Predicting achievement in medical school: a comparison of preclinical and clinical criteria

For 129 medical students, scores on an aptitude test battery were correlated with general grade averages at the end of both the first and third years of medical school. The trial battery, administered at the beginning of the first year, included (1) USAFI Reading Interpretation, (2) Miller Analogies, (3) DAT Space Relations, and (4) AGCT Validities with first-year grades (.44 to .04) were about the same as validities with third-year grades (.39 to .13), Reading Interpretation having the highest validity in each case. Correlations between the criteria and scores on the medical Professional Aptitude Test followed the same pattern.