In this paper we argue that simply identifying gateway courses in which a large number of students fail or withdraw and focusing attention on them may not always be the best use of limited resources. No matter what we do, there will always be courses with high D/F/W rates simply because of the nature of their content and the preparation of the…

Graduate studies, and in particular doctoral ones, pursue the development of scientific researchers able to make original contributions in a specific area of knowledge. However, attrition rates indicate that achieving this goal is not easy. The available evidence indicates that there are behavioral factors, positive and negative, that influence…

As applications for graduate and professional degree programs have reached unprecedented levels over the past decade, the applicant pool has become more diverse with more mid-career students deciding to return to school. Given the growth and diversification of the graduate applicant pool, many graduate programs are struggling to develop stronger…

The effectiveness of Medical College Admission Test (MCAT) scores in predicting success during the first phase of medical education is investigated. The process by which medical students are educated and evaluated, the nature and purpose of the MCAT, and the MCAT Interpretive Studies Program developed by the Association of American Medical…

A study to find valid indicators of the long-run effects of Comprehensive Employment and Training Act of 1973 (CETA) manpower programs that would meet prime sponsors' needs for short-term feedback indicated that the proxies being used were not strongly correlated with success in CETA programs. (MF)

A longitudinal design was used to test the hypotheses that career development indices account for significant amounts of variance in the prediction of high school success, and account for unique variance beyond that of academic predictors of high school success. The participants included 188 11th-grade students who were followed-up in the 12th…