The purpose of this study was to investigate the ways in which universities use the "GRE"® General Test scores to award merit-based fellowships to first-year graduate students in doctoral programs. While GRE use in fellowship award decisions is a common practice, there is very little validity evidence to support its use in this context. This exploratory qualitative study uses an argument-based validity approach as a conceptual framework to document GRE use systematically in award decisions. The findings from this study indicate that universities use merit-based fellowships to recruit "the best and the brightest" graduate students. The GRE is used as part of the nominee selection process in departments and is also used in the final selection process by university-wide committees. The GRE scores are primarily used to infer whether students have the baseline knowledge and skills needed to succeed in graduate school.These academic competencies were one of the characteristics the decision makers identified as required for successful doctoral students.The participants stated that the factors for success in graduate school are nebulous; however, the students with high GRE scores and other noteworthy supporting materials are expected to perform strongly in graduate school and, therefore, are worthy of the investment of a merit-based fellowship.