Predictive Role of Senior High School Performance and College Admission Test Scores on the Academic Performance of Freshman Students in State Universities
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.19922006Keywords:
Senior High School Performance, College Admission Test (CAT), Academic Performance, Predictive Analysis, Freshman StudentAbstract
Student academic achievement is widely recognized as a key indicator of educational quality and institutional effectiveness. This study examined the predictive role of Senior High School (SHS) performance and College Admission Test (CAT) scores on the academic performance of first-year students at Isabela State University. A descriptive-correlational research design was employed, involving 173 freshmen from the College of Education, selected through proportionate sampling. Secondary data were collected from institutional records, including SHS general weighted averages, college admission test (CAT) scores, and first-semester academic performance. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, t-tests, analysis of variance (ANOVA), Pearson’s correlation, and multiple regression analysis. The findings revealed that students generally demonstrated strong SHS and CAT performance, alongside satisfactory academic outcomes during their first semester. No significant differences were observed in SHS and CAT performance when grouped by sex; however, significant variations in academic performance were found across the academic programs. Correlation analysis indicated that both SHS performance and CAT scores were significantly associated with students’ academic performance, suggesting that prior academic achievement and cognitive readiness contribute to success in college. The regression results further showed that SHS performance was a stronger predictor, while CAT scores provided additional explanatory power, thereby improving the overall predictive accuracy of the model. The combined model explained 28.5% of the variance in academic performance and demonstrated a high predictive capability. These findings underscore the importance of using both SHS performance and CAT scores as complementary indicators in admission decisions and academic planning to better support students’ success.
References
Alamoudi, A. A., Fallatah, H. I., Eldakhakhny, B. M., Kamel, F. O., Alshawwa, L. A., & Elsamanoudy, A. Z. (2021). Relationship between admission criteria and academic performance in basic science courses in health science colleges at KAU. BMC Medical Education, 21(1), 94. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12909-021-02502-4
Anselmo, C., Gante, D., Aquino, J. L., Cabrera, F., Blas, R. B., Ines, M., … Eufenia, R. (2025). Cultivating 21st-Century Skills: A Comparative Study of Critical Thinking Development Across Higher Education Disciplines. Journal of Interdisciplinary Perspectives, 3(8), 105–113. https://doi.org/10.69569/jip.2025.373
Aquines Gutiérrez, O., Hernández Taylor, D. M., Santos-Guevara, A., Chavarría-Garza, W. X., Martínez-Huerta, H., & Galloway, R. K. (2022). How Entry Profiles and Early Study Habits Relate to First-Year Academic Performance in Engineering Programs. Sustainability, 14(22), 15400. https://doi.org/10.3390/su142215400
Bacus, R. C., & Alda, R. C. (2022). Senior High School Teaching: A Phenomenological Inquiry. Malaysian Journal of Learning and Instruction, 19(1). https://doi.org/10.32890/mjli2022.19.1.9
Emmanuel L Asuncion, J., I Tamayao, A., T Vecaldo, R., T Mamba, M., Marl G Paat, F., S Pagulayan, E., & U Utrela, J. (2021). Human Ecological Systems Shaping College Readiness of Filipino K-12 Graduates: A Mixed-Method Multiple-Case Analysis. Humanities and Social Sciences Letters, 9(1), 34–49. https://doi.org/10.18488/journal.73.2021.91.34.49
Hendi, A., Mahfouz, M. S., Alqassim, A. Y., Makeen, A., Somaili, M., Shami, M. O., Names, A. A., Darraj, A., Kariri, A., Ashiri, A., and Alhazmi, A. H. (2022). Admission Grades as Predictors of Medical Students’ Academic Performance: A Cross-Sectional Study from Saudi Arabia. European Journal of Investigation in Health, Psychology and Education, 12(11), 1572–1580. https://doi.org/10.3390/ejihpe12110110
Jaehn, M., Hissbach, J., Frickhoeffer, M., Weppert, D., Zimmerhofer, A., Hampe, W., Kadmon, M., & Becker, N. (2025). Predictive validity of admission tests and educational attainment on preclinical academic performance: A multisite study. BMC Medical Education, 25(1), 1255. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12909-025-07974-2
Sawey-Ognayon, G. B., & Afalla, B. T. (2022). Admission Criteria as Predictors of Licensure Performance among Graduates of a State University in the Philippine Cordillera Administrative Region. Academic Journal of Interdisciplinary Studies, 11(6), 147. https://doi.org/10.36941/ajis-2022-0157
Sorgente, A., Pietrabissa, G., Antonietti, A., Bonanomi, A., Castelnuovo, G., Lanz, M., Tagliabue, S., & Traficante, D. (2024). How are candidates for an undergraduate degree in psychology selected? Combining high school GPA and admission test scores. Asia Pacific Education Review, 26(2), 459–471. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12564-024-09978-x
Tamimi, A., Hassuneh, M., Tamimi, I., Juweid, M., Shibli, D., Almasri, B., & Tamimi, F. (2023). Admission criteria and academic performance in medical schools. BMC Medical Education, 23(1), 273. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12909-023-04251-y
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2026 International Journal of Research on Multidisciplinary Studies
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
