How is the CAT score and percentile calculated?

Just like any percentile score is calculated. A percentile represents the rank of a candidate in an examination, relative to the rest of the candidates who appeared for the same examination in the same time frame. If there is an exam where 1000 people appeared, including yourself, and you ranked 75th, then there were effectively 925 test-takers who were ranked below you (because they scored lesser marks than you did). In this case, your percentile score will be (925/1000)x100 = 92.5 %ile In CAT, the percentile is calculated up to three decimal places and rounded off. So, people scoring 100%ile have actually scored a percentile of 99.995 and above and similarly, people scoring 99.99 percentile are those who have scored a percentile greater than 99.985, but less than 99.995 percentile. I hope it helps.

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As there are many confusions in percentage and percentile. So, percentage is a ratio expressed as a fraction of 100. Whereas, percentile is dependent on the highest marks. It is a measured by using the statistics indicating the value below which a given percentage of observations of candidates fall. Talking about how the CAT exam percentile is calculated, so assuming that 2,00,000 people appeared for CAT exam in a particular year. The net score of everyone is calculated, and all test-takers are sorted in descending order as per their marks in CAT. Assuming your rank is 1500. So, in this case, your percentile score will be: Total No. of Candidates-your rank Therefore 200000-1500=198500 (198500/200000)x100 = 99.25 percentile. And if there are three decimals in the answer like 99.258, so it will be rounded to 99.3. So, like this, the percentile of CAT exam and similar exams are calculated.

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Just like any percentile score is calculated. A percentile represents the rank of a candidate in an examination, relative to the rest of the candidates who appeared for the same examination in the same time-frame. Let's say there were 10 students who gave an exam, including you. If you ranked 1st, then there are 9 students behind you, or 90% of the test-takers are ranked after you. Which means that you have a 90%tile score. If you stood 3rd, then there are 7 test-takers ranked after you. You will have a 70%tile score in this case. If there is an exam where 1000 people appeared, including yourself, and you ranked 75th, then there were effectively 925 test-takers who were ranked below you (because they scored lesser marks than you did). In this case, your percentile score will be (925/1000)x100 = 92.5 %tile. Let's say 2,00,000 people appeared for CAT in a certain year. Everyone's net score was calculated, and all test-takers were sorted in descending order of their marks in CAT. Your rank was 1,500. In this case, your percentile score will be: (198500/200000)x100 = 99.25 %tile. In CAT, the percentile is calculated up to three decimal places and rounded off. So, people scoring 100 %tile have actually scored a percentile of 99.995 and above; and similarly people scoring 99.99%tile are those who have scored a percentile greater than 99.985, but less than 99.995.

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A percentile describes where you stand in terms of the applicant group. A candidate in the 99 percentile has scored better than 99 out of 100 (or 99%) of candidates that year. Similarly, candidate in the 75 percentile has scored better than 75 out of 100 (or 75%) of those years candidates. Because places at IIMs are limited, looking at a candidates percentiles both overall (composite) and within each section can help admissions officers see roughly where in the applicant pool a particular candidate stands. This helps those rank test-takers performances in terms of the other test-takers that particular year. CAT percentile is calculated by the formula Percentile gives (No. of people that have gotten a score less than you/ Total no. of people that took the exam) * 100. It is just one way of determining where a person stands as per his score in the exam. Rank is another way which is still being used. In my personal opinion, percentile is a better indicator of a person’s position in an exam.

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Here, I can answer about how the CAT percentile is calculated. Most people are confused between percentage and percentile but both of these are different terms and have different meanings. First I will like to mention the difference between percentage and percentile. The percentage is a ratio expressed as a fraction of 100. A percentile is a measure used in statistics indicating the value below which a given percentage of observations in a group of observations fall. Now how the CAT exam percentile is calculated: Let's take this 2,20,000 people appeared for CAT in a 2017 year. The net score of everyone is calculated, and all test-takers are sorted in descending order of their marks in CAT. Say your rank is 2,200. In this case, your percentile score will be: (217800/220000)x100 = 99 %tile. Point to be noted: In CAT exam, the percentile is calculated up to three decimal places and rounded off. So, people scoring 9 percentile have actually scored a percentile of 98.995 and above; and similarly, people scoring 98.99%tile are those who have scored a percentile greater than 98.985, but less than 98.995. I think this will be useful!

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