Looking forward towards making a career in management from the elite IIMs or any top notch B-school? Well, however lucrative it may appear, the journey is quite grilling and cumbersome too. Starting with clearing the aptitude test the following steps of the ladder include group discussion, essay writing, personal interview and what not.

Talking about the initial step towards a reputed business school journey is the aptitude test or admission test. And, fortunately one has numerous choices like CAT, SNAP, IIFT, XAT, NMAT etc. when it comes to MBA admissions in India. However, each one has its own list of colleges under them and come with their unique set of advantages.

Apart from the most famous CAT exam, one can opt for MAT 2018. Conducted by All India Management Association (AIMA), the Management Aptitude Test comes with a lot of features that makes the initial step of admission process much easier. Every year, more than 3 lakh candidates appear for the exam and we’ll let you know the 7 best reasons you should give MAT 2018.

Lower Difficulty Level

One key aspect of MAT 2018 is that this exam is much easier than other MBA entrance exams of the country, which makes it a viable choice for those who have not done a lot of preparation till now. MAT 2018 contains 5 sections, which altogether have 200 questions and are to be completed in 150 minutes. The time to questions ratio of MAT 2018 also suggests that it is more of a speed based exam rather than being a very tough.

In General, the level of questions asked in MAT 2018 is much below the level of those asked in SNAP, IIFT or XAT. Questions is all the subjects like English, Reasoning, General Awareness and Quantitative Aptitude are much easier and do not require a lot of time to prepare for.

Opportunity to enhance your score

Another major reason that compels a lot of students to go for MAT is that it gives the opportunity to enhance your score, if you could not score well in the first attempt. This is possible because MAT is conducted 4 times in a year, i.e. February, May, September and December. There is no limitation for appearing and any candidate can appear all 4 times in a year.

Except one or two management entrance tests, no other exam gives the option of appearing multiple times. Major exams like CAT, SNAP, CMAT, XAT and IIFT all are conducted only once in a year. This means that if you could not do well on that particular day, your whole year of preparation gets ruined. But thankfully, this is not that case with MAT and that is why you must appear for it.

Wide range of B-schools to choose from

MAT scores are accepted at more than 600 business schools of the country, which makes it a very good investment of time and money. Some highly desired business schools like Kirloskar Institute of Advanced Management Studies Harihar, XIME Bangalore IPE Hyderabad, Alliance Business School, BIT Mesra, VIT Vellore and KIIT Bhubaneswar accept scores of MAT 2018 for their admission process. Since MAT gives you an unmatched number of business schools to choose from, it is surely worth a try.

Apply to 5 business schools for free

Another huge benefit of going for MAT 2018 is that it gives you the chance to apply for 5 business schools without asking for a single penny. This is literally a big benefit as college forms do attract a handsome amount of money and time. Averagely, an application form for a colleges costs you around INR 2000-2500, and due to the lengthy nature of forms and presence of subjective questions, it can take 1-2 days to fill the form with satisfaction.

So with MAT 2018, not only you are saving more than 10000 rupees, but are also saving the precious time that gets wasted in filling so many forms. At the moment, only CAT and MAT give you the option to apply to so many programs using one single form. Thus, MAT 2018 is surely worth going.

Option of choosing mode of exam

Most of the management entrance exams are conducted in online mode these days. Well it is true that online mode is more efficient than the offline mode, but it becomes a bit cumbersome for those who aren’t used to studying or practicing on the digital screen. On the other hand, offline exams are prone to printing issues and the pain of filling OMR sheets is another issue.

Therefore, every student has his/her own preference whether online is better or offline. But generally, this preference does not matter as it is the examination authority that decides the mode of examination and not the students.

But MAT 2018 is probably the only exam which lets you choose whether you want to sit for an online exam or an offline exam. Amongst a lot of other benefits of MAT 2018, this is another amazing feature as you can choose the exam mode of your comfort. So whether you like to do the clicks or to fill the circles, MAT 2018 is open for you in both the ways.

Option for those who missed other exams

Most of the management entrance exams of the country are conducted within a period of November to First Week of January. Well, if you were late to decide that you want to MBA and could not apply for any of the exams like CAT, XAT, SNAP, NMAT or IIFT, then MAT is a perfect choice for you. Even after missing all these exams, you can apply for MAT’s February edition and secure a seat in the best business schools.

In case you had applied for these exams but could not do well, even then MAT 2018-19 is a great choice. Thus, MAT 2018 could well be your last chance to MBA, and therefore must definitely be given a try.

Platform setter for early birds

If you have just started your preparation for MAT 2018 or any other management entrance exam, even then the next MAT becomes a very important exam for you. We all know the syllabus of all the management entrance exams is same. Thus, you can take MAT 2018 as a platform setter for your preparation, as it will give you an idea of where you stand at the national level.

Another way of looking at this is that most of the other exams have very less time between them. Like last year, CAT 2017 was on 26th November and IIFT 2017 was on 3rd December. With very less time between two important exams, students get virtually no time to address their weakness. But with MAT, you can take it much earlier than your most desired MAT edition or any other exam, which gives you ample time to adjust your preparation. Thus, MAT 2018 becomes the most relevant method to guide your preparation.