What Determines Success at University Level Entrance Exams? Evidence from Pakistan

The focus and scrutiny on university level entrance criteria has increased in recent times. The purpose of this study is to observe the determinants of academic performance using entry test scores of undergraduate applicants at the Institute of Business Administration (IBA) Karachi. The factors explaining the academic performance hypothesized were socioeconomic background, academic background and gender. The data consisted of entry test scores of verbal and quantitative sections of the test that spanned for four years (2014-2017). The results indicate that candidates residing in affluent areas and having English as a prior Medium of Instruction perform better in the verbal section and candidates with a mathematics background score higher in the quantitative section of the test. The results further indicate that candidates coming from O and A Levels background have a significant advantage over the candidates of national boards, and candidates from science background have performed better than candidates from an arts background. Females performed better in the verbal section and males performed better in the quantitative section of the test. The results reveal that there is no significant relationship between socioeconomic status and performance in the quantitative section.