CAT Notification is out and CAT 2020 will be held on November 29. If you are planning to pursue MBA or PGDM from IIMs or one of India’s top B-schools, read this article to know all about MBA application dates, notification, exams accepted and a lot more. You must treat MBA Application Process as seriously as preparing for CAT, because if you don’t apply to the right B-school, you will not get admission even if you have scored 99%! Also, each MBA Application Form Fee is between Rs 1500-2500. If you apply to wrong college, you have wasted time and money. So, planning your MBA Application very carefully is key. Remember, getting into a good B-schools is a long but fruitful journey. MBAUniverse.com, India’s No 1 MBA Portal, will guide you on your journey. So, bookmark this page. We will be continuously updating this page to include each and every important MBA Admission Notification details. Let’s get started…! 

MBA Admission 2021: 3 Key Steps
Before we get into details, here is a quick overview of MBA admission process.

1. Select from 10+ MBA Entrance Exam: CAT is not the only MBA entrance exam. There are more than 10 important MBA Entrance Exams like XAT, IIFT Entrance Test, NMAT, TISSNET, SNAP, CMAT, MAT etc. Based on your likely CAT Percentiles and shortlisted B-schools, you must take atleast 3-4 Entrance Exams. To know more, read Top MBA Entrance Exams.

2. Shortlist & Apply to MBA College: Apart from appearing in entrance exam, you must fill Application Forms for 7-8 MBA Colleges based on many factors. B-schools have different MBA Admission Dates. If you are wondering how to shortlist B-schools for applications, don’t worry. We will guide you with a step-by-step and logical process. Remember, if you forget to apply to your preferred MBA colleges, you will not be considered for admission even if you score very high in CAT or other entrance exams.
3. Prepare for Personal Interview Round: If you get a decent score and have applied to the right B-schools, you can be shortlisted for Personal Interview (PI) round for final selection. It consists of all or some of the following components namely Writing Ability Test (WAT), Extempore Speech, Group Discussion (GD) and Personal Interview (PI).  On the basis of your performance in this round final admission will be offered to you. While top IIMs like IIMA, IIMB, IIMC conduct their own Admission process, many ‘baby IIMs’ conduct Common Admission Process (CAP) 2021 which comprises PI and WAT for final selection. Remember, CAT exam scores carry only 30-50% weightage in final selection! So, don’t ignore this step.    

MBA Entrance Exams 2020-21
Let us look at each of the top exams and colleges accepted them in more detail.

Top MBA Entrance Exams

Source: MBAUniverse.com Research. Dates may change due to COVID 19. Read More about important MBA entrance exams

Let’s now understand the important application dates and expected cut offs in top MBA colleges in India so that you can apply in time.

Top MBA Colleges Application Form
Application Forms for MBA admission 2021 in top MBA colleges accepting different entrance exam scores are either open now or will open shortly. MBAUniverse.com has researched key MBA application deadlines and dates for admission to top 100 B-schools for each of the exams, as below.

MBA Admission 2021: Admission through National Level Exams

1. CAT 2020
IIM-CAT is the largest MBA entrance exam in India with more than 500 B-schools accepting its score for MBA admissions. Application form schedule for top B-schools accepting CAT exam score by percentile is as under:   

20 IIMs: Application Dates
Do you know that IIMs do not release their separate application dates. You have to apply for them as part of CAT 2020 Application Form. CAT 2020 Registration Form contains single application form for all the 20 IIMs. So, when you fill the CAT registration and application form, you will automatically apply to IIMs without filling any separate application form or paying any extra application fee. The application is open from August 5 to September 16, 2020. All the 20 IIMs release their cut offs and admission policy before CAT exam. Since last year, IIMs have reduced their CAT cut offs to 90 or less percentile from 95+ in earlier years.

Top CAT Colleges
Other than IIMs, following are the top 10 colleges accepting CAT 2020 score with Cut Off Percentile for MBA Admissions 2020. You should match your likely CAT 2020 percentile and apply to the right B-schools only. This will save you money and a lot of effort. MBAUniverse.com will guide you with a step by step MBA application form filling process.                                               

Source: MBAUniverse.com Research. Dates may change due to COVID 19. Read More

2. XLRI XAT 2021
XLRI Jamshedpur is one of the Top 5 B-schools in India, ranked just after IIMA, IIMB and IIMC. It has excellent Placements and a very strong alumni body. XLRI HR program is ranked ahead of even top IIMs. XLRI will conduct XAT 2021 exam in January 2021 for MBA admission to 150 MBA colleges in India. You need to apply for each college separately for admission 2021 apart from appearing in XAT 2021. Top MBA colleges in XAT 2021 with expected cut offs and important application dates are as below:

Source: MBAUniverse.com Research. Dates may change due to COVID 19. Read more about XLRI and XAT 2021, including exam pattern, registration process and important dates.

3. NMAT by GMAC
Global body GMAC, which conducts the GMAT exam worldwide, holds NMAT exam for MBA admission to NMIMS University and other good MBA colleges in India. Top colleges with application dates & expected cut offs for MBA admission 2021 are:

Source: MBAUniverse.com Research. Dates may change due to COVID 19.

Apart from the above, NMAT score is accepted for specialized programmes offered by SPJIMR Mumbai, ISB, XUB, TAPMI Manipal, IFIM Bangalore among others. Applications for the admission are open for a longer period for these programmes. Read more about NMAT 2020, including exam pattern, registration process and important dates.

4. SNAP 2020
Symbiosis International University (SIU) Pune conducts SNAP test for MBA admission to 16 Symbiosis institutes located across India. The application for each Symbiosis Institute should be submitted separately with the SNAP exam 2020 application form by paying extra application fee.

Source: MBAUniverse.com Research. Dates may change due to COVID 19. Read more about SNAP 2020, including exam pattern, registration process and important dates.

CMAT and MAT are two popular MBA Entrance Exams. CMAT is conducted by AICTE, the regulatory body, and MAT is conducted by AIMA, the association of Indian B-schools. After taking CAT, if you also register for CMAT and MAT, it will ensure that you will be eligible for all Top 100 B-schools accept these 5 -- XLRI, IIFT, TISS, NMIMS, and Symbiosis University B-schools.

5. MAT 2020-2021
MAT is one of the popular MBA entrance exams for AIMA will conduct December 2020; February 2021 and May 2021 for MBA admission 2021. Top 10 B-schools like SPJIMR, MDI, IMI, IMT don’t accept MAT. Here is a list MBA colleges accepting MAT with cut offs and application dates:

Source: MBAUniverse.com Research. Dates may change due to COVID 19. Read more about MAT 2020, including exam pattern, registration process and important dates.

Top College Specific MBA Admission 2021

1. IIFT MBA Admission 2021
IIFT New Delhi is regarded as one of India’s Top 15 B-schools. Specific MBA Admission test is conducted for Indian Institute of Foreign Trade MBA (IB) Admission 2021. There are two campuses of the university – IIFT Delhi and IIFT Kolkata. Single exam is conducted for admission to both the campuses.

You do not need to apply separately for IIFT MBA Admission 2021. When you register and apply for IIFT entrance exam, by default you will be considered for admission to both the IIFT campuses. Important details about application dates and cut offs are:

• Application dates: September 9 to October 25, 2020
• Cut off: 95 Percentile for Delhi campus; 92 percentile for Kolkata campus Read More

2. TISS MBA Admission 2021
For those MBA aspirants keen on MBA in Human Resource Management (HRM), Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS), Mumbai is a dream campus. TISS will conduct TISSNET 2021 on January 9, 2021 for admission to all the Masters (M.A.) programs (considered equivalent to MBA) offered by TISS at its all the campuses. M.A. programs of Tata Institute of Social Sciences are highly sought after Masters Degree courses for the candidates seeking career in management and other branches. 

• Application Dates: October 15, 2020 to November 30, 2020
• Cut Off: Varies for different programmes and different campuses. It is higher at Mumbai campus Read More

3. ICFAI B-schools MBA Admission 2021 through IBSAT 2020
IBSAT is an important online computer based MBA entrance test for MBA admission 2021 in 9 ICFAI Business Schools (IBS) located across India. IBS Hyderabad is regarded as one of Top 30 B-schools in India. IBSAT is conducted by ICFAI Foundation and the entrance exam dates are December 26 & 27, 2020.

• Application Dates: July 1 2020 to December 16, 2020
• Cut offs: Varies for 9 ICFAI B-schools in the range of 65 to 80 percentile Read More

MBA Admission 2021 in Top Colleges: State Level Entrance Exams
In addition to National MBA Entrance exams like CAT, CMAT and NMAT, there are many State level MBA entrance exams. MAH CET, which is accepted by JBIMS Mumbai, is most important of them.

MAH-MBA-CET 2021
MAH CET 2021 will be conducted in March 2021 for admission to MMS/MBA/PGDM programmes in more than 330 MBA colleges in Maharashtra

• Top Colleges: JBMIMS Mumbai, SIMSREE Mumbai, PUMBA Pune, K J Somaiya Mumbai and 300+ MBA colleges located in Maharashtra
• Admission Dates: Through Centralized Admission Process to be conducted by DTE Maharashtra in June – July 2021.
• When to Apply: Application dates are open from mid January 2021 to Last week of February 2021 for Mah-Cet Exam. If you wish to apply with CAT/XAT/CMAT score, applications will open in May/June 2021 for CAP. Read More

Personal Interview Round in Top MBA Colleges
All the top MBA colleges shortlist the candidates on the basis of entrance exam score for final selection round. This process begins from January in IIMs and in other top colleges in the month of February/March. There are two or three parts of Interview round depending upon the admission policy of the B-school. For example FMS Delhi interview round comprises – GD, Extempore and PI; most IIMs conduct WAT & PI while the institutes like MDI conduct GD-WAT and PI. A candidate is expected to be well prepared for this round as it is awarded high weightage in final admission process. Read More

We hope you found above information useful for your MBA Application planning. So go ahead and shortlist your 10 B-schools and start preparing for their applications. MBAUniverse.com will update this page with complete information as soon as MBA Admission Notification and MBA Application Form Dates are released by top MBA College.

MBA Admission 2020 Update
All the top MBA colleges including IIM Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Calcutta, Kozhikode, Indore, FMS Delhi, MDI Gurgaon among others dropped the GD-WAT components from the final selection process and conducted online PI round for admission 2020. The final admission results by these MBA colleges have been declared and the session commencement is on. To clear the sense of uncertainty in the timelines for MBA Admission 2020 and to streamline the process, regulatory body AICTE has issued revised guidelines extending Admission dates in  B-schools. Responding positively to the AICTE announcement, all leading Private B-schools have decided to start their New Batch 2020 in August first week and have not increased fee for the academic session 2020-21. 

If you have not yet selected College for your MBA Admission 2020, you can do so now as MBA Admissions are open at many good B-schools. Check B-school Admission 2020 status below: