Predicting Success in the Computer Science Degree Using ROC Analysis

ROC Curves (Receiver Operating Characteristic) are remarkably useful in medical decision-making. Given a common measurable characteristic, with a continuous output in all the beings of a group, ROC curves determine a threshold on the values of the characteristic, which tries to predict the classification of beings into discrete classes. In the Facultad de Informática of Valencia (Spain), we have used ROC analysis with our students’ high school cumulative grade point average, with their grade point average in the university entrance examination (Selectividad), and with the rate of passed subjects. Our purpose is to prevent freshmen from dropping-out the Computer Science degree.