Physics Graduate Record Exam Does Not Help Applicants "Stand Out"

Autor/inn/en	Young, Nicholas T.; Caballero, Marcos D.
Titel	Physics Graduate Record Exam Does Not Help Applicants "Stand Out"
Quelle	In: Physical Review Physics Education Research, 17 (2021) 1, Artikel 010144 (19 Seiten)Infoseite zur Zeitschrift PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Zusatzinformation	ORCID (Young, Nicholas T.) ORCID (Caballero, Marcos D.)
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	2469-9896
Schlagwörter	College Entrance Examinations; Graduate Study; College Applicants; Selective Admission; Admission Criteria; Grade Point Average; Scores; Undergraduate Study; Institutional Characteristics; Small Colleges; Probability; Correlation; Gender Differences; Racial Differences; Physics; Science Achievement; Disproportionate Representation; Graduate Record Examinations + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Aufnahmeprüfung; Aufbaustudium; Graduiertenstudium; Hauptstudium; College applications; Studienbewerber; Bildungsselektion; Admission; Admission procedures; Zulassungsbedingung; Zulassungsverfahren; Zulassung; Grundstudium; College; Colleges; Oberschule; Wahrscheinlichkeitsrechnung; Wahrscheinlichkeitstheorie; Korrelation; Geschlechterkonflikt; Rassenunterschied; Physik
Abstract	One argument for keeping the physics Graduate Record Exam (GRE) is that it can help applicants who might otherwise be missed in the admissions process stand out. In this work, we evaluate whether this claim is supported by physics graduate school admissions decisions. We used admissions data from five Ph.D.-granting physics departments over a 2-year period (N = 2537) to see how the fraction of applicants admitted varied based on their physics GRE scores. We compared applicants with low GPAs to applicants with higher GPAs, applicants from large undergraduate universities to applicants from smaller undergraduate universities, and applicants from selective undergraduate institutions to applicants from less selective undergraduate institutions. We also performed a mediation and moderation analysis to provide statistical rigor and to better understand the previous relationships. We find that for applicants who might otherwise have been missed (e.g., have a low GPA or attended a small or less selective school), having a high physics GRE score did not seem to increase the applicant's chances of being admitted to the schools. However, having a low physics GRE score seemed to penalize otherwise competitive applicants (i.e., applicants with mid to high GPAs). Thus, our work suggests that the physics GRE does not, in fact, help applicants who might otherwise be missed stand out. (As Provided).
Anmerkungen	American Physical Society. One Physics Ellipse 4th Floor, College Park, MD 20740-3844. Tel: 301-209-3200; Fax: 301-209-0865; e-mail: assocpub@aps.org; Web site: http://prst-per.aps.org
Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2024/1/01