I just did a CAT exam and it shows my Quant is 73% percentile, Verbal 77, but overall it shows I'm at 84% percentile, with a score of 650. Does this mean I'm actually at 84% or 70s... How are my individual scores lower than the total?

Thank you,
Grace

This is just how the test works. :) The overall score is not an average of the two subscores. Rather, it's a measure of how you place relative to all of the other people taking the exam.

Most people are better at one or the other of the two sections, and some people are more "even" in their performance. Because you're relatively even, that means that, overall, you place "higher" than most people (because, say, someone whose strength is quant and scores 73rd percentile, will have verbal in the 50s or 60s, or vice versa for someone whose strength is verbal).

I know it's weird, but that's just how it works! In terms of what to do with the scores: most schools care just about the 3-digit score (and the corresponding percentile). Some of the top schools also look at the 2-digit scores because they want people who are more even scorers, rather than great at one thing and not so good at the other. So, good news for you! :)

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Stacey Koprince
Instructor
Director of Online Community
ManhattanGMAT