Best Colleges accepting CAT Score in India

There are approximately 1,550+ MBA colleges in India accepting CAT scores. Of these,  1,077 colleges are privately owned, 177 colleges are owned by public/government organisations, and public-private entities own 7 MBA colleges. CAT is the most accepting entrance exam in top MBA colleges in India. IIM Ahmedabad, IIM Bangalore, IIM Calcutta, IIM Kozhikode, IIM Lucknow, IIM Indore, Indian Institute of Management Mumbai, etc. are some of the top MBA colleges that accept CAT score in India.

Here are the best MBA colleges in India that accept CAT:

Top Colleges	NIRF 2023 Rank	NIRF 2024 Rank	NIRF 2025 Rank
Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Ahmedabad Ranking	1	1	1
Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Bangalore Ranking	2	2	2
Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Kozhikode Ranking	3	3	3
Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Delhi Ranking	5	4	4
Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Lucknow Ranking	6	7	5
IIM Mumbai Ranking	7	6	6
Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Calcutta Ranking	4	5	7
Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Indore Ranking	8	8	8
Management Development Institute Ranking	13	11	9
Symbiosis International, Pune Ranking	17	13	11

Disclaimer: This info. is taken from the official website and may differ.

Joining the best MBA colleges accepting CAT scores in India can be worthwhile for you. For that, you need to check its ROI. Listed below are some of the colleges along with their tuition fees and average placement package:

College Names	Total Tuition Fee	Annual Average Package
IIM Ahmedabad MBA	INR 25 lakh	INR 20 LPA - INR 32 LPA
IIM Bangalore MBA	INR 25 lakh	INR 33 LPA
IIM Indore MBA	INR 17 Lacs - INR 20 lakh	INR 22 LPA - INR 27 LPA
IIM Kozhikode MBA	INR 18 Lacs – INR 21 lakh	INR 25 LPA – INR 27 LPA
IIM Lucknow MBA	INR 13 lakh	INR 30 LPA

 

CAT score is valid for one year at the IIMs and top B-Schools. In some tier 3 and government institutions, CAT score of previous two years are also acceptable. Many B-schools including IIMs have an option of deferment of admission, wherein you can confirm your admission and pay the nominal fee but join the batch in the next year. It is advised that candidates take admission in the same year as their CAT attempt so that they don't have to reappear next year. Given the competition in MBA space, it is difficult to get a good college whether you have a low score or average score. So, incase one is getting a good college, they should take admission and not drop a year to appear for CAT again.

IIM-A's PGP course which leads to a Master’s degree in Business Administration is IIMA’s flagship programme for more than fifty-five years and is among the top-ranked programmes in the world for many years. Ranked 1 by NIRF 2022 for Management education, experts consider MBA at IIM-A as one of the toughest programmes to get into. Additionally, during placements in 2022, the highest and average package of IIM Ahmedabad stood at INR 61.48 LPA and INR 32.79 LPA, respectively, and 100% of the students got placement opportunities from companies, such as Bain, Amazon and Google. Thus, it isn't just worth but pursuing MBA from IIM-A is the best option in India. 

Find below the reviews by MBA students of IIM Ahmedabad:

 

It is estimated that joining the top B Schools accepting CAT scores in India can be affordable as most colleges have tuition fees between INR 1-2 lakh. Listed below are some of the affordable colleges having tuition fees of less than INR 1 lakh:

Low-cost MBA Colleges	Tuition Fees
PSGCT Coimbatore	INR 35,000
Tezpur University	INR 24,000 - INR 63,000
GJUST	INR 58,000
Calcutta University	INR 33,000
Institute of Management Studies, BHU	INR 99,000

College Names	Annual Average Package	Top Recruiters
IIM Ahmedabad Placement	INR 20 LPA - INR 32 LPA	Tata Steel, NPCI, Jio Financial Services, Axis Bank, etc.
IIM Bangalore Placement	INR 33 LPA	Accenture, EY, American Express, Infosys, Oliver, etc.
IIM Indore Placement	INR 22 LPA - INR 27 LPA	Boston Consulting Group, Deloitte India, EY, Infosys Consulting, KPMG, etc.
IIM Kozhikode Placement	INR 25 LPA – INR 27 LPA	Accenture, Amazon, Microsoft, Deloitte, TCS, HCL, Cognizant, etc.
IIM Lucknow Placement	INR 30 LPA	Adobe, TCS, Infosys, ITC Limited, Tata Motors, Tech Mahindra, etc.

The table below shows the best government colleges accepting CAT scores in India along with their total tuition fees:

Public/Government Colleges	Total Tuition Fee
IIM Ahmedabad Admission	INR 25 lakh
IIM Bangalore Admission	INR 25 lakh
IIM Indore Admission	INR 17 Lacs - INR 20 lakh
IIM Kozhikode Admission	INR 18 Lacs – INR 21 lakh
IIM Lucknow Admission	INR 13 lakh

 

If you have a very good CAT score but poor academic record it is quite likely that you may not be shortlisted for top IIMs as the institutes prefer candidates with overall consistency in academics. Class 12 scores holds a lot of importance in shortlisting of candidates for WAT-PI.

Yes, MBA programme is offered at DMS IIT Delhi. The Department of Management Studies (DMS) at IIT Delhi offers MBA, MBA (Telecom), Executive MBA programmes. For admission to the MBA Programme at DMS IIT Delhi the aspiring candidates need a Bachelor's Degree or equivalent, with a minimum of 60% marks or a CGPA of 6.00/10. Relaxation to 55% or 5.50 CGPA for SC/ST/PwD candidates. Final-year candidates can apply, with provision to join upon submitting results. Admission involves CAT scores, interview assessment of personality and knowledge, followed by an offer letter sent to registered email. 

The general eligibility criteria to get MBA admission in India that accept CAT scores are listed below:

• Candidates should have a bachelor's degree or equivalent qualification in any discipline from a recognised university or institution with a minimum of 50% aggregate.
• MBA colleges in India consider scores from national-level entrance exams such as Candidates are required to meet the minimum cutoff scores set by the respective colleges.

Preparing for CAT 2024?

• Click to practice Q&A for Verbal Ability and Q&A for Quantitative Aptitude.
• Click here for Q&A4 Article

Yes CAT syllabus is difficult to crack if you do not have enough time. There are three subjects in CAT- VARC, DILR and Quantitative Aptitude. Most of candidates find RC passages tough to crack. In Quants, Arithmetic, Algebra and Geometry pose significant challenge during preparation. In DILR, Reasoning questions often turnout to be tricky and confusion. 

Yes, you can apply for CAT. The main criteria of eligibility for CAT is graduation from a recognised university. So, whether the education mode is full-time or correspondence, if the university is recognised by the UGC, the candidates will be eligible to appear for the CAT exam.

As per the National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) 2024, both IIM Calcutta and IIM Ahmedabad ranked among the top 5 IIMs for their MBA course. However, IIM Ahmedabad tops the list, while IIM Calcutta ranked at fifth spot. Talking about IIM Calcutta placements 2024, it has recorded 100% placements for its flagship PGP (MBA) programme. 

The highest package offered during IIM Calcutta MBA placements 2024 stood at INR 1.2 crore per annum. Talking about IIM Ahmedabad placements in 2023, the average domestic package stood at INR 34.36 LPA. The highest package stood at INR 115 LPA. So, considering the rankings, IIM Ahmedabad shall be a better option in comparison to IIM Calcutta, but placements are good at IIM Kolkata.

PGP is the flagship course of IIM Indore. The institute is listed in the top 100 in the Financial Times Rankings for its flagship PGP in Management (PGP) under the Masters in Management category. It has also bagged 25 positions amongst all the top B-schools in Asia under QS Global MBA Rankings, with a position of 5 amongst the IIMs and 5 amongst the top B-Schools in India. In terms of placements, IIM Indore provides opportunities to students in top companies.

The the highest and average package offered to PGP HRM programme during IIM Indore placements 2023 stood at INR 34.50 LPA and INR 22.65 LPA, respectively. Check below infographic to know what students have to say about IIM Indore MBA:

 

IIM shortlist is the list of CAT test takers who make it to the second phase of IIM admission process, which is Written Ability Test (WAT) and Personal Interview (PI). The IIM shortlist is the list of candidates who are eligible to participate in the WAT-PI rounds of IIMs for MBA admission.

Having a good academic profile for IIM admission is very critical. The top 6 IIMs lay a lot of emphasis on Class 10 and Class 12 score for selection of candidates for WAT-PI round. The academic profile is evaluated again at the time of preparation of final merit list. It has been seen in the past that some candidates despite having 99+ percentile, were not selected for PI round due to low score in Class 12.

The academic profile is assessed for academic as well as gender diversity. Which means a candidate who studied Arts in Class 12 may be selected for PI with lower marks than a candidate who studied Science in Class 12.

Candidates aiming for IIMs must know that while the importance of academic profile is very important for top IIMs, it is moderately important for rest of the IIMs. For, other top MBA colleges, overall profile matters more than academic score. So, if you do not have superlative scores in Class 10 and 12, build a good profile with work experience and extra curricular activities to increase your chances of selection.

CAT 2026 exam will be held on November 29, 2026. Official announcement of the exam and registration schedule will be announced in the last week of July 2026.

Located in Assam and Guwahati, a comparison of both these public universities for their MBA programme on the basis of components such as fee, seats, eligibility and salary is tabulated below:

Comparison Components (MBA)	Gauhati University	Tezpur University
Median Salary	INR 8.40 LPA	INR 4.85 LPA
Total Tuition Fee	INR 7,000 - INR 3.35 lakh	INR 24,000 - 69,770
Seat intake	150*	79*
Eligibility	UG degree with 50% aggregate	UG degree with 50% aggregate

NOTE: The data mentioned in the above table is sourced from various sources on the internet. Hence, is indicative. Additionally, the seat intake mentioned also includes seats for the course at affiliated colleges.

As per the factual data available in the above table, it can be noted that Gauhati University offers more ROI-centered value to the students’ after completion of their MBA degree compared to Tezpur University. However, its fee range for MBA is comparatively higher than Tezpur. Hence, students looking for an affordable option for MBA might find Gauhati University expensive. The final decision is with the aspirants of whether they wish to get into a university with a better ROI or an affordable option. 

Yes, for Pune University MBA Admission a valid CAT/ MAH CET/ CMAT score is compulsory along with the set minimum eligibility criteria. To be eligible, candidates must have completed an undergraduate degree with at least 50% aggregate (45% aggregate for reserved category candidates). For more information on other MBA accepting exams for SPPU and its affiliated colleges, students are advised to visit the official website of the university or the respective affiliated college.

The highest package offered during IIT KGP placements 2026 was INR 2.44 Crore per Annum.

Domain	Placement Statistics (2024)
Analytics	31%
Finance	28%
General Management	20%
Sales & Marketing	12%
Operations	9%

The placement rate recorded during SJMSOM IIT Bombay MBA placements 2023 was 100%. Students get a good salary package after completing MBA from a reputed institute like SJMSOM. The highest package and average package offered during SJMSOM IIT Bombay MBA placements 2023 stood at INR 54 LPA and INR 28.88 LPA, respectively. The top recruiters of SJMSOM IIT Bombay in 2023 included leading companies such as GEP, HUL, Google, Accenture, Cargill, etc. 

The total tuition fee for the MBA programme at IIM is inclusive of admission fees, caution deposits, and charges for many facilities offered at IIM Raipur during the programme. Although, the total tuition fee for the MBA course at IIM Raipur is collated from unofficial sources. The total tuition fee for the MBA programme at IIM Raipur ranges somewhere between INR 8 Lacs to INR 14.2 lakh. Hence, it is indicative, that candidates can refer to the institute’s official website for more details on the same.

Indian Institute of Foreign Trade (IIFT) is one of the top Management institutes in the country. It has grabbed #15 rank in the NIRF 2024 rankings in the Management category. The overall the highest and average stipend offered (for two months) during IIFT Delhi summer placement 2025 for the MBA IB batch of 2024-26 stood at INR 6 Lacs and INR 2.73 lakh, respectively. Moreover, the Sales and Marketing domain emerged as the top recruiting domain. Furthermore, in the MBA BA batch of 2024-26, the highest and average stipend stood at INR 4 Lacs and INR 1.42 lakh, respectively.