can we get an MBA admission without cat ??
MBA admission without cat entrance exam. 20 IIMs only accept scores of CAT. The exam is held by IIMs in last week of November or first week of December. PGDM B-schools have option to accept any of the 6 national tests: CAT, XAT, CMAT, MAT, ATMA or GMAT.
Hi Geeta,
MBA in India is offered by many different government and private colleges. These colleges/universities have their own method of selection and admitting students in their colleges. On one hand, IIMs intake students based on CAT scores, private colleges like NMIMS, SIBM have their own entrance exams for selecting students into their flagship programs. The admission of a student can also be possible even without entrance exams in some colleges, but then the student has to make a trade off with the quality of the education and the brand of the college. Also, in many colleges, students can take admission through management quota as well if you have deep pockets to spend.
It is highly impossible for a student to get admission into a college of the status of top 50 college, without writing an entrance exam. Apart from IIMs, there are universities like Xavier University, which has many prestigious colleges under its name like, XLRI, XIMB, intake students on the basis of XAT. XAT was a paper and pen based exam till 2017, but from 2018 onwards, it has also adopted the computer-based exam process. The Xavier University conducts this XAT entrance exam usually in the first week of January. NMIMS University conducts its entrance exam called NMAT and it has a specific window for conducting its exam. It offers a total of 3 attempts and the exam window usually starts from October to December. The students have to re-apply every time for a fresh attempt and there usually is a gap of 15 days between two siccative attempts. SIBM University conducts its entrance exam called SNAP and it also usually conducts this exam in the month of December. ISB intakes students in its B-School through GMAT, which is an internationally accepted exam for different colleges in different countries across the globe. Tata Institute of Social Sciences is another reputed institute that has its own entrance exam called TISSNET. It also conducts this exam in the early week of January. Similarly, IIFT also conducts its own entrance exam, and is usually a week before or after the CAT entrance exam.
IRMA also conducts its own entrance exam for admission of students in its Institute of Rural Management Anand, Anand. But with IRMA, candidates are also required to write CAT or XAT and should clear some prerequisite of cut-off. MICAT is another highly sought-after exam and one of the favourites for students who want to make their career in marketing management. MICA is conducted by Mundra Institute of Communications, Ahmadabad. Its selection procedure involves weighted scores of MICAT as well as CAT. It also gives 2 attempts to students to crack its exam for admission.
Apart from these other entrance exams like CET, CMAT, MAT, provide doorway for entering into some good B-Schools. JBIMS, one of the prestigious institutes for management studies provides different options for its selection of students. It allows students to get their admission through CAT, MAH CET, CMAT, XAT and MAT exams and has its own selection criteria for each of the exams.
There are also, other ways in getting selected into prestigious MBA colleges. SP Jain Institute of Management and Research (SPJIMR) has a special achievement round of selection, where, a student’s profile is given more advantage than their CAT or XAT scores. Similarly, Goa Institute of Management (GIM) has its achievement round process and gives relaxation to entrance exams scores. GIM also selects through XAT, CET entrance examinations. There are many MBA colleges without entrance exams, and many colleges/universities do not ask for CAT score as a basic criterion for admission. Although they do not offer MBA without entrance exam, but they do offer MBA without a CAT score.
If you did not appear in CAT exam but took other MBA entrance exams or wish to go for MBA without entrance exam and are now looking for MBA colleges without entrance exams like CAT, here is a list that might be helpful for you,
MBA College/University |
MBA Programme Offered without CAT Score |
MBA Exam Score Accepted |
Indian Institute of Foreign Trade-Delhi/Kolkata/Kakinada |
MBA (IB) |
IIFT Entrance Exam |
NMIMS University, Mumbai |
MBA |
NMAT by GMAC |
XLRI, Jamshedpur |
PGDM |
XAT |
JBIMS, Mumbai University |
MMS |
MAH MBA CET |
Symbiosis Institute of Business Management (SIBM), Pune |
MBA |
SNAP |
SCMHRD, Pune |
MBA |
SNAP |
Xavier University, Bhubaneswar |
MBA |
X-GMT, XAT (CAT also accepted) |
Christ University, Bangalore |
MBA |
All National MBA entrance exams |
All the very Best!!!
Hi,
There are certain institutes which does not require CAT score for their admission. Apart from CAT, there are examinations such as MAT, GMAT, NMAT, SNAP etc. through which you can get admission. Some B-schools also conducts their own entrance examinations. You need to just visit the official website of the B-school in which you want to get admission to attain further details for MBA course.
Related Questions
Know More about
Common Admission Test
Answer Key | Eligibility | Application | Exam Pattern | Admit Card | Preparation Tips | Result | Accepting Colleges
Get Updates BrochureYour Common Admission Test brochure has been successfully mailed to your registered email id “”.
Odisha Joint Entrance Examination
Admit Card | Application | Result | Cutoff | Counselling | Preparation Tips | Eligibility
Get Updates BrochureYour Odisha Joint Entrance Examination brochure has been successfully mailed to your registered email id “”.