Comparative Prediction of First Year Graduate and Professional School Grades in Six Fields

Abstract

The validity of predictors of academic performance in six postgraduate fields were compared. The fields included three liberal arts areas and three professional areas: arts and humanities, biological and physical science, social science, law, medicine, and business. The predictors included information about students' backgrounds, self-conceptions, values, nonacademic achievements, and curricular patterns as well as admissions test scores and grades. In most fields, grades were predicted by academic ability and by prior achievement, self-confidence, and previous accomplishment in the field. Background variables predicted grades only in law and arts and humanities. The predictive power of admissions tests varied from field to field.