MBA Entrances – National Level

MBA Entrances - National Level

CAT is the entrance exam for more than 150 management institutes across India, including the 20 IIMs. The online exam is conducted every year in the months of late November – early December. In the year 2020, CAT is scheduled to be conducted on 29th November in two sessions. The WAT/GDPI round typically takes place from Feb to May. The academic sessions begin in the months of July-Aug.

CAT focuses intensively on general aptitude (English, Math, Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning) which are key areas tested in most competitive exams such as Bank PO, SSB, Campus placements etc. Even Civil services, GATE etc give some weightage to GA. What makes CAT special is the quality of opportunities it opens for you and therefore the nature of competition. The exam is quite rightly seen by many as the mother of all management entrance exams. However, this also means that your preparation for CAT will prepare you for a good part of a lot of other exams as well.

The concepts tested in Other Management Entrance Tests (OMETs) would essentially remain the same as CAT, except for questions based on GK/Current affairs asked in a few tests. Your preparation for CAT will adequately prepare you for any of these exams as well. We at T.I.M.E. believe in the thoroughness of preparation and provide adequate study material and support for each of these exams over and above the guidance given for CAT preparation to each student.

Opportunities Beyond CAT - Other Management Entrance Tests

CAT is undoubtedly the most sought after entrance exam. However, there are several other exams besides CAT that a student can and must write. We collectively call them as OMETs (Other Management Entrance Tests). These would include XAT, SNAP, CMAT, MAT and Institute specific exams viz NMAT, TISSNET,IBSAT and IIFT.

The key reasons why a candidate should write other exams besides CAT are as follows:

Awareness and adequate preparation for these exams is essential, as these tests have patterns which are different from CAT. Let us look at the major Other management Entrance Tests (OMETs) which would be conducted this year.

XAT

XAT is the second most popular management entrance examination after CAT. XAT is conducted by XLRI,Jamshedpur on behalf of Xavier Association of Management Institutes.Apart from XLRI, which is one of the top-5 B-schools in India according to latest rankings by various independent agencies, XAT scores are used by more than 100 institutes across India. XAT is usually conducted in the first week of January.

Symbiosis National Aptitude Test (SNAP)

SNAP is an aptitude test conducted by the Symbiosis society as a first entry requirement for all the B schools under Symbiosis International University which has 15 B schools under its umbrella, 5 General management and the others- sectoral or specialized MBAs. The list of institutes includes SIBM Pune, SCMHRD Pune, SIBM Bangalore, SIIB Pune etc. The exam is considered a must for MBA aspirants thanks to this eclectic mix of colleges using its scorecard as a part of their selection processes.

Management Aptitude Test (MAT)

MAT is conducted by All India Management Association four times a year – February, May, September, and December in both the formats – Paper pencil as well as Computer based. Even though the paper has a section on General Awareness, the score in this section is rarely used by any B-school for shortlisting candidates for the GDPI process.

Exams Conducted By Individual Institutes

The following stand-alone tests are conducted by various B-schools for admission of candidates into their MBA programmes.

IIFT entrance test for IIFT New Delhi, Kolkata and Kakinada campus.
TISSNET for Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai offering specialisation in a range of areas from HRM & IR to Social Entreprenuership to Women empowerment etc.
MICAT – Conducted by MICA Ahmedabad for admission into their PGDM (C ) program.
NMAT by GMAC^TM is a computer administered test owned by the Graduate Management Global Connection (India) Private Limited (GMGC), a subsidiary of Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC) . The scores are used by institutes like SVKM’s Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies, Alliance University, SRM University,BML Munjal University, VIT University etc.
IBSAT IBSAT is an online aptitude test conducted by The ICFAI Foundation For Higher Education (a deemed to be University under Section 3 of UGC act 1956), for students seeking admission to the MBA / PhD programs of IBS Hyderabad.