MBA Entrance Exams 2022-23: Check all Details – Key Dates, Colleges Accepting, Cutoff

One has to appear for the Top MBA entrance exams, if he/she wants admission to the top MBA colleges in India like IIMs, IIFT, FMS, SPJIMR, MDI, XLRI, IITs, NMIMS, TISS, and other Top MBA colleges in India. MBA Entrance Exams can be are of three categories namely, National level MBA entrance exams like CAT, XAT, and NMAT; State level MBA entrance exams like MAH MBA CET, Karnataka PGCET, Tamilnadu TANCET, Telangana TSICET; Institute level MBA entrance exams like IIFT, TISSNET, MICAT, IBSAT for admission to the respective institute. 

In India, there is a great demand for MBA Courses these days and with it, the students need to know the importance and key features of the Top MBA Entrance Exams. So, Here in this article, you will get the complete information about the MBA Entrance Exams. 

Most Popular MBA Entrance Exams

• Generally, there are around 10 most popular MBA entrance exams in India for MBA course admission, which include CAT, XAT, IIFT, NMAT, SNAP, TISSNET, CMAT, MAT, IBSAT, and GMAT. 
• Also, some State Level MBA Entrance Exams like MAH CET, TANCET, PGCET, and KMAT are crucial for getting into MBA colleges in Maharashtra, Karnataka, and Tamil Nadu. 
• Apart from IIFT, TISSNET, and IBSAT, other institutes/university-specific MBA Entrance exams are KIITEE Management, MICAT, and UPES MET.  

Top 5 MBA Entrance Exams

Here is the list of the top 5 MBA Entrance Exams that deliver admission to top MBA colleges in India:-

1. CAT 2022 is the largest and most important MBA entrance exam driving admission in IIMs & other top Business Schools in India with more than 2.30 lakh aspirants competing for it annually. 
2. XAT 2023 directs to admission in XLRI and other top 140+ B-schools, with about 1 lakh aspirants participating in the exam annually. 
3. NMAT 2022 GMAC governs admission in NMIMS with more than 80 thousand aspirants competing in for the exam annually. 
4. IIFT 2022 is an institute-level MBA entrance test governing MBA (IB) 2023-25 batch admission at IIFT Delhi & IIFT Kolkata. More than 60000 aspirants apply for the exam every year. 
5. SNAP 2022 oversees admission in SIBM Pune & 15 other Symbiosis institutes, with around 80 thousand applicants annually. 

MBA Entrance Exams Eligibility criteria

• The basic Common eligibility criteria to come across in any MBA entrance exam in India is that the aspirants must have a work experience after graduation or Fresh graduates must have a minimum of 50% marks for becoming eligible to apply for Top MBA entrance exams. 
• XAT comes with the exception as it does not stipulate any minimum percentage of marks in graduation.
• The application process for Top MBA entrance exams 2022 for admission 2023 has started opening gradually. 
• So for getting admission to the Top MBA Colleges in India in 2022, you first need to get register yourself and apply for the respective MBA entrance exam.  

MBA Entrance Exams Important Dates

The important details of the Top MBA entrance exams which are open or opening soon for admission in 2023 are given below.

Name of the Exam	Registration Start Date	Last Date to Apply	Exam Date
XAT 2023	August 10, 2022	November 30, 2022	January 8, 2023
IIFT 2023	September 2, 2022	October 15, 2022,	December 4, 2022
TISSNET 2023	November 17, 2022,	January 10, 2023,	January 21, 2023
SNAP 2022	August 04, 2022,	November 24, 2022,	December 10-18-23, 2022
4th-week CMAT 2023	November 15, 2022	January 15, 2023	February 26, 2023

Levels of MBA Entrance Exams

Level	Name of 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-MATNIPER, JEE, MBA, CUSAT, CAT

National MBA Entrance Exams

MBA Exam dates and schedule with top MBA Colleges in India accepting exam and MBA Entrance Exam Calendar is shared below.

Name of the Exam	Exam Date	Top MBA colleges accepting Exam
Common Admission Test (CAT) 2022	November 27, 2022	IIMs, FMS Delhi, SPJIMR, MDI, IITs, IMI, IMT
Xavier Aptitude Test - XAT 2023	January 8, 2023	XLRI, XIMB, IMI, IMT, TAPMI, Great Lakes
NMAT by GMAC 2022	October 10 to December 19, 2022	NMIMS, K J Somaiya, XUB, VIT Vellore, SD Bacconi Asia Centre
SNAP 2022	December 18, 2022	SIBM Pune, SCMHRD, SIOM & 12 Other Symbiosis colleges
CMAT 2023	February 26, 2023	GIM Goa, BIMTECH, K J Somaiya, IFMR, Welingkar, Jaipuria, N L Dalmia
MAT 2022 (September)	PBT- September 4, 2022IBT- Aug 28 to Sept 17, 2022CBT- September 18, 2022	JAGSoM, IPE Hyderabad,  Jaipuria, BIMTECH (Specialized PGDM), JIMS, NDIM
ATMA 2022 (July)	July 24, 2022 (Over)	Welingkar, CIMR, SOIL, IMS
GMAT 2022	Available Round the year	SPJIMR, IMI, IMT, XIMB, TAPMI, FORE, LBSIM, GIM Goa

State MBA Entrance Exams

• The state-level MBA entrance exams are administered by the specific state CET cell like CET Cell of DTE Maharashtra; Karnataka KEA as well as private MBA entrance exam conducting bodies like KMAT Karnataka. 
• The MBA colleges accepting these entrance exam scores include University B-schools and private PGDM colleges.
• The MBA Entrance exams for admission 2022 announcement for some of these state-level exams have been released while for others it will be released soon. 

Name of the Exam	Dates of the Exam	Top MBA College Accepting Exam Score
MAH CET 2022	August 23, 24 & 25, 2022	JBIMS, SIMSREE, PUMBA, N L Dalmiya, SIES, CIMR
Karnataka PGCET 2022	Not yet announced	IBA, AIMS, Alliance, ABBS, Kristu Jayanti
TANCET 2023 for admission 2023	2nd week of May 2022	Anna University, Tamilnadu, Madras University, SRM University, SSN School of Management Chennai, Hallmark Business School Trichy, St Josephs School of Management, Trichy, PSGIM Coimbatore
TS ICET 2022	July 27 & 28, 2022	Kakatiya University (KU); Osmania University (OU); Telangana University (TU);Satavahana University (SU)
KMAT 2022	To be Announced	IBA, AIMS, Alliance, ABBS, Kristu Jayanti

Institute Level MBA Entrance Exam:-

• The institute-level MBA entrance exams are supervised by the specific management colleges that may or may not accept scores of other entrance exams. 
• Most of these exams will be conducted in 2022 and some in 2023. 

Name of the Exam	Exam Dates	Top MBA Institute Accepting Exam score
IIFT MBA (IB) 2023 Entrance Exam	December 4, 202,	Indian Institute of Foreign Trade-Delhi, Kolkata, Kakinada
TISSNET 2023	January 21, 2023	Tata Institute of Social Science (TISS) all campuses
IBSAT 2022	December 24 & 25, 2022	9 ICFAI B-Schools
MICAT 2022 & 2023	December 10, 2022 ,& January 28, 2023	MICA Ahmedabad
KIITEE Management 2023	January 2023, 33rd-week	KIIT School of Management (KSOM) Bhubaneswar
IRMASAT 2023	Will Not be Conducted	IRMA Anand

MBA Entrance Exams Application Fees:-

Name of the Exam	Application Fee (General category)	Application Fee   (Reserved category)
CAT	Rs.2300/-	Rs.1150/-
XAT	Rs.2000/-	Rs.2000/-
IIFT	Rs.2500/-	Rs.1000/-
NMAT by GMAC	Rs.2800/-	Rs.2800/-
SNAP	Rs.1800/-	Rs.1800/-
CMAT	Rs.2000/-	Rs. 1000/-
MAH CET	Rs.1000/-	Rs. 800/-
MAT	Rs.1850/-	Rs.1850/-
IBSAT	Rs.1800/-	Rs.1800/-
TISSNET	Rs.1030/-	Rs. 500/-
MICAT	Rs.2100/-	Rs. 2100/-
KIITEE Management	Rs.1250/-	Rs.1250/-

Before going to opt for all the above MBA entrance exams, one should notice that the cost of MBA entrance exam registration is around Rs.18,000/- and avoid such a high MBA entrance exam registration fee, you may choose the preferred MBA entrance exams the scores of which are accepted by more top MBA colleges in India. For example, CAT, XAT, CMAT, NMAT, and MAT are the vaster national level MBA entrance exams and cover more than 1000 MBA colleges accepting their exam score. This way you could lessen the burden of the MBA entrance exam cost.    

MBA Entrance Exams Syllabus

• There are a few common topics among all the MBA Entrance Exams Syllabus like Verbal Ability, Reading Comprehension, Reasoning, and Quantitative Aptitude. 
• While Other sections and topics in MBA Entrance Exams Syllabus may vary as XAT has a key section on Decision Making; IIFT, and CMAT award good weightage to their GK section while CAT and NMAT do not have a GK section. 
• According to the professionals, one should first survey the MBA Entrance Exams Syllabus and then start the MBA Entrance Exams Preparation to avoid the wastage of time and confusion.
• For example, if one wants to have similar MBA entrance exams preparation for top exams, you can opt for a combination of CAT, NMAT, and XAT or a combination of IIFT, SNAP, and CMAT and the like. 

People Also Ask - 

1. How to Apply for MBA Entrance Exam 2022?

Answer. Most of the top MBA entrance exams such as CAT, XAT, SNAP, and CMAT take place in December and January. The CAT exam date has been announced. You can check the rest of the details above. 

2. What is the best Entrance Exam for MBA?

Answer. Most Popular MBA Entrance Exams in India for Admission

• CAT.
• CMAT.
• MAT.
• XAT.
• NMAT.
• SNAP.
• ATMA.
• GMAT.

3. Which form should I fill out for my MBA?

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

4. Which entrance exam for MBA is easy?

Answer. In India, based on MBA aspirants' feedback, CMAT is the easiest MBA entrance examination. The Common Management Admission Test or CMAT is a national-level entrance examination conducted by the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE).

5. Is Cat compulsory for MBA?

Answer. No, CAT or CMAT exam is not compulsory for MBA. There are a host of other MBA entrance exams similar/equivalent to CAT like XAT. Several institutes have their own entrance exams like NMAT for NMIMS, TISS, SNAP for Symbiosis, IIFT, CET for Maharashtra institutes, MICA, etc.

6. Can I get admission to an MBA without an entrance exam?

Answer. Do you know that Direct MBA Admission without Entrance Exam is available in many MBA colleges in India? AICTE has also directed the PGDM/MBA colleges to offer direct admission in 2022 on the basis of academic scores, to such institutes where MBA entrance tests could not be conducted due to the pandemic.

7. What is the Difference Between CAT and XAT Entrance Exam? 

Answer. Difference Between CAT and XAT Entrance Exams: Comparative Analysis

Component	IIMs CAT	XLRI - XAT
Exam Date	November 27, 2022	January 8, 2023
When to Apply	August 1st week to September Last week	August 3rd week to December 2nd week
Exam Conducted by	Indian Institutes of Management (IIM)	Xavier School of Management (XLRI) Jamshedpur
Testing Mode	Computer Based Test	Computer Based Test
Total Questions	66 (Since 2021, Earlier 100)	101 (Since 2022, earlier 100)
Overall Time Limit to Attempt the Exam	2 hours (Since 2020, Earlier 3 hours)	3 hours & 10 Minutes (Since 2022, earlier 3 hours)
Type of Questions	48-50 questions are MCQs, the rest Non-MCQs	100 MCQs + 1 subjective on Essay Writing
Answer Options for MCQs	4	5
Marks Awarded for each Correct Answer	3	1 for MCQs  3 for Essay Writing
Negative Marking	MCQs with 1/3 negative marking; No negative marking for Non-MCQs	75 MCQs with 1/4 negative marking; No negative marking for 25 MCQs on GK and Essay writing test
CAT Vs XAT Difficulty	Moderately Difficult	The difficulty level is higher
Difference Between CAT And XAT Syllabus: Total Sections	3	3 (Main sections)  2 (GK & Essay Test score not counted for percentile calculation)
Difference Between CAT And XAT Syllabus: Section-1	Verbal Ability & Reading Comprehension- 24 questions	English Language & Logical Reasoning- 26 questions
Difference Between CAT And XAT Syllabus: Section-2	Data Interpretation & Logical Reasoning -20 questions	Quantitative Ability & Data Interpretation- 28 questions
Difference Between CAT And XAT Syllabus: Section-3	Quantitative Ability-22 questions	Decision Making-21 questions
Difference Between CAT And XAT Syllabus: Section-4	Not Applicable, only 3 Sections	General Awareness-25 questions essay Writing (Subjective)- 1 question
Facility to Choose Order of Sections	No, has to follow pre-defined sectional order	Yes, Any question from any section within the overall time limit
Individual Sectional Time Limit	Each section with 40 Minute time limit	No Restriction
Top MBA Colleges Accepting Exam Score	20 IIMs, FMS, MDI, SPJIMR, IMI, IMT, IITs, TAPMI, XIMB, and hundreds of other B-schools.	XLRI, SPJIMR, IMT, TAPMI, XIMB, and 145 other MBA colleges

8. Is MBA hard to study?

Answer. In short, an MBA is as difficult as you make it, and is as rewarding as you invest in it. In the business world, there is rarely any hand-holding. You either develop into a competent business expert or are surpassed by the competition.

9. Is it compulsory to write the Entrance Exam for MBA?

Answer. Not just that students with dollar dreams are taking exams for MBA abroad. But to pursue an MBA, one has to write an Entrance Exam. Especially to get a seat in IIMs and some top b-Schools which can give high boosting points to your career MBA Entrance Exams like CAT, GMAT, XAT, MAT, CMAT, ATMA, NMAT are mandatory.

Frequently Asked Questions:-

Q1. Which is the top MBA entrance exam in India?

Ans. Common Admission Test or CAT by IIM is considered the top MBA entrance exam in India. CAT 2022 will be held on November 27 and the registration process will begin on August 3, 2022.

Q2. Which is the easiest MBA entrance exam?

Ans. The difficulty level of CMAT and MAT exams is usually lower than other MBA entrance exams. However, the candidates must not take any exams lightly. 

Q3. What is the syllabus of an MBA entrance exam?

Ans. MBA entrance exam syllabus consists of topics from Quantitative Aptitude, Data Interpretation, Logical Reasoning, English Comprehension, and General Awareness.

Q4. How many times is MAT conducted in a year?

Ans. MAT exam is conducted four times a year – February, May, September, and December. The candidates can take the exam in the month they are best prepared to appear for it. Due to COVID-19, MAT is being conducted in IBT mode as well.

Q5. How many attempts are allowed in NMAT?

Ans. In NMAT, three attempts are allowed to each candidate within the 75-day test window. Performance in the last attempt is accepted for admission by NMAT participating colleges.

Q6. Is NMAT the same as GMAT?

Ans. Both NMAT and GMAT are conducted by the same agency – GMAC. Both are adaptive tests and their scoring pattern is similar but there are several differences between NMAT and GMAT.

Q7. Should I take CAT or GMAT?

Ans. GMAT scores are accepted by foreign universities but CAT score is not, thus if a candidate is planning to study management abroad, then they must take the GMAT. But if the candidate is targeting the IIMs for full-time MBA, they must take CAT.

Q8. Which are the state-level top MBA entrance exams?

Ans. Some of the top state-level MBA entrance exams are MAH CET  for Maharashtra, TSICET for Telangana, TANCET for Tamil Nadu, APICET for Andhra Pradesh, KMAT for Karnataka, KMAT Kerala for Kerala, DAVVCET for Madhya Pradesh, UPSEE for Uttar Pradesh, HPU MAT for Himachal Pradesh, and OJEE for Odisha.

Q9. How many colleges accept XAT exam scores?

Ans. Over 700 MBA colleges accept XAT exam scores for admission apart from XLRI Jamshedpur, which includes the Faculty of Management Studies (FMS), SP Jain Institute of Management Research (SPJIMR), Institute of Management Technology (IMT), Xavier Institute of Management & Entrepreneurship (XIME), International Management Institute (IMI), etc. 

Q10. Which top MBA colleges apart from IIMs accept CAT?

Ans. CAT is accepted by all top MBA colleges in India including FMS, SPJIMR, MDI, IMT, XIME, IMI, IITs (Department of Management), BIMTECH, Fore School of Management, Great Lakes Institute of Management, Goa Institute of Management, etc.

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