{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2025,8,12]],"date-time":"2025-08-12T22:06:04Z","timestamp":1755036364813,"version":"3.40.5"},"reference-count":36,"publisher":"Public Library of Science (PLoS)","issue":"12","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2022,12,16]],"date-time":"2022-12-16T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1671148800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["www.plosone.org"],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["PLoS ONE"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Graduate admissions committees throughout the United States examine both quantitative and qualitative data from applicants to make admissions determinations. A number of recent studies have examined the ability of commonly used quantitative metrics such as the GRE and undergraduate GPA to predict the likelihood of applicant success in graduate programs. We examined whether an admissions committee could predict applicant success at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center UTHealth Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences based on quantitative metrics. We analyzed the predictive validity of admissions scores, undergraduate GPA, and the GRE for student success. We observed nuanced differences based on gender, ethnicity, race, and citizenship status. The scores assigned to applicants by the admissions committee could not predict time to degree in PhD students regardless of demographic group. Undergraduate GPA was correlated with time to degree in some instances. Interestingly, while GRE scores could predict time to degree, GRE percentile scores could predict both time to degree and PhD candidacy examination results. These findings suggest that there is a level of nuance that is required for interpretation of these quantitative metrics by admissions committees.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0279258","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2022,12,16]],"date-time":"2022-12-16T18:29:20Z","timestamp":1671215360000},"page":"e0279258","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1371\/journal.pone.corrections_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":3,"title":["The impact of holistic review on correlations between doctoral student outcomes, and GPA and GRE scores in the biomedical sciences"],"prefix":"10.1371","volume":"17","author":[{"given":"Taylor","family":"Walters","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-9259-2645","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Antonio","family":"Abeyta","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Andrew J.","family":"Bean","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-1610-1044","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Marenda A.","family":"Wilson","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"340","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2022,12,16]]},"reference":[{"key":"pone.0279258.ref001","unstructured":"gre_guide.pdf [Internet]. [cited 2021 Jun 30]. Available from: https:\/\/www.ets.org\/s\/gre\/pdf\/gre_guide.pdf"},{"key":"pone.0279258.ref002","unstructured":"Admissions: Required Tests [Internet]. Wake Forest Graduate School. [cited 2021 Apr 11]. Available from: https:\/\/graduate.wfu.edu\/admissions-required-tests\/"},{"journal-title":"PhD Graduate Education at Northeastern University","year":"2017","author":"Biomedical Sciences","key":"pone.0279258.ref003"},{"key":"pone.0279258.ref004","unstructured":"All Departments: PhD Admissions and Enrollment Statistics | Duke Graduate School [Internet]. [cited 2021 Apr 11]. Available from: https:\/\/gradschool.duke.edu\/about\/statistics\/all-departments-phd-admissions-and-enrollment-statistics"},{"key":"pone.0279258.ref005","unstructured":"Dame MCW| U of N. Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) | The Graduate School | University of Notre Dame [Internet]. The Graduate School. [cited 2021 Apr 11]. Available from: https:\/\/graduateschool.nd.edu\/admissions\/faq\/"},{"key":"pone.0279258.ref006","unstructured":"Admissions\u2014Interdisciplinary Biomedical Sciences Program\u2014Purdue University [Internet]. [cited 2021 Apr 11]. Available from: https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/gradschool\/ibsc\/admissions.html"},{"key":"pone.0279258.ref007","unstructured":"Application Information [Internet]. [cited 2021 Apr 11]. Available from: https:\/\/www.artsci.uc.edu\/departments\/biology\/graduate\/application-info.html"},{"key":"pone.0279258.ref008","unstructured":"Program: Statistics, Ph.D.\u2014Columbia Campus\u2014Acalog ACMSTM [Internet]. [cited 2021 Apr 22]. Available from: http:\/\/bulletin.sc.edu\/preview_program.php?catoid=94&poid=6127&returnto=2725"},{"volume-title":"Graduate Enrollment and Degrees: 2006 to 2016","year":"2017","author":"H Okahana","key":"pone.0279258.ref009"},{"article-title":"Research-Doctorate Programs in the Biomedical Sciences: Selected Findings from the NRC Assessment","year":"2011","author":"JF Lorden","key":"pone.0279258.ref010"},{"volume-title":"Holistic Review in Graduate Admissions: A Report from the Council of Graduate Schools","year":"2016","author":"JD Kent","key":"pone.0279258.ref011"},{"key":"pone.0279258.ref012","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","DOI":"10.4159\/9780674915640","volume-title":"Inside Graduate Admissions: Merit, Diversity, and Faculty Gatekeeping","author":"JR Posselt","year":"2016"},{"key":"pone.0279258.ref013","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1280","DOI":"10.21815\/JDE.019.144","article-title":"Unintended Demographic Bias in GPA\/DAT-Based Pre-Admission Screening: An Argument for Holistic Admissions in Dental Schools","volume":"83","author":"R Chaviano-Moran","year":"2019","journal-title":"J Dent Educ"},{"key":"pone.0279258.ref014","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"82","DOI":"10.2202\/1949-6605.1724","article-title":"Factors Influencing the Academic Achievement of First-Generation College Students","volume":"43","author":"TL Strayhorn","year":"2006","journal-title":"NASPA Journal"},{"article-title":"A snapshot of the individuals who took the GRE revised general test","year":"2014","author":"ETS","key":"pone.0279258.ref015"},{"key":"pone.0279258.ref016","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"162","DOI":"10.1037\/0033-2909.127.1.162","article-title":"A comprehensive meta-analysis of the predictive validity of the graduate record examinations: implications for graduate student selection and performance","volume":"127","author":"NR Kuncel","year":"2001","journal-title":"Psychol Bull"},{"key":"pone.0279258.ref017","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"303","DOI":"10.1038\/nj7504-303a","article-title":"A test that fails","volume":"510","author":"C Miller","year":"2014","journal-title":"Nature"},{"key":"pone.0279258.ref018","unstructured":"2010 U.S. Census [Internet]. U.S. Census Bureau; 2010. Available from: https:\/\/www.census.gov\/newsroom\/releases\/archives\/2010_census\/cb11-cn125.html"},{"article-title":"National Institutes of Health","year":"2012","author":"Draft report of the Advisory Committee to the Director Working Group on Diversity in the Biomedical Research Workforce","key":"pone.0279258.ref019"},{"article-title":"National Center for Education Statistics","year":"2013","author":"Integrated postsecondary education data system","key":"pone.0279258.ref020"},{"key":"pone.0279258.ref021","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"e114736","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0114736","article-title":"Biomedical Science Ph.D. Career Interest Patterns by Race\/Ethnicity and Gender","volume":"9","author":"KD Gibbs","year":"2014","journal-title":"PLoS One"},{"key":"pone.0279258.ref022","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","DOI":"10.7554\/eLife.21393","article-title":"Decoupling of the minority PhD talent pool and assistant professor hiring in medical school basic science departments in the US","volume":"5","author":"KD Gibbs","year":"2016","journal-title":"Elife"},{"key":"pone.0279258.ref023","first-page":"17","volume":"2017","author":"Women, Minorities, and Persons with Disabilities in Science and Engineering","year":"2017","journal-title":"National Science Foundation"},{"issue":"1","key":"pone.0279258.ref024","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"ar7","DOI":"10.1187\/cbe.18-06-0103","article-title":"A Model for Holistic Review in Graduate Admissions That Decouples the GRE from Race, Ethnicity, and Gender","volume":"18","author":"MA Wilson","year":"2019","journal-title":"CBE\u2014Life Sci Educ"},{"key":"pone.0279258.ref025","article-title":"Institutional Interventions that Remove Barriers to Recruit and Retain Diverse Biomedical PhD Students","author":"MA Wilson","year":"2018","journal-title":"Press, CBE Life Sciences Education"},{"key":"pone.0279258.ref026","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"488","DOI":"10.1016\/j.outlook.2015.01.001","article-title":"Holistic review in admissions: A strategy to diversify the nursing workforce","volume":"63","author":"LD Scott","year":"2015","journal-title":"Nursing Outlook"},{"article-title":"Do data support the discourse? Assessing holistic review as an admissions process to promote diversity at a US medical school","year":"2010","author":"B. Cantewll","key":"pone.0279258.ref027"},{"key":"pone.0279258.ref028","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"e0166742","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0166742","article-title":"The Limitations of the GRE in Predicting Success in Biomedical Graduate School","volume":"12","author":"L Moneta-Koehler","year":"2017","journal-title":"PLoS One"},{"key":"pone.0279258.ref029","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"e0169121","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0169121","article-title":"Predictors of Student Productivity in Biomedical Graduate School Applications","volume":"12","author":"JD Hall","year":"2017","journal-title":"PLoS One"},{"issue":"3","key":"pone.0279258.ref030","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"e0201634","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0201634","article-title":"The GRE over the entire range of scores lacks predictive ability for PhD outcomes in the biomedical sciences","volume":"14","author":"L Sealy","year":"2019","journal-title":"PLOS ONE"},{"issue":"4","key":"pone.0279258.ref031","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"e0193901","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0193901","article-title":"The art and science of selecting graduate students in the biomedical sciences: Performance in doctoral study of the foundational sciences","volume":"13","author":"H-Y Park","year":"2018","journal-title":"PLOS ONE"},{"issue":"1","key":"pone.0279258.ref032","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"375","DOI":"10.1120\/jacmp.v15i1.4451","article-title":"Correlation of admissions statistics to graduate student success in medical physics","volume":"15","author":"J Burmeister","year":"2014","journal-title":"J Appl Clin Med Phys"},{"key":"pone.0279258.ref033","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","DOI":"10.1187\/cbe.14-11-0216","article-title":"Beyond the GRE: using a composite score to predict the success of Puerto Rican students in a biomedical PhD program [Internet]","volume":"14","author":"WI Pacheco","year":"2015","journal-title":"CBE Life Sci Educ"},{"issue":"4","key":"pone.0279258.ref034","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"429","DOI":"10.1091\/mbc.e13-11-0646","article-title":"How should we be selecting our graduate students?","volume":"25","author":"OD Weiner","year":"2014","journal-title":"Mol Biol Cell"},{"issue":"4","key":"pone.0279258.ref035","first-page":"175","article-title":"Prediction of Osteopathic Medical School Performance on the basis of MCAT score, GPA, sex, undergraduate major, and undergraduate institution","volume":"112","author":"D. Dixon","year":"2012","journal-title":"J Am Osteopath Assoc"},{"issue":"4","key":"pone.0279258.ref036","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"715","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jsurg.2016.03.006","article-title":"Predictors of Undergraduate and Postgraduate Clinical Performance: A Longitudinal Cohort Study","volume":"73","author":"T Kim","year":"2016","journal-title":"J Surg Educ"}],"container-title":["PLOS ONE"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/dx.plos.org\/10.1371\/journal.pone.0279258","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2022,12,16]],"date-time":"2022-12-16T18:29:43Z","timestamp":1671215383000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/dx.plos.org\/10.1371\/journal.pone.0279258"}},"subtitle":[],"editor":[{"given":"Ayse Hilal","family":"Bati","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"editor","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2022,12,16]]},"references-count":36,"journal-issue":{"issue":"12","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2022,12,16]]}},"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1371\/journal.pone.0279258","relation":{},"ISSN":["1932-6203"],"issn-type":[{"type":"electronic","value":"1932-6203"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2022,12,16]]}}}