American graduate schools need to sharpen their techniques when screening the growing group of foreign applicants requiring professional skills. An institution's admissions process can either enhance its overall institutional quality and prestige or seriously harm it in a short time. (MSE)

A model using four categories of college applicants (enrollment deposit paid, deposit not yet paid, applicants not yet admitted, and those who have not yet applied) that allows forecasting of freshman enrollment from any point in the admission process and simulates the effects of trends and strategies on enrollment is outlined. (MSE)

The University of California is engaged in the elimination of the Scholastic Assessment Test I (SAT-I) Verbal and Mathematics tests as a requirement for freshman admission. Opponents of the SAT-I argue that the tests do not measure the outcomes of the high school curriculum and hence do not reflect student learning in secondary school. Proponents…

Measurement specialists routinely assume examinee responses to test items are independent of one another. However, previous research has shown that many contemporary tests contain item dependencies and not accounting for these dependencies leads to misleading estimates of item, test, and ability parameters. In this study, methods for detecting…

In early-decision programs, high school students apply to their first-choice college and receive an admissions decision by December of their senior year. These programs are binding, meaning that if a student is accepted into a college through the early decision process, he or she must rescind applications to other colleges and forgo the chance to…

These proceedings include an overview of the meeting, at which 75 leaders from secondary and postsecondary education, business, and state agencies met to discuss competency-based education systems and updates on the status of competency-based admissions in a number of states. The proceedings also provide a list of suggested regional activities to…

The interview workshop is presented as a possible mechanism by which admission committees might select students who would be likely to become future family practitioners. (Author/PG)

The relative utility of premedical grade point average in distinguishing among prospective medical students and predicting medical school performance was evaluated in students from two medical school graduating classes. The measure was found susceptible to several extraneous sources of variance that negate its effectiveness. (MSE)

A survey of medical schools in the United States to obtain a description of the interview process used in the selection of first-year medical students is reported. Results indicate that 99 percent of the respondents use the interview and that it ranks second only to grade point average in importance. (Author/MLW)

Trends in the numbers of positions offered and filled by U.S. medical school graduates who enrolled in the National Resident Matching Program (NRMP) in 1981 are described. (MLW)

Outlines an approach to college and university marketing that focuses on identification of buyer readiness state and selection of appropriate communication goals. This approach uses a hierarchy of communication goals (awareness, knowledge, liking, preference, conviction, purchase) widely used in consumer advertising. Argues that little has been…

Increasingly, colleges and universities are using field offices and representatives to recruit applicants at a distance from the institutions. Representatives often spend significant amounts of time with a single student. The practice is particularly popular among colleges wishing to build name recognition and to elevate a narrow market segment in…

Almost all U.S. medical schools adjust applicants' GPAs based on the selectivity of applicants' undergraduate institutions. Analysis of data from 2,033 in-state applicants to the Medical University of South Carolina, 1996-99, found that this practice did not adversely affect the number of rural applicants offered admission interviews. (SV)

Analysis of characteristics of students (n=1,684) using the Postdoctoral Application Support Service found significant differences in applicants to various program areas. Applicants to pediatric programs had the most varied characteristics; applicants to oral and maxillofacial surgery were the most homogeneous. The study provides baseline data for…

Reviews 1993 book by Rochelle S. Rosen. Describes guide as easy-to-use and reliable. Suggests it is useful source of general information regarding applying to and preparing to attend college while providing specific information peculiar to colleges in California. Criticizes author for failing to include summary after each chapter. (CRR)