MBA Entrance Exam

MAT and CMAT syllabi are same for Verbal Ability, Quantitative Aptitude, Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning. MAT also has GK like CMAT, but the nature of GK questions of MAT are slightly different from that of CMAT. The MAT GK section has more questions from economy and business.

Verbal Ability, Quantitative Aptitude, Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning topics of CMAT syllabus are same as CAT syllabus. So, an MBA aspirant can prepare for CAT and CMAT simultaneously with the same study material. However, they will need CMAT specific books and resources to study Innovation and Entrepreneurship and GK section. CAT doesn't have these two sections.

Innovation and Entrepreneurship syllabus of CMAT is not a very difficult section. The syllabus pertains to business studies, economy and entrepreneurship. So, it will not require must time to cover the syllabus.  Candidate can dedicate one month to this section towards the end, while preparing for other sections. You can refer to books - Innovation and Entrepreneurship by Peter F. Drucker and Entrepreneurship & Innovation Management by R. Gopal, Entrepreneurship by Robert D. Hisrich and Manorama Year Book by Mammen Mathew.

XAT Verbal & Logical Ability is unique in the sense that it has Verbal and Critical Reasoning combined with Reading Comprehension. There are 3-4 RC passages and one of them is a short poem. The uniqueness of XAT Verbal & Logical Ability lies in the fact that no other MBA entrance exam has poem. Moreover, critical reasoning questions are based on different perspectives from which the best conclusion is to be drawn.

Some of the books that I will definitely recommend you all for different sections of the Distance MBA entrance exams that are commonly conducted in India are mentioned below for your reference -

Note - These are the books that helped me a lot during my preparation journey

The selection process for admission to the IIFM Bhopal Doctoral Programme in Management course is based on a broader range of entrance exams, including CAT/GMAT/UGC-CSIR-JRF/NET/GATE/ICAR NET. Other than this, admission of students also depends on their performance in the subsequent GDPI round. Therefore, having a CAT percentile of 75 may not be  the only  threshold for admission to the DPM programme at IIFM Bhopal.

The MAT cutoff in 2023 for Aurora's Business School was in the region of 80-90 percentiles, keeping in line with its Tier 2 college designation. What this implies is that shortlisted candidates typically have to score within this percentile band in the MAT exam to be shortlisted for the MBA/PGDM programmes from Aurora's Business School.

You may apply to Assam Rajiv Gandhi University of Cooperative Management (ARGUCOM) for MBA without MAT, if you fulfill some conditions:

• If you have 60% or more marks in aggregate (55% marks for reserved classes), you are directly eligible for admission with relaxation in the ARGUCOM Entrance Test (AET), and hence, can be exempted from written test and move ahead through Group Discussion and Personal Interview phases.
• If you possess 50% graduation marks (45% for backward classes), you require a good score in entrance exams such as MAT, CAT, XAT, ATMA, GMAT, CMAT, or ARGUCOM Entrance Test to become eligible.

With 20% in the CAT examination 2025, you will not get into any good college or top MBA colleges in the Agri business management field, as all good institutions require 85th percentile or more. One can definitely apply to private colleges according to their interest. To check for the college where you can get into with your score, visit: MAT College and Call Predictor - Check Cut offs & Predict Calls from Colleges Accepting MAT.

Progressive Education Society's Modern Institute of Business Management (MIBM Pune) considers MAT scores for admission to MBA, but the MAT official cutoff percentile is not specifically mentioned in recent statistics. But for other national-level tests such as MAH MBA CET, the last round cutoff for the General category in 2024 was 69.37 percentile. Traditionally, the MAT cutoff for such institutes tends to be between 60 and 70 percentile. Applicants are counselled to target a MAT percentile of more than 65 in order to qualify for selection.