MBA Admission 2026: IIM Registration, Eligibility, Seat Allotment, Dates
MBA Admission 2026
Indian Institute of Management or IIM admission process 2026 will begin with CAT 2025 registration. Any candidates who wishes to pursue MBA/PGP from the IIMs has to appear for CAT exam conducted in November every year. Those who clear the CAT exam have to appear for Written Ability Test (WAT), Group Discussion (GD) and Personal Interview (PI).
CAT 2025 registration process will start in the first week of August 2025 and the CAT 2025 exam will be held on November 30, 2025. The CAT question paper will have 68 questions from VARC, DILR and Quantitative Aptitude. The WAT-PI round for admission will begin in January 2026 after CAT 2025 result announcement.
Being the top most group of MBA institutions in India and having been ranked among world’s top B-schools the IIMs are tough to crack as the selection of candidate is not based only on their CAT exam score but also their previous academic record and work experience. For IIMs, the ideal candidate is the one who has been consistent in academics and extra-curricular activities and possesses good analytical, communication and leadership skills.
- IIM Admissions Timeline 2026
- MBA Admission Important Dates
- IIM Admission 2026 - Important Dates
- Campus Wise IIM Admission and Selection Criteria 2026-28
- MBA/PGP seats in IIMs
IIM Admissions Timeline 2026
- CAT 2025 registration from August 1 to September 20, 2025
- CAT 2025 exam will be held on November 30, 2025
- CAT exam result 2025 will be announced in the third week of December 2025
- Filling of IIM shortlist forms will be done in January 2026
- Conduct of WAT-GD-PI will happen February to April 2026
- Issue of final admission result and offer letters will be done by May 2026
Also Read:
| How to prepare for MBA (VARC) | How to prepare for MBA (Quantitative Aptitude) |
MBA Admission Important Dates
Take a look at the table below for the complete schedule of MBA Admission 2026 exam
| Dates | Past Exam Dates |
|---|---|
| 04 Jan ' 26 | XAT 2026 |
| 20 Dec ' 25 | SNAP 2025 -3 |
| 14 Dec ' 25 | SNAP 2025 -2 |
IIM Admission 2026 - Important Dates
IIM Admission cycle is from August to May. Given below is the month-wise schedule of IIM Admission for upcoming session. MBA aspirants planning to join IIM in 2026, must appear for CAT 2025 as is a mandatory criteria to be eligible for IIM admission.
| IIM Admission Events |
CAT 2025 Dates |
|---|---|
| CAT 2025 registration |
August 1, 2025 to September 20, 2025 |
| CAT exam 2025 |
30-Nov-2025 |
| CAT result 2025 |
Third week of December 2025 |
| IIM shortlisting 2026-28 |
January 2026 |
| WAT-GD-PI round |
February-April 2026 |
| Final admission 2026-28 |
May 2026 |
Also Read:
Campus Wise IIM Admission and Selection Criteria 2026-28
Read More:
- 80 Group Discussion (GD) Topics (MBA): Current & Latest GD Topics with detailed analysis
- Personal Interviews: 5 Situations That May Stump You
- How to Handle Surprise Topics in GDs
- Common questions asked in Personal Interviews
- 13 must do things to crack GD-PI-WAT
- 14 parameters on which you are judged in WAT-GD-PI
- VARC preparation tips for MBA exams
- DILR preparation tips for MBA exams
- Quantitative Aptitude Preparation Tips for MBA exams
MBA/PGP seats in IIMs
Given below is the table indicating the total number of seats available for MBA/PGP programmes at IIMs. For about 5,000 seats over two lakh candidates appear for CAT every year.
| IIMs |
Number of seats in MBA/PGP |
|---|---|
| 395 |
|
| 375 |
|
| 120 |
|
| 460 |
|
| 500 |
|
| 400 |
|
| 450 |
|
| 240 |
|
| 180 |
|
| 240 |
|
| 260 |
|
| 185 |
|
| 240 |
|
| 260 |
|
| 160 |
|
| 120 |
|
| 130 |
|
| 140 |
|
| 120 |
|
| 120 |
IIM Admission: WAT/GD/PI experience shared by students
- Mayank shares his WAT-PI experience at IIM Bangalore
- Abhinav Paigwar shares his WAT-PI experience at IIM Bangalore
- Rupesh Gupta shares his WAT-PI experience at IIM Ahmedabad
- Ahsaas Sharma recalls his WAT-PI experience at IIM Ahmedabad
- Somansh Chordia shares his WAT-PI experience at IIM Ahmedabad and IIM Calcutta
- Devesh Bansal recalls PI experience at IIM Kozhikode
- Kislay Jha recalls PI experience at IIM Ahmedabad
- Isha Nisar shares WAT-PI Experience at IIM Ahmedabad and IIM Bangalore
MBA Admission Exam
Student Forum
Anything you would want to ask experts?Answered 19 hours ago
There is no option of free full-time MBA, however, some professional education platforms offer free online MBA in India. Such courses come with certificates, and you can easily enroll and learn skills at your own pace. However, for verified certificate you will have to pay the requisite fees.
M
Contributor-Level 7
Answered 19 hours ago
Yes, IDFC provides a scholarship of INR 2 Lacs (INR 1 Lacs per year) for selective students. Candidates can apply for this scholarship by filling the online form for MBA scholarship programme at the IDFC bank website and following further process. Scholarship will be given to deserving candidates af
A
Contributor-Level 7
Answered 19 hours ago
There is no provision of 100 % scholarship for MBA in IIM. The institutes provide merit based and merit-cum-means based scholarships. There are options of percent based fee waiver and bank loan assistance too. However, no IIM offers 100 % scholarship for MBA.
A
Contributor-Level 7
Answered 19 hours ago
Yes, most of the MBA colleges in India offer scholarship and fee waiver schemes for meritorious students and those who belong to weaker sections of the society. Scholarship at various MBA colleges are based on various criteria such as entrance exam score, academic score, family income, sports and EC
Contributor-Level 10
Answered 2 days ago
ITM Business School, Navi Mumbai offer two-year MBA programme in different specialisations. Candidates wishing to take admission into this course, should have passed graduation with at least 50% marks. The college accepts entrance exam score of exams such as iSET score in addition to the following E
R
Contributor-Level 10
Answered 3 days ago
Yes, there is an application fee for GIBS admissions, but it is not very high.
- For PGDM/MBA, the application fee is around ₹900–₹1000
- For BBA (UG), it is around ₹600–₹800
- It is just a registration/application fee, not admission confirmation
- You still have to go through eligibility check, interview, and
P
Contributor-Level 8
Answered 5 days ago
No, CAT is not required for Audisankara College of Engineering and Technology MBA admissions. The college instead accepts Andhra Pradesh ICET scores to shortlist students for the programme.
U
Contributor-Level 10
Answered 5 days ago
MBA admission at MIT College of Management is based on entrance exam scores. The college accepts score of exam such as MBA CET/CAT/XAT/ATMA/GMAT/AIMA. Following this, candidates maybe asked for group discussion and personal interview rounds.
R
Contributor-Level 10
Answered 6 days ago
Global Institute of Business Studies Bangalore is good for students who want to study management and also improve their confidence and communication skills.
- Students who are shy and want to become confident
- Students who want to speak better and improve personality
- Students interested in business, marke
P
Contributor-Level 8
Answered a week ago
Students must fulfil the Ashoka Women's Engineering College MBA eligibility to get a seat in the programme. The minimum eligibility is as below:
- UG degree in any stream from a recognised university
A
Contributor-Level 10
ATMA 2026: Last Date of Fee Payment (May) 19 Apr '26
How to do an MBA free of cost in India?