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…

This memorandum reports results of an analysis designed to obtain answers to the following questions: (1) How does the Overall High School Average compare with Converted Rank in Class as a predictor of Freshman Year Grades in college? and (2) Will more detailed information provided by analysis of high school records by subject help to improve…

Demographic factors, prepharmacy academic performance, and Pharmacy College Admission Test (PCAT) scores were considered in relation to academic performance as measured by the first-professional-year grade point average at the University of Mississippi School of Pharmacy. Prepharmacy GPA was the best single predictor. (LBH)

Findings show that the reliability of GPA depends on three factors: the number of course grades, the average reliability of these grades, and the credit-hour weights. (Authors)

Undergraduate performance and standardized test scores were correlated with dental school performance for 131 members of nine Harvard School of Dental Medicine classes to determine the predictive validity of the earlier variables. The only significant positive correlation was of the Dental Admission Test and dental National Board Examination, part…

Two approaches were used to predict State Board Examinations (SBE) results for students in four schools of nursing. Multiple regression was used to predict scores of 191 nurses who graduated and took the SBE. Discriminant function analysis was used for 375 nursing students to predict students who would take and pass the SBE from those who would…

Using data from a national random sample of 16,685 high school seniors collected in 1972, 10 different grade average reporting systems were analyzed by means of a nonlinear least squares procedure. A grade conversion table was created by relating reported grade averages in all of the systems to common percentile ranks in class. It was suggested…

A survey of pharmacy graduate students and postbaccalaureate PharmD students examined undergraduate grade-point averages when the students were accepted into an advanced program. Focus was on whether PharmD programs have had an effect on the quality of graduate students accepted in pharmacy programs. (Author/MLW)

This study compared the effectiveness of several existing and proposed methods for statistically adjusting college grade point averages (GPAs) for course and departmental differences in grading standards, using first-semester grades from an entire entering class at a large state university (4,351 students), in 1988. Most of the adjusted GPAs…

Academic records of first year students enrolled in Introductory Chemistry at the University of Guelph, Canada, were used to develop a method to examine the effects of individual courses on freshman academic performance. At the center of the technique is a new test statistic useful in creating individual course profiles. Because grade point…

The relationship between academic achievement and the financial success of baccalaureate recipients in the workplace is the focal point of an investigation that covers the first 3 years following graduation. Employment activity and quarterly earnings of university baccalaureate recipients were tracked in a comprehensive study that merged state…

Because it was believed that poorer students had to work more hours out of school and that this might tend to discriminate against them academically, this study was conducted to ascertain whether a negative relationship existed between the students' GPA and the number of hours they work. The statistical analysis was conducted with an N of 119 who…

THE USE OF AMERICAN COLLEGE TEST (ACT) SCORES AS A CRITERION FOR ADMISSION TO INSTITUTIONS OF HIGHER LEARNING PROVIDED PREDICTIVE INFORMATION, BUT ALSO HAD LIMITATIONS. BEGINNING IN 1961 THIS STUDY FOLLOWED 1,062 FRESHMEN OF THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSISSIPPI THROUGH THEIR 4 YEARS OF COLLEGE. THE ACT WAS GIVEN TO ALL INCOMING FRESHMEN SEPARATED INTO…

Using two university classroom groups taught by the same instructor, this study investigated the relationship of seating choice to number of verbal classroom responses, cumulative grade point average (GPA), and grade in class for both rows and "action zones" to identify classroom areas. Class 1 (where students chose seats) showed a significant…