The Prediction of Graduate School Success in Psychology

Traditional graduate school admissons indices (three GRE tests, MATs, and GPAs) were used to predict performance on a screening examination called the Master's Comprehensive. The 114 students admitted between 1974 and 1978 were grouped by both year of entrance and doctoral program (clinical or experimental psychology). With respect to the five predictors, no mean differences were found relating to year of entrance, however, the results yielded significant mean differences between experimental and clinical students on four of the five predictors. Separate regression analyses were performed for the two programs. For both equations a significant portion of the Master's Comprehensive score variance was explained using GRE-Verbal alone. Addition of the other four predictors did not significantly improve the predictability of the equation. A regression equation combining both programs produced a similar multiple R, again using GRE-V alone.