Giving relief to the thousands of MBA aspirants waiting for CMAT 2023 exam date announcement, NTA has now released the CMAT 2023 exam date and schedule. With all time delay, this year CMAT is being held on May 4, 2023 and the exam is scheduled in two slots of 3 hours each. All the previous CMAT exams were held during January/February or latest by the 2nd week of April. Due to all this delay, CMAT aspirants who wish to apply and explore MBA/PGDM admission 2023 in AICTE approved B-schools are unable to figure out their admission chances.
Before the CMAT 2023 exam date, there are two major activities that NTA will need to complete - release of the Advance Intimation Slip informing the candidates of the allotment of their respective exam city and Release of CMAT 2023 Admit card. Both these activities have a gap of around a week and after that the exam will be conducted.
NTA CMAT 2023 Exam Date & Timings
NTA will conduct CMAT-2023 Examination as per following schedule:
|
CMAT 2023 Exam Date
|
Shift -1 Timing
|
Shift-2 Timing
|
|
May 4, 2023 (Thursday)
|
9 AM to 12 Noon (3 Hours)
|
2.30 PM to 5.30 PM (3 Hours)
|
Despite being one of the main MBA entrance exams for admission to 1000+ AICTE approved MBA/PGDM colleges in India, CMAT exam 2023 is substantially delayed. MBA/PGDM Colleges accepting CMAT are worried about their session commencement due to delay in CMAT 2023. Last year CMAT was conducted on April 9 but it is inordinately delayed this year. NTA had closed CMAT 2023 Registration Process on March 13 and Application Error Correction Window on March 16, it has not yet announced the CMAT 2023 Admit card release date.
5 Reasons to Take CMAT 2023
CMAT has remained a preferred MBA entrance exam for the candidates. CMAT 2023 will offer admission chances in yet more B-schools than earlier. Here are the five important reasons that may guide you about the key benefits of taking CMAT 2023:
1. 500+ MBA COLLEGES ACCEPTING CMAT 2023: JBIMS, SIMSREE, PUMBA, K J Somaiya, GIM Goa, BIMTECH, Great Lakes, IFMR are some of the 500 MBA colleges accepting CMAT 2023 exam scores. The CMAT cut offs in these B-schools are also not very high.
Read More on MBA colleges accepting CMAT 2023 with cut offs (Link to MBA colleges accepting CMAT)
2. MODERATE DIFFICULTY EXAM: CMAT is a moderate difficulty level exam with 100 simple questions equally divided in five sections as below:
|
CMAT 2023 Exam Sections
|
Number of Questions
|
Maximum Marks Section-wise
|
|
Language Comprehension
|
20
|
80
|
|
Quantitative Techniques and Data Interpretation
|
20
|
80
|
|
Logical Reasoning
|
20
|
80
|
|
General Awareness
|
20
|
80
|
|
Innovation and Entrepreneurship
|
20
|
80
|
|
Total: Sections-5
|
100
|
400
|
Unlike CAT or XAT exams, where you can find twisted and difficult questions which make you think many times before arriving at the answer, the MCQ type questions in CMAT are of moderate difficulty level and the answer options are directly related to the question. For example, the questions following the RC passage in CMAT exam are directly related to the text information and can be easily answered as against the CAT and XAT where you find the questions indirectly related to the text and you need to infer the answer out of the information in the passage.
3. CMAT ASSURES ADMISSION IN AICTE APPROVED MBA/PGDM: All the AICTE - Govt of India approved management institutes are included in the list of CMAT score accepting colleges. The list of B-schools and Universities offering admission on the basis of CMAT, on the NTA/AICTE website includes only those institutes which offer UGC/AICTE approved MBA/PGDM programmes. After qualifying CMAT exam, the students can be assured to get admission in an institute which is recognized by the Government and is authorized to conduct management programme.
The recognized Government and Private Universities, accept CMAT scores for MBA admissions under the government quota, instead of the State-administered Post graduate Common Entrance Test (PGCET). The states which will accept CMAT 2023 test scores are: Uttar Pradesh, Kerala, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Nagaland, Goa, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Haryana, Karnataka, Jharkhand and Himachal Pradesh among others.
4. LOW FEE COLLEGES: Unlike the IIMs who have a high fee structure between Rs.16 lakhs and Rs.25 lakhs, the MBA/PGDM colleges under CMAT offer similar management programmes at a moderate Fee between Rs. 5 Lakhs to Rs.15 Lakhs. All these management institutes offer similar 2 years full time residential MBA/PGDM programmes. In some of the university affiliated MBA colleges under CMAT like Mumbai University and others, the fee structure is as low as Rs.3 to 5 lakhs.
5. NATIONAL EXAM WITH HIGHER LEVEL B-SCHOOLS: CMAT is a higher level national MBA entrance test as compared to MAT and ATMA. CMAT offers admission opportunity in higher level MBA/PGDM colleges. There are many MBA colleges in India who do not accept MAT and ATMA scores, but accept CMAT scores. For example, DTE-Maharashtra had clarified that all the 330+ MBA colleges in Maharashtra affiliated to Government of Maharashtra would accept CMAT scores for admission.
Top PGDM Colleges Fear Delay in Admission Process/Session Commencement
Most of the top PGDM colleges accepting CMAT score close their admission process in February/March to get time for final selection process and final merit list announcement so that the academic session commences in June/July. With CMAT 2023 delayed and CMAT result date not available, how these institutes like IMT Nagpur, Hyderabad, GIM Goa, Great Lakes Chennai, BIMTECH Greater Noida, SDMIMD Mysore, Welingkar Mumbai among other top MBA colleges accepting CMAT score will accommodate the candidates as they have announced to commence their academic session in June/July 2023.
NTA should Follow Best Practices like CAT/XAT
The dates for IIM CAT exam, XLRI-XAT and other exams are announced along with the release of their notification many months before the exam. NTA, however, remains shy of announcing the CMAT exam date in its notification. During the last few years, CMAT exam has consistently been delayed. Surprisingly, no other national level MBA entrance exam, except CMAT changes its exam date even if the registration is extended for them. Let’s review CMAT exam date announcement Vs other exams:
|
MBA entrance Exam
|
CAT
|
XAT
|
CMAT
|
|
Notification Release
|
July last week (July 30/31) every year
|
August 2nd/3rd Week every year
|
Nov/Dec/Jan/Feb (Unpredictable)
|
|
Exam Date Announcement
|
July last week/August first week
|
August 2nd week/3rd week
|
Just a few days before the exam date
|
|
Change in Exam Date
|
No Change, Fixed as Last Sunday of November
|
No Change, Fixed as the first Sunday of January
|
Changed every year without any prior announcement
|
|
Latest Exam Dates for Admission 2023
|
November 27, 2022
|
January 8, 2023
|
May 4, 2023
|
|
Last year Admission 2022 Exam Date
|
November 28, 2021
|
January 9, 2022
|
April 9, 2022
|
|
Trends in Registrations
|
Consistently going up. 2.55 lakhs registered for CAT 2022
|
Consistently going up. 98+ thousands applied for XAT 2023
|
Gone down during last three years from 1+ lakh to 50-60 thousand
|
A few years back, when AICTE used to conduct CMAT twice a year, its dates were fixed as the exam was held in February and September every year. But after the reins of CMAT were handed over to the National Testing Agency (NTA), the CMAT has become an unpredictable exam.
NTA has been conducting CMAT for last four years and with its delayed and confusing activities like not announcing the CMAT admit card date, exam date, making frequent changes in CMAT exam schedule, it is not only maligning its image as a test taking agency created by Government of India to conduct top level competitive entrance exams but also is denting the reputation of All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE). It may be noted that National Testing Agency (NTA) conducts CMAT on behalf of AICTE for admission to AICTE approved PGDM programmes in 1000 B-schools in India.
CMAT is the second largest MBA entrance test after CAT. To keep it at the same high level, both AICTE and NTA need to work together and need to follow a transparent approach.
Stay tuned to MBAUniverse.com for more updates on CMAT 2023
