Introduction
Pursuing an MBA after graduation is a very great decision as it accelerates our speed towards success in our career. It provides a lot of benefits to a student by building a theoretical foundation in business concepts and boosts his confidence by developing essential skills such as leadership, management, communication, motivation etc necessary for him to work in the corporate world.
MBA institutes focus on the overall development of a student, for this, they offer practical experience through internships, ask students to make individual and group projects, and assignments, and motivate students to start their businesses.
In India, there are thousands of reputed management institutes which provide various MBA programmes in the fields of finance, marketing, consulting, operations management, human resources etc and it is a dream of every student to be admitted to top B schools such as IIMs, XLRI Jamshedpur, MDI etc.
Before preparing for the MBA entrance test, candidates should have proper knowledge about entrance exams with which they can take admissions for the MBA and the important dates related to those exams.
In this article we will read about different MBA entrance exams in India, their eligibility criteria, exam patterns, exam dates etc.
MBA Exams Overview
Candidates planning to get admission into prestigious institutes like IIMs, XLRI Jamshedpur, MDI etc should appear for all MBA entrance exams such as CAT, MAT, CMAT and many more. CAT is the top MBA exam in India whose score is accepted by 20 IIMS and many more colleges. Here is a list of the top 8 MBA entrance exams that a candidate must clear to gain admission to top management institutes across India.
List Of Top 8 MBA Entrance Exams in India
1) CAT (Common Admission Test)
The CAT exam is the most popular and challenging MBA entrance exam conducted by the Indian Institute of Management (IIM). Over 1000 colleges in India consider CAT scores for various MBA and PGDM courses in IIMs, IITs, NITs, MNITs etc. Therefore every year more than 2 lakh students appear for this exam. The tentative date for CAT is November 24, 2024, and the exam will be conducted by IIM Calcutta.
The CAT exam comprises 4 main parts which are verbal, quantitative, data interpretation and logical reasoning. These parts are further grouped into 3 sections which are verbal and reasoning comprehension (VRC), quantitative aptitude (QA), data interpretation and logical reasoning (DILR).
# Highlights of the CAT Exam
- The mode of the CAT exam is computer-based test (CBT).
- The duration of the CAT exam is 120 minutes (2 hours) for all but 150 minutes (2hr 30 min) for the PwD category.
- Each section in the exam is 40 minutes.
- The CAT exam consists of 66 objective-type questions.
- The CAT exam marking scheme is +3 for every right answer, -1 for every wrong answer and TITA questions have no negative marking.
- For CAT 2024 the registration will start from the first week of August 2024 and the exam will be conducted on November 24, 2024.
2) NMAT (Narsee Monjee Management Aptitude Test)
Narsee Monjee Management Aptitude Test is a national-level MBA entrance exam which is organized by the Graduate Management Admission Council. NMAT tests its candidates on the grounds of quantitative skills, language skills and logical reasoning abilities.
# Highlights of the NMAT exam
- NMAT is a computer-based entrance exam.
- The exam duration is 120 minutes and there are 108 multiple choice questions.
- The exam has 3 sections: quantitative skills, language skills and logical reasoning.
- For each correct, there is 1 mark and there is no negative marking
- The maximum mark for the exam is 360 marks.
3) SNAP (Symbiosis National Aptitude) Test
Symbiosis National Aptitude Test is a national-level test for management conducted by Symbiosis International University(SIU). This exam allows students to be admitted to 15 institutes under SIU and many other MBA colleges. SNAP exam comprises three main sections which include analytical and logical reasoning, general English and quantitative, data interpretation and data sufficiency.
# Highlights of the SNAP Exam
- The SNAP exam is conducted in online mode instead of traditional pen and paper-based exams.
- The duration of the exam is of 1hr and there are 60 questions in the exam
- Each question is of 1 mark which makes it a total of 60 marks exam
- For each wrong answer, candidates get negative marks of -0.25
- A candidate can give 3 attempts of SNAP in a year.
- Final-year students are also eligible to apply for this exam.
4) MAH-CET (Maharashtra Common Entrance Test)
The Maharashtra common entrance test is conducted by the Directorate of Technical Education, Maharashtra. This exam allows students to take admission in various management courses offered by different institutes in Maharashtra such as MBA/MMS, BE/B Tech, B.HMCT, MCA, M.Arch and M.HMCT etc.
The Competent Authority of Maharashtra facilitates admission to courses like MBA, PGDM, PGDMB, MMS etc. The MAH-CET is held in various sessions and the scores are calculated by competent authority for each session using a standardized equi-percentile method.
# Highlights of MAH-CET
- It is a computer-based test
- The exam is of 150 minutes with 200 multiple-choice questions.
- Registration for MAH-CET 2024 starts from 16th Jan till 15th March 2024.
- The tentative date for the exam is 16 April – 23 April 2024 for PCB and from 25 April – 30 April 2024 for PCM.
- The tentative date for the result announcement is May 2024.
5) ATMA (AIMS Test for Management Admissions)
AIMS Test for management admissions is a national-level MBA entrance exam which is administered by the Association of Indian Management Schools. The exam offers admission to various management programmes such as MBA, PGDBA, PGDM, MCA, MCM etc. ATMA exam analyses the verbal skills, analytical reasoning skills and quantitative skills of a candidate.
# Highlights of the ATMA Exam
- The ATMA exam is conducted four times a year.
- There are 180 questions and the exam duration is 180 minutes.
- For February 2024 the last date of registration is February 11, 2024.
- The exam date is February 18, 2024, and results will be announced on February 23, 2024.
- The ATMA exam will also be conducted on 11 May 2024, 23 June 2024, and 21 July 2024.
- The exam application fee for the unreserved category is INR 2000, for female candidates is INR 1500 and for northeastern candidates is INR 1000.
6) MAT (Management Aptitude Test) Entrance Exam
The Management Aptitude Test is a national-level MBA entrance exam which is administered by the All India Management Association (AIMA). MAT offers admission to various management programmes and is conducted four times a year mainly in February, May, September and December. The exam checks its candidates on various skills like mathematical skills, language comprehension, Indian and global environment, intelligence and critical reasoning and data analysis and sufficiency.
# Highlights of the MAT Exam
- The MAT exam is both a computer-based test and paper paper-based test.
- There are a total of 200 objective-type questions in the exam and the duration of the exam is 150 minutes.
- The last date of registration for MAT 2024 is 20 February 2024 for the paper-based test and 5 March 2024 for the computer-based test.
- Admit cards for paper-based tests will be available from 22 February 2024.
- MAT exam 2024 will be on 25 February 2024 (PBT) and 10 March 2024 (CBT).
- MAT 2024 results will be announced on 25 March 2024.
7) XAT (Xavier Aptitude Test) Entrance Exam
Xavier Aptitude test is another popular MBA entrance exam which is conducted by the Xavier Labour Relations Institute (XLRI) Jamshedpur. The XAT exam is usually conducted on the first Sunday of January. Each year more than 1 lakh appear for this exam and around 100 management colleges accept XAT scores for student’s admission. The exam mainly focuses on quantitative ability, decision-making, English language and logical reasoning, general knowledge and essays. When the candidates get selected they also have to appear for general knowledge and essay tests.
# Highlights of XAT Exam
- There are 100 objective-type questions in the exam and candidates get 190 minutes for the exam.
- The tentative date for XAT 2025 registration is 15th July 2024 to 10th December 2024.
- The tentative date for the XAT 2025 exam is 5 January 2025.
- For every correct answer, the candidate gets 1 mark, the negative marking is 0.25 and after 8 unattempted answers, there is a -0.10 mark for each unanswered question.
8) GMAT (Graduate Management Aptitude Test) Entrance Exam
The Graduate Management Aptitude Test is conducted by the Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC) for admission to various MBA and PGDM programmes offered by top B schools globally. Registration for GMAT is open throughout the year but the candidates can apply only 5 times in a single year.
# Highlights of the GMAT Exam
- The exam comprises four sections which include verbal, quantitative, integrated reasoning and analytical writing assessment.
- To apply for the GMAT exam the candidate only should graduate there is no minimum or maximum grade required to apply for the exam.
- The exam has 64 questions and the duration for the exam is 2hr 15min.
