Now, since we have defined what is MAT is it’s time we should move on to the questions we have begun this article with. Why MAT? And what is its scope? Are the two most commonly asked questions from aspiring MBA candidates.

Candidates often find themselves getting confused while doing the cost benefit analysis of various MBA entrance exams like CAT and XAT with MAT. The charm of IIMs and XLRI restricts them to not think beyond CAT or XAT.

Let us look at the both the aspects related to MAT.

Why to take MAT?

MAT exam has several inherent benefits of its own. These benefits/advantages are listed below for your reference.
• Over 600 B-schools across India accept MAT scores, therefore, it becomes a beneficial choice for a candidate to opt.
• The fee charged in colleges accepting MAT scores is considerably lower than that of the top 20 B-Schools. Thus MAT exam would help you to maintain a balance between quality education and affordability.
• Apart from the above two benefits, another major benefit that MAT exam brings in is in terms of difficulty level. The difficulty level of MAT exam is quite low as compared to CAT, XAT, and SNAP; hence candidates performing above average in CAT exam can brighten their chances of getting good college through MAT.
• MAT exam is conducted four times a year, unlike CAT and XAT which are held annually. It clearly means that candidates can have more number of go’s at their target without waiting for a year.

We hope that by now you might have got the answer to the why part of the question. With all such benefits MAT certainly holds a potential to be categorized in equivalence to other management exam like CAT and XAT.

What after MAT?

After clearing the doubts regarding why part of the question it’s time we shall move to what part. What to do after MAT? Well similar to other entrance exams you would have to wait for the results to get declared.  Once the results are announced and you find that you are scoring a good enough score you can apply for Top colleges accepting MAT score (if you satisfy their cutoff requirements).

Even if you score average score you still have a chance to get a good college provided the huge variety of college participating in the exam. You should do a pre-analysis of colleges based on your score in the MAT exam before making applications to the college.

This would save a lot of time during application process as you would have the list of your preferred colleges with you where you can apply.

In case you fail to score the minimum qualifying marks (600) in the MAT exam then it would be difficult for you to get an admission through MAT. However, if you have applied for other management exam like CAT/GMAT/CMAT, etc. (alongside MAT) and are scoring around 70 percentile in them than your chances are still bright.

Thus, candidates are advised not to be depended upon a single exam and apply for multiple exams. This would not be difficult as syllabus of all the major management entrance exam is hugely overlapping.

If it’s the case that you have not qualified MAT and have also not applied for any other management entrance exam then don’t panic. As we told you MAT happens four times a year so, by the time you will get your MAT results you would have 2 to 3 months left for your next MAT exam.

Meanwhile there are other management exams whose notifications would be released in the time gap between two MAT exams. Make sure you apply for them as well.

Source: exams.collegedunia.com