Association between scores in high school, aptitude and achievement exams and early performance in health science college.

Full Abstract

This retrospective study was carried out to assess the correlation between admission criteria to health science colleges, namely, final high school grade and Saudi National Aptitude and Achievement exams, and early academic performance in these colleges. The study included 91 male students studying in the two-year pre-professional program at the King Saud bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences (KSAU-HS), Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Records of these students were used to extract relevant information and their academic performance (based on the grade point average achieved at the end of the first semester of the pre-professional program), which were analytically studied. Pearson correlation coefficient was used to assess the associations between the different scores. SPSS statistical program (version 12.0) was used for data analyses. We found a strong correlation between the academic performance and the Achievement Exam, Aptitude Exam and high school final grade, with Pearson Correlation Coefficients of 0.96, 0.93, 0.87, respectively. The Saudi National Achievement Exam showed the most significant correlation. Our results indicate that academic performance showed good correlation with the admission criteria used, namely final high school grade, Saudi National Aptitude and Achievement Exams.

Author information

Author/s: Al-Alwan, Ibrahim A (IA);

Affiliation: King Saud bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. alwani(-atsign-)ngha.med.sa

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Comparative Study; Journal Article

Journal: Saudi journal of kidney diseases and transplantation : an official publication of the Saudi Center for Organ Transplantation, Saudi Arabia (Saudi J Kidney Dis Transpl), published in Saudi Arabia. (Language: eng)

Reference: 2009-May; vol 20 (issue 3) : pp 448-53

Dates: Created 2009/05/05; Completed 2009/07/07;

PMID: 19414949, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 7/24/2009, IMS Date: )

Sourced from the National Library of Medicine. Abstract text and other information may be subject to copyright.

External Links for this article
(including full text providers, if available):

Click Electronic Full-text Provider Links to see options for finding the electronic full text links to this article. Note there may be a subscription or fee required for access to the full text. See our FAQ for information on finding FREE full text articles.

This article may also be located in paper journal collections available in many libraries. Use the Journal and Publication Information above to find the full article.