Most of the MBA exams are held towards the end of the year. CAT for instance is held in December and XAT is held on the first sunday of January. The applications for the same are advised in Sept-October and applications are recieved till around november. Results are usually declared a month after the exams.
Depending on your performance and if your scrores are higher than the min cut offs as decided by the institutes, you get calls. Remember besides appering for the exam, you have to apply to each and every institute you are interested in. If you get a call, most B Schools conduct two rounds for final selection. The first is a Group Discussion (GD), that tests a candidate on his/her verbal communication skills and the way they behave and conduct themselves in a group. Leadership qualities are also evaluated at this stage.
The next and the last stage is the Personal Interview (or PI). Here questions can range from a wide range of topics which usually include academic, general knowledge and general questions. The panel basically awards points depending upon your performane in these stages. Usually there is also a weightage on your entrace exam score, you academic history, your achievements and work experience if any. These scores are then added up to arrive at a composite score which is what decides you fate and chances of getting into the institute.
The higher your composite score obviously the better. Candidates should not lose hope if their academic history and their marks in the 10th and 12th are ’’low’’. These can easily be made up for if you perform well in your GD and PI.
This year, however the admission procedure may be a little different, because the government wishes to bring a common test system for all MBA institutes. However, it may be easier said than done. From what I see, there will be atleast three exams, namely CAT ( for the IIMs and a select few), XAT( for the Xavier Institutes and few others) and MAT( for all other B Schools in the country). Also the government has expressed displeasure at the fact of having to apply at institutes before getting the result. This is a good move and students need not have to waste money applying at different institutes before they actually get their scores.
If you need more information on these exams, tips on how to crack them and best choice of institutes, feel free to ask me.