MBA Admission 2026: IIM, XLRI, SPJIMR, NMIMS, Symbiosis Admissions Open; Check Exams, Dates, Fees, Cut Offs for Top MBA Colleges In India

MBA admission requirements and processes of any good MBA college include following steps:

• Take Entrance Exam: Candidates must appear in one or two MBA entrance exams like CAT, XAT, CMAT, NMAT or MAT. Top colleges have high CAT/XAT score/percentile requirements.
• Apply to Selected B-schools: Along with taking MBA entrance exam, you should apply to MBA colleges which meet your criteria like Fees, Location, Rankings and others. MBA Admission Fees (application fees) varies from Rs 1000 to Rs 3000 depending on colleges. MBA admission forms are available on official MBA colleges website from the links below.  MBA admission form PDF download can also be completed.
• Get Shortlisted for Personal Interview: After you have applied to the colleges, they will shortlist for final admission round you based on entrance exam scores and academic performance.
• Appear in Group Discussion (GD) and Personal Interview (PI): Final selection round involves appearing in Group discussion (to check your interpersonal skills) and Personal Interview (to check your communication, self-awareness and motivation for doing the MBA).
• Specific admission process varies by institution, but overall having good academics, entrance exam scores, and doing well in personal interviews will ensure admission to a good MBA program.
• Get Final Admission Selection Confirmation & Pay Fees: In January to April 2026, MBA colleges will make MBA admissions 2026 offers. You should be ready to make fees payment and finalize your admission.
   

Above steps are common for all B-schools, although there may be some minor variations. This article will focus on all these aspects. 

Understanding MBA eligibility and admission criteria is essential to secure a seat in a good business school. While the criteria vary from institute to institute, in general, candidates must meet the following requirements:

• Academic Qualification: A bachelor's degree in any discipline from a recognized university with a minimum aggregate score of 50% (45% for reserved categories).
• Work Experience: This is not mandatory for MBA programs in India.
• Entrance Exams: Having good scores in MBA Entrance Exams like CAT, XAT, CMAT is an important MBA eligibility criterion.

MBA Entrance Exams are a gateway to admission in reputed MBA colleges. MBA Entrance Test can be broadly divided into three categories: 

a) CAT Exam for 21 IIM and 7 IITs 

b) Other National Management Entrance Tests (OMET) like XAT, NMAT, SNAP, CMAT 

c) State MBA entrance exams like MAH CET 

Across these types, there are more than 20 popular MBA entrance exams in India. CAT and top entrance exams will be held from November 2025 till January 2026 for MBA Admission 2026. State MBA exams be held from April to June 2026. MBA entrance exam fees vary from Rs 2,000 to 3,000 per exam. Check MBA entrance exam calendar, exam dates, registration process, pattern and more in this article on MBA entrance exams.
 

MBA admission process start date and last date are different for each college. Check exam accepted, application dates and application link for top MBA colleges in India from table below. 

Let’s now understand the admission requirements for IIMs. IIM Admission is a dream of everyone! But only a few get selected by the IIMs. Check IIM Admission Process below: 

• IIM Admission Academic Eligibility: The first requirement for IIM Admission is meeting Academic Eligibility. You should be a graduate with minimum 50% marks.
• Taking CAT Exam and Scoring Well: You should take CAT exam held in November every year and score well to meet IIM shortlisting requirements.
• Shortlist and Final Selection: Next stage is getting through IIM shortlisting process and appearing in IIM Personal Interview to get final admission offer
• CAT Registration 2025: CAT 2025 registration is open, and last date to apply for IIM Admission 2025 through CAT is September 13, 2025.
• IIM Ahmedabad Admission 2026 Policy released: Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad (IIMA) has raised the benchmark for CAT aspirants this year by revising its shortlisting criteria for the flagship Post Graduate Programme (PGP) 2026–28 batch. As per the new IIM Ahmedabad Admission 2025 policy, candidates from the General and EWS categories must now secure an overall CAT percentile of 95, in addition to a minimum of 85 percentile in each of the three sections. This is a sharp increase from the earlier cut-off of 80 overall and 70 sectional for the General category. With these changes, only the top performing candidates will qualify for IIMA’s Personal Interview round. This MBAUniverse.com article provides complete details on new IIM Ahmedabad admission criteria, eligibility, cut-offs, CAT/Interview weightages for final admission, and more.
• IIM Lucknow Admissions 2026 Policy released: IIM Lucknow MBA Admission 2026: IIM Lucknow has also announced Admission Policy 2026. It covers Eligibility, Cut Offs, Selection Process, Shortlisting & Final Selection Criteria and Weightage and more. CAT 2025 Cut Off for IIM Lucknow MBA Shortlisting candidates is 90% for general candidates. CAT 2025 Weightage in final selection is 30 percent only, while the weightage for Personal Interview is higher. Read this article for complete details. 

IIM JAP 2026 by IIM Kashipur, IIM Raipur, IIM Ranchi and IIM Tiruchirappalli for MBA Admission 2026
Four Indian Institutes of Management — IIM Kashipur, IIIM Raipur, IIM Ranchi, and IIM Tiruchirappalli — have launched a Joint Admission Process (JAP) for MBA admissions 2026. Coordinated by IIM Raipur this year, the new IIM JAP 2026 admission process will allow aspirants to apply to all four IIMs through a single process, cutting duplication and ensuring a more transparent, streamlined admission experience. The newly launched IIM JAP 2026 by four IIMs will run alongside and complete with the older Common Admission Process (CAP), which was conducted by eight second and third generation IIMs last year.

IITs offer high RoI MBA programmes with moderate fee and high placements at par with top IIMs. Top IITs including IIT Delhi, Bombay, Madras, Kharagpur, Kanpur, Roorkee offer MBA. IITs will open their application form after release of CAT exam result in the first week of January 2026. Applicants have to apply online. 

IIT MBA Admission process involves following steps:

• IIT MBA Eligibility: IIT MBA Eligibility Criteria needs 60% marks in Engineering or in other graduation streams as against IIMs who need 50% marks
• Taking CAT Exam and Scoring High: IITs accept CAT 2025 exam score for Admission 2026. But you must score very high in CAT for getting a chance to get into IIT MBA program.

• Shortlist and Final Selection: IITs will shortlist the Candidates based on CAT exam score for Personal Interview. The Final Admission will be based on CAT exam score, performance in PI round, past academic performance and work experience.

  List of IITs with Fees, Salary, Admission 2026 Dates 

Read complete details of IIT MBA Admission Process

Not only the IIMs, there are highly ranked and internationally accredited MBA/ PGDM colleges among the MBA colleges accepting CAT/XAT score. Some of the prominent MBA colleges excluding IIMs which will accept CAT/XAT score percentile 90 & above for MBA admission are given in table below.  

Table 3: List of Non IIM Top MBA Colleges with Fees, Salary, Admission 2026 Dates 

SPJIMR Mumbai Admission 2026 is open. SPJIMR Mumbai has opened admission 2026 process for its two-year full-time programmes: PGDM and PGDM (BM). SPJIMR follows a differentiated admission process with emphasis on candidate profile and not just CAT scores. Read SPJIMR Mumbai Admission 2026 article to check SPJIMR Placements, Fees, Seats, Cut Offs, and how to apply. 

NMIMS MBA Admission 2026 is open, and will be based on NMAT by GMAC exam followed by a second-stage competency test and personal interview. To promote gender diversity, NMIMS University has announced that 30% of seats in MBA programs are reserved for female candidates. 

MBA Colleges Accepting 80-90 Percentile in CAT/XAT exam are well ranked MBA and PGDM colleges in India. The list is given below with their admission status:

Check list of good MBA Colleges accepting 70-80 Percentile in CAT/XAT and others MBA exam. 

As you have read above, MBA Entrance Exams scores are mandatory for Admissions. MBA Admission 2026 Entrance Exam details are given below. Check list of CAT, XAT, CMAT accepting colleges. 

MBA Admission in CAT Colleges: Top MBA Colleges in India Accepting CAT 2025 Score include 21 IIMs, FMS Delhi, SPJIMR Mumbai, MDI Gurgaon, IIFT New Delhi and 200+ other MBA colleges. Read details of 100+ Top MBA Colleges Accepting CAT Exam Scores with eligibility, Cut off, fees, placements, admission process

MBA Admission in XAT Colleges: Xavier Aptitude Test XAT 2026 accepting MBA colleges for admission 2025 are 250 and have increased from earlier 160. Check List of Top MBA colleges accepting XAT Score for different percentile range. Some prominent MBA colleges accepting XAT 2026 score are XLRI, XIMB, MICA, IMI, IMT among others. Read details of 100+ Top MBA Colleges Accepting XAT Exam Scores with their eligibility, Cut off, fees, admission process

MBA Admission in CMAT Colleges: Common Management Admission Test (CMAT) is a government organized computer based national level MBA entrance examination for entry into 1,000 AICTE approved management programmes (MBA/PGDM) all over India. A List of Top 10 CMAT Accepting colleges for admission 2025 is as below. Note they also accept CAT and other exams. 

MBA Admission in MAH MBA CET Colleges: MAH CET Exam 2025 was held on April 1, 2, 3, 2025. Conducted by Maharashtra State Government’s CET Cell of Directorate of Technical Education (DTE), MAH MBA/MMS CET 2025 is the MBA entrance exam for admission in JBIMS, SIMSREE, PUMBA and 300+ MBA colleges in Mumbai, Pune and other cities. Check top MBA colleges accepting MAH MBA CET exam scores. 

You can also select your MBA College based of your preferred city. Read highlights below, and visit list of top MBA colleges in each city below

Admission in Government MBA colleges is offered at low fees with good placements. Below is shared the list of Government MBA colleges with exam accepted, Fee structure, and admission status:
Admission in Government Colleges 

In addition to above list, almost all government universities offer MBA program. If you are looking for admission in low fees colleges, you can consider them. 

MBA specialization courses in various domains and functions like Finance, Marketing, Business Analytics, Human Resource Management, International Business, Banking & Finance, Insurance, Healthcare, Operations are offered by MBA and PGDM Colleges to cater to the industry demand. You need to choose which MBA specialization is best for your career goal. Check details below:

MBA Admission by Specialization

Read details of MBA Specializations offered by top MBA colleges, their admission process, fees, career prospects and more

MBA Admission 2026 without entrance exams are also available in some MBA colleges in India. These colleges hold their own exam or give admission based on profile of a candidate. Read details of Colleges offering Direct MBA Admission without Entrance Exam.

With so many MBA colleges available for admission, you may be confused on how to select the right MBA college for admission 2026? You can evaluate MBA colleges systematically based on following parameters: 

• Exam Accepted & Cut-offs: Check if the college accepts your entrance exam score (CAT, XAT, NMAT, etc.) and whether your score meets its cut-off. Admission chances depend directly on matching or exceeding these benchmarks.

• Budget & Fees: Calculate the total program cost, including tuition, hostel, and living expenses. Shortlist only those within your financial capacity.

• Placements: Review average salary, highest offers, and recruiter diversity over the past 3–5 years. Strong industry links signal better placement prospects.

• Ranking & Accreditation: Check rankings (NIRF, credible private lists) and accreditations like AACSB, EQUIS, AMBA, or NBA for quality assurance.

• Faculty: Research faculty qualifications, industry experience, and publications. A blend of academics and practitioners enriches learning.

• Location: Decide between top cities for industry exposure or top-ranked colleges regardless of location. Proximity to corporate hubs can benefit internships and placements.

• Alumni Network: A strong alumni network can provide mentorship, career opportunities, and business connections long after graduation. Review alumni achievements and engagement for brand credibility.

Use this guide on How to Choose Your MBA College.

MBA admissions 2025 for top B-schools in India closed during July–August. However, a few institutes with delayed admission cycles may still have openings. MBAUniverse.com recommends that candidates now shift their focus to applying for admissions in better-ranked institutions for the MBA 2026 intake.

MBA Admission in India 2026 for IIMs is open with the opening of CAT 2025 registration process. MBA Admission 2026 for XLRI Jamshedpur is open through XAT 2026. Other top MBA Colleges will open their admission 2026 process very soon. MBA Admission 2026 last date for top colleges will be in end of November. Read this in-depth article for complete guide to MBA Application form, Selection Process, Entrance Exams accepted and MBA admission last date for Top B-schools.