Top MBA entrance exams to consider

MBA (Master of Business Administration) is the most sought after post graduate degree in India. As it offers a plethora of lucrative career opportunities with high incentives. Every year, lakhs of students from diverse range of background aim to pursue this degree at various private and public B-schools in India.  Undoubtedly, B-schools like IIMs, FMS, ISB, XLRI are the most reputed ones in the country. In order to get admission in the B-schools, one has to appear for management aptitude test. Here, are some top national-level management entrance exams that you can consider.

CAT– Common Admission Test is considered to be the most popular exam among all MBA entrance exams. It is a computer- based exam conducted once in a year in the month of November by one of the IIMs on rotational basis and around 2.2 lakhs students appeared for it in 2022. The duration of the exam is 2 hours and there are three sections:

The marking scheme is such that you will get 3 marks for every correct answer and -1 for every wrong answer. The score is accepted by all the IIMs and various other B-schools in India. In order to get admission in the top B-schools, you must aim for a good percentile score.

XAT – Xavier Aptitude Test is conducted by XLRI Jamshedpur once in a year in the first week of January. Every year approximately one lakh students enrol for this exam. This is 3 hours 30 minutes computer-based exam that comprises four sections Logical Reasoning, Quantitative Aptitude and Data Interpretation, Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension and, Decision Making along with General Knowledge and Essay Writing. For the first three sections time allotted is 175 minutes and for general awareness and essay writing 30 minutes are allotted.

The marking scheme is a little complex, for every correct answer you will get +1marks, for incorrect -0.25 marks and you cannot leave more than 8 questions unanswered, as it carries -0.10 marks of penalty. 

SNAP– Symbiosis National Aptitude Test is conducted by Symbiosis International (Deemed University) every year in the month of December. The exam is of 1 hour and includes three sections Language Comprehension, Quantitative Aptitude, Data Sufficiency, Data Interpretation and Analytical and Logical Reasoning.

For every incorrect answer 0.25 marks are deducted and for every correct answer +1 mark are given. There is no sectional time limit. One can appear for the exam up to three times. The best score of the candidate is taken into consideration while calculating the final percentile. The score is accepted by 15 institutes under Symbiosis International.

NMAT– Narsee Monjee Aptitude Test is conducted by GMAC (Graduate Management Admission Council). The exam has a number of flexible features, which makes it a desirable exam to take. You can take the exam at ease of home or at exam centre. It is a 2 hours exam consisting of three sections Quantitative Ability, Verbal Ability and, Logical Reasoning, containing 36 questions each.

Unlike other exams, there is no negative marking in this exam. You can also choose the order of sections. One can also opt to retake the exam up to two times. There is a gap of 15 days between any two attempts. However, NMIMS considers the score of first attempt. There are 29 institutes in India, 7 in South Africa and 5 in Philippines that accept NMAT score.

IIFT– Indian Institute of Foreign Trade is conducted by National Testing Agency every year. The score of the exam is accepted only by IIFT for their MBA (International Business) program. The exam comprises four sections Quantitative Ability, Verbal Ability, Logical Reasoning and, General Awareness. The duration of exam is 2 hours and total 110 questions are asked. There is no sectional time limit.

MAT– Management Aptitude Test is national level management entrance exam conducted by All India Management Association (AIMA). The exam is conducted four times a year in the month of February, May, September and December. There are five sections, which are as follows:

The duration of exam is 150 minutes and total 200 questions are asked.  There is -0.25 marks for wrong answer and +1 mark for right answer. There is no sectional time limit. The exam is conducted in three types of mode IBT (Remote Proctored Internet Based Test), CBT (Computer Based Test) and, PBT (Paper Based Test). The test score is accepted by more than 400 B-schools in the country.

CMAT– Common Management Admission Test is conducted by National Testing Agency. The exam consists of five sections:

There are a total of 100 questions and the total allotted time is 3 hours. For every correct answer +4 marks are given and for every incorrect answer 1 mark is deducted. One can switch from one section to another and there is no sectional time limit. The exam score is considered by all AICTE- approved universities and institutes.

MICAT– Mudra Institute of Communication Admission Test is conducted by Mudra Institute of Communication for their PGDM AND PGDM-C program. It is both subjective and objective type of exam held twice in a year. The duration of exam is 135 minutes. There are three sections Psychometric, Descriptive test and the last section comprises sub sections Verbal Ability, Quantitative Ability, Divergent and Convergent Thinking and, General Awareness.

In the part C, for every incorrect answer 0.25 mark will be deducted and 1 mark for every correct answer. There is no negative marking in part A and B and +1 mark is given for correct answer.

TISSNET– Tata Institute of Social Science every year conducts national entrance test for admission to its post graduate program in human resources management. The duration of exam is of 100 minutes and it includes three sections:

There is no negative marking and for every correct answer you will get +1 mark. You can also switch sections in the exam. As per 2023 exam, minimum marks required to clear the exam is 45% (general and OBC) and 35% (SC and ST).

MAHCET– Maharashtra Common Entrance Test is conducted by Maharashtra CET cell. The time duration of the exam is 150 minutes. There is no sectional time-limit in the exam. There are a total of 200 questions in random order and it consists four sections, which are as follows:

There is no negative marking for wrong and unanswered questions. There is no sectional cut offs that one has to clear. The exam score is accepted by more than 300 B-schools in the country.

Some of the aforementioned MBA entrance exams are of easy to moderate level of difficulty and some are of a little high difficulty level. You can choose the exam for which you want to appear on the basis of your profile. Each exam is unique in it and tests the candidates abilities required for the course.