CAT Score Vs Percentile - Though Common Admission Test (CAT) score is often presented in percentile which basically indicates your position among all the test takers, it is actually based on the score that you fetch in the exam. Still the two terminologies used for CAT result are entirely different.

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So what is this CAT score Vs Percentile enigma?  Careers360 here brings you a thorough analysis into the co-relation between the two terms and also the importance of the two in determining your admission opportunities to your selected CAT participating institutes.

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CAT Score vs Percentile

There is no specific formula for a test like CAT where you would know the exact score you need to get into 99 percentile league as it may entirely depend on the difficulty level of the exam for any particular year. Still, we bring you actual CAT Marks Vs Percentile data from the previous year (2016) to get you a fair idea of how much score you will need to get a call from top B-schools.

What is percentile?

Before we bring to you the CAT score vs percentile, let us understand what percentile actually means. A percentile is a measure indicating the percentage of students below you in the merit list. For example, your position at 90 percentile refers to your place in the merit list where about 90 per cent candidates competing with you in the test have scored less than you. Hence, test takers securing 90 percentile or above refers to the top 10 per cent of the test takers in the merit list. So, if the total number of actual test takers is near 2 lakh, approximately 20,000 candidates (ten per cent) would come under the percentile range of 90 to 100. Hence, the percentile secured according to marks is only indicative of your position and does not tell the exact marks you score in the test.

CAT Marks Vs Percentile - What is IIMs’ scaling and normalization process?

The scoring process of CAT involves scaling and normalisation which is a complex calculation process for determining the merit of candidates appearing for the same test in multiple sessions.

This scoring process was implemented since IIMs introduced computer based mode of CAT in the year 2009. In the initial years of computer-based testing, CAT was held in a window of 20 days in two slots each. In order to equate the performance of candidates across sessions, normalization process was followed.

According to IIMs, the CAT normalization process ensures fairness and equity in performance comparison across sessions. “The process of Normalization is an established practice for comparing candidate scores across multiple Forms and is similar to those being adopted in other large educational selection tests conducted in India, such as Graduate Aptitude Test in Engineering (GATE). For normalization across sections, we shall use the percentile equivalence,” mentions IIMs.

According to the GATE normalization methodology followed by IIMs, normalization is applied to take into account any variation in the difficulty levels of the question papers across different sessions. This factor also determines CAT score vs percentile. The normalization is done based on the fundamental assumption that "in all multi-session CAT papers, the distribution of abilities of candidates is the same across all the sessions".

Let us understand the scoring system before you take a look at CAT score vs percentile. The CAT paper comprising 100 questions has a marking scheme where three marks are awarded for each correct answer and test takers are penalised with one negative mark for a wrong answer. The CAT paper carries 100 questions – Quantitative Ability (34), Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension (34), Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning (32).

But the actual score that candidates get in their CAT score card is not exactly based on the outcome of this marking scheme owing to the normalisation process being integral part of the process. However, experts suggest that since the CAT exam is now conducted in two slots in a single day only, the impact of normalisation is minimal and the scaled score appeared in the CAT score card is very close to the actual marks scored by the candidate.

Now we bring to you last year’s CAT scaled scores vis-a-vis the percentile.

CAT Score Vs Percentile 2016

While most of the prestigious B-schools shortlist candidates, who stand around 80 percentile or more in CAT, we bring you the top ranges of percentile based on the actual normalised scores of CAT takers in 2016.

The four ranges of CAT percentiles for which we present the actual CAT score Vs Percentile data are below:

• 95.01 percentile and above

• 90.01 to 95 percentile

• 85.01 to 90 percentile

• 80 to 85 percentile

CAT Marks Vs Percentile 2016 –  95 to 100 Percentile

For CAT 2016, the highest scaled score to be obtained by a candidate out of 300, which is the total score. As per the CAT scoring process, each question carries three marks and for each wrong answer, there is negative marking of one mark. For the non-MCQs or Type in The Answer (TITA) questions, there is no negative marking scheme involved.

With a CAT the above 95 percentile, you will get calls from the premium B-schools including IIMs, FMS, MDI Gurgaon, DMS IITs to name a few.

B-schools to apply if you have 95-100 Percentile

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CAT Score Vs Percentile 2016 –  90.01 to 95 Percentile

B-schools which you can aim for the new IIMs such as IIM Nagpur, Visakhapatnam, IIM Sirmaur etc. The non-IIM B-schools you can target for include XIM Bhubaneswar, Goa Institute of Management, Great Lakes Institute of Management among others.

CAT Marks Vs Percentile: Top B-schools to aim with 90+ Percentile in CAT

CAT Score Vs Percentile 2016 – 85.01 to 90 Percentile

Some of the top B-schools you may apply with CAT percentile between 85 to 90 percentile are as follows:

CAT Marks Vs Percentile: Top B-schools to apply if you get 85-90 percentile in CAT

Click here to know more B-schools in this CAT percentile range.

CAT Score Vs Percentile 2016 – 80 to 85 Percentile

If you are wondering, which are the top B-schools to apply with this CAT percentile, here we bring to you a comprehensive list of B-schools you may apply based on their CAT cutoff.

CAT Marks Vs Percentile: Which B-schools you can apply with CAT 80-85 Percentile

The result of CAT 2017 has been declared on January 8, 2018. Like last year, 20 candidates have secured 100 percentile. Out of the 20 toppers, two are female candidates and three belong to non-engineering background. CAT 2017 was held on November 26, 2017, in 140 cities across India. As many as 1,99,632 candidates appeared for the test out of 2,31,067 applied candidates. Last year, the total number of the application was 2,32,436 and the actual number of test takers was 1,95,000. Compared to last year, the total number of applications have dipped slightly.