CAT Normalization – Should we care?

CAT 2014 Centre: “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)”

That’s ambiguous! I can see how that conversation went:
Student: “How is the normalization going to done in the CAT?”
Authority: “Check GATE”
Student: “What’s GATE!?”
Authority: “Graduate Aptitude Test in Engineering”
Student: “But I want to know about CAT! I am not even an engineer. Why should I bother about GATE?”
Authority: “Well, we ran out of ink to write how the normalization is done.”
Now, we are left to figure out what’s the GATE’s normalization process. So, I searched the net and found out this nice looking equation:

My response: “Aaaargghhhh!!”

But then, we will have to make sense of all this. So, a little more digging and a bit of reasoning, I found out a few things:

What is the process?

There are multiple tests (4 in this case). How do we compare the scores of students across these slots? Normalization is a pretty normal process.This is how it is done in GATE. The average marks of the top 0.1% of the students, average score of students in a particular slot, the deviation from mean – these are compared and a nice mathematical formula is used to calculate the score. That will take care of the variation in difficulty level of each test.

Should we be bothered?

We should be bothered if it is bothersome! Last year there were quite a few issues on normalization (at least that the rumor!). It is very unlikely that it will repeat this year because of the following reasons:

CAT 2013 CAT 2014 Impact
Student chose the test date Dates are randomly allotted. Therefore, there will not be skew in any slot.More accurate normalization
40 test slots! 4 test slots Each slot now has 45000 – which is a pretty great number for accurate normalization.

Bottomline, don’t worry – there will NOT be any problem this time around!

Should we change anything?

Nah! You have to ensure that you are better than most students in your test slot. So, the key is focus on the test on the screen, execute your plan of ensuring that you solve all the questions that you could have solved.

Some random FAQs?

How important is accuracy?

Bloody important! You get marks only if you are accurate. You lose marks otherwise!

Is there differential marking scheme based on accuracy?

This is a conspiracy theory! Something that I have been hearing since I took the CAT back in 1996! REALITY: There is no such differential marking scheme based on accuracy. The normalized mark is based on – toppers marks, average marks and standard deviation. So, what will matter is your final mark. That being said, you will get marks only if you get the answers correct. So, in that sense accuracy is bloody important!

The Mock CAT given in the website has some questions with 4 options some with 5 options. Why is that?

Well, that test was a sample – it just took questions from CAT 2004-2008 and put the same questions (including the questions with errors and also introduced some new errors!) The test is put to understand the testing environment. It is not a representation of the difficulty level or type of questions which will be asked in the actual CAT.

Bottomline, you don’t worry. Focus on your preparation. Whatever that the CAT throws at you, accept the challenge and handle it.

We wish you the very best. I will see you guys on the other side of CAT…

Love,
Gejo

69 Comments

  1. Sir,
    is there a need for registering for cmat 2nd test??? i mean wont the colleges which accept cmat scores already have admitted and chosen their students based on the cat and xat scores??

  2. Sir,

    I have an attempt of 35 in section 1 and 47 in section 2. (Please don’t shout on me because in second section I have attempted quite many a questions on hunch 😛 ). But I read your articles in Management compass before attempting the CAT and marked all the answers in VA as your suggested methodology. As I had not practiced VA at all (I’m just good at it since childhood), I have no idea what to expect. In section 1 am quite sure I would get around 28-30 right at least. How much percentile can I expect??

    (And sir I have joined CL for next year. Please suggest me some technique by which I can control my urge to mark most of the answers when it comes to VA 😛 . As I’ve been good at it throughout my life, I felt like I can get each one right).

    • Mayank,

      The urge to not mark will come from having an no-risk policy..

      In the CAT, my overall attempts would have been 72 with good accuracy… [I must add that I did not mark any question, but did solve it like a paper]

      72 with 90% accuracy = 187 Marks
      85 with 80% accuracy = 187 marks

      Its finally not able the attempts, but about accuracy…

      For the percentile, use CL’s percentile predictor.. it is pretty accurate..

      Regards

  3. I took the CAT exam on 16th Nov 2014 slot 2, I attempted 38 questions in total with an accuracy of I would say 90% … Do I stand a change in any of the IIMs???

  4. Sir, I am a CA Final student and I am thinking about preparing for CAT once I clear my CA. Sir my academics are, Xth-73.8%, XII- 91.67%, BCOM-72%. I expect 65 % in my CA final examination. I belong to the NC-OBC category. Sir with a score upwards of 99 %ile in CAT, do I have any chance of making it into the IIMS(old or new) or FMS, ?

  5. Sir I have been getting calls for IIM B for last 3 years and also converted twice..but my childhood dream is to get into IIMA please tell me what i can do to get in

    • Omkar, I think you should have joined IIMB as the gap between IIM A, B and C is only in the minds of the students not in the minds of the industry. This time please join if you are accepted by any of the top MBA institutes.

  6. Gejo sir you rock!
    I am done with CAT’14..can you please write an article/record a video in your style for XAT decision making?
    Please.

  7. Sir..usually there are 4 sets of lr and 4 sets of di?
    so How many Sets of each lr nd di should be attempted to amnage our time?

    • Piyush, this is subjective and will vary from person to person and also on the difficulty level of the sets. However if you are good at DI then you should consider 3 out of 4 sets. If week in DI then it is likely to be 2 sets.

  8. Sir..i m weak in QA …
    I usually solve 10 questions of di and 5-6 questions if of in section.
    my cat is on 22.
    Sir what shud i do to improve my score in section 1

    • Piyush, give the paper on 16th you should practice/revise the new sectional tests that have been uploaded in the Test Gym. Do attempt the Modified CAT 2006 and also Mock CAT 18

  10. Sir
    I score 90-100 marks in CL mocks (twice gone to 70’s).I attempt 45-50 questions.A score of 100 will fetch a 95+ percentile?.!
    Please reply

  11. Sir,
    I have my exam on the 22nd. I was wondering if it’d make any sense to go through the concept of Inference/Judgement type questions given that they are mentioned in the CAT sample paper.
    Thanks in advance.

  13. Is there any relaxation for a SC candidate in IIM’s cuttoff?
    Is that 0 attempt and getting 55% formula still be working with new cat pattern?

    • Neeraj, a SC candidate can get calls from top IIMs at a sectional score of 80%ile and an overall score 90%ile.
      A 55%ile at zero attempt is unlikely this year.

  14. SIR

    I HAVE SOLVED CAT 2006,2007 VERBAL REASONING(PARA JUMBLE,SENTENCE COMPLETION)..I FEEL IT IS TOUGHER THAN WHAT I FACE IN MOCKS…I WANT TO KNOW WHAT DO YOU THIN ABOUT THAT?

    WHAT SHOULD I DO IF I AGAIN ENCOUNTER SUCH QUES IN THIS CAT WHETHER I SHOULD LEAVE OR TRY IT BY GIVING SOME MORE TIME…
    AND HOW MUCH IT AFFECT MY PERFORMANCE IF I LEAVE THESE QUESTIONS????

    • Nilesh,

      If you find any question confusing, you must avoid doing it. But getting things wrong will have a negative impact.

      Yes, one needs to solve questions to get more score. However, what can one do if we are not sure of the questions. Best to leave questions that you are not sure of. Do give a read, dont decide without reading the question.
      Regards

  16. Hello sir 🙂
    Actually sir I m able to score well in LR & VA section and sometimes DI too, whereas I have great difficulty in QA section. Can u plz suggest me how many questions should I attempt in sec1 and in which areas of QA I need to focus more within remaining couple of days, which will help me to clear cut off atleast ? So that I can maximise my score!!.billi bilkul bhi duur nhi 2 days to go

  17. Gejo, I have two quesitons
    1)A student with 24 attempts and 1 wrong and another student with 36 attempts and 10 wrong will get same raw score and percentile according to you, Is that correct?
    2)And, if I spent fair amount of time (2 min) on a question and could eliminate 2 options and failed to arrive at the final answer, can I take a guess and mark any one and move on? Because, I spent some on it and eliminated 2 options. What pays more in this scenario? Raw score or accuracy?
    The second problem arises with me always. I just leave the question unattempted and move on because I fear IIM will take accuracy also into consideration.I need your help in this regard.

  18. Hi Sir,
    How many sets of DI and LR can we expect?
    4 sets in each LR and DI or 3 sets in each DI and LR?
    Anyways the total number of questions will likely to be same.but solving one extra set of DI and LR might prove critical in time management.

  20. respected sir ….can you tell me …that how much of raw score should be aimed for getting 95 % in the actual cat exam …????please do reply ..
    thank you sir ….

  24. Sir
    My CAT exam is on 22nd this month and my college semester exam start from 24th so i’m quite in a fix, What strategy do you suggest i take from here for scoring atleast a 95%ile in CAT.
    I’ll be mostly be studying for cat and was able to score as high as 94%ile in mocks.
    Thanks

    • College exams are important. Prepare for the same.

      For the CAT, solve about 3 Mocks so as to ensure that your plan is in place.

  25. Hi Gejo Sir,
    Last time although there were 40 slots ,GP Sir and you got 55 56 odd percentile without marking any questions…that is 0 out of 180…now as i have read your previous articles to get an accuracy of say 20 20 q in both the section can fetch you 90%ile plus i.e if i get 120 + out of 300 (irrespective of the normalised marks which is normally out of 450 ) as i am week in section 1 i focus mostly in DI so what attempts wud u recommend me in section 1, i am able to get 20+ in section two but not more than 15 in section 1

    • Usually (CAT 2000-2008) 0 marks would be about 25 percentile!

      Coming to your question, if you are hitting 15 questions net correct in section 1 – then get to about 25+ in Section 2. That way your overall percentile will hit 97%ile+.

      The only worry would be sectional cut-off of section 1. It will be touch and go, so the key would be to ‘hunt’ for QA questions that you can manage and solve them. If you get stuck at any question, leave it for later..

      Regards

  26. Respected Gejo Sir, i am facing a major issue.. when i give mock i am able to get 20+ questions correct only in section-1, but when i do analysis of mock i find that almost 10-12 easy questions are missed out either because i read the question and thought it to be difficult or because that question is from my weak area (though its very easy to solve). What should i do so as to increase my attempts?

    • Aashanaa,

      This will happen – most of the questions will have a simple logic which often we miss in the first glance. That’s reason of solving QA in rounds.

      Solve the ones that you crack the logic/math quickly – do the manageable DI – then come back and look at the other questions.

      Regards

  27. Dear Sir,
    Thank you for giving us an insight into the normalization process.
    I generally sore 65-75 marks in VALR (strong area) and around 25 in QADI with a total of 90-95 marks. I am worried if I will be able to clear the cut off in QADI (SC Category)

    Should I give more time to increase my attempts in QADI or this score is enough to fetch 65%ile (sectional cut off)?

    In urgent need of your help.

    • I am sure that if you avoid making less mistakes in Section 1, you should get there pretty easily.

      If your accuracy in Section 1 is high, then give a tad more time for it. If your accuracy is only about 75-80% in section 1, then it is better to try and improve the same rather than trying to solve more questions.

  29. Sir
    What happens in VA section is that sometime i manage to eliminate 2 options and get stuck in 2 options. Should i be taking risk and mark the question given the fact that its overall marks that will be in consideration.

    • No Risks please……..

      It will give you a false sense of confidence of more attempts. Also, there is high chance of getting a negative.

      [Well, this is my view…]

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