The Graduate Record Examination and Undergraduate Grades as Predictors of Success in Graduate School

Abstract

The subjects consisted of 37 students who had completed all of the course requirements for the doctorate in Clinical Psychology. There were 15 predictor variables, with seven derived from Graduate Record Examination scores and eight from undergraduate grades. Four criteria were used, with three derived from graduate grades and the fourth from the length of time to the completion of the oral examination for the dissertation. The single best predictor, for all criteria, was the grades obtained in undergraduate psychology courses. The most useful Graduate Record Examination score was the sum of the Quantitative and Psychology tests, although it made only a slight contribution to the prediction of grades, and a negligible contribution to the prediction of the time until orals.