The predictive value of individual admission criteria on academic performance in a Saudi medical college

Objective: To assess the reliability of the selection criteria used at Taibah University College of Medicine, Almadinah Almunawwarah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, for predicing academic performance, in order to determine those that are most reliable. Methods: A retrospective cohort study was conducted on the 478 students in the first 4 years of a 6-year programme at the College of Medicine between February and April 2012. The variables examined were high-school grades, aptitude test scores, achievement test scores and the balanced percentage. The criterion was the college grade point average of the students at each academic level. Pearson correlation coefficient and regression analysis were used to assess the associations between scores. SPSS version 19 was used for data analysis. Results: A significant positive relation (p < 0.01) was found between high-school grade and achievement test score and the college grade point average, high-school grade being the most predictive. No significant relation was found with aptitude test score. Conclusions: The selection criteria used at Taibah University College of Medicine are variably reliable in predicting academic achievement: some should be enforced, while others might be replaced by more predictable criteria of academic outcome. (C) 2013 Taibah University. Production and hosting by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.