J Educ Eval Health Prof.  2008;5:4.

Discriminant Analysis of Essay, Mathematics/Science Type of Essay, College Scholastic Ability Test, and Grade Point Average as Predictors of Acceptance to a Pre-med Course at a Korean Medical School

• Jeong GH

Abstract

A discriminant analysis was conducted to investigate how an essay, a mathematics/science type of essay, a college scholastic ability test, and grade point average affect acceptance to a pre-med course at a Korean medical school. Subjects included 122 and 385 applicants for, respectively, early and regular admission to a medical school in Korea. The early admission examination was conducted in October 2007, and the regular admission examination was conducted in January 2008. The analysis of early admission data revealed significant F values for the mathematics/science type of essay (51.64; P<0.0001) and for grade point average(10.66; P= 0.0014). The analysis of regular admission data revealed the following F values: 28.81 (P<0.0001) for grade point average, 27.47 (P<0.0001) for college scholastic ability test, 10.67 (P=0.0012) for the essay, and 216.74 (P<0.0001) for the mathematics/science type of essay. Since the mathematics/science type of essay had a strong effect on acceptance, an emphasis on this requirement and exclusion of other kinds of essays would be effective in subsequent entrance examinations for this premed course.

Keyword

College Scholastic Ability Test; Entrance Examination; Essay; General Point Average; Mathematics/Science; Medical School

MeSH Terms

Korea
Schools, Medical

Reference

1. DBSTAT [Computer program on the Internet]. Chuncheon (KR): DBSTAT Co.;[cited 2008 Oct 30]. Available from: http://dbstat.com/.