CAT Admission Procedure

1. Written Test / Entrance Exam

All B-Schools in India have a written aptitude test as the first stage of screening applicants. The six IIMs conduct a Common Admission Test (CAT), usually on the last Sunday of every November. S.P. Jain Mumbai, Management Development Institute (MDI) Gurgaon, NITIE Bombay and many other business schools and MBA colleges base their selection on CAT scores. XLRI Jamshedpur conducts XAT (Xavier Admission Test) and this score is a criterion for admission to XIM Bhubaneswar, BIM Trichy, LIBA Chennai, XIME Bangalore, Goa Institute of Management Goa. FMS Delhi, IIFT Delhi and the Schools of Management, IIT (Joint Management Entrance Test or JMET) have their own respective tests.

The written test, the first stage of elimination, tests a student's ability to perform under pressure. The areas of testing include basic mathematics taught till Class X, English taught during the first year of graduation and analytical & logical reasoning. The written test is the most difficult step in getting into a top B-School in India. Most of the elimination takes place at this stage.

2. B School Application Essays and Reference Letters

Application Essays are a part of most top B Schools. Some of the top management institutes in India such as the SP Jain ask you to write many essays along with your application form that you submit to the school. While the likes of the IIMs send an essay form only to those who have cleared the written test. In the case of SP Jain, your application essays play a crucial role in getting shortlisted for the next round - viz., group interviews. However, in the case of the IIMs, they could form the basis for the interview process. IIM Bangalore, in the recent past, requires those aspirants who have cleared CAT and been shortlisted for the GD-PI to produce three letters of reference. So, if you are planning to apply to these places, meet one of your friends who has applied to these schools in the past and get his applications to get an idea of what is generally asked.

3.Group Discussions / Personal Interviews - GD / PI

Based on the performance in the written test, students are short listed for a Group Discussion and Personal Interview. At the IIMs, anyone who is shortlisted for the GD PI process attends both the group discussion and the personal interview. GD is not an elimination stage at the IIMs. However, other b schools could have the GD as an elimination process.

4. Admission

Admission is usually offered based on the cumulative scores of written test, GD / PIs, and work experience (in some cases). Admission notification from the top B Schools starts from the second week of March and continues till the end of April. Many of the management institutes also have a waitlist of candidates which gets updated after the students in the first list have made their acceptance offer.