MAT MBA Entrance Exam – All You Need to Know

MAT is a popular MBA entrance exam which is organized by the All India Management Association. It is also the second largest MBA entrance exam after CAT as it attracts approx. 1 lakh MBA aspirants every year. With so many MBA aspirants appearing for the exam every year, it is very important for candidates to know all the important details about the entrance exam in order to prepare well for the exam. So, let’s get started.

What is the MAT MBA Exam?

MAT or the Management Aptitude Test is a national level MBA entrance exam conducted by All India Management Association i.e., AIMA. It is also the second most popular MBA entrance exam in the country after CAT. MAT is the only MBA entrance exam which is conducted four times a year and this becomes a unique opportunityfor MBA aspirants to appear for the exam and improve their score to secure admission in top MBA colleges in India.

Which B-schools accept the MAT Exam score for MBA admissions?

Conducted by AIMA since 1998, the MAT MBA exam has over 600 participating B-schools which accept the test score to select candidates for MBA admissions. The list of MBA colleges and institutes which acceptthe MAT score include the likes of TA Pai Management Institute, Manipal, National Institute of Technology, Warangal, Institute of Public Enterprise, Hyderabad, and XIME Bangalore.

Who can appear for the MAT MBA Exam?

Just like the other MBA entrance exams, even the MAT MBA exam can be taken up by graduates who hold a valid bachelor’s degree. A candidate needs to be a graduate in any discipline in order to be eligible for the MAT. Even the final year undergraduate students can also appear for the exam. There is no age-limit for the candidates who can take up the MAT.

MAT MBA Exam Format

Another unique feature of MAT MBA exam is its exam format. It is the only main-stream MBA entrance exam that is conducted in both paper-based test format (offline) as well as computer-based test format. Candidates can choose to appear for either or in both the formats according to their convenience and choice.

MAT Exam Syllabus

The MAT MBA exam syllabus is not strictly defined by the AIMA; however, there are a few sections and topics that are provided as guidelines to students who are preparing for the MAT. The exam consists of five key sections i.e. Language Comprehension, Intelligence & Critical Reasoning, Mathematical skills, Data Analysis & Sufficiency and Indian & Global Environment.

• Language Comprehension is the test of English language and grammar skills of the candidate. MBA aspirants have to deal with questions on topics like sentence correction, odd-man-out, fill-in-the-blanks, antonyms, synonyms, idioms, reading comprehension, vocabulary, verbal reasoning and analogies.
• Intelligence & Critical Reasoning: This is dubbed as the trickiest section of the MAT exam and covers a diverse range of topics and concepts. Candidates can expect questions on verbal ability, coding and decoding, family tree, mathematical reasoning, cause and effect as well as sequencing.
• Mathematical Skills: This is the number-crunching section in which candidates will have to exhibit their quant and math skills. The questions will range on topics such as averages, ratios and proportions, numbering system, functions, time progression, algebra, averages and others.
• Data Analysis & Sufficiency:Deemed as the lengthiest section of the MAT exam, the Data Analysis & Sufficiency section is a tough nut to crack. Candidates will face DI questions that will be asked in the form of charts, graphs and data sets.
• Indian & Global Environment section deals with the current affairs and also tests the General Knowledge the candidate. Questions in this section are about the current happenings in India as well as at the global level. The conventional GK questions are asked from areas such as Geography, History, Sports, Entertainment, Politics, Science, Awards, Business, etc.

MAT MBA Exam Pattern

The MAT MBA Exam follows a five section format which covers Language Comprehension, Intelligence & Critical Reasoning, Mathematical skills, Data Analysis & Sufficiency and Indian & Global Environment. However, the last section i.e. Indian & Global Environment section is a qualifying one and the score of this section is not considered for the compilation of the final score and percentile. Each section in the MAT exam consists of 40 questions, which takes the total number of questions in the exam to 200. The questions are objective in nature i.e. multiple choice questions.

Candidates are provided 150 minutes or 2 hours and 30 minutes to answer the 200 questions i.e., less than a minute to answer each question. As far as marking scheme is concerned, candidates are awarded 1 mark for each correct answer while 0.25 mark is deducted from the overall score for each wrong answer.

MAT MBA Exam – Sharing of Candidate’s Score

During the online registration process, candidates are provided with the option to pick five B-schools with which they would like to share their MAT exam score in order to be considered for MBA admissions. After the declaration of the final exam result, the MAT MBA exam scores are shared by AIMA with the 5 B-schools that are selected by the candidate. Candidates who opt for both paper-based test as well as computer-based test are given the option to select 7 B-schools to share their MAT score for admission screening.

MAT MBA Exam Cut-offs

Based on the number of students applying to B-schools, the respective institutes announce the MAT cut-offs. The MAT MBA cut-off is the minimum score that a candidate has to score in order to be considered for further screening for MBA admissions. The MAT cut-off depends upon three key factors i.e. the number of applicants/candidates, the difficulty level of the exam and the availability of the seats.

MAT MBA Exam Schedule

MAT is conducted four times in a year i.e. in the month of February, May, September and December. The tentative schedule for the same is:

The MAT MBA Exam is a unique entrance exam for management aspirants with many innovative measures that are not found in any other exam. As it is conducted four times a year, it presents MBA aspirants with a unique opportunity to improve their score without waiting for an entire year to re-appear for the exam.

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