MGMAT CATS - Follow the Raw Score or Percentile?

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Hi there - I just wrote my 1st of the 6 MGMAT CATs and am a bit confused by the results.

So on the score summary it shows that I got a 41 in Quant and 40 in Verbal totaling to a 670. However, the percentile rankings shown don't match the mba.com percentile charts. the score summary shows that I got 64%ile on Quant and 91% on verable for a total of 89%ile.

64%ile quant on mba.com translates into about 43 (not 41)
91%ile verbal on mba.com translates into about 40 or 41 (similar to the score shown)
and 89%ile overall translates into ~700, not 670.

So what is actually accurate here? If the scores don't match mba.com is it even an accurate representation of my ability?

Thanks

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by mgmat-caitlin » Mon Sep 13, 2010 2:51 pm
Hi,

We do try and make as accurate a representation of the GMAC's CAT as possible, and we have a dedicated curriculum development team who work to keep it accurate. That being said, percentiles are constantly shifting, depending on who is taking the test. MBA.com calculates its percentiles on the average of overall scores. Thus, when fewer people were scoring highly, a 750 was a 99th percentile score. Now, only a 760 makes it to 99th percentile. We calibrated our percentiles based on the GMAC's data, but since it is constantly shifting, the percentile might be slightly off, as you have discovered.

That being said, we make sure to keep our score calibration as up-to-date as possible, so if you got a 670 on our test, then taking into our Standard Deviation, you would have gotten around a 670 on an actual GMAT, though it might have translated into a different percentile.

Best Wishes,
Caitlin
Caitlin Clay
Student Services, Manhattan GMAT