Important Deadlines for MBA Entrance Exams | 2021

MBA entrance exams are mainly seen as an entry route to pursue a Master’s in Business Administration program across several domains of expertise. Almost all the major b-schools of the country accept admissions based on MBA entrance exam, which gives them a right sense of judgement and the ability to select candidates who can survive and outperform in a highly competitive environment and win the rat race of MBA exams.

This article is a one stop destination for aspirants to to find main MBA exams notifications. Given the importance of MBA entrance notifications as well as the tendency of the b-schools to remain rigid in terms of deadlines, it is immensely important for each candidate to keep track of the MBA Entrance Exams notifications. Read on to have an in depth understanding of the major running MBA exams in the country, registration, eligibility criteria, selection procedure the whole shebang.

MBA Entrance Exam notifications -2021

The MBA entrance notification, for the 2022 cycle has already commenced with CAT. There are other prominent exams like XAT, IIFT, NMAT, SNAP, MICAT. 2IIM helps you keep track of the MBA entrance exam notification with table below.

Name of the Institute	Tests accepted	Start date(Form filling)	End Date(Form filling)	Exam date	Official link	Status
IIMs	CAT 2021	August, 4th, 2021	September, 15th, 2021	November,28th, 2021	Click here	Notification has been released
XLRI	XAT 2022	August 10th, 2021	November 30th, 2021	2nd January, 2022	Click here	Notification has been released
NMIMS	NMAT 2021	3rd August,2021	10th November 2021	14th October – 27th December ,2021	Click here	Notification has been released
SCMHRD and SIBM	SNAP 2021	31st August, 2021	27th November,2021	December 19, 2021 January 8, 2022 January 16, 2022	Click here	Notification has been released
IIFT	IIFT 2022	2nd September, 2021	15th October,2021	5th December 2021	Click here	Notification has been released
MICAT	MICAT 2022	MICAT 1 – October, 2021 MICAT 2 – 23rd November, 2021	MICAT 1 – 20th November, 2021 MICAT 2 – 16th January, 2022	MICAT 1 – 4th December, 2021 MICAT 2 – 29th January, 2022	Click here	Notification has been released
JBIMS	MAH-CET, 2022	To be announced	To be announced	To be announced	Click here	Yet to release
TISS, Mumbai	TISSNET,2022	To be announced	To be announced	To be announced	Click here	Yet to release
SPJIMR	CAT/GMAT	25th September,2021	26th November, 2021		Click here	Notification has been released
MDI, Gurgaon	CAT/GMAT	21st September, 2021	26th November, 2021		Click here	Notification has been released
FMS, New Delhi	CAT	To be announced	To be announced		Click here	Yet to release
IMT Ghaziabad	CAT/XAT/GMAT	15th September, 2021	25th November, 2021		Click here	Notification has been released
NITIE, Mumbai	CAT	Application has begun	27th November, 2021		Click here	Notification has been released
IISC, Bengaluru	CAT/GMAT	To be announced	To be announced		Click here	Yet to release
GLIM, Chennai	CAT/XAT/GMAT/CMAT	10th August, 2021	Round 1 – 5th December, 2021 Round 2 – To be announced Round 3 – To be announced Round 4 – To be announced		Click here	Notification has been released
IMI, Delhi	CAT/GMAT	Application has begun	13th December, 2021		Click here	Notification has been released
GIM, Goa	CAT/XAT/GMAT/CMAT	Application has begun	Early bird – 6th December, 2021 For CAT 21 – 20th December, 2021 Last Date – 10th January, 2022 Final Closing – 17th January, 2022		Click here	Notification has been released
TAPMI	CAT/XAT/GMAT	To be announced	To be announced		Click here	Yet to release
Welingkar, Mumbai	CAT/XAT/GMAT/CMAT	To be announced	To be announced		Click here	Yet to release
IITs (CAP) – Delhi/Madras/Roorkee/Dhanbad	CAT	To be announced	To be announced		Click here	Yet to release
SJSOM (IIT Bombay)	CAT	To be announced	To be announced		Click here	Yet to release
VGSOM (IIT Kharagpur)	CAT	To be announced	To be announced		Click here	Yet to release
DIME (IIT Kanpur)	CAT	To be announced	To be announced		Click here	Yet to release
XIM, Bhubaneswar	CAT/GMAT/XAT	To be announced	To be announced		Click here	Yet to release
DFS(UoD), New Delhi	CAT	To be announced	To be announced		Click here	Yet to relesae
IRMA	CAT/XAT/IRMASAT	1st September, 2021	24th January, 2022		Click here	Notification has been released

Which MBA Entrance exams should you apply for?

It is that time of the year. As always, the buzz is all about – Where to apply? Which exams to write? What’s the last date? There are quite a few MBA Entrance Exams to keep tabs on – Lets get some clarity on these. This will be a brief introduction about the various MBA entrance exams.

Common Admission Test(CAT):

CAT is the biggest fish in the sea. Anybody that wants to do an MBA in one of the top MBA Colleges across the country should write CAT. It is the only examination which is conducted in the month of the November every year in a computer based CBT mode. Being the only entry route to all the IIMs of our country, CAT attracts almost 2 lakh students every year. Apart from the IIMS, all the top tier B-Schools like S.P JAIN Institute of Management Research(SPJIMR), Faculty of Management Studies(FMS), Management Development Institute (MDI), all the IITs, National Institute Of Industrial Engineering(NITIE) accept CAT scores as a qualifying criterion to their PGP/PGDM programmes.

XAT:

XAT is a flagship entrance exam test which is the only qualifying criterion of XLRI Jamshedpur, XIM Bhubaneswar and other 10 Xavier member institutes. The test is conducted by XLRI and XAMI and taken by approximately 75000 candidates every year. XAT is the second most popular entrance test taken by candidates who wish to pursue MBA from a top tier B School as XAT scores are accepted in major b schools SPJIMR, Great lakes etc.

NMAT:

This exam is administered by the same agency which runs the most popular MBA entrance exam of the world: GMAC. NMAT is a national level MBA entrance exam conducted primarily for admission in the residential PGDM programme of NMIMS Mumbai. NMAT can be taken thrice and the examination is held in two modes i.e. either through a test centre or online proctored mode.

SNAP:

SNAP is a national level MBA entrance test. It is a path for admission to some premier b schools of the country. The exam is conducted by Symbiosis International University(Deemed), a b-school which has been irrevocably churning out some of the good MBAs of the country every year. SNAP is the only way to secure admission in SIBM Pune, SCMHRD Pune, and other 14 member institutes of Symbiosis International University.

IIFT:

IIFT is another national level competitive exam which is conducted by Indian Institute of Foreign Trade for the purpose of selecting students to pursue their flagship MBA IB(International Business) which is one of the most sort after programmes in International Business with immense global reputation and prominence. IIFT is conducted by NTA(National Testing Agency) annually is an online mode. Approaximately 80,000+ students from all over the country appear for IIFT which makes it one of the most popular MBA entrance in the country.

MICAT:

Mudra Institute of Communications (MICA), Ahmedabad conducts MICAT. This is compulsory if an aspirant is looking to join MICA. Apart from a valid CAT/XAT/GMAT score, MICAT scores will be considered for the final admission. MICAT is conducted twice per season and one can choose to write either one or both. The best of the two attempts will be considered for selection.

TISSNET:

TISS’s National Entrance TISSNET 2021 is one of the most coveted entrance exams which is administered by Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai for admission into its flagship programme i.e M.A in Human Resource management and other MA programmes offered by this prestigious Institution. A candidate can apply for a maximum of 3 programmes across 2 TISS campuses. About 30,000 aspirants take up TISSNET every year. TISS has 60 seats in the HRM & LR program. This is a simpler exam and far easier to crack. The paper is skewed towards General Awareness section with a standalone weightage of 40%. It is important to note that there is no negative marking for incorrect answers.

MHCET:

MHCET is a state level management entrance test held by the DTE, Maharashtra. The exam consists of 200 questions in multiple-choice format lasting 150 minutes. This test will be held in an online (computer-based) mode. It is one of the major MBA Entrance Exams which give the candidates access to premier management colleges across Maharashtra like JBIMS, Mumbai. The MHCET exams is held usually in the month of March. One major difference in the procedure for the MHCET exam is that the MHCET Exam score determines the college that you are eligible for admission in. There is no group discussion or personal interview round like most other MBA entrance exams. The only factor that affects the candidature who have a Maharashtra domicile tend to get a benefit from the reservation policy that the DTE has. The level of difficulty of the MH-CET MBA exam is usually lower than other MBA entrance exams like CAT, XAT etc.

GMAT:

As a special mention, GMAT is included in this list of exams that can open up b-schools in India. As mentioned earlier, this is conducted by GMAC. The scores are accepted by over 2300+ business schools across the world (and about 40 schools in India). Anybody with a reasonable amount of work experience (2+ years) looking for a graduate management program (MBA) should write this exam. GMAT can be taken throughout the year.

In India, a valid GMAT score can be used to apply to the Flagship programs of a few MBA colleges namely – SPJIMR, ISB, GLIM. Beside this, B-Schools like IIMs, XLRI, etc. accept GMAT scores for their executive MBA program.

GMAT can be taken up to five times a year but no more than 8 times in a lifetime. Two attempts must be at least 16 days apart. Annually, around 200,000 students across the globe take this test. GMAT is a bit on the expensive side (~$250 per attempt).

If you’ve prepared well for CAT, almost every other exam is taken care of. Just make sure you take a few mock tests to get comfortable with their format. However, GMAT is different – In the way it is conducted (Computer Adaptive Test), what portion gets tested, what question templates get tested. So, you will need to train yourself exclusively for GMAT & if you’re looking for a good GMAT Prep buddy, Wizako’s Online GMAT Course is the place to look for.

If you are on the fence about choosing between CAT and GMAT, maybe this article is for you! 

Gearing up for the entrance exams:

In case you are not on board with preparation at present, there is still a silver lining. CAT and all the management entrances will be either held towards the end of the year of 2021 or in the beginning of the year 2022. You might want to begin with a relevant mock test to analyze your current performance and then break down the syllabus into – weak topics and strong topics. Start from the basics and settle down on a perfect preparation strategy that will be conducive to your learning and will help you to achieve your desired percentile in these exams.

Taking more than one exams:

Taking more than one entrance exams helps proliferate your chances of getting shortlisted by your targeted B-school by giving more edge to your MBA application over other students. For examples, there are colleges like SPJIMR. JBIMS, GLIM that accept more than one management entrance test. Gearing up for multiple entrance exams simultaneously would mean the institute will consider all scorecards and choose the one with your best performance in order to shortlist you.

Anyone interested in an MBA should definitely take up as many exams as possible. As the saying goes, “Don’t Put All Your Eggs in One Basket”. It is always a good practice to have multiple options and hedge your risks.

Bookmark this link to keep tabs on these MBA Entrance Exams and their deadlines. We will update them regularly.

Best wishes!!

Abhishek Mukherjee works for 2IIM. Apart from solving interesting math questions he likes to eat biriyani and watch movies.