Local validity of OCAT as a predictor of professional school grade point average

Studies of the validity of the Optometry College Admission Test (OCAT) were carried out nationally by the Psychological Corporation, the test administrator, until 1979. Since then there have been no published national studies and only two local (school-based) validity studies. This paper analyzes the statistical relation between OCAT scores and performance in professional school for the 1981, 1982, and 1983 entering classes at the State College of Optometry, State University of New York (SUNY). The results are compared with the findings of previously published studies of OCAT validity at three other schools of optometry. For the classes entering in 1981 and 1982, there were significant correlations between Quantitative Ability (QA), Study Reading, and Physics subtest scores and both 1 and 2-year grade point averages (GPA's). These findings are, for the most part, consistent with those reported in previous studies.