MAT Exam Preparation 2025: Key Tips to Score 99 Percentile

Registration - 24 Dec '24 - 2 Mar '25

Senior Manager - Content

Updated on Dec 2, 2024 15:54 IST

MAT exam is student friendly and easy to crack. However, one needs to have correct strategy for the same. It is conducted multiple times in a year so one can appear for it according to preparation done. If you are planning to pursue MBA this year, get the key MAT 2025 preparation tips here.

MAT Preparation 2025 - The first step towards MAT preparation is know the syllabus and pattern. MAT is a speed based test in which candidates have to solve 150 questions in 120 minutes. It may sound tough but one can easily crack it with focused MAT preparation 2025. The syllabus includes Language Comprehension, Mathematical Skills, Data Analysis and Sufficiency, Intelligence and Critical Reasoning abilities along with General Knowledge and Current Affairs. The MAT is an easy exam, so you need not get worried on seeing the vast syllabus. If you have appeared for any other MBA entrance or are preparing for it, you will find these topics familiar. Read here some useful tips for MAT preparation 2024.

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What is MAT exam?

The All India Management Association (AIMA) conducts the Management Aptitude Test or MAT at all India level for MBA/PGDM admissions. The MAT exam is conducted multiple times in a year, in four phases. More than 800 B-school accept MAT scores for admission to MBA/PGDM courses.

Q: Who decides MAT cut off percentiles for admission?

The participating colleges decide MAT cut off for admission to their MBA/PGDM programmes. Generally, the top MBA colleges' cut off range is around 90-95 percentile. Cut offs of Tier 2 colleges is usually between the range of 80-90 percentile and for Tier 3 it is 50-70 percentile. These cut offs are determined by the colleges on the basis of certain parameters and may change year on year. The three main factors that determine MAT cut off are listed below: 1. Difficulty level of MAT exam 2. Total number of students applying 3. Seat intake capacity of any institute 4. Previous year's cut offs Admission to MBA/PGDM courses through MAT is based on the cut offs. This is the standard procedure for MBA Admission in private B-schools and top government institutes as well. MAT being a national level MBA entrance exam follows the same process.

Q: Which are the top colleges for MAT score 70-80 percentile?

MAT score is accepted by lot of MBA colleges across India. Candidates can find a college of their percentile range among the 800 MBA colleges that accept MAT score. If you have scored in the MAT percentile range of 70-80 percentile, you can seek admission in the following colleges. These are some of the popular MBA college that accept MAT score of 70-80 percentile. Institute of Business Management and Technology Jaypee Business School EMPI Business School Delhi School of Business FIIB Delhi Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan's Usha and Lakshmi Mittal Institute of Management SCMS Cochin School of Business IES Management Colleges and Research Centre Mumbai Globsyn Business School, Kolkata Calcutta Business School, Kolkata GITAM School of International Business Visakhapatnam GITMA Hyderabad Business School Hyderabad Durgadevi Saraf Institute of Management Studies Mumbai Rajalakshami School of Business Chennai ABBS Bangalore.

Q: How is the MAT score and percentile calculated?

MAT score calculation is based on marks obtained in the five section- Language Comprehension, Mathematical Skills, Data Analysis and Sufficiency and Intelligence and Critical Reasoning. The score of Indian & Global Environment section is not taken into consideration for MAT percentile calculation, so candidates need not worry about it. Know the MAT marking scheme below: MAT composite score is presented in the range of 199-801. Each question carries one mark for correct attempt. There is negative marking of 0.25 marks for each incorrect attempt. 0 marks is awarded for unanswered questions. Scores of the four sections are reported on a scale of 0-100. The MAT Composite Score is reported on a scale of 199 to 801. MAT percentile is calculated based on the formula which takes into consideration performance of each candidate versus all candidates.

MAT Preparation Strategy 2025

To score well in the MAT 2025, study the important topics and keep practicing MAT question papers side by side to assess your strengths and weaknesses. Before reading MAT 2024 preparation tips, take a look at the MAT exam pattern and syllabus.

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MAT Exam Pattern 2025

Given below is the MAT 2025 exam pattern, which highlights the sectional break-up of the MAT question paper. Although there is no sectional time-limit in MAT exam, candidates must divide their time as suggested in the table.

MAT Sections	Number of Questions	Suggested Time
Language Comprehension	30	20 minutes
Mathematical Skills	30	30 minutes
Data Analysis and Sufficiency	30	30 minutes
Intelligence and Critical Reasoning	30	30 minutes
Indian and Global Environment	30	10 minutes
Total	150	120 minutes

Q: Which are the top colleges for MAT score 50-60 percentile?

MAT score is accepted by a lot of private MBA colleges in Tier 1, Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities. Some of the popular MBA colleges which accept MAT score in the range of 50-60 percentile are listed below. Admission process of these colleges include group discussion and Personal Interview . School of Management Sciences Varanasi Greater Noida Institute of Management Deviprasad Goenka Management College of Media Studies Mumbai International Institute of Business Studies Kolkata St Josephs Institute of Management Trichy Development Management Institute Patna Kirloskar Institute of Advanced Management Harihar Rajalakshmi School of Business Chennai Gurunanak Institute of Management Studies Mumbai Madhya Pradesh Birla Institute of Management Bangalore MITCON Institute of Management Pune Vyasa Business School Bangalore GRG School of Management Studies Coimbatore Jagan Institute of Management Studies Jaipur Vanguard Business School Bangalore.

Q: What is the minimum no. of questions that I attempt in the MAT exam to score 85 percentile?

Number of Questions in MAT as per the sections are - Language Comprehension - 40 Mathematical Skills - 40 Data Analysis and Sufficiency - 40 Intelligence and Critical Reasoning - 40 Indian and Global Environment - 40 Total = 200 questions 120-130 correctly answered questions will get you around 85 percentile. But it's just a speculation, percentile score also depends on the difficulty level of paper. The number of students attending the exam and scores obtained by other students.

Q: Am I eligible to get admission in MBA with less than 50% marks in graduation? Am I eligible to give MAT?

Yes, you are eligible, Management education has witnessed a paradigm shift in recent years owing to the changing business landscape and rising demand for skilled and competent business professionals. The University School of Business USB, one of the Tops and Best MBA Colleges in Punjab, India, understands the need of identifying and nurturing the budding Management professionals in accordance to the changes taking place in the corporate world in terms of competencies and employability quotients. Some of the key competencies developed in an MBA aspirant at the University School of Business USB, Chandigarh University include Cognitive competence, logical and analytical thinking, critical evaluation, team leading and management, social and behavioral skills, and data analytics, among others. The curriculum for MBA at the University School of Business USB is designed after gap analysis based on the previous year's PO attainment and thorough research on the industry requirements, and feedback from the key stakeholders. Various reports from research forums and agencies working on higher education research like World Economic Forum, McKinsey's Global Reports, and Harvard Business Review, among others, were reviewed in order to understand and identify the key skills expected by the industry in the coming future. University School of Business USB Best MBA College in Punjab, India, offers two years full-time Master of Business Administration MBA degree programme. This is a dual specialisation programme. The department has an impeccable placement record for MBA students at decent packages of up to 28 LPA with well-known brands of varied industries. CU is Ranked 45th in the Management category in NIRF, 2021, 2nd among emerging B Schools of India TOI, AAA Rankings by careers 360, AA+ Ranking by digital learning.

Q: When are MAT result and cut offs released for all sessions?

AIMA MAT releases the results phase wise. The exam is held in multiple sessions in February, May, September and December phases. So the results are released for all the sessions of a particular phase on the same day. The MAT February result of all sessions are released in March. The MAT May results are released in June and the MAT September result is released in October and MAT December results are released in January. Candidates who appear for the exam, can download their scorecard for their exam session from the AIMA MAT website. AIMA does not release cut offs for admission through MAT. It has no role in the MAT cut off determination. The participating institutes determine MAT cut offs on their own and as per their selection parameters and criteria.

Q: What role does AIMA play in deciding the MAT percentile or MAT cut off?

AIMA does not play any role in deciding MAT cut offs for admission to any institute. The cut offs are determined by MAT participating colleges individually. AIMA only calculates MAT percentile of every candidate basis their raw score. Factors such as total number of candidates appearing for the exam, the difficulty level of the exam and total number of seats collectively determine MAT cut off for a particular academic session. The cut offs rarely increase or decrease in an academic session. Composite Score of 400 and above is considered a good MAT score. Some of the MAT participating institutes take into consideration sectional cut offs along with overall cut off, while some institutes consider only the overall MAT score for admission. Only meeting the MAT cut off does not guarantee admission to the institute. Final admission is granted based on candidate's overall performance in the MAT exam, Group Discussion, Personal Interview and Academics. Candidates need to check the selection criteria of their preferred institute for the types of cut offs they accept for admission.

MAT Syllabus 2025

Before starting with MAT preparation 2025, aspirants must arrange MAT books and study material and make a study-schedule. Devote equal time to each of the topics included in MAT syllabus. It is better to pre-determine hours for each subject. Go through the MAT 2025 Syllabus, and make a MAT preparation plan topic wise to avoid missing out on any important topic.

MAT Sections	MAT Syllabus
Language Comprehension	Reading Comprehension, Parajumbles, Fill in the blanks, One Word Substitution, Sentence Correction, Verbal Ability, Antonym & Synonyms, Idioms & Phrases, etc.
Data Analysis & Sufficiency	Tables, Charts, Pie Charts, Bar Diagrams, Caselet-based Data, Venn Diagram, Graphs, Data Comparison, Data Sufficiency, etc.
Mathematical Skills	Algebra, Geometry, Trigonometry, Mensuration, Number System, Percentage, LCM & HCF, Inequalities, Set Theory, etc.
Intelligence & Critical Reasoning	Blood Relation, Family Tree, Coding & Decoding, Numeric Grid, Syllogism, Clocks, Calendars, Visual Reasoning, etc

MAT 2025 Preparation: Time Management

The duration of MAT exam is 120 minutes in which candidates have to attempt 150 questions. Therefore, it is crucial for a candidate to have a proper plan for each section. Here, time management plays an extremely important role. To attempt all questions within the time duration, you need to solve each question in less than a minute. However, it is not mandatory to solve all the questions. The trick is to choose which questions to solve. You must first decide how many questions to attempt per section (focus on sectional cut off).

Solve easy questions that require less time first and then move to tough ones. Solve all the easy questions of all the sections first. You can attempt tough questions in the remaining time. Do not waste time on tricky questions. Do not attempt a question you are not sure of solving accurately. MAT exam has negative marking so don’t take chances.

MAT 2025 Preparation: Complete the Syllabus

All the sections of MAT exam need practice, but before practice, you need to have complete understanding of the concept and its application. Be it Mathematical Skills, Data Interpretation, Logical Reasoning or English Language Comprehension, you should not start practicing sample questions before completing the syllabus. Make a plan for covering MAT syllabus in limited time. It should include studying topic wise chapters per day. After completing a chapter, attempt a few questions to see if you've understood the application or not. This way, you'll be able to study and practice simultaneously.

In the MAT 2025 exam, make sure that you read the questions thoroughly before attempting them. Don't do speed reading.

Also read: Best Books for MAT 2025 Preparation

MAT 2025 Preparation: Practice MAT Mock Test Papers and Online Series

Merely, having theoretical knowledge of topics and concepts will not help you score well in MAT 2025 exam. You must have practice of solving questions quickly. In MAT, you will be targeting at least 100-120 questions out of 150 questions which means you will get less than 1 minute for each question. To gain enough speed and accuracy, you need to practice as many sample papers possible for MAT exam. Keeping this in mind, solve as many MAT mock tests and sample papers as you can. This will give you an idea about the expected topics, the difficulty level of questions, types of questions, time taken per questions and tricks and shortcuts to apply. Practicing MAT mock tests will also help you in experiencing the actual exam pressure and environment. In order to know your level of MAT preparation, start taking online mock tests and carefully analyse your performance in each one of them to know your strengths and weaknesses.

MAT Mock Test by Shiksha

MAT Mock Test 1	MAT Mock Test 1 Solutions
MAT Mock Test 2	CMAT Mock Test 2 Solutions

MAT 2025 Preparation: Choose the exam phase wisely

MAT exam is conducted multiple times in four phases. Candidates have the choice to opt for the exam in February, May, September or December. You must register for MAT only when you are fully prepared and have started scoring 99 percentile in mock tests. If you need six months to prepare then go for the exam phase which is six months away. If you can prepare for MAT in three months, then opt for the phase which is three months away. You need to be well prepared for optimum result in MAT, so register for it only in the phase that suits your preparation plan.

Check MAT Cut offs and predict calls from colleges accepting MAT score for admission. Check Fees, Placement Reviews, Admission, Shortlist Criteria and Eligibility of all MAT participating colleges by clicking the link below:

Predict MAT Admission Calls

About the Author

Vipra Shrivastava

Senior Manager - Content

Vipra is a massive Breaking Bad fan. When not watching crime drama series, she spends time in updating the list of places she wants to visit and people she wants to meet, but she is happiest in the company of dogs. ... Read Full Bio

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