Graduate Record Exam literature review

1. MSU Graduate Council Presentation February 2013

2.  The GRE is The Graduate Record Exam, a
multiple-choice exam created by the
Educational Testing Service (ETS). It is
administered to hundreds of thousands of
students each year and is used as an
admission criterion by about 60% of American
graduate schools. There are two types of GRE:
General Test and Subject Specific Tests.

3.  Admission to graduate schools
 Admission to post-graduate programs
 Scholarship decisions

4.  The GRE is designed to predict success in
graduate school
 first year graduate grades
 eventually earning a degree

5.  There is no way to know.
 Students with the lowest scores are not admitted.
As a result, there is no way to know if they would
have proved the predictor wrong.
 Phillips and McAuliffe (2004) found only 9% of
students who dropped out said it was because
they couldn’t hack the coursework.
 GRE scores don’t much differ between students
who graduate and students who don’t.

6.  No.
 its own developer says undergraduate college
grades do a better job of forecasting graduate
achievement
 The test’s manufacturer studied 12,000 test takers and
found the exam accounted for only 9% of the difference
(variation) among students first-year grades.
 The 1989 study found undergraduate grades were a
stronger predictor, accounting for 14% of the variation.

7.  No.
 an independent study (Morrisons, 1995) found only
6% of variation in grades could be predicted by GRE
scores
 it does not accurately assess a test-taker’s full
potential for achievement in scholastic,
professional, personal endeavors
 it does not measure critical skills associated with
scholarly and professional competence

8.  Yes (Kuncel, 2001 meta-analysis).
 combinations of measures drawn from a completed
program of graduate study predict everything but
time taken to earn graduate degrees
 overall GPA, 1st-year GPA, comprehensive exam scores,
faculty ratings, degree earned, time taken to complete
degree, research productivity, & times cited by others
 subject tests outperform the general test in
predicting grades and graduation but are rarely
required

9.  Yes, if student has (1) the ability to think and
learn; (2) knowledge within a field, and (3)
motivation, persistence, drive, and initiative.
Kuncel’s meta-analysis said GRE scores have
varying abilities to measure these three factor
groups.
 GRE general attempts to measure (1), GRE subject tests
attempt to measure (2), and biographical record,
undergraduate work indicates (3).

10.  Yes (ETS, 2005).
 GRE verbal and quantitative scores and undergraduate
grade point average were evaluated as predictors of
multiple measures of long-term graduate school success.
 The measures of success were cumulative graduate
grade point average and faculty ratings on student
characteristics: (1) mastery of the discipline, (2)
professional productivity, and (3) communication skill.
 The combination of GRE scores and undergraduate
grade point average strongly predicts cumulative
graduate grade point average and faculty ratings.

11.  Yes, sort of (Perez, 2011).
 Graduation rate & graduate GPA correlated w/GRE
scores then w/wider range of traits of 11 students
 GRE Quantitative & Verbal predicted success for
master’s students but Quantitative did not predict
success for doctoral students; Phase 2 findings
inconclusive except that GRE influenced access to
graduate programs; student involvement, faculty-
peer interaction, motivation, program structure also
important

12. What do Major U Studies say of the GRE? 1984-1997
 UT Social Work utilized grades, degree completion,
and fieldwork quality in finding the GRE was not a
valid predictor of success.
 Bowling Green State found students with high GRE
scores took longer to complete the geology
program.
 Cornell & Yale Psychology found GRE test scores
explained only 3% of the difference in grades in
the first two years of study.
 Adding comprehensive measures of performance such as
faculty ratings and evaluations reduced the predictive power
of the GRE to 1% or less.

13.  Some researchers find the GRE predicts high-
performing classroom behaviors, such as
earning high GPAs and receiving better ratings
from faculty (Jamieson, 2011).
 The GRE’s predictive power diminishes over
time because basics are more important than
abstract skills, imagination, and critical
thinking for both introductory courses and the
GRE (Jamieson, 2011).

14.  No (Fairtest.org, 2007). The GRE limits access to
graduate school, particularly for women, students
of color, and non-conventional applicants:
 Large disparities in scores exist between different groups of
students.
 females score lower than males despite higher course grades
 African-American, Latino, and Native American students score lower
than White and Asian American students
Researchers found the culturally-laden language of the GRE, its
insensitivity to the translation of skills and resources into
performance, and the influence of socioeconomic differences led to
the score disparities.
 These disparities can create graduate student bodies that are
disproportionately male and white when test scores play a
major role in admission decisions.

15.  No (Fairtest.org, 2007).
 Ranges rely on cut-off scores and studies have
found cut-off scores are particularly arduous for
low-income individuals and students of color, who
on average score markedly below affluent and
White students.
 The Ford and Danforth Foundations tracked hundreds of
students of color they had funded for graduate school and
concluded that more than half the students who earned a
doctorate would not have been admitted to graduate school to
begin with had cut-off scores and ranges been in use.

16.  In November 2011 Mark McClendon (MSU
Institutional Research) presented a correlation
analysis of GRE Scores and Graduation Rates
as part of MSU TLRC.
 In December 2011 ETS hosted a webinar about
the GRE and changes coming up in its scoring.
 In May 2012 McClendon elaborated on his
2011 research in a meeting about it.

17.  Graduate students entering 2001-2009
analyzed for graduated or not graduated;
correlations run by McClendon.
 GRE scores and graduated, then by college = minor
correlation
 GRE scores and GPA, then by college = stronger
relationship
 These findings are in accord with the
literature reviewed in discussing GRE as a
predictor.

18.  Highlights of McClendon Correlations
 Graduated, Verbal = .009
 Science & Math Graduated Quantitative = .052;
Total (Combined) = .018
 Graduated, Overall GPA = .000
 Graduated, Overall GPA, Business = .017
 Graduated, Overall GPA, Education = .000
 Graduated, Overall GPA, Science & Math = .043

19.  Following the ETS scoring changes to GRE,
MSU applicant scores for Fall 2012 and Spring
2013 were reviewed. Percent of examinees
scoring lower than selected scaled scores on
 Verbal Reasoning = 1-99% for MSU applicants
 Quantitative Reasoning = 1-88% for MSU applicants
 Analytical Writing = 1-96% for MSU applicants
 Challenge for admissions decisions could be in
relating results to meaningful performance

20.  Some studies suggest undergraduate GPA is a
better predictor of graduate achievement than
GRE.
 The best advice that emerges is that if the GRE
is used, it should only be one measure among
many. It is clear the GRE is not required as a
measure of likely graduate school success, and
ETS never says it is required (Orlando, 2005).

21.  ETS says,
 Regardless of the decision to be made, multiple
sources of information should be used to ensure
fairness and balance the limitations of any single
measure of knowledge, skills, or abilities. These
sources may include undergraduate grade point
average, letters of recommendation, personal
statement, samples of academic work, prior
research, and professional experience related to
proposed graduate study.

22.  Many schools do not require the test.
 Fairtest.org (2007) identified some graduate
programs that have proven that institutions can
conduct a successful admissions process
without GRE tests. Such institutions rely on
multi-dimensional approaches that avail
themselves of application process information,
including essays, grades, recommendations,
writing samples, and interviews.

23.  *A brief list of such programs includes: Harvard
Divinity School, Simmons College School of
Social Work, Bank Street College School of
Education, Pratt Institute School of
Architecture, Brown University Division of
Engineering, and Columbia University Masters
of Science in Journalism* Fairtest (2007).
 Peer Institutions List.

24.  NYU, Columbia, Pace, St. Johns, LIU, CUNY, Case
Western Reserve and a few others. It all depends
on the programs.
 MIT, Johns Hopkins, and Cornell
 DePaul University
 MSWs –USC, Washington University in St. Louis,
Columbia University (CUSSW does not require
GRE scores, however, they are accepted.) ,
University of Pennsylvania, Boston College, University
of Michigan, Loyola University Chicago

25.  The University of Arizona does not require the
Graduate Record Exam (GRE) for admission.
However, many graduate departments do;
every program at the University of Arizona has
its own set of specific requirements.
 Because each West Texas A & M program has
its own admissions requirements, some do not
require you to take the GRE or the GMAT.

26.  Rice Master of Liberal Studies program does not
require its applicants to have taken the GRE or any
other standardized test.
 DeVry University's Keller Graduate School of
Management does not require completion of the
GMAT or GRE exams if your undergraduate grade point
average was at least 2.70, based on a 4.00 scale, and
you earned a grade of B or better in college algebra
and English composition.

27.  The University of Wisconsin does not require
the GRE for admittance, but does require the
GRE for funding.
 Univ. of Vermont and Michigan State don't
require them. However, some programs require
it if you want an assistantship.
These last two resonate with the earlier noted
use of GRE for scholarship decisions

28.  University of Hawaii doesn’t require scores, but they're
encouraged. I was admitted into the program based
on my application, essays, interviews, and transcripts.
 The University of Washington has several nationally
ranked graduate programs that have dropped or are
considering dropping the GRE as a requirement based
on this analysis. They are, however, using other
measures in the application process to determine a
student’s ability to succeed in graduate school.

29.  Make GRE optional, at program discretion
 Waive GRE for students returning for additional
graduate degrees or after a decade or more
away from higher education
 Use multiple criteria
 Consider entry into a program simply the first of
many assessments during a student’s
academic career (California State University, Long Beach, 2007)

30.  retrieved 01 29 2013, (not properly styled)
 Does the GRE Measure Anything Related to Graduate School?, Jamie
Hale, 2010, Psych Central,
http://psychcentral.com/blog/archives/2010/12/09/does-the-gre-measur
 ETS-GRE, 2012, Interpretative Data Used on Score Reports
 Examining the GRE: Myths, Misuses, and Alternatives, Submitted by
fairtest on August 20, 2007 - 12:29pm, The National Center for Fair &
Open Testing (FairTest), http://fairtest.org/facts/gre.htm,
http://fairtest.org/examining-gre-myths-misuses-and-alternatives
 GRE as a predictor of graduate student success at a Hispanic serving
institution of higher education, Katherine Perez, Dissertation, 2011,
http://udini.proquest.com/view/gre-as-a-predictor-of-graduate-
pqid:2445875611/

31.  retrieved 01 29 2013, (not properly styled)
 GRE Predicts Success in Graduate School, Kuncel, 2001, University of
Minnesota,
http://mentalhealth.about.com/library/sci/0301/blgre301.htm
 Importance of GRE exam in Your Career, Saqib Ali Ateel, 2004-2012,
http://www.personality-and-aptitude-career-tests.com/gre-exam.html
 Orgtheory.net, an inconvenient truth about GRE scores, May 2011,with
93 comments to December 2012,
http://orgtheory.wordpress.com/2011/05/09/an-inconvenient-truth-
about-gre-scores/
 McClendon, Mark, 2012, GRE and MSU Grads
 Predicting Long-Term Success in Graduate School: A Collaborative
Validity Study, Nancy W. Burton and Ming-mei Wang, April 2005, ETS,
Princeton, NJ, http://www.ets.org/Media/Research/pdf/RR-05-03.pdf

32.  retrieved 01 29 2013, (not properly styled)
 Study of Graduate Record Exam shows it does little to predict graduate
school success, 08 04 97,
http://www.news.cornell.edu/releases/Aug97/GRE.study.ssl.html
 The GRE; What it tells us, and what it doesn't, Dave Jamieson,
gradPSYCH Magazine, January 2011,
http://www.apa.org/gradpsych/2011/01/gre.aspx
 The Reliability of GRE Scores in Predicting Graduate School Success, a
Meta-Analytic, Cross-functional, Regressive, Unilateral, Post-Kantian,
Hyper-empirical, Quadruple Blind, Verbiage-intensive, and Hemorrhoid-
inducing Study, John Orlando, July 2005,
http://ubiquity.acm.org/article.cfm?id=1071921

33.  Your remarks and questions are welcome now,
or can be sent later to
 Dr. Phyllis I. Behrens, Assistant Professor,
Department of Health and Public Administration,
Midwestern State University, Wichita Falls, TX