This case study revisited the admissions index (400 x high school grade point average plus total Scholastic Assessment Test (SAT) score) used by a private, Catholic, western university by measuring the correlations between high school GPA and SAT scores with the second term GPA to determine the weight of each variable in the index. Data came from…

Academic performance of regularly admitted university students (who were arranged in three groups according to average performance on senior matriculation examinations) was compared with that of "mature" students who did not meet regular admission requirements. Despite low results on the College Qualification Test, mature students were second…

Graduates and dropouts from six vocational training programs were compared on school record data and on responses to questionnaires. They did not differ significantly in age, level of education, high school completion, marital status, disabilities, or GATB score. Significant factors were: 1. whether vocational school offered student's first choice…

The purposes of this study were (a) to analyze the significant variables influencing committee decisions to readmit flunked-out students and, (b) to compare these with variables predicting grade point average after readmission. (Author/AG)

Research described suggests that undergraduate grade point average (GPA) and in-career job success are weak predictors of a student's success in a Masters in Public Administration program and of the student graduate GPA. (RM)

Because publicized minimum criteria for graduate school admission are rarely sufficient to gain entrance to the school of one's choice, a study was undertaken to estimate the actual admission standards to graduate school. Graduate Record Examination (GRE) scores accounted for about twice as much variance as grade point average. (Author/MLW)

A predictive model based on past academic performance and demographic variables is demonstrated as a better method of student selection than achievement tests. Use of the model in the revision of admission standards and in academic advising is illustrated. (SK)

Data suggest that using the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) in addition to high school records for determining college admissions adds virtually no useful predictive information over selection based on high school records alone. (Author/JM)

Determined to learn first-hand what kinds of data are the most meaningful to admissions directors, a survey of 80 colleges and universities was conducted to inquire about the range of acceptability of their own school transcript practices. Results are discussed. (Editor/RK)

Updates a survey of entrance requirements of journalism and mass communication (JMC) programs conducted in 1977. Finds that nearly the same percentage of JMC programs require a language skills exam for majors (27% in 1977, 31% in 1997) but that the use of a grade-point-average requirement grew 10-fold in popularity during the same period. (RS)

A study of two classes of agriculture freshmen (1997: n=245, 1998: 195) showed that the best predictor of performance for the 1997 cohort was high school grade point average (GPA) and ACT score; for the 1998 cohort, GPA alone. High school GPA was the only successful predictor of freshman GPA. Traditional admission criteria had limited predictive…

Admissions data and first-year grade point average (GPA) data from 11 graduate management schools were analyzed to evaluate the predictive validity of Graduate Management Admission Test[R] (GMAT[R]) scores and the extent to which predictive validity held across sex and race/ethnicity. The results indicated GMAT verbal and quantitative scores had…

Admissions practices at the North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics, a residential high school for gifted students, were examined. Data from students applying in 1983 and 1984 (over 800 per year) were available, as were grades of students admitted in 1983. A series of multiple regression studies showed that selection and first year grades…

Many errors in the selection of college students are inversely related to the validity of the predictors employed. The generally weak validity with which grade point average (GPA) has been predicted may be a criterion problem rather than a predictor problem. GPA prediction is inferior to single-class grade prediction. (BJG)