Faced with the need to replace a "waiting list" system of nursing program admissions with a more equitable selection process, Prince George's Community College examined the criteria leading to successful completion of the five-part State Board Examinations (SBE). Resultant criteria would then be used to place applicants into a "qualified pool" from which individuals would be randomly selected for admission. An analysis was made of the records of 159 nursing graduates of 1976 on demographic variables, SBE sub-test scores, Comparative Guidance and Placement tests (CGP) taken at entry, process variables, grade point average (GPA), and nursing and science course repeats. CGP test scores appeared to discriminate between SBE passes and failures. In a second study, these variables were submitted to regression analysis, with an established criterion of a midpoint score of 50 on the CGP related to the number of SBE sub-tests passed. Fifty-one subjects with complete variable sets were analyzed, with the criterion variable accounting for 56% of the variance in the number of SBE subsets passed and the CGP reading score alone accounting for 43%. The addition of the other variables explained 69% of the variance, supporting the possible establishment of a score of 50 on the CGP as one requirement for the "qualified applicant" pool. (RT)