How Useful is the GRE Psychology Test?
Psychology departments consider many kinds of information when they evaluate applicants for admission to graduate school. They generally emphasize grade point average (GPA), GRE General Test scores, GRE Psychology Test scores, and letters of recommendation. They may also examine information such as the student’s research experience, the prestige of the student’s undergraduate institution, and the match between student and faculty interests (Keith-Spiegel, Tabachnick, & Spiegel, 1994). The GRE Board (1999a) decided to investigate the correlation between several quantitative measures and a student’s first year grades in graduate school. The Board collected quantitative data from 110 graduate departments of psychology for the years 1986 through 1990; the study was based on 1,151 students who had pursued graduate work. The data included the student’s undergraduate GPA, GRE General Test scores (verbal, quantitative, and analytical), and scores on the GRE Psychology Test. Of these measures,
