Helping Students Prepare for the GRE and Other
Graduate/Professional School Entrance Exams
Ed Freeman, Maryann Herman, Eileen Lynd-Balta,
Virginia Maier, Eileen Merges, Laura Phelan, Dawn Rager,
Zachary Shirkey, and Theresa Westbay
Why a Learning Circle on this Topic?
 Anecdotally, we had noted that Fisher students’ performance
on graduate entrance exams often seems to fall short of
expectations based on their undergraduate academic records.
We therefore decided to:
 Identify skills and content knowledge required for/assessed
by the exams and determine where/how these are
addressed in the Biology and/or Psychology programs;
 Explore Fisher students’ actual performance on some of
these exams;
 Define the characteristics of ideal test preparation versus
the actual preparation conducted by our students;
 Consider programmatic modifications (e.g., related to
advising, curriculum) informed by the above.
The Exams
 Graduate Record Exam (GRE) – General
 Required by many different graduate programs
 GRE subject test may be required by some schools
 Medical College Admissions Test (MCAT)
 Dental Admissions Test (DAT)
 Pharmacy College Admissions Test (PCAT)
 Optometry Admissions Test (OAT)
 Law School Admissions Test (LSAT)
 Graduate Management Admissions Test (GMAT)
Overview of the GRE
 Please follow along with the handout provided
 Information about the other graduate entrance exams is
available online at the websites listed on the next to last
slide
Data on Fisher Students’ Performance
 We investigated actual student performance on exams through student
self-reports (based on items included on senior exit surveys developed
and administered by the Biology and Psychology Departments) and
reports generated by the testing agencies.
 MCAT scores for Fisher students are available to the Health
Professions Advisor (Ginny Maier) who maintains in-house records
and tracks student performance.
 As a result of the activities of our learning circle, scores for all Fisher
students who took the General GRE since 2004 have been acquired
by the College from the Educational Testing Service (ETS).
Interested parties can access these reports through Liz Lachance in
the Office of Institutional Research.
 The data largely supported our anecdotal observations, and some
summaries and analyses are presented in the next several slides
GRE General Test Performance, 2002 – 2009
800
700
600
Fisher (N=103)
500
National
400
300
200
Verbal
Quantitative
MCAT Performance, 1999 – 2009
14
Dashed line = “competitive” score
Section scaled score
12
10
99-04 SJFC (N = 43)
8
99-04 National (N=317751)
04-09 SJFC (n = 57)
04-09 National (N = 363122)
6
4
2
0
Verbal Reasoning
Physical Science
Biological Science
Writing Sample:
99 – 04 = national
median (“O”)
04-09 = one step above
national median (“P”)
PCAT Performance, 2008 – 2009
100
90
Percentile compared to reference group
80
70
60
08 applicants (n = 17)
50
09 applicants (n = 25)
40
30
20
10
0
Chemistry
Composite
Relationship Between Fisher GPA and GRE
Scores is Only Slightly Positive
GPA versus GRE General
(Verbal + Quantitative)
1500
1400
1300
G
R
E 1200
S 1100
c
o
1000
r
e
900
800
700
R² = 0.2441
600
500
2.30
2.50
2.70
2.90
3.10
3.30
Cumulative GPA
3.50
3.70
3.90
Little Relationship Between
Fisher GPA and MCAT Score
MCAT versus GPA (N= 65)
35
30
M
C
A 25
T
T
o
t 20
a
l
R² = 0.0451
15
10
3
3.1
3.2
3.3
3.4
3.5
Cumulative GPA
3.6
3.7
3.8
3.9
4
Or Between Fisher GPA and PCAT
PCAT versus GPA (N = 43)
100
90
P
C
A
T
C
o
m
p
o
s
i
t
e
80
70
R² = 0.0976
60
50
40
30
20
2.80
3.00
3.20
3.40
Cumulative GPA
3.60
3.80
4.00
Fisher Students’ Test Preparation
 Of 10 psychology majors surveyed who took the GRE last year:
 1/10 took a test preparation course
 5/10 used a test preparation study guide
 4/10 took one or more practice tests
 4/10 reported feeling adequately prepared for the exam
 Students’ estimates of time devoted to test preparation ranged
from 0 to 65 hours, with a mean of 17 hours
 Students who took practice tests were more likely to report
that they felt adequately prepared for the exam
Correlates of Success on the MCAT
 Commercial prep courses may have little effect on performance
on MCAT and USMLE
 Systematic review of studies on this subject through
October 2002 (McGaghie, et al. 2004)
 Ten studies identified for meta-analysis
 Conclusions: research to date substandard, but evidence in
support of utility of the courses is weak or nonexistent.
 More recent study demonstrated similar results on
“Austrailian version” of MCAT (Griffin, 2008).
Other Factors that may Affect MCAT Scores
 Major choice and research experience may have a slight effect
 A national sample of 495 students taking the MCAT in 1994.
 Regression analysis: standardized coefficient for attending a
university was 0.15 (versus college), for physical science major
= 0.08, and work on a professor’s research project = 0.07.
 Correlation vs. causation?
■ Undergraduate major and number of “related” undergraduate
science courses do not affect first and second year med
school performance (Yens and Stimmel, 1982; Canaday and
Lancaster, 1985; Hall and Stocks, 1994)
■ Survey of 90 dental students at University of Kentucky
indicated that undergraduate coursework had no discernable
effect on DAT scores (Humphrey et al. 2002)
Feedback about MCAT from Fisher Students
 Success comes from significant practice with particular test format
and diligent preparation over many months
 Content for most tests is covered in basic science and
math/statistics courses. However, because content coverage is so
great, test takers are not expected to get an “A” (especially on
MCAT). Generates anxiety.
 Basic familiarity with the testing site and process also can reduce
anxiety.
Online Resources for the Exams
 Graduate Record Exam (GRE)
 http://www.ets.org/gre/index.html
 Medical College Admissions Test (MCAT)
 http://www.aamc.org/students/mcat/
 Dental Admissions Test (DAT)
 http://www.ada.org/prof/ed/testing/dat/index.asp
 Pharmacy College Admissions Test (PCAT)
 http://www.pearsonassessments.com/haiweb/Cultures/enUS/site/Community/PostSecondary/Products/pcat/pcathome.htm
 Optometry Admissions Test (OAT)
 http://www.opted.org/i4a/pages/index.cfm?pageid=3444#more_info_about_oat
 Law School Admissions Test (LSAT)
 http://www.lsac.org/LSAT/about-the-lsat.asp
 Graduate Management Admissions Test (GMAT)
 http://www.mba.com/mba/thegmat
References
 Anaya G. 2001. Correlates of performance on the MCAT: an examination of the influence
of college environments and experiences on student learning. Adv Health Sci Educ Theory
Pract. 6(3):179-91.
 Canaday SD, Lancaster CJ. 1985. Impact of undergraduate courses on medical student
performance in basic sciences. J Med Educ. 60(10):757-63.
 Griffin B, Harding DW, Wilson IG, Yeomans ND. 2008. Does practice make perfect? The
effect of coaching and retesting on selection tests used for admission to an Australian
medical school. Med J Aust. 189(5):270-3
 Hall ML, Stocks MT. 1995. Relationship between quantity of undergraduate science
preparation and preclinical performance in medical school. Acad Med. 70(3):230-5.
 Humphrey SP, Mathews RE, Kaplan AL, Beeman CS. 2002. Undergraduate basic science
preparation for dental school. J Dent Educ. 66(11):1252-9.
 McGaghie WC, Downing SM, Kubilius R. 2004. What is the impact of commercial test
preparation courses on medical examination performance? Teach Learn Med16(2):202-11.
 Yens DP, Stimmel B. 1982. Science versus nonscience undergraduate studies for medical
school: a study of nine classes. J Med Educ. 57(6):429-35.