title: Admission variables and academic success in the first year of the professional phase in a doctor of physical therapy program.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  To date, there are no standard sets of admission criteria identifying an applicant's ability to succeed in an entry-level doctor of physical therapy (DPT) program. The purpose of this study was to determine if a relationship existed between preadmission variables and academic success, as measured by the physical therapy GPA in the basic sciences after the first professional year (PY1GPA).
  
  
  METHODS
  The sample consisted of 63 students from three consecutive classes admitted to an entry-level DPT Program from fall 2002 through fall 2004. The preadmission variables included age, gender, degree status, pre-cumulative GPA, and prerequisite course GPA. The preadmission factors were correlated with the dependent variable of PYIGPA. In a second analysis, the resulting significant correlations (p < 0.05) were entered into a forward multiple regression analysis to determine the best predictors.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The Spearman rho correlation coefficient indicated that the pre-cumulative GPA correlated positively to the PY1GPA in the basic sciences (r = 0.441, p < 0.01). After multiple regression analysis, it was revealed that pre-cumulative GPA and age accounted for 16.7 and 3.9%, respectively, of the total variance (20.6%) in PY1GPA in the basic sciences.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Although this study did not address academic success throughout the length of the professional academic program, the findings offer insight regarding students' initial academic performance. Gaining insight into students' performance at this early stage in their education may provide a greater understanding of their potential success throughout the graduate program.
authors.affiliation: Department of Graduate Programs in Health Sciences, School of Health and Medical Sciences, Alfieri Hall, Seton Hall University, 400 South Orange Ave, South Orange, NJ 07079, USA. Genevieve.Zipp@shu.edu
authors.forename: Gerald
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Ruscingno
authors.forename: Genevieve Pinto
authors.initials: GP
authors.lastname: Zipp
authors.forename: Valerie
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Olson
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D004500:Education, Graduate; D004522:Educational Status; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D026761:Physical Therapy Specialty / Q000193:education*; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012570:School Admission Criteria; D055815:Young Adult