40 Popular Tier 2 MBA Colleges in India You Can Apply To

40 Popular Tier 2 MBA Colleges in India You Can Apply To

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Abhishek
Abhishek Dhawan
Assistant Manager – Editorial Content
Updated on Sep 29, 2025 14:25 IST

Check the list of 40 popular tier 2 MBA institutes that provide value for money vis-a-vis education, exposure, placements and fees.

Top Tier 2 MBA Colleges in India

Popular Tier 2 MBA Colleges in India

Top Tier 2 MBA Colleges in India: Every management aspirant wish for a top B-School to complete MBA/PGDM. Aspirants must not lose hopes if they do not get a call from their dream b-school. Many reputed MBA colleges in India offer world-class management education with good placements. Candidates must hunt for the next best option to get their MBA admissions. With more than 5,500 MBA colleges in India, selecting the right institute can be daunting. Besides the Tier-1 MBA colleges in India, candidates can also consider tier-2 MBA colleges.

Similar to the tier-1 MBA colleges, tier 2 MBA colleges have modern infrastructure, and some have an economical fee. Additionally, tier 2 MBA colleges also have good faculty and a dedicated placement cell. Some of the private tier 2 MBA institutes also offer exchange programmes with foreign universities. These institutes are also ranked in the top 50, in the MBA institute ranking order. Most of them select candidates based on the common entrance exams like CAT, XAT, CMAT, SNAP, MAT, MAH-CET and GMAT. Therefore, candidates might not have to appear for any additional exam. In other words, tier 2 MBA colleges in India must be among the second preference if you can’t make it to the top 25 institutes.

Candidates can also get tier-wise MBA colleges in India on shiksha.com college listing. Scroll down to know the 40 popular tier 2 MBA colleges and their courses.

Top 40 Tier 2 MBA Institutes

Here's the list of some of the popular MBA colleges to consider while planning a career in management.

Institute Name

MBA Course Offered

Entrance Exam Expected Cut-offs

K. J. Somaiya Institute of Management Studies and Research, Mumbai

PGDM

CAT: 90 percentile, CMAT: 187 marks

Institute of Rural Management Anand, Anand

PGP in Rural Management

CAT: 80 percentile

Symbiosis Institute of International Business (SIIB)

MBA (International Business)

SNAP: 98 percentile

T. A. Pai Management Institute, Manipal (TAPMI)

PGDM

CAT: 80 percentile

GMAT: 650 marks

XAT: 80 percentile

Symbiosis Institute of Business Management, Bangalore

MBA

SNAP: 95 percentile

International Management Institute (IMI), Delhi

PGDM

CAT: 90 percentile

Great Lakes Institute of Management, Chennai

PGDM

CAT: 90 percentile

CMAT: 90 percentile

GMAT: 600 marks

XAT: 90 percentile

Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Ranchi

PGDM

CAT: 90 percentile

Institute of Management, Nirma University

MBA

CAT: 80 percentile

Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Raipur

PGP

CAT: 90 percentile

Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Tiruchirappalli

PGP

CAT: 97.16 percentile

Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Rohtak

PGP

CAT: 85 percentile

Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Udaipur

PGP

CAT: 90 percentile

Goa Institute of Management (GIM), Goa

PGDM

CAT: 90 percentile

CMAT: 198 percentile

XAT: 76.48 percentile

Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IIT Madras), Chennai

MBA

CAT: 96 percentile

Xavier Institute Of Management & Entrepreneurship, Bangalore

PGDM

CAT: 60 percentile

CMAT: 85 percentile

MAT: 60 percentile

XAT: 60 percentile

Symbiosis Institute of Management Studies (SIMS), Pune

MBA

SNAP: 97 percentile

FORE School of Management, New Delhi

PGDM

CAT: 87.25 percentile

LIBA (Loyola Institute of Business Administration), Chennai

PGDM

CAT: 86 percentile

XAT: 80 percentile

Birla Institute of Technology and Science (BITS-Pilani)

MBA

CAT: 65 percentile

Prin. L.N. Welingkar Institute of Management, Mumbai

PGDM

CAT: 85 percentile

CMAT: 244 marks

XAT: 80 percentile

Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee (IIT Roorkee)

MBA

CAT: 95.75 percentile

Lal Bahadur Shastri Institute of Management (LBSIM), Delhi/NCR

PGDM

CAT: 83.21 percentile

ICFAI Business School, Hyderabad

MBA

IBSAT: 65 percentile

Xavier Institute of Social Service, Ranchi

PGDM (Rural Management)

CAT: 80 percentile

CMAT: 100 percentile

XAT: 60 percentile

Symbiosis Institute of Media and Communication, Bangalore

MBA

SNAP: 60 percentile

Banaras Hindu University

MBA

CAT: 84 percentile

Institute for Financial Management and Research (IFMR), Chennai

PGDM

CAT: 80 percentile

CMAT: 70 percentile

XAT: 85 percentile

Institute of Management Technology (Nagpur)

PGDM

CAT: 90 percentile

University Business School (UBS), Panjab University, Chandigarh

MBA

CAT: 88 percentile

Indian Institute of Forest Management (IIFM), Bhopal

PG Diploma (Forest Management)

CAT: 75.7 percentile

National Institute of Technology, Tiruchirappalli

MBA

CAT: 83 percentile

Symbiosis Institute of Telecom Management (SITM), Pune

MBA

SNAP: 95 percentile

Institute for Future Education, Entrepreneurship and Leadership, Lonavala PGDM

MAH CET: 85 percentile

CAT: 65 percentile

Symbiosis Centre for Information Technology, Pune

MBA (ITBM)

SNAP: 88 percentile

Symbiosis Institute of Operations Management (SIOM), Nashik

MBA (Operations)

SNAP: 94 percentile

Birla Institute of Management Technology

PGDM

CAT: 75 percentile

Indian Institute of Science (IISc) - Bangalore

MBA

CAT: 94 percentile

GMAT: 600 marks

Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Kashipur

PGP

CAT: 80 percentile

National Institute of Technology, Durgapur

MBA

CAT: 85 percentile

CMAT: 75 percentile

XAT: 60 percentile

*Cutoff percentiles mentioned here are indicative. For the actual cutoff refer to the institute website.

Q:   Is it hard to get into IISc Bangalore?
A:

IISc Bangalore admission is competitive due to high cutoff and limited seats. The entrance tests required for getting admission in the institute are taken by many. Hence, the chances of securing seat becomes less. Students are required to perform well in the entrance exam required for their course to get admission in the institute. In 2024, the JEE Main closing R1 cutoff for General category candidates was 903 for BSc (Research) in Physics.

Q:   Can I get admission at SIBM Pune without entrance exam?
A:

The requirement of entrance exam varies course-wise. Aspirants seeking admission in Executive PGDM do not require passing an entrance test. The selection is based on performance of the candidates in the personal interview round. For MBA courses, candidates do need to pass SNAP. Selected candidates have to futher pass GEPI round for final admission.

Q:   Do Iims accept MAT score?
A:

No, IIMs do not accept MAT score for MBA Admission. They only accept CAT score for admission to their MBA/PGP programmes. However, MAT score is accepted by over 700 MBA colleges in India including: Amity University GL Bajaj Institute of Management & Research Christ University GITAM Institute of Management JIMS Rohini Jain University Taxila Business School, Jaipur SRM University Birla Institute of Management Technology Shri Mata Vaishno Devi University Tezpur University Entrepreneurship Development Institute of India IIFM Bhopal YMCA.

MBA Entrance Exams Accepted by Tier-2 Colleges

Typically MBA colleges accept more than one entrance exam for admissions. Tier-2 colleges listed above have been accepting the following entrance exams for MBA admissions:

  • CAT
  • XAT
  • CMAT
  • NMAT
  • GMAT
  • SNAP
  • MAH MBA CET

Besides the above mentioned entrance exams, tier-2 MBA colleges may add any additional entrance exam for admissions.

Also Check: Top MBA Entrance Exams 2025

Q:   Can I write MAT - CBT exam at my home or will they provide a center for this exam?
A:

For MAT CBT, candidates will be allotted a test centre in the city they shall have selected as preference in the, MAT application form. Candidates can appear for MAT from home in only IBT mode.  MAT CBT is held in the followimg cities: Agra, Ahmedabad, Asansol, Bareilly, Bengaluru, Bhopal, Bhubaneswar, Chandigarh, Chennai, Coimbatore, Dehradun, Delhi, Ernakulam - Kochi, Ghaziabad, Gurgaon, Guwahati, Hubballi (Hubli), Hyderabad, Indore, Jaipur, Jammu, Kolkata, Kozhikode, Lucknow, Madurai, Meerut, Mumbai, Mysuru (Mysore), Nashik, Noida, Patna, Pune, Raipur, Ranchi, Rourkela, Shillong, Shimla, Silchar, Thiruvananthapuram, Thrissur, Vellore and Vijayawada

Q:   What are MAT eligibility criteria?
A:

Since MAT is an entrance exam for post graduate level management courses, the minimum eligibility criteria for MAT exam is graduation. Candidate should have completed graduation in full-time or part-time mode in Arts, Commerce or Science from a recognised university. The eligibility criteria for MAT PBT, CBT and IBT are the same. Final year graduation students who will be giving their final exam or awaiting results are also eligible to appear in MAT. There is no minimum score requirement in MAT. Candidates need to have passing marks in graduation.

Q:   Can an average student get into an IIM?
A:

The answer to this question of whether an average student can get into IIM can be both yes and no depending on the definition of an average student.

  • Based on Academics (Class 10/ Class 12/ Graduation): While a student with average scores in Class 10, Class 12 and graduation with a good CAT score certainly has good chances of getting a call from IIM-A, chances are less for someone with an average CAT score.
  • Based on student category (General or Reserved): While it is tough for a General category average student to grab a seat at IIM due to high score requirements, a reserved category student can get admission being at average scores as well.
  • Based on past work experience, diversity and other factors: Gender and academic diversity is also a factor on which students are shortlisted at IIM. IIMs judge the past academic category based on the degree obtained by the students before MBA and then a weightage is allotted based on that. For Engineers, the percentage for scoring the highest marks is higher as compared with other streams
  • Performance in selection rounds: Once you make it to the final selection rounds, i.e., AWT/PI process, it can be considered a fresh start. At this stage, students can forget their past average-ness but definitely require good grasp over the past subjects as academics-related questions are asked in the interview.

Based on the above factors, it can be considered that while getting into top Management institutes, such as IIM is extremely tough, the past performance, CAT performance, student category and a lot of factors can be the reasons for a student to receive that final call.

CAT Percentile predictor prepared by Shiksha.com helps students to get their predicted CAT percentile on the basis of their expected exam score. So, predict your CAT score by clicking the link below:

CAT Percentile Predictor

Read More:

Check CAT Cut offs and predict calls from IIMs and other Top MBA Colleges, whether your CAT score is 70 percentile, 80 percentile or 90 percentile. Check Fees, Placement Reviews, Admission, Shortlist Criteria and eligibility of all MBA Colleges by clicking the link below:

Predict IIM & Non IIM Calls