The purpose of this study was to answer the basic question: What is the gap between published articles on black admissions and actual practices in the schools? Eighty-seven (90 percent sample) large, primarily white institutions returned questionnaires concerning their admissions policies for black students. Results indicated that very few blacks (3 percent of 1969 entering freshmen) are entering the large, primarily white universities. While many schools have established special programs for blacks, the admissions procedures used for these programs and for regular black admissions remain very traditional. Standardized tests and high school grades are widely used while extra-curricular activities, recommendations and interviews are less used in black admissions. While many schools are conducting research on black admissions there is little reason to expect that admissions policies towards blacks in predominantly white schools will change in the near future. It is proposed that research on black admissions should involve novel approaches to developing predictors and criteria rather than to apply white culturally-bound variables to groups of blacks. Potentially useful variables in predicting the academic success of blacks include a positive self-concept and low conformity. (Author)