Levels of Recommendation for Students and Academic Performance in Medical School

Abstract

Letters of recommendation from educational institutions have traditionally been considered a major criterion in admission decisions. However, very little attention has been directed to the study of the relationship between the content of letters of recommendation and measures of academic performance in professional schools. To investigate this relationship, letters of recommendation of 236 students who attended Jefferson Medical College from 5 undergraduate institutions were reviewed, and the levels of recommendation contained in the letters were identified. Yearly GPAs, scores of the 3 parts of the National Board Medical Examinations, and ratings of clinical competence in the first postgraduate year were selected as measures of academic performance. The results indicated that the levels of recommendation did not improve the multiple R prediction of the criteria beyond the level obtained using undergraduate GPA in science courses. Factor analysis of the data showed that levels of recommendation were heavily loaded on a factor related to undergraduate GPA in science courses.