The use of high school transcipts, American College Testing Service composite scores, and first semester courses and grades of college freshmen is discussed as a way to statistically analyze the notion that high school college preparatory courses help students earn better grades in college than elective courses do. (MSE)

Data from graduate student applications at a large Western university were used to determine which factors were the best predictors of success in graduate school, as defined by cumulative graduate grade point average. Two statistical models were employed and compared: artificial neural networking and simultaneous multiple regression. Both models…