The Prediction of Success in a Clinical Psychology Graduate Program

Abstract

One hundred ninety-two students at an APA approved doctoral program in clinical psychology were examined with regard to the relationships between admissions criteria and evaluation of performance within the graduate program. Predictors for the study included GRE scores, UGPA, MMPI scores, indices from the SVIB, indices from Letters of Recommendation, and Biographical/Educational information. Performance criteria included Graduate GPA, Preliminary Oral Interview Scores, Comprehensive Examination Scores, Professional Qualifying Exam Scores, Practicum Evaluations, Internship Evaluations, Peer Ratings, and Faculty Ratings. Pearson Product Moment Correlations were performed to examine relationships between Pre-Admission predictor variables and each of the Within-Program performance criteria. A series of Factor Analyses were then performed on predictor and criterion variables and Pearson Product Moment Correlations were computed on the resultant factors. Results showed that the most meaningful findings are personality variables, which were useful predictors of Internship Evaluations. Several indices from Letters of Recommendation were found to be highly correlated with later graduate school performance measure. Factor analysis of variables contributed little to the understanding of relationships between predictors and criteria. Implications of these findings and recommendations for future prediction research in psychology are discussed.