The selection for the best candidates for the nursing profession from a large group of applicants into a small number of program openings for associate degree nursing programs poses a critical task for nursing administration and faculty. Admission criteria vary throughout nursing programs. The selection criteria need to target students that will be able to make it through the nursing program as well as can practice utilizing strong clinical reasoning. The ATI® TEAS is the current standardized admission assessment used for predicting success in the first semester of a nursing program. The purpose of this study was to determine if there is a correlation between ATI® Critical thinking score and successful completion of first-semester Fundamentals Nursing Course to predict first-semester success. A retrospective correlation design was used with findings of a statistically significant positive correlation between the ATI® Critical Thinking Assessment scores and first semester success. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://bibliotheek.ehb.be:2222/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]