FORE Delhi Admission 2027

A candidate needs a bachelor's degree of at least three years. That degree must carry a minimum of 50% marks, from a UGC, AICTE or AIU-recognised university. Diploma holders cannot apply. A candidate in the final year of graduation in 2027 can still apply. They must furnish proof of having passed by Friday, 1 October 2027. Every candidate must also appear in CAT 2026 or XAT 2027, or hold a valid GMAT score. The GMAT test must fall between 1 January 2025 and 31 January 2027. These are the rules on FORE's PGDM page for the 2027 intake. FORE's Admissions FAQ still shows the 2026-28 rules.

FORE shortlists candidates on their CAT, XAT or GMAT score. It then calls them for a Selection Process with a personal interview. FORE faculty and industry professionals conduct the interview. The final decision weighs the score, interview, academic record and work experience. FORE's PGDM page for the 2027 intake lists these steps but gives no weights. FORE's admissions FAQ sets out the weights for the 2026-28 batch, the latest published:

The Past Academic Performance weightage of 22% itself splits further. Xth marks carry 5%, XIIth marks carry 5%, and graduation carries 12%. Of that 12%, 7% applies to every candidate's academic record. An additional 5% goes to candidates with a STEM undergraduate background.

Does FORE weigh the entrance score more than the interview? Yes, but only by 10 percentage points. The entrance score (CAT/XAT/GMAT) carries 35% against the personal interview's 25%. Academic record, at 22%, is not far behind either. That means a candidate cannot coast into a FORE seat on a single high percentile alone.

Selection rounds run in New Delhi, Bengaluru, Mumbai, Kolkata, Varanasi, Guwahati, Ahmedabad, Jaipur, Kochi and Hyderabad. FORE reserves the right to cancel a venue or move a round online, per its own admissions FAQ. The FAQ proposes January, February and March for the rounds.

Applications go through FORE's own portal at admissions.fsm.ac.in and nowhere else. A candidate can apply to one, two, three or all four two-year PGDM programmes in a single form. That covers PGDM, PGDM(IB), PGDM(FM) and PGDM(BDA). The combined application fee rises with the number of programmes selected. It runs from ₹1,500 for one programme up to ₹3,000 for all four, exclusive of 18% GST. FORE's PGDM page lists the same fees. The portal lists ₹1,000 each for PGDM(HHM) and PGDM(WP). The PGDM page lists ₹500 for PGDM(WP). Check the portal before you apply to either. A candidate applying under the Company Sponsored Category must separately submit a signed sponsorship certificate. FORE specifies the exact format for this. Switching category after submission is not allowed. For the 2026-28 cycle, a CAT scorecard needed no upload if the application fee was paid by 15 December 2025. An XAT scorecard needed no upload. FORE collects these directly from the Nodal IIM and XLRI.

FORE has not published the 2027-29 admission dates. Its site still shows the 2026-28 application as open. The timeline above is the latest published, for the 2026-28 batch. The Term 1 dates are from FORE's academic calendar. FORE's portal also lists last application dates of 15 June 2026 and 15 July 2026. It lists interviews in the third week of June 2026. It does not name the programme against each date.

FORE has no direct admission and no management quota for the two-year PGDM. FORE's admissions FAQ says there is no management quota and that admissions take place strictly on merit. Every route below needs a valid entrance score and a personal interview.

FORE's NRI seats page puts NRI seats within 5% of the approved intake. It adds up to 15% supernumerary seats for the foreign national, OCI and Gulf-worker category. These seats sit over and above the approved intake.

Can You Get Into FORE Without CAT, XAT or GMAT?

No, not for the two-year PGDM in the general category. A valid CAT, XAT or GMAT score is the entry ticket. The NRI category also accepts NMAT, SNAP and ATMA. The foreign national, OCI and Gulf-worker category accepts GMAT or FAT. The FORE courses page lists the tests for other programmes.

How Do You Know Your FORE Admission Is Real?

A real FORE offer comes only after the selection process. FORE informs shortlisted candidates by email and SMS. FORE's timeline for the 2026-28 batch set offers and waitlist letters for the third week of March 2026. Waitlisted candidates get a Letter of Intent.

The FORE fee of ₹23,24,000 (batch 2026-28) equals 17 months of the median first-year pay of ₹16.2 lakh (batch 2024-26). That is about 1.4 years of median pay. The fee is the self-sponsored programme fee. The FORE fees page lists what it covers. The pay figure is from FORE's Placement Report 2024-26, the latest published. The two figures come from different batches, so read the ratio as a guide.

The same fee applies to PGDM, PGDM(IB), PGDM(FM) and PGDM(BDA). FORE's report gives pay for each. The median is ₹16.2 lakh for PGDM, PGDM(IB) and PGDM(FM). It is ₹14.85 lakh for PGDM(BDA), or about 19 months of pay.

All pay figures are CTC before tax, for batch 2024-26. The bottom-half row is our calculation. It is twice the batch average, less the top-half average, and assumes two equal halves.

How Much Pay Do You Need to Recover the Fee?

To equal the ₹23,24,000 fee in 24 months, you need about ₹11.62 lakh a year. For 36 months, you need about ₹7.75 lakh a year. Both are below the median of ₹16.2 lakh. Both are also below the bottom-half average of ₹13.79 lakh. These sums ignore tax, living cost, hostel and mess, and loan interest. A student who leaves a job to join also gives up two years of salary.

How Do Scholarships and Loans Change the Cost?

FORE publishes its scholarships as tuition waivers, not as rupee amounts. The Merit, Means, Saksham and FORElite 95+ routes waive tuition in full, for the periods FORE sets. The J&K, Ladakh and North-East route waives 10%. FORE does not publish the tuition share of the ₹23,24,000 fee. So a 10% waiver is worth at most ₹2,32,400. Read each route's seats and limits on the FORE scholarships page.

FORE helps arrange PM Vidyalaxmi loans and bank loans. Its loan flyer lists SBI at 7.20% and Bank of Baroda at 7.40%, both floating, with no date. We use a current rate instead. SBI publishes 9.40% a year, floating, for student loans above ₹7.50 lakh with collateral. That rate is from 9 June 2026. On a ₹20 lakh loan over 10 years, which is our assumption, the monthly EMI is about ₹25,770. That is about 19% of the median monthly pay of ₹1.35 lakh. The total interest is about ₹10.92 lakh. This counts interest from the first EMI, not the interest that builds up during the course.

Who Gets a Good Return From FORE and Who Should Check Twice?

A student who takes the median offer recovers the fee in about 17 months of pay. A student in the bottom half needs about 20 months. The spread is wide, because the top-half average is ₹19.25 lakh. The highest offer of ₹26.45 lakh is about 1.6 times the median. It is not a typical result. A student in PGDM(BDA) should plan for about 19 months, as that programme has the lower median.

The return is clearer for a student who wins a tuition waiver or borrows less than the full fee. Check twice if you plan to fund the whole fee through a loan, or if you need a quick payback. The highest offer came from banking, financial services and insurance, at ₹26.45 lakh. IT and emerging firms followed at ₹24.3 lakh.

The ratio does not show how many students got offers, because FORE's report does not publish the number placed. It also does not show tax, loan interest or the pay a working student gives up.