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Master of Computer Applications (MCA) is a three-year (six semester) professional Master's Degree in computer science awarded in India. The course was designed to meet the growing demand for qualified professionals in the field of Information Technology (computer software). It is a postgraduate course that can be taken up after obtaining a Bachelor's Degree.

The MCA program focuses on providing a sound theoretical background as well as good practical exposure to students in the relevant areas. It is intended to provide a modern, industry oriented education in applied computer science. It aims at producing trained professionals who can successfully meet the demands of the information technology industry.

Typically, an MCA is a full-time degree course with a duration of three years (six semesters). It covers various aspects of computational theory, programming, algorithm design and optimization, network and database management, mobile technologies, electronics, mathematics, probability, statistics, accounting, finance, etc.

Some institutes provide a six years (eleven semesters and six month On Job Training) integrated MCA.

Most accept students having a mathematics background either in high school (11th and 12th standards), or during graduation. But they require a 60% marks in graduation. Admissions are given on the basis of a written entrance test, Personal Interview and/or GD. There was centralized entrance of MCA in India at National level AIMCET which is now abandoned. Each state has its own decentralized entrance. For more info on the colleges offering MCA programme in India CLICK HERE.

Now a days admission is through entrance tests, which are conducted separately by different universities offering the course. The MCA entrance exams usually have questions based on higher mathematics (sometimes B.Sc. level) and reasoning. Most of the MCA entrance tests are purely objective in nature. But a few tests also have a mix of objective, short-answer, and long-answer types of questions. The selection to most of the colleges in India, is through the written test only But for some colleges like DU, IMT, Symbiosis (MPIT), there is an interview/GD for the candidates short-listed after the written test. The tests are generally of 2-3 hours duration . Negative marking may or may not be there. The number of seats for the MCA programme is very limited. For MCA Entrance Tests of different colleges, there are different syllabi. Hence, it is difficult to have an integrated approach while preparing for these.

The extremely competitive nature of the Entrance Tests necessitates a focused preparation supplemented by sustained practice over a long period of time and under competent guidance. One needs to be essentially good at higher mathematics, as most of the MCA Entrance Tests comprise Mathematics (chiefly up to XII standard), Statistics, and a little knowledge about Computers.