What is a Good Score/Percentile in CAT 2025? - Check Here

If you are looking for an answer to “what is a good score/percentile in CAT 2025”, then you have come to the right place. A good score in CAT 2025 is subjective. If you belong to the General/NC-OBC category and want to get admission to some of the top IIMs in India, then you must score at least 98 to 100 percentile in the CAT examination 2025 . To get admission to IIM Ahmedabad, IIM Bangalore, and IIM Calcutta, a score between 99 to 100 percentile is ideal.

Under the list of CAT 97 percentile colleges, IIM Lucknow and IIM Kozhikode are considered to be the best MBA colleges. 97 percentile in CAT is an above-average score, and can help students get admission to some of the leading B-schools in India. With a CAT percentile of 94 to 95, students can get MBA admission into IIM Trichy. With a 92-93 CAT percentile, students can go for IIM Sirmaur and IIM Jammu.

On average, a CAT score between 90 to 95 percentile is considered to be good. To read more about what qualifies as a good score in CAT 2025, and the IIMs that offer admissions based on these scores, scroll down!

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What is a Good CAT 2025 Score/Percentile?

Students often ask, “is 97 percentile good in CAT?” As per previous years’ trends, with a 97 percentile in CAT, students can get admission to some of the top IIMs like IIM Lucknow, IIM Kozhikode, etc. A good score in CAT examination 2025 will depend on the college you want to take admission to. Having a set target in mind during CAT 2025 preparation helps students to curate a personalized strategy.

Every B-school in India has a different CAT cutoff score that varies from institute to institute. For IIM MBA admissions, students will require a minimum of 95 percentile, but for other B-schools like IIFT, IITs, FMS Delhi, and SPJIMR, students will need a CAT score up to 95 percentile. Moreover, Tier-3 B-schools can accept students with slightly lower-than-average CAT scores.

Therefore, a detailed study on CAT percentile wise colleges is necessary before sitting for this examination. Students must target a realistic score and prepare accordingly.

Also Read: CAT 2025 Score Weightage in IIMs

What is a Good CAT 2025 Percentile for IIM Admission?

To answer this question, we need to see the number of seats in IIMs, the number of you appearing for CAT, as well as the interest of CAT aspirants in a particular IIM. Roughly speaking, the total seats in IIMs is around 5,000, and the total number of aspirants appearing for CAT every year is around 2,00,000. Hence, you have to be in the top 5,000 to be eligible for admission. And the top 5,000, you come in the 97.50+ percentile bracket. However, practically speaking, you can get into an IIM such as IIM Jammu , IIM Amritsar , etc., even with a 90 percentile CAT score.

When it comes to old private colleges vs new IIMs, many of you prefer to take admission into a prestigious institute such as ISB Hyderabad , XLRI Jamshedpur , or SIBM Pune . This can be attributed to the poor availability of infrastructure as well as a lack of alumni network at these newly built IIMs. However, as time passes by and these IIMs are shifted to their own campuses and start building their alumni network, the CAT score required to get admission to these IIMs will also increase.

However, for the top IIMs, often called BLACKIS (IIMB, IIML, IIMA, IIMC, IIMI, IIMK), a good score in CAT is 99+ percentile. To get admission into these top-ranking IIMs, it is crucial to be in the top bracket of CAT scorers. And since many factors such as work experience, academic performance, etc., are given weightage in IIM selection criteria , even a 99 percentile score cannot guarantee admission.

Also Read: Minimum Percentile in CAT 2025 to Get into IIM

Good CAT 2025 Score for Tier-I, II & III B-Schools

Each institute will have a different minimum CAT score requirement to be eligible for admission. Other business schools that accept CAT scores are listed in the table below:

Also Read: 100 Percentile in CAT 2025 Means How Many Attempts?

How Many Questions to Attempt for 99+ Percentile in CAT 2025?

To achieve a 99+ percentile in CAT 2025, it's advisable to attempt around 41 questions with an accuracy rate of 85-90%. Below is a breakdown of the number of questions required to attain a 99+ percentile, 95+ percentile, and 90+ percentile in each section of the CAT 2025 exam.

Also Read: How Many Questions to Attempt in CAT for 99 Percentile?

Understanding CAT 2025 Score & Percentile

CAT test-takers often get confused between the CAT score and CAT percentile and wonder whether these are the same things or two different terms. To clear this confusion, we have talked about the CAT score and CAT percentile in detail below.

What is CAT Score?

The CAT score represents the total marks obtained by a student in the CAT exam, which is determined by its unique marking scheme. In simpler terms, a candidate's score is calculated by adding up their marks from all three sections of the exam - Verbal Ability & Reading Comprehension, Data Interpretation & Logical Reasoning, and Quantitative Ability. To calculate the CAT score, one can use the following formula:

What is CAT Percentile?

The CAT percentile reflects a candidate's rank in comparison to other students who took the exam during the same time frame, based on certain parameters. It is a measure used to evaluate the percentage of students who have scored lower or higher than you on the merit list. Essentially, it indicates a candidate's position among all those who appeared for the CAT exam, which determines their ranking. The CAT percentile is an important factor to consider when analyzing CAT marks vs percentile, as it plays a vital role in determining a student's performance and competitiveness in the exam.

where,

R = Rank of the candidates assigned based on scaled CAT score or total number of You who rank below you.

N = Number of candidates who appeared in CAT exam (all three sessions)

Let's understand CAT percentile calculation with an example. Suppose that 50 candidates appeared for the CAT exam. Candidates have done well in the exam and scored 3rd rank on the entrance test, which means that 47 students scored less than you. Now, your percentile should be calculated as follows:

47/50*100 = 94 Percentile

Therefore, you scored 94 percentile in CAT as per the above example

That example also serves to show that you can never get 100 percentile in CAT since 100 percent of the You can never score less than you in the exam. CAT percentile not only depends on your score but also on what others scored in the examination. Hence, it cannot be completely in your control.

What is CAT Scaled Score?

The Common Admission Test (CAT) is conducted in multiple sessions, and each session has slightly different question papers. To ensure fairness and equity in performance comparison, a scaled score is generated through the normalization process. This scaled score may differ from the raw score in either direction. When calculating the scores for each session, the normalization process will be used to ensure that you are marked fairly and equally. The CAT normalization process assumes that the distribution of applicants' abilities is constant across all sessions, similar to the GATE score. The normalization procedure used by GATE takes into account variations in the level of difficulty of question papers across different sessions.

What is CAT Composite Score?

The CAT composite score is calculated for shortlisting you for the Written Ability Test, Group Discussion, and Personal Interview rounds of IIMs. Each CAT candidate's composite score is determined by calculating each candidate's score based on several factors. The parameters for CAT 2025 composite score will include:

• CAT 2025 score (scaled)

• Class 10 marks/percentage

• Class 12 marks/percentage

• Graduation marks/percentage

• Work Experience

• Gender Diversity

• Academic Diversity

The formula for calculating the CAT Composite Score used by the IIMs is as follows:

Also Read : Colleges to Apply Before CAT

CAT 2025 Score vs Percentile

To understand what is good CAT percentile score is, you must first know the CAT score vs percentile calculation. Check out the table below to know more:

Therefore, a good score in CAT can be different for each candidate. However, since the CAT is being taken for admission to IIMs, we should take a look at what is a good CAT score for gaining admission to IIMs.

Top MBA Colleges Accepting Good CAT 2025 Percentile

Given below are a few of the top IIMs and other MBA colleges that will shortlist you for the final selection round of the MBA admissions in 2025 based on your CAT percentile/score:

How to Get a Good Score in CAT 2025?

Putting in targeted practice and study hours every day is the key to getting a good score in the CAT. You have to adopt new strategies and work on increasing your speed and accuracy as well. If you are targeting to be among the top achievers, you should put in calculated efforts for the same. Given below are some CAT preparation guides created by our experts that you should check out.

The Common Admission Test or CAT is one of those exams that are on the radar of every MBA aspirant. Most of the top MBA colleges in India accept CAT scores for admission to their MBA/PGDM programs. Nevertheless, as one of the most popular MBA entrance exams, CAT is also known for its fierce competition among you. Thus, you must leave no gaps in your CAT preparation if you wish to achieve a decent percentile score. The examination strategy that you rely on must be in accordance with the exam pattern. With proper time management and presence of mind, any CAT percentile target is achievable.

CAT 2025 Percentile vs Colleges

CAT 2025 Score vs Percentile

College-Wise Cutoff Analysis of CAT 2025

For any further queries on what is a good score/percentile in CAT 2025, feel free to reach out to us in our Q&A Zone . Check our CAT 2025 College Predictor and CAT 2025 Percentile Predictor to get an idea of your estimated CAT scores. You can even fill out our Common Application Form (CAF) to get guidance from our team of college counsellors!