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The influence of MCAT and GPA preadmission academic metrics on interview scores

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Abstract

Medical school admissions interviews are used to assess applicants’ nonacademic characteristics as advocated by the Association of American Medical Colleges’ Advancing Holistic Review Initiative. The objective of this study is to determine whether academic metrics continue to significantly influence interviewers’ scores in holistic processes by blinding interviewers to applicants’ undergraduate grade point averages (uGPA) and Medical College Admission Test (MCAT). This study examines academic and demographic predictors of interview scores for two applicant cohorts at the University of Michigan Medical School. In 2012, interviewers were provided applicants’ uGPA and MCAT scores; in 2013, these academic metrics were withheld from interviewers’ files. Hierarchical regression analysis was conducted to examine the influence of academic and demographic variables on overall cohort interview scores. When interviewers were provided uGPA and MCAT scores, academic metrics explained more variation in interview scores (7.9%) than when interviewers were blinded to these metrics (4.1%). Further analysis showed a statistically significant interaction between cohort and uGPA, indicating that the association between uGPA and interview scores was significantly stronger for the 2012 unblinded cohort compared to the 2013 blinded cohort (β = .573, P < .05). By contrast, MCAT scores had no interactive effects on interviewer scores. While MCAT scores accounted for some variation in interview scores for both cohorts, only access to uGPA significantly influenced interviewers’ scores when looking at interaction effects. Withholding academic metrics from interviewers’ files may promote assessment of nonacademic characteristics independently from academic metrics.

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Acknowledgements

The authors wish to thank Larry Gruppen, Ph.D. and Jim Cranford, Ph.D. for their contributions to this paper. The University of Michigan has an Acceleration Change in Medical Education grant from the American Medical Association.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. 5117 Taubman Health Sciences Library, Office of Medical Student Education, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, MI, 48109-5726, USA

    Steven E. Gay, Sally A. Santen, Rajesh S. Mangrulkar, Thomas H. Sisson, Paula T. Ross & Nikki L. Bibler Zaidi

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  1. Steven E. Gay
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  2. Sally A. Santen
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  3. Rajesh S. Mangrulkar
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  4. Thomas H. Sisson
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  5. Paula T. Ross
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  6. Nikki L. Bibler Zaidi
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Correspondence to Nikki L. Bibler Zaidi.

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Gay, S.E., Santen, S.A., Mangrulkar, R.S. et al. The influence of MCAT and GPA preadmission academic metrics on interview scores. Adv in Health Sci Educ 23, 151–158 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10459-017-9779-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10459-017-9779-9

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