Cycle update · 27 September 2026
What Changed in MBA Admissions: 27 September 2026
By Piyush Agarwal, 10 years in direct admissions counselling · 27 September 2026
The short answer
On 27 September 2026, Masters' Union Round 1 closes tonight at 11:59 PM with the fee at Rs 38,56,692 unchanged. MAT September scores remain unpublished with three days left in AIMA's window, ending 30 September. Four new comparisons went live — FMS vs MDI, GIM vs TAPMI, SIBM Bengaluru vs Hyderabad, IIM Mumbai vs IIT Bombay — all from official pages opened today.
What changed?
| Item | Before | Now |
|---|---|---|
| Masters' Union — Round 1 closes TONIGHT; the fee holds at Rs 38,56,692 | The rendered page read 'ROUND 1 · APPLICATIONS OPEN' yesterday, closing 27 September 11:59 PM | Re-rendered this evening: the page still reads 'ROUND 1 · APPLICATIONS OPEN' — the application closes TONIGHT, 27 September 2026 at 11:59 PM. Every figure is unchanged: total programme fee Rs 38,56,692 (admission Rs 90,000 due 28 October plus tuition Rs 37,66,692 before scholarships up to 100%), application Rs 500, the MU-BAAT window 28 September-4 October only when required (a valid CAT 2023/2024/2025 or GMAT 2024/2025/2026 score waives it), interviews 7-15 October and decisions 18-19 October indicative, the 10% early-bird tuition benefit deadline 18 November, final tuition deadline 25 April 2027. From tomorrow this becomes a Round 2 watch |
| MAT September scores — eleventh consecutive check; three days left in AIMA's window | Scores due 'by the last week of September 2026' per AIMA's page, checked daily since 15 September | AIMA's MAT page re-read today still prints 'Availability of MAT September '26 Score on MAT Website: By last week of September 2026' — that window ends Tuesday 30 September, three days away, and the scores are not out. The same URL currently prints BOTH the September 2026 block and a stale September 2025 schedule; our figures follow the 2026 block (fee Rs 2,300 one mode, Rs 4,000 both). December 2026 still has no candidate schedule anywhere — only the B-school-side registration link — so mat-december-2026 stays unbuilt |
| Four comparison pages published, every figure from official pages opened today | findurcollege's MBA layer has been static since its 11-September sweep; its XAT page still tracks the 2026 cycle | FMS vs MDI Gurgaon (the Rs 24.1 lakh fee gap between two CAT-only doors — FMS's bulletin at about Rs 60,818 a semester against MDI's Rs 26,55,310 grand total, with both placement reports opened: medians Rs 29.59L vs Rs 29.0L), GIM vs TAPMI (Rs 21.45L vs Rs 19.5L across two years; GIM's score-blind Achiever's Round against TAPMI's printed work-experience cut-off bands; both no-quota in writing), SIBM Bengaluru vs SIBM Hyderabad (the two campuses printing the 2x Discretionary Quota — Rs 10.70L vs Rs 8.50L a year open fee, Hyderabad's entire-duration clause), and IIM Mumbai vs IIT Bombay SJMSOM (Powai's two CAT doors Rs 9.4 lakh apart — Rs 25.00L vs Rs 15,55,800, and Rs 7,55,800 for SC/ST/PwD at SJMSOM) |
| XAT 2027 and SNAP 2026 calendars re-verified — nothing moved | XAT registration to 6 December 2026, exam 3 January 2027; SNAP registration to 25 November, tests 13/19/26 December | xatonline.in re-opened today: XAT 2027 registration 15 July-6 December 2026, admit card 20 December tentative, exam 3 January 2027 2:00-5:00 pm, fee Rs 2,300 plus Rs 200 per XLRI programme (Indians applying to PGDM-GM/LSCM via GMAT/GRE pay Rs 2,600; NRI/foreign via GMAT pay Rs 5,000); XLRI's no-quota caution stands on the same page. snaptest.org re-opened today: registration closes 25 November 2026, admit cards 7/11/18 December per session, CBT 13/19/26 December, result 12 January 2027, 17 institutes and 29 programmes, best of three attempts |
| Watches — IIM Jammu day 17, KMAT result day 9 with no date, SIMC day 5, Welingkar day 3 fully dark | IIM Jammu NXDOMAIN day 16; KPPGCA DNS-dead day 8; SIMC dates 000 day 4; welingkar.org 000 day 2 | iimjammu.ac.in does not resolve for a seventeenth consecutive day (the cap2026 portal still serves). KMAT: a week after the 20 September test, kmatindia.com serves but prints no result date — its homepage key-date fields rendered as empty labels to a static fetch today — and kppgca.karnataka.gov.in is DNS-dead for day 9. SIMC's important-dates page returned 000 again, day 5 (the prospectus PDF governs). welingkar.org stayed fully unreachable, day 3. NMAT registration closes 10 October — 13 days |
What should you do now?
- If Masters' Union Round 1 is your target: tonight is the deadline — 27 September 2026, 11:59 PM. A valid CAT 2023/2024/2025 or GMAT 2024/2025/2026 score waives MU-BAAT entirely; without one, the free online assessment window opens tomorrow, 28 September-4 October. If you miss tonight, watch the page for the Round 2 window and remember the early-bird 10% tuition benefit deadline is 18 November.
- If you sat MAT September: AIMA's own window closes Tuesday 30 September. Check the applicant dashboard at mat.aima.in, and ignore any 'December MAT dates' quote until AIMA prints an actual candidate schedule — eleven consecutive checks have found none.
- If you are weighing FMS against MDI: read today's comparison before any fee conversation — the printed gap is Rs 24.1 lakh, and both doors already require a CAT 2026 registration that closed on 15 September. Without it, plan CAT 2027 rather than paying anyone promising a route around the calendar.
- If an agent quotes you a Symbiosis 'quota seat': ask which campus, then open that campus's own fee page. Bengaluru and Hyderabad print the 2x Discretionary Quota rule in writing — double the open fee, paid to the institute, good entrance scores still required. Anything cheaper, cash-based or score-free contradicts the institutes' own pages.
- If SNAP is your December: registration closes 25 November 2026 and the institute forms are separate paid steps — SIBM Bengaluru and Hyderabad both sit on that calendar. Register for the test and your chosen programmes, not the test alone.
The last day of the Masters’ Union Round 1 window, and three days left in AIMA’s MAT score window. Every item above was verified on official pages or official PDFs opened today, 27 September 2026.