The Use of Pre-Admission Data to Predict Levels of Success in Selected Allied Health Students

Selecting students from an applicant pool poses a challenge for allied health educators. The admission committee must evaluate a variety of information available on each applicant to determine whether the applicant will be a successful student and complete the program. There are few predictor variables that clearly determine the applicant's probability of completing a program. In this paper the variables that were studied included entering grade point average (GPA), age, number of credits taken at a 4-year institution, sex, marital status, ethnic origin, IQ scores, and a variety of departmental-specific admission testing procedures. Several variables that were common to more than one program were studied to determine which factors would predict a student's level of academic success. Significant predictive variables were identified: Otis Quick-Scoring Mental Abilities Test, institution, cumulative GPA, and occupational therapy department admissions essay scores. These variables provide admission committees with data they could use in making admission decisions among similarly qualified applicants.