Odd News on Acceptance Into PhD Programs in Psychology

Comments on J. H. Korn's (see record 1984-32529-001) data on the odds of gaining acceptance to PhD programs in psychology. The present author attempts to demonstrate that Korn's candidate/acceptance ratio is an inaccurate and misleading statistic that underestimates the severity of competition for admission to graduate programs and suggests some alternative ways to roughly estimate the amount of competition. It is argued that Korn failed to consider in his ratios that an individual's chances of getting into graduate school depend on a number of factors such as grades, test scores, recommendations, and ability to write convincing personal statements. (7 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved)