It is determinable to a large extent now that your total marks of 201 in first slot and 199 in slot 2 could award you a percentile of 99.9 in CAT 2015 and a gap of 20 marks is expected to exist between the award of 99.9 and 99 percentile in CAT 2015.
With 3 marks awarded for each correct answer and -1 mark for every wrong answer to an MCQ and no deduction for wrong answer to Non-MCQ has made it difficult for the candidates how to assess whether they would get the desired high sectional and overall percentile in accordance with their performance in CAT 2015 exam.
Scaling & Normalization of CAT 2015 scores
The Normalization process to be implemented for CAT 2015 scores shall adjust for location and scale differences of score distributions across different forms and the scaled scores obtained by this process shall be converted into percentiles for purposes of shortlisting.
Although the scoring and normalization of score process claims to focus on Fairness, Equity and comparison of performances in both the 2 test sessions in CAT 2015 held on November 29, 2015, still the cumbersome calculation process to award the 100, 99 or 85 percentile remains an out of reach area.
In an effort to arrive at the decisive criteria after allowing for your accuracy and sectional attempts in CAT 2015, MBAUniverse.com & Vista Mind have jointly made research on the process and expect following percentile based on your attempts in different sections in forenoon and afternoon sessions which could determine what sectional scores could lead you to score percentile in a range from 70 to 99.9 and get you a seat in your preferred IIM.
CAT 2015: Forenoon session
Morning session of CAT 2015 that began at 9AM and got over at 12 noon, in accordance with its difficulty level and other factors taken into account is expected to yield the below given percentile based on your attempts
99.9 Percentile
A total score of 201 marks with sectional score of 81 in VARC, 57 marks in DILR and 85 marks in Quant could fetch 99.9 percentile in CAT 2015 morning session
99.5 percentile
A gap of more than 10 marks is expected to exist between 99.9 and 99.5 percentile in CAT 2015. A candidate score 190 out of 300 marks with sectional score of 75 marks in VARC; 51 marks in DILR and 79 marks in Quant section may award you 99.5 percentile.
99 Percentile
Scoring 99 percentile in the first session of CAT 2015 will require you to score 181 marks out of 300 maximum marks. You need to score 70 in VARC section; 46 in DILR section and 72 in Quant section to achieve 99 percentile.
97 Percentile
You could score 97 overall percentile in CAT 2015 with a meager score of 162 marks. The sectional division of marks is expected to be of 61 in VARC section; 39 in DILR section and 65 in Quant section.
95 percentile
20 marks less than the marks required for 97 percentile can get you 95 percentile in CAT 2015. If you can score 142 marks overall with a sectional raw score of 54 marks in VARC; 34 in DILR and 58 in Quant section, you are expected to hit the percentile score of 95 in CAT 2015.
90 Percentile
A sharp vertical reduction in marks is expected to score 90 percentile in CAT 2015. This percentile score is expected to be available with your overall score of 123 marks and sectional score of 47 in VARC; 29 in DILR and 51 in Quant section.
85 Percentile
With an overall score of 107 marks and sectional score of 41 marks in VARC; 25 in DILR and 45 in Quant section, you could score 85 percentile in CAT 2015
80 percentile
You will need 91 marks to score 80 percentile in CAT 2015. Score of 35 marks in VARC section, 21 marks in DILR and 37 in Quant section may get you 80 percentile in CAT 2015 first session.
70 Percentile
Although none of the IIMs would accept overall percentile below 90 and 80 sectional for unreserved category, candidates from other categories as well as the candidates applying to other highly ranked B-schools who do not consider sectional cut off scores may assess their performance and choose their preferred IIM or other B-school as the case may be even at 70 percentile.
An overall 70 percentile can be scored with a total score of 75 and sectional score of 30 in VARC; 17 in DILR and 30 in Quant section.
CAT 2015: Afternoon session
The afternoon session of CAT 2015 on November 29, 2015 was considered a almost on the same pattern as of forenoon session with marginal deviation in difficulty level. Since the score normalization process leading to award of percentile scores in CAT considers even the slightest difference in the difficulty level, the marks required to get the same percentile in second slot are expected to remain more or less same with little deviation.
99.9 Percentile
Overall score of 199 marks out of 300 could lead to award you 99.9 percentile in CAT 2015. You are supposed to score 80 marks in VARC section; 57 in DILR and 84 in Quant section to achieve the feat. It all depends on how accurate you were while answering the questions.
99.5 Percentile
Based on our research analysis, it is expected that your overall score of 187 divided into sectional scores of 74 for VARC section; 51 for DILR section and 78 for Quant section could get you 99.5 percentile in afternoon session of CAT 2015.
99 Percentile
99 percentile in the second session of CAT 2015 will require you to score 176 marks overall with 68 in VARC section; 46 in DILR section and 70 in Quant section.
97 Percentile
You are expected to score 97 percentile in the slot-2 of CAT 2015 with an overall score of 158 marks and sectional score of 58 in VARC; 40 in DILR and 63 in Quant section.
95 percentile
The overall score of 95 percentile will need a sectional raw score of 51 marks in VARC; 35 in DILR and 57 in Quant section with total score not less than 139.
90 Percentile
90 percentile score in afternoon session of CAT 2015 can be obtained with a total 119 marks and sectional score of 43 in VARC; 30 in DILR and 50 in Quant section.
85 Percentile
To score 85 overall percentile in CAT 2015, total score of 102 marks would be required. With a sectional score of 37 marks in VARC; 26 in DILR and 44 in Quant section, you could score 85 percentile in the exam.
80 percentile
Total score of 87 could lead you to get 80 percentile in CAT 2015 second session. 33 marks in VARC section, 20 marks in DILR and 36 in Quant section would be required to achieve the goal.
70 and above Percentile
An overall score of 73 and sectional score of 29 in VARC; 17 in DILR and 29 in Quant could award you with a percentile score of 70.
The score of 75 to 80 marks can award you an overall percentile between 70 to 75. However, please note, so far none of the IIMs have announced the minimum sectional cut off below 80 percentile as the minimum shortlisting criteria for admission to their flagship PGP batch 2016-18.
Another key fact is that number of top rated B-schools except IIMs, do not have sectional cut off as their shortlisting criteria. Hence, those who score below this percentile although may not be shortlisted by IIMs, but will still have other good options available to pursue their MBA/PGDM programmes in 2016.
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