The MBA entrance exam season is upon us and with various exams and B-schools opening up their registrations, it gets increasingly difficult for students to stay on top of everything. We at 2IIM would like to help makes this process a little easier for you. This blog is meant to be a one-stop destination for aspirants to stay on top of the main MBA entrance exams and B-school application deadlines. It’s critical that you keep a close track of these important deadlines and register/apply well in advance. Please bookmark this page and keep revisiting it often as we will be updating it on a regular basis.
IMPORTANT – Please note that you have to register for an entrance exam AND apply to many B-schools separately. Every year, several students make the big mistake of registering for an entrance exam but not applying separately to their desired B-schools. As a result, they lose out on admissions and once a B-school application deadline has passed, nothing can be done about it. PLEASE don’t make this mistake!
Below you will find both deadlines – Entrance Exam Registrations AND B-school Applications. Please review them carefully.
MBA Entrance Exam Deadlines – 2023/2024
(Last updated on 02-October-23)
The CAT-2023 registrations are finally open! We have also compiled a list of other exams you should be on the lookout for. CAT is the great-grandmother of all entrance exams but other exams can also get you into some fantastic B-schools. We strongly recommend attempting multiple exams and keeping your options open. Don’t put all your eggs in one basket.
| EXAM | REGISTRATION LAST Date | EXAM DATE | Official Link |
| CAT (CLOSED) | 21-Sep-2023 | 26-Nov-2023 | Click here |
| XAT (Open) | 30-Nov-2023 | 07-Jan-2024 | Click here |
| NMAT (Open) | 10-Oct-2023 | 10-Oct-2023 to 19-Dec-2023 | Click here |
| SNAP (Open) | 23-Nov-2023 | 10-Dec-2023 17-Dec-2023 22-Dec-2023 | Click here |
| IIFT* | Cancelled | Cancelled | Cancelled |
| MICAT* (Open) | MICAT-I 20-Nov-2023 MICAT-II 16-Jan-2024 | MICAT-I 2-Dec-2023 MICAT-II 27-Jan-2024 | Click here |
| X-GMT | To be announced | To be announced | Click here |
| TISSNET | To be announced | To be announced | Click here |
| MAH-CET | To be announced | To be announced | Click here |
| ATMA | To be announced | To be announced | Click here |
| CMAT | To be announced | To be announced | Click here |
*MICAT is an additional entrance exam that you will need to attempt on top of CAT/XAT/GMAT for admission to MICA. Please visit the link above for more details. MICAT-I registrations are open. MICAT-II registrations start on November 23, 2023.
*IIFT will consider CAT scores for admissions to the 34-36 batch.
*CAT registration deadline has been extended to 11 AM, 21st September, 2023.
B-School Application Deadlines – 2023/2024
(Last updated on 02-October-23)
Here’s a list of top B-schools that require a separate application in addition to the entrance exam registration. They have their own application deadlines which are different from the entrance exam registration deadlines. Again, please note that you will have to apply to these B-schools separately and in addition to the entrance exam registrations.
| B-School | Exams Accepted | Application End Date | Official Link |
| NMIMS* (Open) | NMAT | 10-Oct-2023 | Click here |
| BITSoM (Open) | CAT/GMAT/GRE | 19-Nov-2023 (Round 1) | Click here |
| XIMB (Open) | CAT/XAT/GMAT/X-GMT | 8-Dec-2023 | Click here |
| SPJIMR (Open) | CAT/GMAT | 24-Nov-2023 | Click here |
| MDI* (Open) | CAT | 24-Nov-2023 | Click here |
| Great Lakes (Open) | CAT/XAT/GMAT/CMAT | To be announced | Click here |
| IMT (Open) | CAT/XAT/GMAT/CMAT* | To be announced | Click here |
| IIM Mumbai* | CAT | To be announced | Click here |
| FMS | CAT | To be announced | Click here |
| IIFT | CAT | To be announced | Click here |
| IIM Rohtak | CAT | To be announced | Click here |
| IIM Mumbai (NITIE) | CAT | To be announced | Click here |
| SJMSOM, IIT Bombay | CAT | To be announced | Click here |
| DMS, IIT Delhi | CAT | To be announced | Click here |
| VGSOM, IIT Kharagpur | CAT | To be announced | Click here |
| IIT Madras | CAT | To be announced | Click here |
| IIT Roorkee | CAT | To be announced | Click here |
| IIT Kanpur | CAT | To be announced | Click here |
| IIT Dhanbad | CAT | To be announced | Click here |
| JBIMS | MAH-CET | To be announced | Click here |
| IISc Bangalore | CAT/GMAT | To be announced | Click here |
| Delhi School of Economics (DSE) | CAT | To be announced | Click here |
| Department of Financial Studies (DFS) | CAT | To be announced | Click here |
| TAPMI | CAT/XAT/GMAT/NMAT | To be announced | Click here |
| Goa Institute of Management | CAT/XAT/GMAT/CMAT | To be announced | Click here |
| IMI Delhi | CAT/XAT/GMAT | To be announced | Click here |
| Welingkar | CAT/XAT/GMAT/CMAT/ATMA | To be announced | Click here |
*NMIMS requires you to send in your B-school application before your scheduled date of the NMAT exam for your candidature to be accepted. Please check their admission handout for more details. (Important)
*IIM Mumbai, formerly NITIE has changed its eligibility criteria. Now candidates holding any Bachelor’s degree can apply for its flagship MBA program. Final year students can also apply, provided they satisfy the eligibility criteria. Click here for more information.
*MDI For the 24-26 batch, Indian candidates CANNOT apply on the basis of their GMAT score.
*IMT CMAT IMT accepts CMAT for Nagpur and Hyderabad Campus only.
Expected form opening dates are tentative
B-Schools with their Own Entrance Exams
The following B-schools have their own entrance exams and do not require separate applications (Note the exceptions for IIMs below). You will need to register for their entrance exam and during the registration process, you will need to select/apply to the B-schools that you are interested in.
IIMs
While registering for CAT, you will need to select the IIMs that you are interested in. We highly recommend choosing ALL IIMs at the stage of registration. Every year, we see students who are very selective in their choices during registration only to regret later. We also recommend selecting all programs, since there will be time to choose later unless you are absolutely sure you do not want to opt for a particular program.
IIM Exceptions
There are some IIMs that require SEPARATE applications – IIM Rohtak, IIM Amritsar, IIM Vishakhapatnam, IIM Nagpur, IIM Mumbai (we will keep updating this list)
See the deadlines for these IIMs in the above table.
Symbiosis (SIBM, SCMHRD etc.)
While registering for SNAP, you will need to select the institutes/programs that you are interested in and pay a separate fee for each program that you wish to apply to.
XLRI
This is included in the XAT registration process.
MICA
This is included in the registration process for MICAT. Please note that to be eligible for admission into MICA, you must have taken at least one of the three exams (MANDATORY): CAT/ XAT/GMAT. MICAT is an additional entrance exam that you will need to attempt on top of CAT/XAT/GMAT
IIFT
You will need to apply to IIFT separately. Registrations will open tentatively at the end of September. IIFT will accept CAT 2023 scores. Please note that IIFT 2023 exam has been cancelled.
Bookmark this link to keep a tab on these important deadlines. We will keep updating this page on a regular basis.
Please register for the entrance exams and apply to the desired B-schools well in advance. Please don’t wait till the last date. All the very best!
Disclaimer – The information here is drawn from official sources and is to the best of our knowledge. 2IIM assumes no responsibility or liability for any errors or omissions in the content of this page. We strongly recommend that students do their own due diligence regarding entrance exam and application related information.
2IIM CAT Coaching provides some of the best CAT preparation courses in the country. Check out our fabulous courses at https://online.2iim.com.
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