A good analysis of the success factors in the university entrance exam, which is an important step for academic careers of students, is believed to help them manage this process. Properties such as self-regulation and learning approaches adopted by students undoubtedly influence their academic achievement as well as their success in university entrance exams. However, it is not exactly known how the direct and indirect relations between these variables are, and which variable has more effect on success. This research aims to determine the extent to which university entrance exam score as dependent variable; and academic achievement, deep, surface and strategic learning approaches, four sub-dimensions of self-regulatory learning skills scale as independent variables to predict university entrance exam score directly and indirectly; to this end, a path model was developed. Within the scope of the research, the data obtained from 445 students in the 4th class of the state-affiliated high schools in the 2016-2017 academic year were used. As a result of the research, the most important factor affecting the success of university entrance exam was found to be diploma grade; while diploma grades raise by using deep learning approaches, they fall by using surface learning approaches. It was detected that the use of the strategic learning approach reduces university entrance exam scores.