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Cycle update · 16 September 2026

What Changed in MBA Admissions: 16 September 2026

By Piyush Agarwal, 10 years in direct admissions counselling · 16 September 2026

The short answer

On 16 September 2026: CAT 2026 registration closed yesterday at 5 pm — the season now pivots to the post-results form windows. XAT 2027 registration stays open to 6 December. ISB Round 1 closes 20 September; MAT CBT and KMAT both test that day. SNAP's mock needs an application by 22 September; Masters' Union Round 1 closes 27 September.

What changed?

ItemBeforeNow
CAT 2026 registrationClosed yesterday, 15 September 2026 at 5:00 pm ISTClosure day has passed with no extension announced anywhere in print; the portal stayed edge-blocked to our host again today, so the official advertisement governs — admit cards 4-29 November, test 29 November in three sessions, results first week of January 2027 (tentative). The next full-value registrations still open: NMAT to 10 October, SNAP to 25 November, XAT to 6 December
The post-CAT IIT form windows, now mappedKnown only as scattered institute pagesMapped today across three IIT management departments: VGSoM IIT Kharagpur opens its ERP form one day after CAT results (90-percentile General/EWS bar; printed two-year fee Rs 13,03,924); IIT Kanpur's DoMS opened 25 December last cycle (80-percentile bar; the homepage today declares the 2026-27 process complete after four offer lists); DoMS IIT Roorkee interviews in March (any-discipline 60% bar; printed Rs 9,74,200 two-year fee). All three profiles are live on this site today
XAT 2027 registrationOpen since 15 July, closing 6 DecemberRe-read on the official site today: registration runs to 6 December 2026, admit card 20 December (tentative), exam 3 January 2027, 2:00-5:00 pm — the first full-value attempt after CAT 2026
Three events on 20 September 2026Tracked separately on the deadlines trackerISB's Round 1 closes 20 September (the date keeps its 12 September verification; isb.edu rejects our automated checks); MAT's September CBT tests the same day, with admit cards from 17 September 5 pm per AIMA's page; KMAT 2026's home-proctored MBA test runs 2-4 pm the same day, admit card still TBA on the official key-dates page
SIBM Hyderabad AY 2026-27 feeRs 8,50,000 per annum academic fee, verified 6 SeptemberRe-opened today: the figure stands, and the Discretionary Quota line stands with it — double the open-category academic fee, paid to the institute, for the entire duration of the programme. The Rs 8,50,000 figure replaced AY 2024-25's Rs 8,03,000 on the same page

What should you do now?

  1. If CAT 2026 was your plan and you registered: the exam is 29 November; admit cards open 4 November. If you missed yesterday's close, the honest map of what remains is our missed-CAT page — NMAT, SNAP and XAT registrations are all still open.
  2. If an IIT MBA is on your list (Kanpur, Roorkee, Kharagpur): their forms open in the December-January window right after CAT results and close within weeks. Check your graduation percentage against the printed bars first — our low-graduation-marks page maps them.
  3. If you sit MAT CBT on 20 September: download the admit card from 17 September 5 pm on AIMA's MAT portal. KMAT candidates the same day: the admit card date is still TBA — watch kmatindia.com directly.
  4. If SNAP is in your plan: complete the application by 22 September to sit the first official mock on 24 September; registration proper runs to 25 November.
  5. If you are applying to ISB: Round 1 closes 20 September. Masters' Union Round 1 closes 27 September. Both rows are on the deadlines tracker.

CAT 2026 registration closed yesterday evening, and with it the season changes shape: from here to January, the action moves to the exams still registering (NMAT, SNAP, XAT) and then to the short, sharp application windows that open the moment CAT results land. Today’s note maps that handover — including the three IIT management departments whose forms live inside that post-results window, all profiled on this site today.

Where does this fit?

Sources