Differences in persisting and withdrawing students who entered the University of South Dakota's medical technology program during 1974-1984 were studied to provide information for career counselors. Data were collected for 200 students on high school grade point average (GPA), American College Testing (ACT) program scores, first semester college GPA, final preclinical college GPA, clinical GPA, Strong Vocational Inventory scores, Strong-Campbell Interest Inventory (SCII) scores, and Myers-Briggs Personality Type Indicator (MBTI) scores. It was found that earned GPA and ACT scores were good predictors of continued academic success, a finding also found in past studies. SCII scores did not significantly correlate with academic success, although the clinical laboratory students tended to score high on certain SCII scales. MBTI results confirmed that the clinical laboratory students comprise a varied group of personality types. No relationship between academic performance and personality type was found. No significant differences in personality type were found for persisters and dropouts. The data confirm another finding of past studies: that clinical laboratory science students are a task-oriented group who prefer an orderly way of life. (SW)