CAT 2014: How many attempts for an IIM call?

This question is haunting many CAT’14 aspirants. The new CAT pattern this year does not have any precedence and implies that we do not have any data to estimate the attempts (or score) required to get an IIM call. Also one will not know the level of difficulty of the paper till it is conducted. Most of the “experts” in the test prep arena in any case do not want to stick their neck out and take a stand and hence in CAT’14 hence this lack past data is as good an excuse as any.

Let me share my thoughts on these two issues of degree of difficulty and lack of data.

A change in the pattern/structure is usually accompanied by easier questions. Hence I expect this paper to be easier than CAT 2011-13 papers and somewhat similar to CAT 2003-08 in terms of degree of difficulty. Thus my estimate is that the difficulty level of questions in CAT’14 is likely to be similar to Mock CATs 3, 5 & 7.

Do we have data? Yes we have the data of Mock CATs and also the actual performance of students in CAT 2006 – 08. These CAT papers had between 75-90 questions to be attempted in 2 hours 15 minutes but were paper based tests. So using these two data sets I have tried to estimate the raw score Vs percentile correlation.

The table below gives the net correct attempts required for a given sectional and overall percentile. Net correct attempt is calculated after applying a +3 for a correct answer and a -1 for an incorrect answer hence based on your estimated accuracy you should calculate the your required attempts.

Thus an attempt of 24 questions with 21 correct & 3 incorrect answers will lead to a net correct attempt of 20 and if you accuracy in a section is usually 80% then you should be attempting about 27 questions. Multiplying net correct attempts with 3 will give you the target score. While I have given the same net correct attempts for both the sections in reality it could be slightly different for the two sections.

Percentile Score Net Correct Attempts
Sectional Overall
60 9 – 10
65 10 – 11 20 – 21
70 12 – 13 22 – 23
75 13 – 14 26 – 27
80 14 – 15 28 – 29
85 17 – 18 31 – 32
90 18 – 19 35 – 36
92 36 – 37
95 19 – 21 38 – 39
96 21 – 22
97 22 – 23 40 – 41
98 41 – 43
99 44 – 46
99.5 48 – 50

Finally a word of caution; this is my estimate based on certain assumptions and when you start attempting the section in the first 15 minutes you should be able to estimate the degree of difficulty of the section and moderate your attempts accordingly. You go in the paper with a plan should be ready to modify it based on the situation.

All the best for CAT ’14.
GP

206 Comments

  1. Hi Sir,

    What is the CAT percentile required to get into IIM, FMS for NC-OBC category
    X – 82.92% (Maharashtra State Board)
    XII – 80.67% (Maharashtra State Board)
    B.E – 57.32% (Mumbai University)
    Work Exp – 3 yrs (Software Engineer)

    Kindly suggest.

  4. X-89.9% XII-76.7% B.COM-92%
    I am a general male
    What percentile should I get in CAT2017 in order to get a call from IIM A/B/C. Especially from IIM-A.

  5. In 10th and 12th I got 84%
    In b.e electrical I got 76.35%
    I have 12months of work experience in IT
    What percentile should I get in cat 2016 and how many questions I need to attempt correctly for getting a call from IIM?especially IIMB?

    • Dilip, 1. you should target 98+tile or above to get a call from IIMs. For IIMB, it should be above 99%tile.

      2. The answer depends on the difficulty level of the paper. Your objective should be to identify the level of the paper and decide how many questions needs to be attempted. There has been times when net correct answers of 27-30 out of 60 would have fetched you at least 99+. Like 2 years before, a net correct 65 correct answers was enough to secure 99tile. ideally, you should be targeting at least 50 net correct answers to fetch high percentile.

  6. Hello sir..
    I get 70% marks in X
    & 77% in XII
    55% in graduation (b.com)
    so.. I want to ask u that
    Is cat is good for me seriously for my career..??

    • Abhishek, MBA gives a boost to your profile and is really helpful in getting a good job. You can refer to our tool IIM Profilizer to check your chance for top IIMs.

  7. Sir,
    My academic qualifications are b.com in final year with aggregate of 85%,12th with 87% and 10th with 89% .what percentile should I score in cat 2015 to get a call from top iim’s and b-schools.
    Please answer my query.
    Thank you

  8. My academic achievements are as follows:
    10th:86.33%
    12th:92.6%
    engineering:6.5cgpa
    Have a well diverse e-curricular activities.
    I am taking CAT2015
    Do i have a chance of getting into older IIM’s?
    If yes how much should i score?

  9. 10th=90%
    12th=61%
    Degree(Bsc-IT)=76%
    2 year work experience in it industry.
    I am preparing for cat(2016).
    so going by these marks can i get an addmission in iim if i get a good percentile in cat?

    • Pushpa, with the current criteria with 61% in XII, IIM A may not be possible and IIMC would need over 99.6%ile but most of the other IIMs (including IIMB and L) are possible for you.
      Please check the IIM Profilizer for the details.

  10. Hi sir,
    Im B.E student passout
    10th – 80%
    12th- 62%
    B.E – 64.60%
    I’m planning to give CAT 2016 and il have experience of almost year and half till admission process. But my company have 3 yrs bond so if i get selected in any iim or other reputed college i’ll have to pay the money for experience letter or else i dont need to pay. So will i require experience letter compulsorily? and the percentile needed in CAT for iim? Please help me out with the experience letter

  11. X- 91
    XII- 91
    Graduation-81
    (B.Com)
    Sir what percentile will be required to get a profile based call from SP Jain?

    • Kriti, profile based calls come in Dec-Jab without the need of any percentile. They are based only on your profile.

  12. Sir, I am a final year engineering student.Due to implant training’s and final year project, i can’t appear for CAT 2015. However i plan to appear for CAT 2016. My profile is as under:
    1. Tenth: 92.36%.
    2. Twelfth: 78.67%.
    3. Engg. marks till 6th sem: 76%.
    How much do i need to study for CAT 2016 and what strategy should i adopt? I will graduate in June 2016, will having a study gap of almost 4-6 months affect my mba admissions?

  13. hello sir,
    my academic records
    10th- 87%(2007)
    12th- 81%(2009)
    b.tech-8.2 dgpa(2014)

    I appeared for ibps 2014 n have got a job in Indian overseas bank as a PO.
    I want to go for MBA but with a work experience as I would b joining in Nov 2015.
    sir I want to appear for CAT 2016 or 2017 because right now I m out of practice n want to go for CAT with full preparation..
    plz suggest some tips for preparation

    • Vivek, a 12-15 month period is usually good enough time for CAT preparation, hence, you can start formal preparation for CAT 2016 any time between August and November depending upon your requirements and your college schedule, the earlier the better. Irrespective of when you start your CAT preparation you should start the following immediately:

      1. Develop a reading habit, read books by different authors and of different genre @ at least 1 per month. A daily newspaper (The Hindu or Indian Express) along with current affairs weekly will help build your general awareness, reading comprehension, vocabulary and sentence correction all of which will be helpful in your MBA entrance process.

      2. Solve puzzles that come in newspapers and fro other sources and also get in the habit of mental/oral calculations (outside your college).

      3. Go through class 9-10 NCERT Maths books as it will cover almost the entire QA syllabus of CAT and other MBA entrances. This should be over in the next 2 months.

      4. Do not ignore your engineering classes, low marks in graduation could make you in-eligible for some of the IIMs, also in the interview your knowledge of engineering will be tested. Your summer internship and B.Tech projects and/or terms papers etc will all be important in the interview.

  14. Hi Sir,
    10th= 86.2
    12th=85.6
    B.E=69.3
    Work Experience=1 year (Management)
    Category-=General.

    How much I need to get in CAT 2015 to get a seat in IIM s and top B Schools.
    Please suggest me.

  15. Sir,
    I scored 90%ile in CAT 2014. My academic records are follows:-
    1) Xth- 82.7%
    2) Diploma-84.97%
    3) B.E – 6.92/10
    I have IT experience of 20 months. I will be giving CAT and XAT this year. How are my chances of getting a good college considering my low CGPA? Also, I have worked in 2 different organisations to gain this experience of 20 months and I am looking for a job change again. Will this affect my chances?

    • Gaurav, considering your profile, you will be eligible for almost all the IIMs. IIM Bangalore might not be possible. Please confirm it using the IIM Profilizer.

      Frequent job changes will not be an issue as long as you have a logical explanation for it.

  16. I’m a law student what are my possibility for iim’s and other top 20 MBA colleges? like what percentile should i aim to get in B schools especially FMS.
    Xth result 8.4 CGPA
    Xll th 76.77
    60% till 6th semester.

    Pls, reply soon.

    • Saarthak, to know about your chances at the top IIM’s please use the IIM Profilizer. FMS Delhi University would give an interview call at 98.5%ile but to be sure of converting the call a CAT score of over 99.5%ile would be required.

  17. Sir,
    I am focusing only on IIMs for my MBA . My Question is ” Should Ihave to apply seperately for each IIms or is the application for CAT sufficient ?” I am a final year B.tech student. please reply at the earliest.

  18. Sir,i am pursuing my b.tech final year and i am having 50% marks in b.tech and i am having 10 backlogs.If these backlogs get cleared and if i get iim calls,then is there any chance to update my new increased percentage?

    • Shailu, yes, if the backlogs get cleared in time, you’ll have a chance to get into the IIMs and other top B-schools. Please confirm it using the IIM Profilizer.

      Please confirm it with the CAT authorities if there’ll be a chance to update the scores or not.

  19. Hi Sir,

    My Academic Performance is as follows :
    10th : 90.2 %
    12th : 89.4 %
    B.Tech : 82.5 %
    I am currently having 13 months IT experience. What should be my CAT score to crack SP Jain, SJMSOM and other top B-schools other than IIMs since this year I will be giving CAT for the very 1st time ?
    Also , will it be late if I aim for CAT 2016 ?
    Because by then I will be having nearly 3 years of work experience .

    • Shailesh, last year SJSOM considered past academics also and you can get a call at 97%ile but if acads are not considered then a 99%ile would be required. SP Jain is should also be possible at 97%ile. With tyour acads calls are possible for all IIMs, please check the IIM Profilizer for the target score for the IIMs.
      CAT’16 will not be late but the earlier you do an MBA the better it is for your career and with CAT’15 scheduled for 29th November you have sufficient time to prepare.

  20. Hi Sir,
    Below is my profile:
    10th – 80.2%
    12th – 74.3%
    B.Tech – 70.2%
    Work Ex- 2.5 Yrs (Sapient Nitro)
    I am from NC-OBC category. Is is possible for me to get calls from top IIM’s with this profile. Also, I made my mind of doing MBA 1 months back and joined CL test series and I am constantly scoring 75-80 with around 65% accuracy in 4 mocks i have given till now. Even after making lot of efforts my scores are not improving. Sir could you please help me here? Do i need to change my approach?
    Also, one more thing I am going to be 24 in Oct. Is is advisable to go for MBA at this age?
    TIA

    • DK, with a decent academic record, a 2.5 year work experience and NC-OBC category you can get calls from most of the IIMs at 95%ile and almost all IIMs if you are above 97%ile. Age is not a problem and you should go for MBA as it will give a boost to your career.
      Your attempts are low possibly because of poor accuracy which is possibly due to poor question selection. Analyse a couple of Mocks and identify the reason for the errors – is it a silly mistake or trying to solve a question that you were not sure of. Additionally identify the questions that you spent over a couple of minutes but were unable to solve and hence left it unattempted. Reducing these unattempted and incorrect questions is the way to increase you score.

  21. Sir
    Xth-87
    XIIth-77
    Btech-66.9
    i would like to know how many attempts should i have correct to get 98+ percentile and since i am a passout 2015 batch and the cat exam has less than three months i have decided to prepare for cat and after giving the exam start with a job does thi gap of 6 months harm me in the interview or being inexperienced cause trouble somehow????

    • Utkarsh, assuming a marginally higher level of difficult over CAT 2014 a net score of 160 could be sufficient for a 98%ile. The gap of 6 months is not a problem and can be explained comfortably.

  22. Hii sir,

    i am feeling a little hesitant to ask….. how does the admission procedure works.??
    the first step is to fill up the forms( CAT forms, IIFT,FMS,MDI,IMT GHAZIABAD)…then i appear for CAT…..
    Wat do i hav to do after that?? do i start getting calls from various institutes?? submit the scores??

    • Anushka, the institutes that are calling you are not worth joining.
      The first step is to fill up the form of the entrance tests – CAT, IIFT, NMAT, SNAP and XAT.
      For IIMs only CAT form has to be filled and you do not need to apply separately to IIMs. Similarly filling of the IIFT form means that you have applied to IIFT also. While filling the NMAT form you will have to give your order of preference of the NM institutes.
      For almost all other institutes you will apply separately based on your CAT/XAT/SNAP forms.

  23. 10th – 9.4 grade point(89.3%)
    12th- 87%
    Btech CSE- 78.5%(till 6th sem)
    No work experience as I have currently entered my final year.
    What is the percentile required to get a call from any of the IIM’s considering the data above?
    tHANKS

    • Pulkit, with your profile all the top IIMs are possible. For most of the old IIMs, a percentile of more than 99.6 is a must. Please confirm this using the IIM Profilizer. You’ll also get an idea of the required percentiles for each of the IIMs.

  24. Sir, i have cgpa 9.8 (cbse) –in 10th
    %—78%(cbse)– in 12th
    cpi–6.7(B.tech)–in final year cont.
    work—-no experience
    cat. —obc(nc)
    i want to know how much i need to score to get into IIM-A/B/C
    and how much is my % in 12th and b.tech going to effect my result.
    sir,please respond fast.

    • Shivraj, calls from all the top IIMs are possible. IIM-Indore might be out of reach. Please confirm this with the IIM Profilizer. IIM Profilizer will also give you the required CAT percentiles to make it through to the top IIMs.

      Your class 12th and B.Tech percentages have no direct implications on your final selection. However, for the interviews you must be prepared to defend the low percentages with good and reasonable answers.

  25. Hi sir,
    This is my profile.
    10th : 93.5
    12th : 83.5
    B.E :8.43(09-13 BATCH P. E. S. I. T. BANGALORE)
    work exp: 18 months(COGNIZANT TECHNOLOGY SOLUTIONS)
    now got selected as Specialist officer(I. T officer) in Bank of India.
    I want to do M. B. A after one or two years. I need suggestions on this regard. And wanted to know that when would it be better. After one year or two years exp. In Bank.
    Thanks

    • Nicku, Pre MBA work experience is not fully valued by companies during placement and career grows faster after an MBA hence the earlier you do an MBA the better it is for your career. Since you havve cleared the Bank PO exam hence suggest that you go for CAT’15 itself, in the worst case go for CAT’16.

  26. Dear Sir,

    My profile:

    tenth – 95%
    twelfth – 95%
    B.Tech – 8.56/10
    work experience – 2 years
    category – nc obc

    what percentile is required to get calls from iim- a,b,c

  27. Hi sir,
    I have the following Academic credentials.
    Xth-87.6%
    XIIth-87.8%
    BTech-8.32(CGPA)
    MTech-8.5(CGPA)
    I have got placed in an IT sector company..I want to have a work ex for another two years.By the time i appear for CAT 2016…I will be completing 26 years of age.Will it be a problem in admission.Also how to go about with preparation for the new pattern as the difficulty level has come down drastically and the focus is more on speed now??

    • Rameez, while it will not be a problem it is advisable to do an MBA as early as possible since career growth is faster after MBA. My suggestion is to go for CAT’15 itself and look at CAT’16 only if you are unable to make it to a good institute in this attempt. The preparation is similar in terms of the topics and the kind of questions but yes with les time per question you are expected to work faster which will require practice. If you are willing to put in 2-3 hours on weekdays and 6-8 hours on holidays for the next 4 months then you can comfortably target CAT’15.

  28. How much does 10th, 12th, graduation% affect in getting calls from newer IlM or other good b schools … Have 70% throughout my academics… Scored 80%ile this year… Have 18 months of exp… Will be taking cat exam next year

    • Rahul, with a 70% in X, XII graduation you can make it to IIM A and possibly C also. IIM B is also not ruled out due to your work experience. Most of the other IIMs are also possible. Most B schools outside IIMs have a low/no weight for past academics and hence are all possible.

  29. Hello sir,
    My acads are 10th – 91%, 12th – 73% and btech cgpa(6.5/10) = 71%
    I have scored OA 96.53, VA 84.82, QA 95.94
    I have 16 months of exp in IT. Is it possible to convert S P Jain?
    If I target to convert to convert it next year, in case I do not get it done this year, what should be my target %ile for CAT ’15, when I would be having 28 months of work ex?
    I am G.E.M.

  30. Hello sir,
    My acads are 10th – 91%, 12th – 73% and btech cgpa(6.5/10)=71%
    I have scored OA 96.53, VA 84.82, QA 95.94
    I have 16 months of exp in IT. Is it possible to convert S P Jain(if I get a call)?
    If I target to convert it next year, in case I do not get it this year, what should be my target %ile for CAT ’15, when I would be having 28 months of work ex?
    I am G.E.M.

  31. Hello sir,
    My acads are 10th-91%, 12th-73% and btech-cgpa(6.5/10)=71%
    I have scored OA 96.53, VA 84.82, QA 95.94
    I have 16 months of exp in IT. Is it possible to convert S P Jain (if I get a call)?
    If I target to convert it next year, in case I do not get it this year, what should be my target %ile for CAT ’15, when I would be having 28 months of work ex?
    I am G.E.M.

  32. Hi GP Sir,
    Please suggest me which colleges I can get a call from and which are the ones (eg IITs) that I can fill the form for at my following CAT score and Profile

    OA : 96.34
    QA : 96.38
    VA : 90.92
    Class X : 92.3
    Class XII : 92.2
    CGPA : 8.37/10 (BE Thapar University)
    Work ex – 42 months till Jan 15 in Operations area

    Forms filled : SPJ, NITIE, XIMB, IMT, FMS, MDI
    Any calls I can expected from New(Raipur, Rohtak etc) IIMs and Newer IIMs(Punjab, Orrisa etc) and any slim chance of an old IIM call? Shall I fill any other Forms from IITs.

  33. Hello sir,

    I am student of Career Launcher. I have scored 85.62%ile in CAT with 72.48%ile in QUANT and 92.65%ile in VA. Kindly please suggest which colleges should i apply for…??
    my profile is
    10th-80%
    12th-79.9%
    Graduation-69.93% with no work experience

    Also is there any chance of getting call from IIM Kashipur,IIM Udaipur or IIM Rohtak

  34. Sir,
    Cat Score is as follows:;
    QA- 91.5, va- 97.5 overall- 96.20…..10th-91.2, 12th- 63.2,, Graduation- B. Tech ( NIT CALICUT- CGPA- 7.4), Category Nc OBC…work Ex-19 months..What to expect fro this?

    • Gaurav, unfortunately you have missed IIM A by a whisker, IIM C is also likely to be the same but you can expect calls from all other IIMs, FMS, NITIE and all IITs. Please start your PDP classes immediately.

  35. sir is there any extra negative marking in cat if number of answers getting wrong exceeds 10 in number.or for each wrong answer only -1 marks is penelised.
    i sat for slot 2 on nov 22 .

    • Fahad, CAT has a fixed negative marking of -1 for every incorrect answer and it does not increase with the number of incorrect answers.

  36. Hi Sir, I have been following your posts and I found that your suggestions are valuable. I am sharing my profile below. Please let me know if I will be able to get good %ile and then conversion in good college, provided I work hard for PDP:
    1) 10th – 65.5%(2004)
    2) 12th – 79.6%(2006)
    3) B-tech – 81.8% (2007-11)
    4) Work Ex – 40 month till december (Comp: DELL, Fidelity)
    5) CAT – Day 2 – 1st Slot
    QA & DI – 37 (80%)
    VA & LR – 25 (80%)
    I am worried about my VA cutoff. I have realised that I do not wan’t to work anymore and want to do MBA from good college.I have filled SP jain and FMS till now and have to give XAT. Please Advise.

  37. Sir, Following is my profile
    10th – 92
    12th – 88.6
    GPA – 8.5/10
    Work Ex – 25 months
    Attempt:
    46 in QA (85% accuracy)
    24 in VA(70% accuracy)
    Am worried about my sectional cut-off in VA. Any top line views whether I would be able to cross the mark?

    • Yatin, with 17 correct out of 24 you may not be able to clear the VALR sectional cutoff but at 20 out of 24 you will be safe. Hopefully your accuracy is better than what you estimate.

  38. Sir,
    I have made 34 attempts in QA : 85 % accuracy
    18 attempts VA : 80 % accuracy
    Total 52 attempts with 80-85% accuracy
    Can I cross 90%ile mark?
    I had 22 Nov morning slot.

  39. sir i am a ph candidate with 10 th and 12 th marks 92.0 an 76.0 percentage respectively with an overall succesl attempt of 34 in cat 2014..what are my chances of grtting an iim cal or fs delhi call..plz reply..

  40. Sir ,

    We have heard abt FMS ,Delhi university . Can you please tell abt Dept of Financial Studies , Delhi University ? What is the cut off ?? Is it worth considering ?

        • Mani, MFC by Dept of Financial Studies is a very good program and regarded favourably by the industry. If you are keen on MBA Finance then you should consider applying for this program, its cut off is likely to be in the region of 90-92%ile.

  41. 1st day..1st show…expecting raw score of 125…sec1-75…sec2-50…no. of attempts 54…category nc-obc…is there any chance of getting call from good iims…sir…plzz reply

    • Piyush, yes calls are possible from new IIMs. Please submit your attempt and estimated correct details in the Percentile Predictor to get an estimate of your normalised score and percentile. The B school Advisory on the same page will suggest the institutes from where you can get calls.

  44. Sir,
    Gave CAT on 22nd Nov, 2nd Slot :
    Profile :
    10th-89.4
    12th-81.4
    Grad-B.Tech-70.29
    CL conservative Percentile : 89.52%
    Work Exp:0
    SC candidate

    Can i expect calls from B Schools as per my profile and predicted percentile score?

  45. Hello Gp Sir,
    I have joined CL test series and found it extremely useful for my CAT prepn. Thanks to u and your team from the deepest core of my heart. Sir, my cat was on 16th morning slot and i was able to attempt 64 questions. The %ile predictor gives my %ile around 99 but it might go down as no one can be sure of accuracy in VA section. Sir, my profile is as follows:
    10th- 92%
    12th- 63%
    B.Tech- NIT Calicut( 74 %)
    Work ex- 19 months
    Category- NC OBC
    Sir, what are my chances of getting calls from A B C SP MDI FMS? I’m a bit scared regarding my pathetic 12th marks. Would that be an issue?
    Waiting eagerly for ur reply sir…
    Thanks.

    • Gaurav, as a NC-OBC candidate as long as you are above 97%ile you are sure to get calls from almost all IIMs, FMS, all IITs, MDI and NITIE. SP Jain should also happen but it looks at the profile along with your scores. Most of these calls (except MDI and SP Jain) will be possible at 95%ile also.

      • Sir,
        Is doing a self business considered as work ex and could it fetch me additional points and consideration in case, I get a call and able to sell my idea effectively?
        Should I consider applying for IIT- DOMS? How are the doms as compared to IIMs?

        • Gaurav, yes self business is also considered as work experience.
          The top three IITs – Mumabi, Delhi and Kharagpur are very good for MBA but the others are also acceptable. The application window for IITs will open in Januray after CAT results so we can wait.

  46. Sir ,

    Around 93-94 percentile in cat 2014 , 10th n 12th- 91 % , Grad- 79% , Work exp – 26 months….category: General … Can i expect a call from any of the IITs or new 6 IIMs ? Thanks in Advance

    • Mani, the new IIMs had 97%ile as the cut off last year hence they are not possible for you. Similarly the cut off for the IITs was over 95%ile.

  47. Hi Sir,
    I have attempted 29 questions in Sec-1 with almost 90% accuracy and 21 questions in Sec-2. How many percentile could be predicted for these attempts? My slot details:
    Date: 16th Nov,2014
    Forenoon Session (9.30-12.20)

  48. Sir percentile predictor is updated to 21nov4 pm…i attempted on 22nd…evening session….
    With 20 in QADI most of them bieng accurate…
    and 27 in VALR with a few risks…like 4-5 may go wrong…
    i have 10th 83.2,12th 80.8, and grad 62.05
    with no exp…can you give me my estimate percntile and colleges i should apply for…

    • Ayush, use the percentile predictor for the initial estimate. The normalised scores/percentiles will be available tomorrow. The B school Advisory will also suggest the institutes that you can apply to.

  49. what will be the sectional cut off in quants if get 40+ marks.do i stand a chance to clear the sectional cut off for iims (new)
    how is siim (energy and environmental management ) ? how do you grade this college sir?

  51. Hi Sir,

    I request you to please suggest colleges that I should apply to. Details –
    1. CAT 14 – Slot 1, Day 1
    2. QALR attempts – 12 (100% accuracy). I am afraid that I won’t be able to clear sectional cut-offs of many good colleges.
    3. QADI attempts – 32 (100% accuracy)
    4. 10th – 92.6% CBSE
    12th – 86.4% CBSE
    BE Computer Science – 69.9% (Nagour University)
    Work Ex – 36 months with TCS

  52. Hi Sir,
    I am a student of CL kolkata..I had my cat on the 2nd slot of 22nd nov .. found that the paper at moderate zone … felt that difficulty wise it was not on the same page of other 3 slots …Inspite of that i tried my level best to maintain my accuracy … overall attempt is 46 (21 QA 25VA)… after coming back from the center i found that i made 3 mistakes in QA and in VA I may make 3 mistakes … CL predictor is giving 87 % tile… can it change in actual cat %tile …I have 3+ work ex ..this is my 1st CAT attempt … 83 % in X .. 78 % in XII .. 83 % in BTech ..GEN category… Is there any RAY OF HOPE ???
    I will be giving SNAP as well as XAT … what should be my next action item ?
    eagerly waiting for your reply..thanks in advance..

  55. Hello sir,
    I need to know that what percentile i can expect with only 28 attempts with 100% accuracy. 10 in QA & 18 in VA.My exam was on 22nd Nov slot 1.
    Thanks
    Regards

  56. GP sir, I have attempted 23 Quant all correct and 10 VA (7 correct, 3 might be wrong).

    what percentile at sectional levels & OA can I expect?

    also which IIM can I apply to FPM basis this OA percentile?

  57. sir i attemted 3 in sectn 1 and 33 in sectn 2 overall 36 or 37 attempts,so how much percentile should i expect?second day second slot

  59. Sir. My last attempt for cat tomorrow.Do or die situation. Please give a safe number of attempts with 90 percent accuracy to get 99 percentile+

    • Aman, I hope you CAT is in the afternoon slot.
      While I expect the paper today to be the same level of difficulty as that on 16th Nov but we cannot be sure hence please scan the paper before you attempt to understand the difficulty level. If the paper is similar to the one on 16th Nov then you should look at a net score of 120+

  60. hello sir,
    FOR TODAY WHICH MOCK I SHOULD GIVE MOCK CAT-18 OR SECTIONAL MOCK 21 (QADI&VALR) .
    PLZ REPLY AS SOON AS POSSIBLE

    THANKS,

  61. Hello Sir,I took CAT on 16th November (2nd slot)
    I attempted 61 questions (31 in Quant and 30 in VA)
    I expect 80-85% accuracy.What range of percentile can I expect?

  62. Hello Sir,
    i had my CAT on 16th of November , evening slot. The paper was pretty easy and scoring i guess.
    However , probably due to over precaution and lack of experience in terms of solving for CAT, this being my first attempt, I wasn’t able to attempt a lot of question and there were only 39 total attempts. I am however confident of decent accuracy and pretty sure of a minimum 33-34 rights.
    My request to you is , would you please put some light on what is the best percentile i can expect and few good colleges i can look for. Also , do you believe i can choose to wait for a year and reappear as i’ am pretty sure of improving my performance next year.

  63. Hello sir,
    As u informed us that with a zero attempt u got a 55%ile in cat 2013.
    Please tell whether this can happen in this year also, if yes then if a candidate marks only 15 question with a 100% accuracy can fetch ( above or =) to 60%ile marks in cat 2014.
    I HAVE A EXAM ON 22nd NOVEMBER. Plz reply…..
    THANKS in advance,

  64. i have taken my exam on 16th nov slot 2 i fell paper is some what easy. so now can i trust the above analysis? if not how much percentile i can get with 130 marks?

    • Rakesh, you should be above 95%ile. The predictor will be updated based on the data submitted by all of you. Normalsation will also be done after the papers on 22nd.

  65. Hello Sir,

    After hearing about the difficulty levels of 16th CAT slots, how many question should I attempt to score a percentile of 75% given that my accuracy level is generally 70percent. Would a raw score of 75 to 80 marks fetch me a percentile of 75?

  66. Sir I am in my final year having aggregate 87.5% in 10 and 90.75% in 12 and 56% in graduation as of now; will 96%ile get me any of the IIM BLACKIE call?

  67. Hello,

    How accurate can one presume the cl percentile predictor to be?
    What methodology is used for the prediction? On the site it is mentioned that data from past CATs is used. How is it possible with the pattern getting changed.

    I gave cat on the 16th morning, with 69 attempts.. Conservative case: 12 wrong; 99.77%ile . Optimistic Case: 6 wrong: 99.98%ile. Don’t the figures seem too bloated? I know many people who did 80+

    Thanks!

    • Rohan, in an easy paper accuracy is important and accuracy falls even in easy papers with high attempts so let us not go by the attempts only. That said we will be revising the percentile predictor based on the data submitted by all of you and will also be normalising the scores after 22nd November.

  68. Sir, After seeing the CAT paper and this latest trend of 70+ and 80+ attempts, would u still consider a 40+ (Question) a 95% Thing??
    I attempted around 55 questions and still cant decide wheather i should be happy about it or sad.

    • Ankush, you have done what you could and it is time to move on to the next paper. Being happy/sad will not hange anything. In an easy paper accuracy is very important hence I will not go by the attempts only. With good accuracy you will have a high score.
      Please enter you data in the Percentile Predictor for an estimate and it will also give you the list of B schools that you should apply to.

  70. Sir, I have taken cat 2014 in evening slot. I did around 60 questions. Do you think these predictions that you made before the exam here would be sufficient to predict the percentile after looking at actual cat 2014 difficulty ? Or they would go higher ?
    For eg. According to you, 48-50 correct attempts would fetch 99.5+ percentile. Does that still hold or would you say the minimum number of questions has gone up ? (say 55+ for 99.5+) ?
    Please reply

    • Himanshu, these have been revised in the percentile predictor and could be re-revised based on the data submitted by all of you. Normalisation will be done after 22nd November.

  71. Sir iam shresth my exam is on ’22nd nov’. Sir plz help me because i am in very much trouble, by practising hard i have been able to increase my overall attempt to 38-40 and accuracy so far increased to 50-52% . I attempt only
    4-5 question in 1st section & 33-34 question in 2nd section .

    Sir please tell me what to do for scoring a reasonable %ile in cat 2014. If u can provie me contact no. so that i can discuss with u then that would b very helpful of u.
    PLZ REPLY ASAP….

    • Sangita, my current estimate is that a 99%ile will need over 140 marks but it could change as more students submit their attempt/correct data.

  73. Sir except the mocks 3, 5 and 7 which other mocks can be close to the level of the paper? The additional mocks 8,9 and 10 ans the Promock 8 are close?

  74. Respected Sir,

    Now I am attempting Additional Mock Test, provided on sis and getting around 90-95 marks, considering this what can I expect in actual CAT percentile.

  75. GP sir, I took the last proc mock i.e, mock 18 and got 116(57+59) in it…Do you think the this mock was the most similar to CAT among all the mocks?? Also, whether a balanced division of scores over both the sections will improve my percentile??

    • Rohan, this is close to QA that was seen in the 16 Nov paper and other sections are also similar. In general try to maximise in one section and ensure a decent score (95%ile) in the other.

  76. Sir…My exam is on the 22nd..with 6 days being left should I focus more on giving Mocks or practice last few years CAT papers ? Which approach will be more beneficial ? Kindly guide.

      • Sir, I given cat 14 my attempt 70 I expect 65 correct answer what is chance in iim a,b,c I am s.t. category students my profile 10th -62.76% 12th- 44% final year 47% still studying.

        • Bhaskar, Please submit your attempt and estimated correct details in the Percentile Predictor for your estimated percentile. My estimate is that you will be above 99.5%ile and will get calls from all IIMs, FMS, JBIMS and IITs. Your academic record is poor and could mean missing out on IIM A.

          • Hi sir

            But IIM A have changed their selection criteria, for 2014-16 batch one just have to clear the cutoff of AR score and will be called on the basis of CAT percentile.

            I think he will get call from IIM A too.

  77. Sir..what is more important??
    High no. of attempts or High accuracy..?
    How many attempts in each section would be sufficient?

  78. Sir,

    DO you think we can compromise on accuracy a bit to gain on overall score. Say If I attempt 5-6 questions more and gain 3-4 marks while reducing my overall accuracy. Will that be taken into account in the normalization process?

    • yes u can .. but to do 5-6 questions more .. u need sufficient time to read and then attempt .. so it would be wise to u .. if u give that time to solve 3-4 correct instead …!! and get 3-3=9 marks instead of solving 3 correct and 2 wrong and get 9-2=7 marks…
      Gp sir .. in addition to this … what do u mean when u say .. “certain assumptions” ??
      which difficulty level are u assuming for this predictions? ??
      and also … can u give some estimates for categorical attempts ??
      thanx .. !!

  80. Sir plz explain which would be profitable in CAT?
    High attempts with low accuracy or less attempts with high accuracy as yet i am not able to understand the normalization of CAT ’14……..
    can a person with less score but high accuracy get a better %ile than a person with low score but high accuracy or is it the raw score that will matter at the end?

  83. Sir, My attempts in section 1 ranges from 18-22, while just 15 are correct! Whereas in section 2, the raw score ranges from 68-78. Any tips for section 1? Also what percentile I can expect?

    • Vartika, restrict your attempts in section 1 and ensure sufficient time to reduce your errors. With a 70+ in section 2 a score of 50+ marks in section 1 can get you a good percentile score.

    • Piyush, the sectional cutoff is for IIMs is 85%ile for general category but from the top IIMs a call is usually not possible at a sectional score of less than 90%ile.

  85. Sir, Please could you share your views on the change in normalization process? Should the number of attempts be increased a little on cost of accuracy? Which is the better approach?

    • Vivek, my suggestion is to just worry about getting a high raw score and if that means sacrificing accuracy it is okay with me.

  86. Sir I know this is not the time with my cat being tomorrow. My mock scores are varying around 96-98 percentile. but most of the times my percentiles are getting bogged down by silly mistakes. And in higher range even 1 silly mistake can really hamper ur score. How to avoid that??

  87. Sir, I have been scoring consistently around 95 marks(+3 / -1 scheme) in MOCKS while attempting around 50-55 questions.
    I have my slot on 22nd should I be more focused on training myself in attempting more questions or improving efficiency.
    When I analyse my MOCKS I find silly mistakes in the easiest questions.
    Any tips for improving efficiency

    • K.A, my suggestion is to focus on improving your efficiency and not on increasing your attempts. Revision is the best tool for improving your efficiency and also your attempts.

  88. Sir, My exam is on 22nd. I will attempt 2 unproctored mock exam tomorrow and on monday. Can you please tell me which unproctored Tests I should attempt?

  90. sir please tell us that whether this assumption will applicable for easy paper,moderate paper or for tough paper. is it possible with raw score of 105 (35 net correct) in easy paper sufficient for 90%ile?
    thanks

    • Baijnath, this assumes a paper similar level of difficulty as Mock CAT 3, 5 & 7. If the paper is easier or difficult the attempts could go up or down by a couple of questions.

  91. What are the different question types you predict for VA section sir ? Also, will there be an analysis of CAT 14 by you tomo ?

  92. Sir,

    Other coaching institutes and among them, the Top one has lately, set very difficult Mock Exams. If you have gone through those tests, do you expect the difficulty level to be so high?

    Precisely, I score around 160+ in CL-Procs and around 130 in the other. So, I’m a bit confused.

    Could you please throw some light?

    • Samarth, I presume you are referring to the TIME mocks. They have had a very wide range of difficulty with the score required for at least 1 IIM Call (97.5%ile) ranging from 104 to 162 and hence I would not call them difficult. In any case tomorrow we will know the difficulty level of CAT’14 and my estimate is that it is unlikely to be a difficult paper.
      PS “Top One” is debateable

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