MBA Entrance Exams 2025: CAT, MAT, XAT, GMAT, CMAT, SNAP, ATMA

MBA Entrance Exams 2025: MBA aspirants aiming for admission to top MBA colleges and universities in India must prepare for key entrance exams conducted between November and January. Prominent exams include CAT, XAT, SNAP, NMAT, CMAT, IIFT, MAT, MAH CET, and IBSAT. These exams serve as gateways to prestigious institutions, offering world-class education and career opportunities in business administration. Clearing these competitive exams with a high score is essential for securing admission to renowned MBA programs across the country.

The MBA Entrance Exam in India is divided into three levels. First are CAT, CMAT, and MAT. It is the National level’s entrance test for most popular colleges. Second is MAH-CET, KMAT, TANCET, etc, the state-level exams. Third last is the XAT, SNAP, IIFT, etc, exam are College level exams.

MBA Entrance Exams 2025 for Admission:

CAT- Combined Aptitude Test

It is an entrance exam that is conducted for students who want to pursue courses like MBA. Indian Institute of Management started CAT for the Business Administration course MBA. CAT was offline conducted till 2009, but after that online computer-based exam was implemented for all students.

Eligibility Criteria: students who want to appear for CAT needs to follow some general criteria which are that candidate be an Indian resident and should complete their bachelor’s degree from a recognized university and by obtaining 50% marks.

Exam Pattern: CAT Exam duration is 3 hours. It consists of three sections that a student needs to appear – Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension, Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning, and Quantitative Ability.  

Mode: This test computer-based exam also it is conducted for the top universities which are well versed in the MBA course

Exam Fee: CAT fees for the general category are 2200/- and for the reserved category, fees is 1,100/-.

CMAT- Common Management Admission Test

It is conducted by National Testing Agency (NTA). CMAT is a computer-based entrance exam conducted for the admission of students to the popular universities designed for MBA courses. CMAT was started in 2012 by NTA – National Testing Agency for course MBA. Also, many colleges do not accept CMAT scores because of the late implementation, but students can check and go through which university accepts CMAT.  

Eligibility Criteria: CMAT has criteria for students who want to appear for the entrance, which says that students must be Indian and graduated from a recognized university and also at least 50% marks they should obtain.

Exam Pattern: CMAT duration is three years and has three sections which students need to prepare for – Quantitative Techniques, Logical Reasoning, Language Comprehensive, and general awareness.

Mode: NTA conducts an Online based exam.

Exam Fee: CMAT fee structure is different for males and females, for males, the exam fee is 2000/- and for females 1000/-  

MAT- Management Aptitude Test

It is conducted by AIMA – All India Management Association, which conducts Entrance Exam for both Offline and Online Mode. A computer-based test is more preferred for the students who appear for MAT. MAT was introduced in 1988, which is the very oldest Entrance exam that the All India Management Association conducts.

Eligibility Criteria: MAT has some general eligibility criteria according to that student who was appearing for MAT should be Indian and must have completed their graduation degree, which has obtained at least 50% marks from a recognized university.

Exam Pattern: MAT Entrance exam duration is two and a half hours. MAT’s sections are Language comprehension, mathematical skills, data analysis and sufficiency, intelligence and critical reasoning, and the Indian & global environment.

Mode: It has a flexible pattern for both candidates, one who wants to appear offline and one who wants to appear for an online-based examination.

Exam Fee: MAT fees are 1650/- 

XAT- Xavier School of Management

It is an entrance exam conducted by Xavier’s, a private school. The admission process for MBA students requires to clear this entrance test; this test is conducted on a computer-based online mode. XAT has been conducted for the last 70 years by Xavier’s School of Management, and the value of this entrance test is high among the youngsters.

Eligibility criteria: students appearing for XAT require a candidate to be Indian residential and complete a graduate degree from a recognized university with obtaining at least 50% marks.

Exam Pattern: XAT Entrance exam duration is of 3 hours, and the sections which students need to prepare for are Verbal Ability & Reading Comprehension, Decision making, Quantitative Aptitude, and general awareness

Mode: XAT Entrance exam is conducted for online mode, which was earlier offline, but after the Upgradation, it was turned to online mode for all students.

Exam Fee: XAT fees are 1800/-  

SNAP- Symbiosis National Aptitude Test

It is conducted by Symbiosis University, which is very popular for management courses, and also this university has international reorganization. SNAP was started in the year 2007 by Symbiosis University for the admission of MBA courses for students. Also, this university is much valued and has an accurate study system for students.

Eligibility criteria: students require graduation or bachelor’s degree completion from a recognized university and at least 50% marks required.

Exam Pattern:  SNAP duration is 60 minutes, and sections designed for preparation are reading Comprehensive, Verbal Reasoning, Verbal Ability, Quantitative, Data Interpretation, Data Sufficiency, Logical & Analytical Reasoning.

Mode: SNAP is conducted Computer-based.

Exam Fee: SNAP is 1950/-

ATMA- AIMS Test for Management Admission

It is conducted by the Association of Indian Management School (AIMS). The AIMS Test of management Admission Entrance exam was started to conduct an exam checking the eligibility criteria.

Eligibility criteria: Students require being Indian, and also graduation degree should be completed from a recognized university with 50% marks.

Exam Pattern: The duration of the Entrance Exam is 3 hours, and there are sections divided- like Analytical Reasoning Skills, Verbal Skills, and Quantitative Skills.

Mode: ATMA Entrance is conducted in online mode

Exam Fee: ATMA fees are 1500/-

GMAT- Graduate Management Admission Test. 

Graduate Management Admission Council conducts the GMAT for candidates. The Graduate Management Admission Test started in 2012 and is considered accurate. The entrance exam is considered to be very proficient in terms of eligibility.

Eligibility criteria: students who want to appear for this entrance need to be Indian. They must also have completed their graduation degree and bachelor’s degree from a recognized university with 50% marks.

Exam Pattern: The duration of this course is 3 hours, and there are sections which students prepare for – Analytical writing assessment, integrated reasoning, quantitative and verbal.

Mode: GMAT is a computer-based online test

Exam Fee: GMAT fees are 1800/-

Frequently Asked Question

Ques: Is the Entrance Examination Mandatory for the MBA process? 

Ans:- The Examination is a process that is carried for the general acknowledgement of the students and the university focuses on the general aptitude of the course which the student has selected.

Ques: Why is there a personal Interview round created after the entrance examination?

Ans:- There are some steps that are mandatory for the completion and students need to be prepared for the questionnaire part of the admission process.

Ques: Is low scoring in Entrance a negative impact for the MBA Course?

Ans:- The score is all that will be taking students to the good university which is designed for the MBA course.