Top Tier 1 Business Schools in India: Fees, Admission, Placement

So have you heard about the MBA? Let's understand what you mean by and it's an abbreviation which stands for Master of Business Administration and it is one of the most reputed degrees after graduation in the world. MBA is a program which provides individuals with many skill sets such as financial skills, marketing,  management, strategy and entrepreneurship. It's not just about learning the knowledge but it's also about critical thinking, decision making and problem solving skills.

MBA provides practical knowledge rather than just a theoretical one, a student will get engaged in real projects, case studies and offline gets a chance to work as an intern with big companies. This work experience provides an individual with the talent of tackling the complex challenges of this real business world. MBA is a degree which helps an individual to improve themselves whether it's a fresher or a professional. Through MBA an individual is having the scope of improving herself or himself in this evolving business world.

If you ask me that I would suggest an individual to to do MBA because it send investment that will provide knowledge skills and ample amount of opportunities through which an individual gets a variety of options for earning or getting successful in his or her career.

What are Tier 1 MBA colleges in India?

Tier MBA colleges are well recognized colleges for their academic excellence.Tier1 colleges usually accept cat scores as a valid criteria for admission.

I have provided a list of all the Top Tier MBA colleges in India. A candidate can take admission in a tier of colleges by giving an entrance exam.

List of Top Tier MBA Colleges Fees

College Name	Courses Offered	Fees (in Rs)
Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Ahmedabad	MBA, Executive MBA, Fellowship	Rs.24,61,000
Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Bangalore	MBA, PGDM, Executive MBA	Rs.24,50,000
Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Kozhikode	MBA, PGDM, PhD in Management	Rs.20,50,000
Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Calcutta	MBA, PGDM, Executive MBA	Rs.27,00,000
Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Delhi	MBA,MBA Telecom, Executive MBA	Rs. 11.20 Lacs
Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Lucknow	MBA, PGDM, Graduate Diploma in Management	Rs.23,80,000
National Institute of Industrial Engineering, Mumbai	MBA, PGDM, Fellowship	Rs.7,03,000
Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Indore	MBA, PGDM, Ph.D. in Management	Rs.21,14,222
Xavier School of Management (XLRI), Jamshedpur	MBA, PGDM, Ph.D. in Management	Rs.12,90,000
Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay	MBA	Rs.4,91,000

Admission Process through CAT

Maximum Tier 1 MBA colleges are accepting CAT as their entrance exam so lets understand why CAT is an important exam from the perspective of colleges.

CAT is short form for Common Admission Test, it is considered as one of the most prestigious and competitive exam in India. It is conducted by IIM and accepted by many private institutions as well.

CAT is an computer based exam that assesses candidates on the basis of their aptitude in verbal, quantitative and data interpretation skills. This competitive exam is not just testing the academic aspects of an individual but also checks the problem-solving abilities and decision making skills that acts as an important factor in the real business world.

The examination is known for its very tough selection process, a candidate should not only know the answers but also need to solve paper with accuracy and speed, because there  is a time-limit in which one needs to solve the paper.

Name of the IIM	Expected Cutoff
IIM Calcutta	99
IIM Ahmedabad	99 - 100
S. P. Jain Institute of Management and Research (SPJIMR), Mumbai	95+
Management Development Institute (MDI), Gurgaon	94+
Shailesh J. Mehta School of Management (SJMSoM), IIT Bombay	94+
IIM Bangalore	99 - 100
IIM Lucknow	97 - 98
IIM Indore	97 - 98
Institute of Management Technology (IMT), Ghaziabad	90+
VGSoM, IIT Kharagpur	95+
DIME, IIT Kanpur	92+
IIM Kozhikode	97 - 98
IIM Udaipur	92 - 94
IIM Rohtak	95 - 96
IIM Sirmaur	91
IIM Nagpur	95 - 96
IIM Visakhapatnam	91
BIM Trichy	90+
IMI Delhi: International Management Institute	90+
Great Lakes Institute of Management, Chennai	90+
IIM Raipur	94 - 95
IIM Bodhgaya	92 - 94
IIM Ranchi	94 - 95
IIM Kashipur	94 - 95
IIM Shillong	91
IIM Jammu	92 - 94
IIM Sambalpur	95 - 96
IIM Amritsar	95 - 96
IIM Tiruchirappalli	94 - 95

After the CAT the individual has to wait until IIM will announce the CAT 2023 result usually in the Second week of January 2024. After the result of CAT 2023 IIM will start releasing their Individual list of Cutoffs.

After the list of the colleges accepting the CAT percentile candidate is free to apply to any IIM and Non-IIM colleges in India. But the candidate has to apply in a limited period of time.

Before getting selected for any IIM the candidate has to go through Group Discussion (GD), Written Ability Test (WAT), and a Personal Interview (PI). After clearing all these tests the list of selected candidates will be announced by the colleges and after that candidate has to respond for the reservation of his/her seat in a period of 1 month. And all the admission process like fees and other administrative activities can be done after this.

List of Top 20 Tier 1 MBA Colleges on the basis of Placement

Top MBA College by Average Salary	MBA Average Salary 2023
IIM Bangalore	Rs. 35.31 LPA
IIM Calcutta	Rs. 35.07 LPA
FMS Delhi	Rs. 34.10 LPA
ISB Hyderabad	Rs. 34.21 LPA
IIM Ahmedabad	Rs. 35.68 LPA
SPJIMR Mumbai	Rs. 33.02 LPA
XLRI Jamshedpur	Rs. 32.70 LPA
IIM Lucknow	Rs. 32.20 LPA
IIM Kozhikode	Rs. 31.02 LPA
IIM Indore	Rs. 30.21 LPA
IIFT Delhi & Kolkata	Rs. 29.10 LPA
SJMSoM IIT Bombay	Rs. 28.88 LPA
JBIMS Mumbai	Rs. 28.02 LPA
MDI Gurgaon	Rs. 27.67 LPA
TISS Mumbai	Rs. 27.22 LPA
IIM Shillong	Rs. 26.96 LPA
SIBM Pune	Rs. 26.77 LPA
NMIMS Mumbai	Rs. 26.63 LPA
DMS IIT Delhi	Rs. 25.82 LPA

List of Placements from all IIMs

MBA College	Average Salary 2023 (Rs. in Lakhs
IIM Bangalore	Rs.35.31 LPA
IIM Calcutta	Rs.35.07 LPA
IIM Ahmedabad	Rs. 35.68 LPA
IIM Lucknow	Rs.32.20 LPA
IIM Kozhikode	Rs.31.02 LPA
IIM Indore	Rs.30.21 LPA
IIM Shillong	Rs.26.96 LPA
IIM Raipur	Rs.21.04 LPA
IIM Tiruchirappalli	Rs.20.55 LPA
IIM Udaipur	Rs.20.32 LPA
IIM Rohtak	Rs.18.73 LPA
IIM Kashipur	Rs. 18.11 LPA
IIM Ranchi	Rs. 17.30 LPA
IIM Nagpur	Rs.16.74 LPA
IIM Amritsar	Rs.16.51 LPA
IIM Sambalpur	Rs.16.64 LPA
IIM Jammu	Rs.16.43 LPA
IIM Bodh Gaya	Rs.16.00 LPA
IIM Visakhapatnam	Rs. 15.47 LPA
IIM Sirmaur	Rs. 14.45 LPA

Frequently Asked Questions about Top Tier 1 Business Schools in India

Q. What is a tier 1 MBA college?

Ans. Tier 1 MBA institutions are the best business schools in India and are classified as Tier 1 MBA colleges. Tier 1 institutions excel in the following areas: academics, infrastructure, faculty, research, placements, the alumni network, and national/international presence. They also have excellent NIRF/NAAC scores.

Q. What are the lists of top 10 Colleges accepting CAT scores 80-90 percentiles?

Ans. Below are the lists of the top 10 Colleges accepting CAT scores 80-90 percentiles

• Department of Industrial and Management Engineering (IME), IIT Kanpur
• Department of Management Studies, IIT Madras
• FORE School of Management (FSM), Delhi
• Goa Institute of Management (GIM)
• Great Lakes Institute of Management (GLIM), Chennai
• International Management Institute (IMI), Delhi
• Lal Bahadur Shastri Institute of Management (LBSIM), New Delhi
• National Institute of Industrial Engineering (NITIE), Mumbai
• SP Jain Institute of Management & Research(SPJIMR), Mumbai
• T.A. Pai Management Institute (TAPMI), Manipal

Q. Which B-school has the best placement?

Ans. IIM Bangalore is the top runner among top B-schools with the highest average salary of Rs. 35.31 LPA followed by IIM Calcutta with an average salary of Rs. 35.07 LPA and FMS Delhi with average salary of Rs. 34.10 LPA in placement 2023.

Q. Which is the top 1 B-school in India?

Ans. Regarded as one of India's most credible B-school Rankings, this prestigious ranking puts IIM Bangalore as No 1 B-school in India. IIM Calcutta at #2 Rank and IIM Ahmedabad at #3 Rank are amongst Top 3 B-schools in India.

Q. Which IIM has lowest fees?

Ans. For the second generation IIMs like IIM Ranchi, IIM Rohtak, IIM Kashipur, IIM Udaipur, etc, the fees ranges between INR 15 lakhs to INR 20 Lakhs. Finally, the IIM MBA fees for the baby IIMs like IIMs Bodh Gaya, IIM Nagpur, IIM Shillong, etc start from INR 13 LPA and can go up to INR 20 LPA.

Q. What can I get with 80 percentile in CAT?

Ans. Candidates can get into some decent MBA colleges with 80 percentile in the CAT exam such as Indian Institute of Financial Management and Research, Changambakkam, SP Jain Institute of Management and Research and so on.

Q. Are all IIMs tier 1?

Ans. Tier 1 MBA colleges in India include IIMs, IITs, XLRI, SPJIMR, and others. In November, the IIMs hold the CAT test for MBA admission. The MBA admissions process at Tier 1 MBA institutions in India begins in January. The admissions procedure for the MBA Course is done online.

Q. Is there any other entrance exam apart from CAT, for MBA admission?

Ans. Yes, there are over 50 MBA entrance exams in India out of which, about seven are conducted at national level. Candidates can opt for CMAT, MAT, XAT, IIFT, SNAP, GMAT, ATMA, instead of CAT. The exam pattern and syllabus of all MBA entrance exams are same with varying degree of difficulty level and number of questions. Some of the exams have an extra subject of General Awareness too.

Q. What are the Top 5 MBA branch?

Ans. The top 5 MBA branch are:

1. MBA in Finance.
2. MBA in Human Resource Management.
3. MBA in Information Technology (IT)
4. MBA in Marketing Management.
5. MBA in Business Management.

Q. Which IIM has the lowest cutoff?

Ans. The overall lowest cut-off for top IIMs:

Sr. No.	IIMs	Minimum overall cut-off
1.	IIM Ahmedabad	80 percentile
2.	IIM Bangalore	90.6 percentile
3.	IIM Calcutta	90 percentile
4.	IIM Lucknow	90 percentile

Q. What is the difference between CAT score and CAT percentile?

Ans. CAT score is the total marks obtained by a candidate in the exam which is a sum total of their correct/incorrect attempt and unanswered questions. It is important to understand the difference between CAT score and CAT percentile because IIMs and all MBA colleges in India select candidates on the basis of their CAT percentile and not score. The CAT percentile is referred to as rank of a candidate against rest of the test takers. The percentile indicates the total percentage of candidates who scored less than or equal to a particular candidate in CAT.

Q. Are Tier 2 MBA colleges good?

Ans. Tier 2 MBA colleges are well equipped with modern infrastructure, some are pocket-friendly, and have good faculty and placement cells. Some of the private tier 2 MBA colleges also offer exchange programs with foreign universities. These institutes are also ranked in the top 50, in the MBA institute ranking order.