Open AccessOLDER AND YOUNGER GRADUATE STUDENTS: A COMPARISON OF GOALS, GRADES, AND GRE SCORES
Author(s) -
Clark Mary Jo
Publication year - 1984
Publication title -
ets research report series
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.235
H-Index - 5
ISSN - 2330-8516
DOI - 10.1002/j.2330-8516.1984.tb00045.x
Subject(s) - bachelor , psychology , test (biology) , graduate students , age groups , demography , pedagogy , history , paleontology , archaeology , sociology , biology
ABSTRACT The 1980–81 GRE General Test verbal and quantitative ability scores were examined for four age groups of test takers–those age 22 or less, 23–29, 30–39, and 40 or more–and two groups returning to graduate study many years after completing the bachelor's degree–those 9–15 years beyond the baccalaureate, and those 16 or more years beyond the baccalaureate. Average verbal scores were about the same for all test takers regardless of age group or recency of undergraduate study; average quantitative scores were progressively lower across groups of increasing age or distance from the baccalaureate. Correlations between both verbal and quantitative scores and first‐year graduate school grades were about the same across age groups of enrolled students, suggesting that the scores were equally useful in predicting the first‐year graduate school grades of younger and older applicants. Undergraduate grade averages were lower for older than for younger students, and were less closely related to graduate school grades among the older student groups. Differences in fields of study, background characteristics, and attitudes toward test taking also are reported.