The selection process

When you begin applying to MBA institutes, it's time to start preparing for your MBA entrance exams and for your MBA admission interview. But before you even start applying to these MBA entrance exams, you need to know that an MBA degree is not easily attainable anymore. Read our tips on the where, when, and how tos for applying to an MBA program and apply for the best MBA schools in India. Our tips on applying to an MBA program will help you easily complete all the entry requirements. Our advice will not just help you apply to an MBA program but will help you clear the MBA admission interview and select the right MBA school in India for you. We have one of the best panels of experts to guide you through applying for an MBA degree and to prepare you well for your MBA admission interview.

To get admission into MBA institutes there are various entrance exams. Following are the details of these exams along with the related websites:

CAT (www.catiim.in) is an Entrance test for 7 IIMs and more than 100 management schools.

XAT (www.xlri.edu) is the entrance test for XLRI and more than 50 management schools

JMET (www.gate.iitkgp.ac.in/jmet/onlineproc.php) entrance test is for the Schools of Management at the IITs and IISc

SNAP (www.snaptest.org) takes the entrance test for SIBM, SCMHRD and other Symbiosis group institutes

MAT (www.aima-ind.org) is accepted by more than 100 management schools

ATMA (www.atma-aims.org) is accepted by more than 100 management schools

Among all these, CAT and MAT are the most sought after by MBA institutes. Dr Sahay of IMT Ghaziabad says, "We started using CAT scores three years back. We give a lot of importance to CAT score and basic education performance. We prefer students with at least one year of experience. During interview and GD, we look at general awareness, personality, leadership quality and communications." A good score in written test goes a long way in ensuring that you get a seat in a good institution, say experts.

Dr Ratnam of IMI says, "The major change that we have made this year is to drop CAT scores as weightage for final selection. We will use CAT scores as a short-listing tool only. We will now give more weightage to the previous scholastic record of a candidate."

After clearing the entrance exam, the next step would be: Group Discussion and Interview. Based on the candidate`s written exam performance, the institutes issue calls for Group Discussion and Interview to the short-listed candidates. In most cases, all the candidates who are called for the Group Discussion are also interviewed. A few institutes do short-list candidates even after the Group Discussion stage and only the short-listed candidates are interviewed.

Apart from the written examination and GD/Interview performance most management institutes also include Work experience and academic record and extra-curricular activities in the candidate`s academic career in their selection criteria.

Usually work experience is given weightage only if it is full-time paid experience after graduation - that too only if it is of more than six months duration. Less than six months of work experience is not given weightage in the selection process. Different institutes follow

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