India’s higher education system is recognised as the second largest in the world today. There are more than 550 universities and almost 16,000 additional colleges offering graduation courses in various subjects and academic disciplines. Getting a graduation degree is part of a student’s basic education. It forms a strong base for deciding the future course of studies and future career prospects. There are many competitive exams that are conducted in India, either to get admission for further studies or to get into a job directly. A graduation degree opens the gateway for many competitive exams and qualifying these exams prove to be the milestone for future careers.
Listed below are some of the competitive exams that a student can take after graduation
MBA
For management courses, following are some of the competitive entrance  exams a graduate can appear for:
- Common Admission Test (CAT):Â Conducted by the Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs), this is an all India entrance exam for admission to the Post-graduate and Fellow Programs in management courses offered by the IIMs as well as many management institutes all over the country. The weightage of the CAT score is different for different institutes.
- Common Management Admission Test (CMAT): This test is conducted for admission to all management programs approved by AICTE and it is an all-India entrance exam held once in a year. Nowadays, AICTE also conducts CMAT in foreign countries for NRIs/PIOs and foreign nationals to appear in CMAT for seeking admission in institutions in India.
- Xavier Aptitude Test (XAT): Conducted by Xavier Association of Management Institutes (XAMI) for admissions in management courses of different management institutes all over the country.
- The Indian Institute of Foreign Trade (IIFT): An admission test for graduates conducted by the Indian Institute of Foreign Trade for their institutes in New Delhi and Kolkata.
- Symbiosis National Aptitude (SNAP): A common entrance test for admission to all the institutes of Symbiosis International (Deemed) University.
- NMAT: NMAT entrance is conducted by the Graduate Management Admission Council for admission to all the management courses of NMIMS Mumbai and the PGDM courses of NMIMS Bengaluru and Hyderabad.
- Management Aptitude Test (MAT): Conducted by All India Management Aptitude Testing Service (AIMATS) for admission to MBA programmes of the several participating institutes. This is usually conducted four times a year.
- Maharashtra Common Entrance Test (MH-CET): This test is conducted for graduates to take admission in MBA/MMS and PGDBM/PGDM in Government University departments, University managed and unaided institutes in the state of Maharashtra.
- IBSAT: IBSAT is a computer based test for graduates to take admission in the nine Indian Business Schools at Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Kolkata, Dehradun, Gurgaon, Mumbai and Pune. The test is conducted in 100 Test Centres across India.
For Education in Foreign Universities
- Graduate Management Admission Test (GMAT): A computer adaptive test to get admission in more than 2100 foreign universities. It is a registered trademark of the Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC). It is the selection criteria for admission into different graduate management programs, including MBA, Master of Finance programs, Master of Accountancy abroad.
- Graduate Record Examinations (GRE): This test is conducted to assess eligibility for various graduate and business school programs in the US and other countries. The test is conducted and managed by the Educational Testing Service (ETS) in more than 700 centres in over 160 countries.
For MTech and ME
- Graduate Aptitude Test in Engineering (GATE): Conducted jointly by the Indian Institute of Science and seven Indian Institutes of Technology, GATE is a National level examination for admission in MTech and ME in various institutes.
- Joint Admission Test for M.Sc. (JAM): This is another entrance exam conducted on an all-India basis by Indian Institutes of Technology and Indian Institute of Science for admission to M.Sc., Ph.D., M.Sc.-Ph.D. and other post-graduate degree programmes at the IITs and also the Integrated Ph.D. programmes at IISc.
For Government Jobs
- Civil Services Examination (CSE): A nationwide competitive examination conducted by the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) for recruitment to Civil Services in Government of India, which includes the elite Indian Administrative Service (IAS), Indian Foreign Service (IFS), Indian Police Service (IPS) and Indian Revenue Service (IRS). Graduates from any stream can apply for this exam.
- Indian Economic Service Examination (IES): This is the administrative civil service that includes Grade A of the Central Civil Services of the executive branch of the GoI. A graduate with Economics/Statistics is eligible for this exam.
- Indian Statistical Service Examination (ISS): A graduate in Statistics/Mathematics/Economics is suitable to appear for ISS exam, for recruitment to Grade IV officers of the services of Indian Statistic.
Academics
- B.Ed. Common Entrance Test (EdCET): Different states conduct B.Ed common entrance test for taking admission in Bachelor of Education (B.Ed.), the completion of which makes the applicant suitable to apply for teaching jobs in private and government schools.
- Indian Council of Agriculture Research (ICAR): Graduates in science discipline can appear for ICAR to get admission in post-graduation in agriculture related studies in Indian universities.
For Banking Jobs
- SBI PO Exams: Conducted by State Bank of India to recruit Probationary officers (PO). Graduates in any stream are eligible for such an exam.
- IBPS PO/Management Trainee Exams: This is another exam conducted by the Institute of Bank Personnel Selection (IBPS) for the recruitment of PO and MT in public sector banks.
- IBPS Clerk Exams: This is a common exam for the clerk position in public and private sector banks, except SBI.
- National Bank for Agriculture & Rural Development (NABARD): NABARD conducts admission test for positions as Development Officers and others in the bank.
- RBI Grade A and Grade B Exams: The Reserve Bank of India conducts exams for Grade A and B officers’ positions.
For Insurance Jobs
- L.I.C/ G.I.C Competitive Exams: For getting jobs in various positions in Life Insurance and General Insurance Companies, different competitive exams are conducted such as L.I.C Officers’ Exam, G.I.C Officers’ Exam, L.I.C Development Officers’ Exam, G.I.C. Assistants Exam etc.
Others
- SSC Combined Graduate Level Exams: Graduates from any recognized university can appear for Short Service Commission Combined Graduate Level Exams. A degree with Economics or Statistics or Mathematics as a compulsory subject or elective subject is a must. Qualifying such an exam makes a candidate get jobs to posts such as Sub-inspector, Tax assistants, Auditor offices, Accountant, and other assistant level positions
- Railway jobs test:Â Indian Railways also conduct tests for graduates for varied positions as ticket examiner, clerk, non-technical posts, Group C and Group D departments etc.
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