In this article, we examine how critical thinking and creativity of students, in addition to study results, are related to their chance of being selected for an excellence programme, and whether these student characteristics determine successful completion of their participation in an excellence programme. Between 2016 and 2019, over 1000 students from five higher education institutions in the Netherlands filled in questionnaires to collect information on their study results and relevant background and personality characteristics, and took part in tests to measure their critical thinking and creativity skills. The results of the empirical analysis show that critical thinking has a positive effect on the chance of being selected for an excellence programme, net of study results, which are also positively related to participation in an excellence programme. Creativity only plays a marginal role in the selection process. With regard to successful completion of an excellence programme, none of the considered variables of interest has a significant effect.