If you are a serious MBA aspirant, then your journey is not limited to CAT exam but several other exams which follow that. The next big exams which are on your way are SNAP 2010, ATMA 2010, IBSAT 2010 and XAT 2011. After the national level exams, it will be turn for the state level MBA entrance exams as well.

The first big MBA entrance exam of the year was CAT 2010 which took place in a window of 20 days, from October 27 to November 24, 2010. This was followed by IIFT 2010, which happened on November 28, 2010; FMS 2011 took place on December 5, 2010 and JMET 2011 is scheduled on December 12, 2010. NMAT 2011, the computer based test for the admission of NMIMS Mumbai, is going on in a window of 90 days, which started from October 1, 2010 and will end on December 31, 2010. 

Let us have a look at the upcoming MBA entrance exams and the important dates, pattern and the other important details of the test.

XAT 2011
XAT 2011, the MBA entrance exam conducted by Xavier Labor Relations Institute (XLRI) Jamshedpur will be held on Sunday, January 2, 2010. XAT scores are accepted by the top B-schools like XLRI Jamshedpur, Xavier Institute of Management Bhubaneswar (XIMB), Goa Institute of Management (GIM), Loyola Institute of Business Administration (LIBA) Chennai, S P Jain Institute of Management Research (SPJIMR) Mumbai, to name a few.

The sections of XAT are Verbal & Logical Ability, Analytical Reasoning & Decision Making and Data Interpretation & Quantitative Ability. There is also an Essay Writing section whose duration is 20 minutes. The total duration of the exam is 140 minutes, including the 20 minutes essay writing. XAT 2010 had 101 questions in total with a high difficulty level.

In XAT, the Quantitative Ability and Data Interpretation questions are in one section. The second section is English Usage (EU) and RC. The third section is Analytical Reasoning (AR) and Decision Making. Selection of easier questions is very important, which are very well inserted between the tougher questions, the reason for the perception of XAT being a tougher nut to crack than CAT.

SNAP 2010
SNAP is the common entrance exam for the Symbiosis Institutes. The date in which the exam will be conducted this year is Sunday, December 19, 2010. The Symbiosis MBA institutes that will accept the SNAP 2010 scores are: Symbiosis Institute of Business Management (SIBM), Pune and Bangalore; Symbiosis Institute of International Business (SIIB), Pune; Symbiosis Center for Management and Human Resource Development (SCMHRD), Pune; Symbiosis Institute of Management Studies (SIMS), Pune; Symbiosis Institute of Operations Management (SIOM), Nashik; Symbiosis School of Banking Management (SSBM), Pune.

The number of questions in SNAP 2009 was 150. There are five sections in the exam. These are: Quantitative Ability, Verbal Ability, Analytical & Logical Reasoning, Data Interpretation & Data Sufficiency and General Awareness. As far as the marking scheme is concerned, the sections of General English, Quantitative, Data Interpretation & Data Sufficiency, General Awareness and Analytical & Logical Reasoning Sections have 1 mark each for the correct answers and Analytical & Logical Reasoning section has two marks each. Total marks are 180.  Quantitative, Data Interpretation & Data Sufficiency, General Awareness has 40 marks each and Analytical & Logical Reasoning section has 60 marks. There is 25 per cent negative marking for each incorrect answer

ATMA 2010
AIMS Test for Management Aptitude or ATMA is the MBA entrance exam conducted by the Association of Indian Management Schools (AIMS). This year the exam will be conducted on Sunday, December 19, 2010. The prominent institutes which accept ATMA scores are There are 133 MBA institutes that accept ATMA scores. Some of the prominent institutes are Asia Pacific Institute of Management, New Delhi; IMS Ghaziabad, Bengal Institute of Management Studies, Kolkata; Indian Institute of Management Training, Pune; Welingkar Institute of Management Development & Research, Mumbai; Indian Business Academy, Bangalore; International School of Business and Research, Bangalore to name a few. Amity Global Business School, Noida; Bangalore School of Business, Bangalore; Institute of Management and Development, New Delhi; Indore Management Institute and Research Center, Indore are some of the prominent recently joined institutes.

The duration of the exam is 180 minutes. The sections of the exam are Quantitative Ability, Verbal Ability and Analytical Reasoning Skills. ATMA 2009 had 170 questions. There is one mark for each correct answer and a negative marking on 0.33 mark for each wrong answer.

IBSAT 2010
IBSAT, the MBA entrance exam for ICFAI Business Schools will be held on Sunday, December 26, 2010. The institutes which accept the IBSAT scores are ICFAI Business School: Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Bhubaneshwar, Chandigarh, Gurgaon, Indore, Jaipur, Kochi, Kolkata, Mumbai, Nagpur, Noida, Pune.

The duration of the test is 120 minutes. The sections of the exam are Verbal Ability, Reading Comprehension, Quantitative Aptitude and Data Interpretation & Data Sufficiency. The number of questions in IBSAT 2009 was 125. There is no negative marking in IBSAT.

State level MBA entrance exams
The state level exams like MAH-CET, GCET, RMAT, MPMET, PMET, TANCET, ICET etc. will trail after the national level MBA entrance exams. Though these exams are not announced yet, but the notifications are expected on December onwards as most of these exams are held between February and July.