MBA Admission Process: Selection Procedure for MBA
MBA admission process in top MBA colleges opens every year in the month of July/August and closes after 2-3 months from the opening date. While IIFT, IIMs, XLRI, NMIMS, SIBM among others open their admission process in July-August, other top MBA colleges like FMS, MDI, SPJIMR, IMI, IMT begin their admission process in September-October and close it in December. For MBA admission 2024, the process is open in top MBA colleges including IIMs, NMIMS, XLRI and others. If you are planning to do MBA from one of the top MBA colleges in India, you must be aware how to take admission in MBA college and understand very well the MBA admission process of the MBA college where you want to apply.
All the top MBA colleges have one or other different component that determines the eligibility for MBA admission and a different MBA admission procedure. To know the MBA Admission process 2024 you should also be aware about the procedure for MBA Entrance Exams. You need to appear in one of these MBA entrance exams to get through the MBA admission process of the B-school.
Although MBA admission process in India for all the top MBA colleges is almost similar, the difference is their acceptability of MBA entrance exam score. For example, IIMs accept CAT exam score, XLRI accepts XAT exam score, NMIMS accepts NMAT exam score, Symbiosis accepts SNAP exam score. From the academic session 2024-25, IIFT has also announced to accept CAT exam score instead of its own IIFT entrance exam score which will not be held from now on.
Table of Content
1. MBA Admission Process in Top MBA/PGDM Colleges
MBA colleges like FMS Delhi, IIFT Delhi, XLRI Jamshedpur, MDI Gurgaon, SPJIMR Mumbai, NMIMS Mumbai, IMI New Delhi, IMT Ghaziabad, IITs follow the 4 steps Admission process to their flagship MBA/PGDM programmes.
While FMS, IIFT, MDI, SPJIMR, IITs will accept only CAT scores, XLRI accepts only XAT score. IMI, IMT, XIMB, TAPMI, and many other top MBA colleges accept both CAT and XAT scores. NMIMS accepts score of NMAT by GMAC and 15 Symbiosis colleges accept only SNAP test scores. However, despite accepting scores of different MBA entrance exams, the rest two steps of admission process namely Shortlisting and final admission round are similar to a large extent and are conducted individually by the respective B-school
The top MBA/PGDM colleges, with their acceptability of different MBA entrance exam scores are:
|
Name of top MBA college
|
Acceptable exam score for MBA admission
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MBA shortlisting process
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Final MBA admission process
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FMS Delhi
|
CAT
|
Overall and sectional score in CAT
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GD, Extempore speech, PI
|
|
XLRI Jamshedpur
|
XAT
|
Overall and sectional score in XAT
|
GD, PI
|
|
MDI Gurgaon
|
CAT
|
Overall and sectional score in CAT
|
GD, PI
|
|
SPJIMR Mumbai
|
CAT
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Profile based and Overall and sectional score in CAT & XAT
|
2 rounds of Group Interviews
|
|
IMI New Delhi
|
CAT & XAT
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Overall and sectional score in CAT
|
GD, Psychometric tests, PI
|
|
IMT Ghaziabad
|
CAT & XAT
|
Overall and sectional score in CAT & XAT
|
PI round
|
|
NMIMS Mumbai
|
NMAT
|
Overall and Sectional Score in NMAT
|
GD-PI-WAT
|
|
XIM Bhubaneswar
|
CAT, XAT, X-GMT
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Overall and sectional score in CAT, XAT, X-GMT
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GD, PI
|
|
15 Symbiosis Institutes
|
SNAP
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Overall and Sectional Scores in SNAP test
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GD-PI-WAT as per individual Symbiosis College policy
|
|
IRMA Anand
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CAT, XAT
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Overall and sectional score in CAT, XAT
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Appear in IRMASAT, GD, PI
|
|
MICA, Ahmedabad
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CAT, XAT
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Overall and sectional score in CAT, XAT
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Appear in MICAT, GD, PI
|
|
TAPMI, Manipal
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CAT, XAT
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Overall and sectional score in CAT, XAT
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GD/PI
|
|
IMNU, Nirma University, Ahmedabad
|
CAT
|
Overall and sectional score in CAT
|
GD/PI
|
|
GIM Goa
|
CAT, XAT, CMAT
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Overall and sectional score in CAT, XAT, CMAT
|
GD/PI
|
|
K J Somaiya, Mumbai
|
CAT, XAT, CMAT
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Overall and sectional score in CAT, XAT, CMAT
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GD/PI
|
|
Great Lakes Chennai
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CAT, XAT, CMAT
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Overall and sectional score in CAT, XAT, CMAT
|
GD/PI
|
|
IFMR, Chennai
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CAT, XAT, CMAT
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Overall and sectional score in CAT, XAT, CMAT
|
GD/PI
|
|
BIMTECH, Greater Noida
|
CAT, XAT
|
Overall and sectional score in CAT, XAT
|
GD/PI
|
|
LIBA Chennai
|
CAT, XAT
|
Overall and sectional score in CAT, XAT
|
GD/PI
|
2. MBA Admission: Four Step Process
MBA Admission process in India in all the top MBA colleges is a four step process. These 4 steps of MBA admission process are applicable to all the MBA colleges including IIMs who offer admission after a rigorous selection process to select the most suitable candidate.
Step-1: Register & Apply for MBA Entrance Exam
The admission process in top MBA colleges open in August/September first week and closes in November last week. Candidates desirous of seeking admission in top MBA colleges should register and apply for the relevant MBA entrance exam like CAT/XAT/NMAT/SNAP within the specified registration window. Most National level MBA entrance exams like CAT, XAT close the registration process in September and November respectively. Usually, the CAT registration process remains open for 45 to 50 days.
Step-2: Appear in MBA Entrance Exam
Those who want to pursue management course PGDM/MBA programme from top MBA colleges must appear in CAT, XAT, NMAT or other relevant entrance exam.
Common Admission Test (CAT), will be held on November 26, 2023; XAT 2024 on January 7, 2024; NMAT from Oct 10 to Dec 19, 2023 and SNAP 2023 on three dates on Dec 10, 17 & 22 for admission to 2024-26 batch
Step-3: Shortlisting Process
After declaration of MBA exam result in January, most of the top B-schools will shortlist the suitable candidates for final admission round on the basis of exam scores, academics, diversity, work experience among other parameters as per the respective B-school admission policy and weightages. The process is completed by each institute individually.
Step-4: Final Admission Process- GD-PI-WAT Round
All the shortlisted candidates shall have to appear in the Group Discussion (GD), Written Ability Test (WAT) followed by Personal Interview (PI). Some of the B-schools like FMS will conduct GD & Extempore before PI round while few other like MDI will conduct GD-PI and a few like IMI will conduct Psychometric test also. Some of the IIMs like IIM Shillong, IIM Kozhikode also conduct GD round based on the WAT. On the basis of their performance in final selection round, weightage awarded to entrance scores, academic profile & diversity, work experience and gender diversity, final merit list will be generated and admission offers will be made by the respective B-school.
3. IIMs Admission Process
All the IIMs announce their admission process and criteria after the CAT registration begins. While older IIMs announce their admission process in a few days from the date of commencement of CAT registration, newer IIMs announce their admission process a little late. The admission process includes the CAT cut offs, admission eligibility, shortlisting criteria and weightages and weightage to different components in final selection round.
4. IIMs in India
IIMs in India can be divided into 3 categories – Old IIMs, New IIMs and Baby (Newest) IIMs. In August 2023, one of the top B-schools in India with 60+ years of legacy-NITIE Mumbai has also been awarded IIM tag and is renamed as IIM Mumbai. Following are the category wise division of IIMs:
5. Eight Top & Old IIMs
- IIM Ahmedabad
- IIM Bangalore
- IIM Calcutta
- IIM Lucknow
- IIM Kozhikode
- IIM Indore
- IIM Mumbai
- IIM Shillong
6. Six New IIMs
- IIM Kashipur
- IIM Raipur
- IIM Ranchi
- IIM Rohtak
- IIM Tiruchirappalli
- IIM Udaipur
7. Seven Newest (Baby) IIMs
- IIM Amritsar
- IIM BodhGaya
- IIM Jammu
- IIM Nagpur
- IIM Sambalpur
- IIM Sirmaur
- IIM Visakhapatnam
Also Read:
Distance MBA in India
Top Distance MBA Colleges in India
Distance MBA Courses & Fee structure
Online MBA in India
Admission 2025 Notifications