THE ACADEMIC, OCCUPATIONAL, AND SOCIAL ACHIEVEMENTS OF A SAMPLE OF HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATES (STUDIED PREVIOUSLY WHILE IN SCHOOL) WERE EXAMINED TO ISOLATE THE FACTORS OF ADOLESCENCE WHICH ARE RELATED TO LATER ACHIEVEMENT OR FAILURE IN COLLEGE OR AN OCCUPATION. THE PROJECT WAS A FOLLOWUP STUDY AND WAS CONCERNED WITH AN ANALYSIS OF DATA GATHERED AT TWO POINTS IN TIME, RATHER THAN A SEQUENCE OF LONGITUDINAL DATA. OVER 350 MEMBERS OF A METROPOLITAN HIGH SCHOOL SENIOR CLASS COMPRISED THE SAMPLE FOR THE ORIGINAL PROGRAM. THE FOLLOWUP STUDY CONSISTED OF CONTACTING AS MANY OF THIS GROUP AS POSSIBLE, CONCENTRATING ON A SMALL PERCENTAGE FOR THE MAJORITY OF THE DATA. IN THE INITIAL STUDY DATA WERE GATHERED ON INTELLIGENCE, PERSONALITY, SOCIAL PARTICIPATION, SCHOOL RECORDS, AND TEACHER RATINGS. THE FOLLOWUP PROJECT ADDED INFORMATION ON COLLEGE GRADES, JOBS HELD, PERSONALITY STRUCTURE, SOCIAL STATUS, AND PROBLEMS IN COLLEGE OR JOB EXPERIENCE SINCE LEAVING HIGH SCHOOL. ECONOMIC POSITIONS AND BEHAVIORAL CATEGORIES WERE ALSO RATED. THE TWO INVESTIGATIONS WERE CONDUCTED 6 YEARS APART. PROJECT RESULTS SHOWED THAT ADULT PERFORMANCE WAS POSSIBLY MORE CLOSELY RELATED TO EVENTS AND EXPERIENCES THAT OCCUR AFTER HIGH SCHOOL THAN TO HIGH SCHOOL BEHAVIOR OR ACHIEVEMENT. THESE POST-HIGH SCHOOL FACTORS APPEARED TO BE INHERENTLY RELATED TO ADULT PERFORMANCE--(1) FAMILY EXPERIENCES, (2) SOCIAL CLASS CONTEXT, AND (3) LATER OCCUPATIONAL SITUATIONS. (JH)