Utility of the Pharmacy College Admission Test (PCAT): Implications for Admissions Committees

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to determine the value of the PCAT as a predictor of academic success and to provide a method for other institutions to use when evaluating predictors of academic success. Independent variables included all PCAT scores, prepharmacy GPA, math and science GPA, and attainment of a previous college degree. The dependent variable was cumulative professional first year GPA. Pearson product-moment correlations were generated for each data pair. Multiple regression was used to generate predictive models. The largest AdjR2=0.452, P<0.01 was generated with the most complex model which included all independent variables. The most parsimonious model included math and science GPA and the chemistry subscore of the PCAT (AdjR2=0.436, P<0.01). The PCAT was found to be a significant predictor of first-year pharmacy school performance. These methods can be generalized to other institutions interested in studying factors that may be significant predictors of academic performance.