Quick Links -

Top 12 MBA Entrance Exams

Difference between PGDM and MBA?

Let us look at each exam carefully once by one to have a better understanding with regard to its exam pattern, selection process, and other related details.

CAT 2020

Common Admission Test or CAT is a National level MBA entrance exam which is conducted once a year by IIMs on a rotational basis. To be a part of the MBA admission process for the year 2021, candidates have to appear for the CAT 2020 exam. IIM Indore is the conducting body of CAT 2020. As per the exam pattern of CAT 2020, the exam duration is 2 hours in which candidates will have to answer three sections. CAT is considered to be one of the toughest MBA entrance exams out of all MBA Entrance Exams 2020 in India due to the sectional time limit criteria. IIMs do not provide any official CAT syllabus, hence candidates have to make their CAT preparation strategy keeping in mind the previous year exams.

Quick links -

CAT 2020 Convenor interview

CAT 2020: When and how to start preparation

CAT 2020: Important topics for preparation

CMAT 2021

Common Management Admission Test is another national level MBA entrance exam. For the year 2021 admissions, CMAT 2021 will be conducted by NTA in online mode tentatively in the fourth week of January. As per the CMAT 2021 exam pattern, the question paper will have four sections which are to be answered within three hours. Candidates who are planning to appear in the CMAT entrance exam can prepare through CMAT question papers 2021.

Quick links -

CMAT 2021 Preparation Tips and Trend Analysis

What are the Best Books for Preparation of CMAT 2021

XAT 2021

Xavier School of Management, Jamshedpur conducts Xavier Aptitude Test every year for providing admission to candidates in MBA/ PGDM programs. XAT 2021 will be conducted in computer-based mode on January 3. As per the exam pattern of XAT 2021, the paper will have a total of four sections which are to be solved in three hours keeping in mind the negative marking scheme as well.

Quick links -

Best study material for XAT 2021

How to prepare for XAT 2021 while working?

IIFT 2021

Indian Institute of Foreign Trade is a national level MBA entrance exam, the scores of which are considered for admission to the MBA (IB) program offered by the Indian Institute of Foreign Trade. The exam IIFT 2021 will be conducted by the National Testing Agency in computer-based mode. As per the exam pattern of IIFT 2021, the exam will be of 120 minutes in which four sections will be asked. There will be no sectional duration but negative marking for each question will be applicable.

Quick links -

How to Start IIFT 2021 Preparation

IIFT 2021 Time Management Strategy

SNAP 2020

One of the National MBA Entrance Exams 2020 in India is the Symbiosis National Aptitude Test which is conducted by Symbiosis International (Deemed University). Candidates who will appear for SNAP 2020 will be able to take admission in 16 Symbiosis institutes offering MBA / PGDM programs. The registration of SNAP 2020 began on September 24, 2020. Before registration, it is advisable for candidates to check the SNAP 2020 eligibility criteria.

Quick links -

SNAP 2020 Preparation Guide

How to tackle special questions of SNAP 2020

NMAT 2020

Graduate Management Admission Council i.e. GMAC conducts NMAT which is a national-level MBA entrance exam. NMAT is the only exam that allows students to attempt the exam three times. As per the exam pattern of NMAT 2020, the number of questions has been decreased to 108. Earlier a total of 120 questions were asked including all three sections. NMAT Participating Institutes 2020 are those institutes that accept the scores of the NMAT entrance exam. Apart from 29 institutes in India, 7 in South Africa and 5 in the Philippines accept NMAT scores for admissions.

Quick links -

NMAT by GMAC Preparation Tips 2020

NMAT 2020: Last Minute Preparation Tips

IBSAT 2020

IBS Hyderabad (ICFAI Business School) conducts the IBS Aptitude Test which is one of the national level MBA Entrance Exams 2020 in India. Candidates who will give IBSAT 2020 will be able to take admission in any of the nine IBS campuses Hyderabad, Dehradun, Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Gurgaon, Mumbai, Jaipur, Kolkata, and Pune. A total of 140 questions will be asked in the computer-based test as per the IBSAT 2020 exam pattern. For preparation purposes, the IBSAT syllabus 2020 can be checked by candidates.

TS ICET 2020

Kakatiya University on behalf of Telangana State Council for Higher Education (TSCHE) has released TS ICET 2020 result along with the final answer key on November 2. The exam is commonly known as TS ICET. For the year 2020, TS ICET 2020 exam was conducted on September 30 and October 1. The TS ICET Hall Ticket 2021 was available from September 25.

AP ICET 2020

On behalf of Andhra Pradesh State Council of Higher Education (APSCHE), Sri Venkateswara University conducted Andhra Pradesh Integrated Common Entrance Test i.e. AP ICET. Amongst MBA Entrance Exams 2020 in India, AP ICET 2020 holds an important position, and candidates clearing the exam will be able to take admission in colleges of Andhra Pradesh State. To give this state-level MBA entrance exam, candidates must be aware of the AP ICET Exam Pattern 2021.

MAH MBA CET 2021

The state-level MBA entrance exam MAH MBA CET is conducted for providing admission to candidates in colleges of Maharashtra State. MAH MBA CET 2020 counseling rounds are to begin soon. For the year 2021, MAH CET will be conducted tentatively on March 14 and 15 as per the exam dates of MAH MBA CET 2021.

B-MAT 2020

Bhartiya Vidyapeeth Deemed University conducts the University level MBA entrance test B-MAT for providing admissions to MBA and MBA (HR) across all campuses. The application form of B-MAT 2020 was available in online mode till July 9. B-MAT 2020 was scheduled for July 19.

NIPER JEE MBA 2020

National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research (NIPER), Hyderabad conducts NIPER JEE MBA which is a University-level MBA entrance exam once a year. NIPER JEE MBA application form was available till June 25. The total duration of NIPER JEE MBA 2020 was 120 minutes. Candidates who qualified for this University level exam were offered admission in MBA in Pharmaceutical Management.

CUSAT CAT 2020

Cochin University of Science and Technology Common Admission Test commonly known as CUSAT CAT is also one of the university-level MBA entrance exams 2020 in India. The exam is conducted by Cochin University of Science and Technology once a year. For CUSAT CAT 2020 the exam schedule was delayed due to COVID 19.

Frequently Asked Question (FAQs) - MBA Entrance Exams 2020-21 in India: Top 13 MBA Entrance Exams you must Take

Question: Name some Management entrance which every MBA aspirant give?

Answer:

For every MBA aspirant, Common Admission Test (CAT) is the goal. However, apart from CAT some of the other management entrance examination which the candidate should give are XAT, IIFT, MAT, CMAT, SNAP, ATMA, TS ICET, AP ICET etcetera.

Question: Name some of the entrance examination which are conducted at state level by various state Universities in India?

Answer:

Some of the entrance examination which are conducted by the state universities are TS ICET, AP ICET, MAH MBA CET, JEMAT. For details regarding other management entrance examination, you can read the given article.

Question: Is giving CAT sufficient for any MBA aspirant?

Answer:

Common Admission Test(CAT) score is accepted by more than 1000 B-Schools in India. However, there are top colleges in India which conduct their own examination or accepts other entrance examination score. Hence candidates should have knowledge about other exams as well.

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Questions related to CAT

Showing 9473 out of 9473 Questions

18 Views

I have 76% in class 12th and 79% in class 10th. What are my chances at top b-school. How should be my graduation and cat percentile for top b-school?

Anurag Khanna 18th Jan, 2021

Hello Aspirant,

With the academic record of class 12th and 10th which you have mentioned in the question you should have at least 98-99 or more percentile in CAT and in graduation you should have good overall performance like on CGPA scale you should have around 8-9 CGPA.

Now let us discuss about admission criteria of some of the top IIMs like IIM A/B/C and so on :-

IIM Ahmedabad

Admission process for IIM A is a two step process. First step is for preliminary screening on the basis of Sectional cut-offs and overall cut-offs along with different rating points for IIM A which are described in the tables below and you need to clear sectional cut-off as well as Overall cut-off :-

Category	VRC percentile	DILR percentile	QA Percentile	Overall Percentile
General, EWS	70	70	70	80
NC-OBC cum Transgender	65	65	65	75
SC	60	60	60	70
ST	50	50	50	60
PwD (EWS, General, SC, NC-OBC)	60	60	60	70
PwD (ST)	50	50	50	60

Ratings on the basis of class 10th score :-

Per cent Score in Xth Std. Exam	Rating Score A
<=55	1
>55 and <=60	2
>60 and <=70	3
>70 and <=80	5
>80 and <=90	8
>90	10

Rating on the basis of class 12th score :-

Per cent Score in XIIth Std. Exam	Rating Score B
<=55	1
>55 and <=60	2
>60 and <=70	3
>70 and <=80	5
>80 and <=90	8
>90	10

Rating scores on the basis of field of graduation and percentage :-

Per cent score in Professional courses	Rating Score C
<= 50	1
> 50 and <= 55	2
> 55 and <= 60	3
> 60 and <= 65	5
> 65 and <= 75	8
> 75	10

Rating scores on the basis of work experience (if any) :-

Work Experience in Month (July 31, 2020)	Rating Score D
< 12 months	0
>= 12 and <= 36 months	MF * (number of months of work experience – 11)
> 36 months	5
Work-experience Multiplication Factor (MF) = 0.20

After considering all the ratings on the basis of above discussed factors candidates are shortlisted for Step 2 which is Analytical Writing Test and Personal Interview round.

You can check out complete admission process for IIM A from the link given below :-

https://bschool.careers360.com/articles/iim-ahmedabad-admission-criteria

IIM Bangalore

In IIM B also there is a two stage selection process and the cut-offs are given below :-

Category	Quantitative Aptitude Percentile	Data Interpretation & Logical Reasoning Percentile	Verbal and Reading Comprehension Percentile	Overall Percentile
General	75	75	80	85
EWS	65	65	70	75
NC-OBC	65	65	70	75
SC	60	60	65	70
ST	55	55	55	65
PWD	50	50	50	60

For shortlisting of candidates for PI and AWT following weightage is considered by IIM B :-

S.No.	Components	Weightage
1	Gender Diversity	2
2	CAT 2020	40
3	10 Standard	20
4	12 Standard	10
5	Bachelors	20
6	Weighted Work Experience	8
Total		100

Note that weightage mentioned is in points and the 40 points of CAT weightage can be bifurcated as follows :-

Verbal & Reading Comprehension (VARC) - 14 points
Data Interpretation & Logical Reasoning (DILR) - 16 points
Quantitative Aptitude (QA) - 10 points

You can check out complete admission process for IIM B from the link given below :-

https://bschool.careers360.com/articles/iim-bangalore-admission-criteria

IIM Calcutta

In IIM C also there is a two stage selection process and the cut-offs are given below :-

Category	VA	DILR	QA	Overall Percentile
General	≥ 75	≥ 80	≥ 80	≥ 85
NC-OBC	≥ 65	≥ 65	≥ 70	≥ 75
EWS	≥ 65	≥ 65	≥ 70	≥ 75
SC	≥ 60	≥ 60	≥ 65	≥ 70
ST	≥ 55	≥ 55	≥ 55	≥ 65
PwD	≥ 45	≥ 45	≥ 45	≥ 55

Class X Marks (in per cent)	Points	Class XII Marks (in per cent)	Points
≥80	10	≥80	15
≥75 and < 80	8	≥ 75 and < 80	12
≥70 and < 75	6	≥70 and < 75	9
≥65 and < 70	4	≥65 and < 70	6
≥60 and < 65	2	≥60 and < 65	3
< 60	0	< 60	0

Bachelor’s Degree Marks (in per cent)	Points
≥ 60	15
≥ 55 and < 60	10
≥ 50 and < 55	5
< 50	2.5

For IIM C also you need to clear the above cut-offs and your points as mentioned in the above table should be decent enough to get shortlisted for Stage 2 which is of AWT and PI.

Final selection will be made on the basis of following weightage :-

Components	Weights
CAT 2020 Score	30
Personal Interview (PI)	48
Point granted for Academic Diversity at Bachelor’s level for Non-Engineering degree	4
Work Experience	8
Total	90

You can check out the link given below for complete admission Process of IIM C :-

https://bschool.careers360.com/articles/iim-calcutta-admission-criteria

Similarly for admission process and complete details of cut-offs of other IIMs kindly visit the the link given below :-

https://bschool.careers360.com/articles/iim-admission-criteria

You can also use CAT Pathfinder to predict your chances to get call from different IIMs or non-IIMs :-

https://bschool.careers360.com/pathfinder/cat

I hope this information helps you.

Good Luck!!

12 Views

my score in cat and xat is low, didnt even reach the cutoff.. which decent college do u suggest for mba

ayan mukherjee 18th Jan, 2021

Dear aspirant,

As per your question, you told your cat and xat both the scores are very low and didn't reach the cut offs so it is impossible for you to get any tier 1 or tier 2 colleges.

You should also give seperate exams for colleges like gitam University and for the colleges in Bangalore and Maharashtra.

8 Views

i got less score in cat and xat exam and didnt reach cutoff. which decent mba college do you suggest

harshita sharan Student Expert 19th Jan, 2021

Hi dear,

If you could not perform well in CAT and XAT then you can try for other mba entrance exams. Also, since you have not mentioned your exact percentile in CAT or XAT so it's difficult to predict colleges. However, Following are few entrance exam which you can appear for:

TISSNET TISSMAT
SRCC GBO ENTRANCE TEST
CMAT
MAH CET
LPUNEST
BHU PET

good luck

39 Views

My profile Cat score 2020 -98.67 2019-98.23 2018-97.90 Cet score 2020-99.9 Entc Engineer-67.94 (2019 pass out) 12th -67.54 10th-93.99 Job in Accenture 14 months experience ( 4.5 lpa) Open categories Male Questions is in which MBA colleges can get?

Anurag Khanna 18th Jan, 2021

Hello Aspirant,

With the academic record which you have mentioned in the question and considering your CAT 2020 score because no earlier CAT score would be valid for this session, you have good chances to get top IIMs like IIM B/C/L/K and so on.

Now let us discuss about admission criteria of some of the IIMs which will give you little more clarity :-

IIM Bangalore

In IIM B also there is a two stage selection process and the cut-offs are given below :-

Category	Quantitative Aptitude Percentile	Data Interpretation & Logical Reasoning Percentile	Verbal and Reading Comprehension Percentile	Overall Percentile
General	75	75	80	85
EWS	65	65	70	75
NC-OBC	65	65	70	75
SC	60	60	65	70
ST	55	55	55	65
PWD	50	50	50	60

For shortlisting of candidates for PI and AWT following weightage is considered by IIM B :-

S.No.	Components	Weightage
1	Gender Diversity	2
2	CAT 2020	40
3	10 Standard	20
4	12 Standard	10
5	Bachelors	20
6	Weighted Work Experience	8
Total		100

Note that weightage mentioned is in points and the 40 points of CAT weightage can be bifurcated as follows :-

Verbal & Reading Comprehension (VARC) - 14 points
Data Interpretation & Logical Reasoning (DILR) - 16 points
Quantitative Aptitude (QA) - 10 points

You can check out complete admission process for IIM B from the link given below :-

https://bschool.careers360.com/articles/iim-bangalore-admission-criteria

IIM Calcutta

In IIM C also there is a two stage selection process and the cut-offs are given below :-

Category	VA	DILR	QA	Overall Percentile
General	≥ 75	≥ 80	≥ 80	≥ 85
NC-OBC	≥ 65	≥ 65	≥ 70	≥ 75
EWS	≥ 65	≥ 65	≥ 70	≥ 75
SC	≥ 60	≥ 60	≥ 65	≥ 70
ST	≥ 55	≥ 55	≥ 55	≥ 65
PwD	≥ 45	≥ 45	≥ 45	≥ 55

Class X Marks (in per cent)	Points	Class XII Marks (in per cent)	Points
≥80	10	≥80	15
≥75 and < 80	8	≥ 75 and < 80	12
≥70 and < 75	6	≥70 and < 75	9
≥65 and < 70	4	≥65 and < 70	6
≥60 and < 65	2	≥60 and < 65	3
< 60	0	< 60	0

Bachelor’s Degree Marks (in per cent)	Points
≥ 60	15
≥ 55 and < 60	10
≥ 50 and < 55	5
< 50	2.5

For IIM C also you need to clear the above cut-offs and your points as mentioned in the above table should be decent enough to get shortlisted for Stage 2 which is of AWT and PI.

Final selection will be made on the basis of following weightage :-

Components	Weights
CAT 2020 Score	30
Personal Interview (PI)	48
Point granted for Academic Diversity at Bachelor’s level for Non-Engineering degree	4
Work Experience	8
Total	90

You can check out the link given below for complete admission Process of IIM C :-

https://bschool.careers360.com/articles/iim-calcutta-admission-criteria

Similarly for IIM Lucknow, IIM Kozhikode and other IIM's admission process and complete details of cut-offs for them are mentioned in the links given below :-

https://bschool.careers360.com/articles/iim-lucknow-admission-criteria

https://bschool.careers360.com/articles/iim-kozhikode-admission-criteria

https://bschool.careers360.com/articles/iim-admission-criteria

You can also use CAT Pathfinder to predict your chances to get call from different IIMs or non-IIMs :-

https://bschool.careers360.com/pathfinder/cat

I hope this information helps you.

Good Luck!!

41 Views

I Got 45 percentile in cat, but have good work expe and ecas and decent acads. from sc category. can i apply for mba?

harshita sharan Student Expert 18th Jan, 2021

Hi dear,

Yes, of course you can apply to mba colleges for admission. However final selection is based on overall profile along with cat percentile. Given that you have a category, still it will be difficult for you to get into top mba colleges with 45 percentile in CAT. However, you can apply to following colleges: