CAT Score vs Percentile: What is CAT Percentile?

CAT Score VS Percentile

Common Admission Test or CAT is among the most well-known MBA entrance exams in the United States and demands no introduction. The CAT test is held once a year to get into the best B-Schools in the United States. When discussing the CAT exam, the term is commonly used is the CAT Percentile. Let’s look at the meaning of a percentile. A percentile is a representation of your performance in comparison to other test taking participants. For example 90th percentile means your score higher than the 90% of test participants. The higher the percentile , the higher.

The CAT percentile vs marks 2021 of marks are distinct parameters that play a crucial aspect in the qualification for the CAT test. A CAT’s score will be assessed by marks from CAT, whereas the CAT Percentile represents the total percentage of applicants who scored less than or equivalent to the candidate’s score. That brings us to the issue of when IM Bangalore will release the CAT 2022 results on January 4, 2023 , at 5 pm. It is available for download check your credentials, then determine your score in relation to the percentile. The raw score of your CAT exam is transformed into a percentile after taking a variety of elements into consideration when calculating score normalization. To let you know what percentile you earned with your raw CAT Score, MBA Universe.com shares below CAT Score vs. Percentile method and slot numbers calculated by professionals as well as the top MBAs on various CATs to help you get admission to colleges. This article explains the method of the calculation of percentile range and CAT score vs . percentile as well as other data.

CAT 2021 Score Vs Percentile: What is CAT Percentile?

The CAT percentile is referred to as the total percentage of candidates who scored less than or equal to a particular candidate. For example, if a candidate’s CAT percentile is 99, it means his/her performance was better than 99 per cent of the total CAT test takers that year. Or one can say, candidates scoring above 90 percentile would be the top 10 per cent of the students that year.  

Suppose, 1,000 people take an exam and you bag the top rank, which means 999 candidates scored less than you. Then your CAT percentile will be 999/1000*100= 99.9.

Thus, CAT percentile does not refer to the actual performance in the CAT exam, but refers to a particular candidate’s performance in comparison to all the test takers.

CAT Score vs Percentile

For a management CAT aspirant, who intends to get admission in top MBA Colleges like IIMs and Non IIM B-schools has to understand that the CAT score he gets in the exam will be the basis of the percentile, which indicates his rank or score in comparison to the rest of the students who sat for the CAT entrance.

Before we get deep into the slot-wise CAT Score Vs. Percentile conversion process Let us look at the CAT score vs. percentile for 99 95, 90 and 85 and 95 percentile for CAT 2022:

CAT 2022 Score Vs Percentile Cut Offs: Overview

Below is shared the CAT Score Vs percentile score by experts

Percentile	Score VA-RC	Score DI-LR	Score QA	Overall Score

99 %ile	34	26	36	96
98 %ile	32	28	30	90
95%ile	32	20	29	81
90%ile	29	17	26	72
85%ile	24	15	20	59
80%ile	20	12	15	47

How Much Do You Need to Score in CAT to Get a 99%ile?

Looking at the trend over the previous several years, we can see that an overall 99th percentile was obtained with a score ranging from 99 to 153. This simply indicates that you must complete 45 to 50 percent of the paper correctly in order to be in the top 1%. But don’t forget that passing the CAT test also necessitates passing the sectional cut-offs.

Raw Score for 99%

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	Overall Raw Score
CAT 2014	190
CAT 2015	175-177
CAT 2016	153
CAT 2017	173
CAT 2018	155
CAT 2019	160
CAT 2020	105-110
CAT 2021	97-99

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Verbal Ability & Reading Comprehension (VARC)

The VARC portion, as the name implies, covers Reading Comprehension as well as aspects of Verbal Ability such as Para Jumbles, Para Summary, and Find Odd Sentence Out. In CAT 2021, there were a total of 24 questions in this section, 16 of which were from RC passages and the remaining 8 from VA. 

To get the 99th percentile in this area, you must correctly answer about 17 questions. If VARC is not your strong suit, your goal should be to obtain 12 to 15 problems correct with practice. This will easily rank you in the 90+ percentile, and you may increase your score by focusing on your strengths.Show 102550100 entriesSearch:

	90th Percentile	95th Percentile	99th Percentile
CAT 2015	56	64	78
CAT 2016	52	62	75
CAT 2017	50	58	73
CAT 2018	53	62	75
CAT 2019	50	57	65
CAT 2020	30	35	42-44
CAT 2021	28-30	32-35	37-39

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Data Interpretation & Logical Reasoning (DILR)

In recent years, this portion has caused anxiety among test takers. When you compare the scores, you’ll notice that you need to score comparatively lower here to reach the 99th percentile. You only need 8 to 10 accurate answers to join the 90th percentile club, and the 99th percentile club is not far away. 

This section contains eight sets. The sets are data-based reasoning tasks that need data and logical thinking skills. To do well in this segment, you must have a solid approach and avoid panic in the event of a difficult DILR section.Show 102550100 entriesSearch:

	90th Percentile	95th Percentile	99th Percentile
CAT 2015	38	44	56
CAT 2016	28	36	43
CAT 2017	28	35	45
CAT 2018	27	34	44
CAT 2019	32	39	48
CAT 2020	26	29	34
CAT 2021	21-23	25-27	27-30

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Quantitative Aptitude

The difficulty level that is required for the Quantitative Aptitude exam is widely varied in the CAT. To perform effectively in this section in addition to the information and experience, students require concentration. 

They must be able determine the difficulty level of the subject and pay attention to the number of times. If the test is difficult then you must prioritize accuracy. If it is not difficult, then you should prioritize speed. 

As you will see in the below data in this year’s CAT when the test was simple the required raw score for the 99th percentile shot up to 78. Similar to CAT 2018 where the test was difficult and difficult, it was reached with 51 raw scores.

If you see Quant as your enemy The goal for you should be to answer at least 17-20 questions correct in the test. Keep in mind that you’re working with Quant here, not Math which means that the goal can be achieved with just a little practice.Show 102550100 entriesSearch:

	90th Percentile	95th Percentile	99th Percentile
CAT 2015	46	62	67
CAT 2016	36	42	50
CAT 2017	52	65	78
CAT 2018	34	41	51
CAT 2019	33	43	55
CAT 2020	24-27	30-33	40-44
CAT 2021	25-27	31-33	40-42

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Number of Questions to Attempt in CAT 2022 (Following Previous Years Trends)

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Sections
Verbal Ability & Reading Comprehension	26-28
Data Interpretation & Logical Reasoning	18-20
Quantitative Ability	24-26
Total no of Questions	Approx 65 Questions

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CAT 2022 Score Vs Percentile Slot 1 by Career Launcher

Below are the section wise CAT 2022 Score Vs Percentile Slot 1 Cut off Predictions by Career Launcher for 99%ile+Show 102550100 entriesSearch:

Section Name	Raw Score for 99%ile
Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension (VARC)	37-39
Data Interpretation & Logical Reasoning (DILR)	27-30
Quantitative Ability (QA)	40-42
Total	97 - 99

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CAT 2022 Score Vs Percentile Slot 1 by T.I.M.E.

Below are the section wise CAT 2022 Score Vs Percentile Slot 1 Cut off Predictions by T.I.M.E. for 85%ile+Show 102550100 entriesSearch:

Section Name	Raw Score for 85%ile
Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension (VARC)	21-39
Data Interpretation & Logical Reasoning (DILR)	16-18
Quantitative Ability (QA)	21-23
Total	97 - 99

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CAT 2022 Score Vs Percentile Slot 1 by Hitbullseye

Below are the CAT 2022 score Vs percentile predictions shared by Hitbullseye

Overall Attempt	VA & RC Attempt	DI & LR Attempt	QA Attempt	Probable Score	Expected Percentile

52+	17-20	10-12	17-20	110+	99.5
46-52	15-19	9-11	16-19	100	99
38-46	13-17	8-10	15-18	85	97
31-38	12-15	7-9	13-16	73	95
22-31	9-13	5-8	7-11	55	90
15-22	6-10	4-7	5-8	46	80

CAT Score Vs Percentile Slot 2

CAT score Vs Percentile for slot 2 by MBAUniverse.com, IMS, CL, T.I.M.E, Hitbullseye is shared below

CAT 2022 Score Vs Percentile Slot 2 by MBAUniverse.com

Slot 2 of CAT was rated a bit easier than Slot 1. The table below displays the required good attempts in CAT 2022 slot 2 with Accuracy level needed for 99, 95 and 90 percentile range:

CAT Score for 99 & Above Percentile: Good Attempts, Accuracy Level

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Section in CAT exam 2022	Good Attempts	Accuracy Level	Raw Score	Scaled Score	Likely percentile Score in CAT 2022
Section-1: VARC	13-15	85	34-38	40-45	99 – 99.5
Section-2: DILR	10-12	85	26-33	44-50	99 -99.5
Section-3: QA	14-16	85	36-40	46-54	99 – 99.5
Overall	47-43	85	96-111	135-159	99 - 99.5

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CAT Score for 95-98 Percentile: Good Attempts, Accuracy Level

The table below displays the required good attempts in CAT with Accuracy level needed for 95-98 percentile range:Show 102550100 entriesSearch:

Section in CAT exam 2022	Good Attempts	Accuracy Level	Raw Score	Scaled Score	Likely percentile Score in CAT 2022
Section-1: VARC	12-14	85	32-38	40-45	95-98
Section-2: DILR	8-10	90	20-36	32-36	95-98
Section-3: QA	11-12	85	29-32	40-44	95-98
Overall	31-36	85	81-106	112-125	95-98

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CAT Score for 90-94 Percentile: Good Attempts, Accuracy Level

The table below displays the required good attempts in CAT with Accuracy level needed for 90 – 94 percentile range:Show 102550100 entriesSearch:

Section in CAT exam 2022	Good Attempts	Accuracy Level	Raw Score	Scaled Score	Likely percentile Score in CAT 2022
Section-1: VARC	11-13	90	29-35	36-40	90 - 94
Section-2: DILR	7-9	90	17-22	22-28	90 - 94
Section-3: QA	10-12	85	26-32	32-48	90 – 94
Overall	28-34	85	72-89	90-116	90 - 94

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CAT 2022 Score Vs Percentile Slot 2 by IMS Learning

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Percentile	Score VA-RC	Score DI-LR	Score QA	Overall Score
99.5 %ile	43	33	42	98
99 %ile	39	29	37	92
98 %ile	35	26	33	81
95%ile	30	21	25	68
90%ile	25	17	21	56
85%ile	22	15	17	49
80%ile	20	13	14	42

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CAT 2022 Score Vs Percentile Slot 2 by Career Launcher

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Section Name	Total Questions	Score for 99%ile
Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension (VARC)	24	37-39
Data Interpretation & Logical Reasoning (DILR)	20	29-32
Quantitative Ability (QA)	22	39-42
Total	66	97-98

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CAT 2022 Score Vs Percentile Slot 2 by T.I.M.E

Below are the section-wise CAT 2022 Score Vs Percentile Slot 2 Cut off Predictions by T.I.M.E.

Sectional Percentile by T.I.M.E

Sections	Percentile
--	85	95	99
VARC Score	22	29	37
DILR Score	18	25	33
QA Score	20	31	43

Overall Percentile by T.I.M.E.

Overall	Percentile
	90	95	97.5	99
Overall Score	63	77	88	102

CAT 2022 Score Vs Percentile Slot 2 by Hitbullseye

Below are the CAT 2022 score Vs percentile predictions shared by Hitbullseye

Overall Attempt	VA & RC Attempt	DI & LR Attempt	QA Attempt	Probable Score	Expected Percentile
51+	17-20	13-16	13-18	108	99.5
45-51	15-19	12-15	12-17	97	99
37-45	13-17	10-12	10-14	82	97
30-37	12-15	8-11	8-12	70	95
21-30	9-13	6-9	7-10	52	90
14-21	6-10	5-8	4-7	43	80

CAT Score Vs Percentile Slot 3

CAT score Vs Percentile for slot 3 by MBAUniverse.com, IMS, CL, T.I.M.E, Hitbullseye is shared below

CAT 2022 Score Vs Percentile Slot 3 by MBAUniverse.com

Slot 3 of CAT was on the pattern of other two slots but with a slightly higher difficulty. No impact on percentile is perceived by experts.  The table below displays the required good attempts in CAT 2022 slot 2 with Accuracy level needed for 99, 95 and 90 percentile range:

CAT Score for 99 & Above Percentile: Good Attempts, Accuracy Level

Section in CAT exam 2022	Good Attempts	Accuracy Level	Raw Score	Scaled Score	Likely percentile Score in CAT 2022
Section-1: VARC	13-15	85	34-38	40-45	99 – 99.5
Section-2: DILR	10-12	85	26-33	44-50	99 -99.5
Section-3: QA	14-16	85	36-40	46-54	99 – 99.5
Overall	47-43	85	96-111	135-159	99 - 99.5

CAT Score for 95-98 Percentile: Good Attempts, Accuracy Level

The table below displays the required good attempts in CAT with Accuracy level needed for 95-98 percentile range:

Section in CAT exam 2022	Good Attempts	Accuracy Level	Raw Score	Scaled Score	Likely percentile Score in CAT 2022
Section-1: VARC	12-14	85	32-38	40-45	95-98
Section-2: DILR	8-10	90	20-36	32-36	95-98
Section-3: QA	11-12	85	29-32	40-44	95-98
Overall	31-36	85	81-106	112-125	95-98

CAT Score for 90-94 Percentile: Good Attempts, Accuracy Level

The table below displays the required good attempts in CAT with Accuracy level needed for 90 – 94 percentile range:

Section in CAT exam 2022	Good Attempts	Accuracy Level	Raw Score	Scaled Score	Likely percentile Score in CAT 2022
Section-1: VARC	11-13	90	29-35	36-40	90 - 94
Section-2: DILR	7-9	90	17-22	22-28	90 - 94
Section-3: QA	10-12	85	26-32	32-48	90 – 94
Overall	28-34	85	72-89	90-116	90 - 94

CAT 2022 Score Vs Percentile Slot 3 by IMS Learning

Percentile	Score VA-RC	Score DI-LR	Score QA	Overall Score
99.5 %ile	42	30	41	94
99 %ile	38	25	35	86
98 %ile	34	22	31	75
95%ile	29	18	22	63
90%ile	24	14	19	52
85%ile	22	12	16	45
80%ile	20	10	13	39

CAT 2022 Score Vs Percentile Slot 3 by Career Launcher

Section Name	Score for 99%ile
Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension (VARC)	36-39
Data Interpretation & Logical Reasoning (DILR)	30-33
Quantitative Ability (QA)	34-36
Total	92-95

CAT 2022 Score Vs Percentile Slot 3 by T.I.M.E

Sectional Score Vs Percentile by T.I.M.E.

Sections	Percentile
	85	95	99
VARC Score	23	30	38
DILR Score	17	24	32
QA Score	24	35	47

Overall Score Vs Percentile by T.I.M.E.

Overall Score	Overall Percentile
	90	95	97.5	99
	68	81	92	105

CAT 2022 Score Vs Percentile Slot 3 by Hitbullseye

Overall Attempt	VA & RC Attempt	DI & LR Attempt	QA Attempt	Probable Score	Expected Percentile
53+	17-20	13-16	17-20	112	99.5
47-53	15-19	12-15	16-19	102	99
39-47	13-17	10-12	15-18	87	97
32-39	12-15	8-11	13-16	75	95
23-32	9-13	6-9	7-11	55	90
16-23	6-10	5-8	5-8	47	80

CAT Score Vs Percentile Calculation: Detailed Process

Before arriving at an appropriate percentage, IIMs must equal and normalize the CAT results overall exam sessions. If there are extra CAT exam slots available, IIMs must normalize CAT scores for all sessions based on the difficulty level of each session. Because CAT 2022 is divided into three slots, the raw CAT score will be converted to a percentile after normalizing the scores of all three slots according to on their difficulty level.

Another important factor in converting CAT scores to percentiles is the number of applicants who have taken all of the CAT sessions. The percentile will change depending on the number of exam participants.

6.1 CAT Score Vs Percentile: 3 Key Components

After getting a picture of the CAT 2022 question paper and marking scheme, you should know what are the key components at each stage of the CAT score Vs percentile conversion process as shared below

CAT Marking Scheme Vs Percentile Score

Raw Marks in CAT Exam	Scaled Score in CAT Exam	CAT Percentile Score
3 Marks for each right answer	IIMs are conducting CAT 2022 in three Slots. CAT question paper difficulty Levels in the three Slots differ IIMs use Score Equating and Normalization process for all the slots on the basis of different sets of test papers The scaled score is arrived on the basis of this normalization process CAT Scaled score is usually more than your raw CAT marks but it may remain below your raw CAT marks	Percentile Score in CAT is the total percentage of the candidates who score equal to or less than the candidate in question. CAT percentile is related to relative performance of the candidate in CAT exam and not the actual performance Thus, the candidates scoring 80 percentile & above refer to the candidates who are top 20% CAT test takers
-1 Mark for each wrong answer (only for MCQs)
Maximum marks in CAT 2022: 198
You can check your CAT marks with the CAT answer keys released by IIMs with the help of above calculation

Note that it’s not just the overall CAT score and percentile however, it is also the section-wise score and the required minimum percentile that is crucial to get past the sectional cutoffs in IIMs. Not just those 20 IIMs but other top B-schools, like FMS Delhi, SPJIMR, MDI, and IITs, accept the CAT percentile score when shortlisting, and will also give an amount of weightage to the CAT score during the final selection. It is worth noting that the CAT scorecard does not show your CAT score vs percentile, but only the scaled CAT score vs percentile are listed in your CAT score card. Find out more here about what you need to know about CAT Scaled Score as well as the percentile conversion procedure.

Score of CAT vs Percentile for a CAT aspirant in the management field who wants to gain admission to the top MBA schools such as IIMs and non IIM B-schools, it is important to realize that the score he scores during the test will form the basis for the percentile, which is a measure of his score or rank against the other students who took the entrance exam for the CAT.

The term “percentile” in CAT refers to a number in which a certain percent of scores fall under the specified number. If we take the example of an CAT student who scores 90 percentile. It signifies you’ve got 90% students who took the CAT exam been less successful than the student. Furthermore, students who score 90 percent in CAT or higher indicates they’re within the top 10% of all students who took the CAT Exam.

Percentile Score Calculation

The calculation of the percentile score of an applicant:

The steps below are used to calculate the CAT’s total and sectional

percentile scores achieved by the candidate. To illustrate the process of calculating percentile scores the QA section is used to illustrate. The same process is used for the total percentile score calculation, and also for the two other segments, i.e. VARC and DILR in CAT.

Step 1: Calculate the total number of candidates (N) who appeared for CAT (i.e. including morning, afternoon and evening sessions).

Step 2: Assign a rank (r), based on the scaled scores obtained in the QA section, to all candidates who appeared for CAT. In the case of two or more candidates obtaining identical scaled scores in the QA section, assign identical ranks to all those candidates.

As an illustration suppose exactly two candidates obtain the highest scaled score in the QA section, then both of those candidates are assigned a rank of 1. Moreover, the candidate(s) obtaining the second highest scaled score in the QA section are assigned a rank of 3 and so on.

Step 3: Calculate the percentile score (P) of a candidate with rank (r) in the QA section as: ? = (?−?) / ? × 100

Step 4: Round off the calculated percentile score (P) of a candidate up to two decimal points. For example, all percentile scores greater than or equal to 99.995 are rounded off to 100, all percentile scores greater than or equal to 99.985 but strictly less than 99.995 are rounded off to 99.99 and so on.

A methodology similar to the one described above is used for the computation of the

overall CAT percentile scores and for the percentile scores of other sections.

It is not easy to get into the top MBA colleges in India, as the competition increases more and more and seats in these best MBA colleges in India shank every year. Every student dreams to study at the top 10 MBA colleges in India like IIMs but only a percent gets selected, Being an MBA aspirant the first thing one looks for is the number of intakes in the flagship program in order to assess the chance of securing admission in these MBA colleges. Although there are many top MBA colleges divided into tiers as top 10 MBA colleges in India consist of the best institutions in India, which we have talked about in this article. But in some cases, we can also get the best colleges for MBA even if you have a lower percentage through CAT some other best colleges for MBA in India accept 50 – 60 Percentile in CAT 2021.

1.       Shanti Business School (Ahmedabad)
2.       Institute of Marketing & Management (New Delhi)
3.       Karnavati University (Gandhinagar)
4.       Narayana Business School (Ahmedabad)
5.       ASM’s Group of Institutions (Pune)
6.       Universal Business School (Karjat)

Top Five Management Colleges in India: Top Specializations

Top MBA Colleges Offering MBA in Sales and Marketing

1. Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad 
2. Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies, Mumbai 
3. Indian Institute of Management, Kolkata 
4. Vinod Gupta School of Management, IIT Kharagpur 
5. Indian Institute of Management, Indore 

Top MBA Colleges offering MBA in Human Resources

1. Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore 
2. XLRI Xavier School of Management, Jamshedpur 
3. Shailesh J. Mehta School of Management, IIT Bombay 
4. Department of Management Studies, IIT, Roorkee 
5. MDI Gurgaon 

Top MBA Colleges offering MBA in Foreign Trade

1. Indian Institute of Foreign Trade, New Delhi 
2. JMI Delhi
3. Loyola Institute of Business Administration, Chennai 
4. Institute of Management Studies, BHU, Varanasi 
5. Institute of Management, Nirma University, Ahmedabad

How to select the best MBA colleges in India?

Choosing an MBA college that is suitable in all aspects requires a bit of research. Some steps to narrow down the choice of college are

1. Choose a college that provides the specialization you are interested in. 
2. College accreditation or affiliation matters the most. Look out for this. 
3. Go through the list of faculty members (do a check on their experience and qualification). 
4. Go through the course content and see if all you need to learn for your future is provided there. 
5. Infrastructure and alumni need to be considered too. 
6. Placement options give a clear idea about the legacy of the college, so, check that out always.

Top MBA colleges in India 2021 Accepting CAT 2021 Score

The CAT 2021 Results were published on January 3. More than 100 top MBA colleges in India accept CAT 2021 scores for MBA Admission 2022. There are 20 IIMs, and other top MBA schools in India, such as FMS Delhi, MDI Gurgaon (SPJIMR Mumbai), SJMSoM IIT Mumbai, and DoMS IIT Delhi. This article will provide information about MBA schools that accept CAT scores. Below is a list of colleges that accept CAT scores in different percentiles. To find out more, click on the College Name.

Top IIMs Accepting Cat: Cutoffs between 90-100 CAT Percentile

IIMs are the most popular MBA colleges that accept CAT scores since they only offer CAT for admission. There are currently 20 IIMs. All IIMs accept CAT 2021 scores for admission 2022. The IIMs all have their sectional and total CAT score cutoffs, which range from 80 to 98 percentile. Below you will find information about top IIMs such as the fees and placements.

Institute Name	Fee (Rs. in lakhs)	Average Salary (Rs. in lakhs)
Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad	23	25.83
Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta	22.5	29
Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Bangalore	23.2	24.54
Indian Institute of Management Lucknow	19.25	26
Indian Institute of Management, Indore	16.5	23.6
Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Kozhikode	19	22.5