WeSchool vs Great Lakes in 2026: The PGDM Decision, Sourced

Families shortlist WeSchool and Great Lakes together because both are AICTE-approved private B-schools that accept several exams. But this is not one comparison. It is two, and your work experience decides which one applies to you. This page lays out both, every figure sourced from the official pages, and says plainly where a current figure is not yet published.

Are you actually comparing the same kind of programme?

No, and this is the first thing to get right. WeSchool sells one product where Great Lakes sells two.

WeSchool runs a two-year, AICTE-approved PGDM at two campuses: Mumbai, with a present intake of 180 and running since 1994, and Bengaluru, with a present intake of 60 and running since 2009, per the official campus pages (welingkar.org, cached copies of April 2026). Eligibility is a minimum 50% in graduation, completed by June 2026, with no work-experience requirement, per the same pages.

Great Lakes Chennai runs a one-year PGPM, its flagship since 2004, and a separate two-year PGDM, both AICTE-approved, per the official programme pages (greatlakes.edu.in, accessed 13 July 2026). The split is enforced in eligibility: the PGPM asks for candidates with 2+ years of work experience and minimum 50% across 10th, 12th and UG, while the PGDM takes only freshers and candidates with strictly less than 36 months of experience, at a higher bar of minimum 60% across 10th, 12th and UG.

So the real matchups are these. A fresher chooses between the WeSchool PGDM and the Great Lakes PGDM. A candidate with two or more years of work chooses between the WeSchool PGDM and the Great Lakes PGPM, which is also a one-year versus two-year call. Underneath both sits the city: Mumbai or Bengaluru against a residential campus in Chennai. Our Mumbai, Bangalore and Chennai guides cover each base, and PGDM vs MBA covers the diploma-versus-degree question both schools get asked.

Which exams do they accept, and who publishes cutoffs?

WeSchool accepts the wider list and is the only one of the two that publishes cutoffs. For PGDM 2026-28 at both campuses, WeSchool accepts CAT 2025, XAT 2026, GMAT taken 2023 onwards, ATMA February 2026 and CMAT 2026, per its official entrance-test cutoff PDF. The same PDF publishes the shortlisting bars for the general merit list: 80 percentile in CAT/XAT/GMAT or 85 in ATMA/CMAT for the flagship Mumbai PGDM group, 75 or 80 for the Bengaluru flagship group, and 70 across all accepted tests for the lowest-bar Mumbai specialisations.

Great Lakes accepts fewer exams and publishes no minimum score. For the PGPM (2027-28 admission process), it accepts GMAT taken after 1 January 2024, CAT 2025/2026, XAT 2026/2027, and NMAT 2025 and 2026, per the PGPM admissions page. For the PGDM (2027 intake), the list is GMAT, CAT and XAT only; NMAT is not listed. No cutoff percentile is published for either programme, but appearing in an accepted exam is mandatory and a final offer comes only after scores are submitted.

One precision point. Great Lakes listing NMAT 2025 and 2026 takers is its own acceptance window for one programme; it does not extend to the Great Lakes PGDM, and it says nothing about how any other school treats NMAT attempts or scores. Read the specific programme’s exam list, not the school’s name.

What do they cost, and which figures are actually verified?

The verified figures are differently shaped, so compare totals, not headlines. WeSchool lists tuition fees and other charges of Rs 7,50,000 per annum at both campuses, marked subject to change, per the official Mumbai and Bengaluru PGDM pages as displayed during the 2026-28 cycle. Hostel is extra: Rs 1,60,000 to Rs 2,20,000 per annum at Mumbai, subject to availability, and Rs 1,70,000 per annum at Bengaluru, where hostel is mandatory, each with a Rs 10,000 refundable deposit. One honesty note: the Mumbai page’s own FAQ still says Rs 7,00,000 per annum, so confirm the exact batch fee with the institute; the discrepancy is detailed in our WeSchool fees page.

Great Lakes publishes all-in residential totals. The PGPM costs Rs 23,50,000 total for Indian students, per the official Fee Structure 2026-27, including single AC accommodation of Rs 3,96,000. The PGDM costs Rs 22,50,000 total for the 2026-28 batch, per the official Fee Structure 2026-28, including mandatory twin AC accommodation of Rs 6,32,000. Fees for the next intakes, PGPM 2027-28 and PGDM 2027-29, were not published when we checked on 13 July 2026, so confirm the current figures on the official PGPM and PGDM fee pages rather than trusting any third-party number. The full breakdowns are in our Great Lakes fees page.

Application fees follow the same rule. Great Lakes charges Rs 2,200 for the online application, per both admissions pages. WeSchool’s application fee is not published on any accessible official page; confirm the current amount on the official application portal before paying.

How do the two stack up side by side?

Here is the decision table, with each figure’s year and source behind it in the sections above.

What matters	WeSchool PGDM	Great Lakes PGPM	Great Lakes PGDM
Format	2-year, AICTE-approved	1-year, AICTE-approved	2-year, AICTE-approved
City	Mumbai (intake 180) or Bengaluru (intake 60)	Chennai, residential	Chennai, residential, hostel mandatory
Who it is for	Freshers and experienced; no work-ex bar	2+ years of work experience	Freshers; strictly under 36 months
Academic bar	50% in graduation	50% across 10th, 12th, UG	60% across 10th, 12th, UG
Exams	CAT, XAT, GMAT, ATMA, CMAT	GMAT, CAT, XAT, NMAT	GMAT, CAT, XAT
Published cutoff	Yes: 80/85 %ile flagship Mumbai; 75/80 Bengaluru; 70 lowest	None published; exam mandatory	None published; exam mandatory
Published fee	Rs 7,50,000 p.a. tuition and other, hostel extra (2026-28 cycle display)	Rs 23,50,000 total incl. stay (2026-27)	Rs 22,50,000 total incl. stay (2026-28)
Scholarships	Tuition Fee Waiver, up to 5% of intake per course, parental income up to Rs 8 lakh	40 scholarships of Rs 5 lakh each, 30% reserved for women, plus a full tuition-waiver merit award	None published
MBA equivalence	AIU letter for the Mumbai PGDM, 2025-2030	No AIU equivalence published	Stated MBA-equivalent as validated by AIU
Management quota	None; merit only	None; fraud warning published	None; fraud warning published

Which one should you actually pick?

Pick by profile, not by brand noise. With two or more years of work, the Great Lakes PGPM is the structurally different offer: one year out of the workforce instead of two, at a fully published all-in cost. As a fresher with strong marks, the Great Lakes PGDM buys the Chennai residential experience and the institute’s AACSB, AMBA and SAQS accreditations (per its official accreditations page), but its 60% across-the-board bar excludes candidates the WeSchool PGDM would take at 50% in graduation. If your exam is ATMA or CMAT rather than CAT, XAT or GMAT, WeSchool is the only door of the three that opens at all. And if published cutoff certainty matters to you, WeSchool tells you the shortlisting bar in writing before you apply; Great Lakes asks you to apply and be evaluated.

Does either college have a management quota?

No, and both say so in ways worth quoting back to any agent. Great Lakes publishes on both admissions pages that it does not admit students under management quota or any other form of reservation, and that any third party offering such seats would be fraudulent. WeSchool’s official PGDM page states admissions are based on merit only. Both are AICTE-approved standalone PGDM institutes, a category where, per AICTE’s own handbook as documented in our management quota explainer, every seat is filled from entrance-exam qualifiers strictly on merit. A promise of a certain seat at either school describes a fraud, not a route. Apply only through each institute’s own portal, and pay only the institute.

How does Udaan help with this decision?

We run this comparison on your actual profile: which matchup applies to you, which exams you hold or can still take this cycle, and what total cost of attendance looks like against the published tables. We have no partner colleges and take no commissions; you apply through each institute’s own process and pay the college directly, against its published fee structure. And if the honest answer is that neither school fits your marks, scores or budget this year, we will tell you that too.