Admission with Reservations (AWR) is a common phenomenon at some US colleges where students with poor academic records are enrolled as an economic necessity of the institution. These students, unable to meet course requirements, usually drop out of college in their first year. The freshman class entering Knox College in Fall 1963 included 24 AWR students who either (1) had an average SAT below 425, (2) had an average SAT below 520 and did not rank in the upper quarter of their high school class, or (3) ranked in the lower half of their high school class. A year later, 50 AWR students in the entering freshman class were referred to certain faculty members for special academic advising, and were offered a different course combination from the one taken by the 1963 group. Sixty-six percent of the 1964 group were in good standing after 2 years, compared to 33% of the 1963 group. Onl y 4 of the 1964 group have been dropped from the college, compared to 10 of their 1963 counterparts. None of the students in either group earned a B average in any one year, but the 1964 AWR students' chances of academic success were greatly improved. Results of this experiment suggest that admitting marginal students at their own risk and placing them in "special" or "filler" categories usually leads to failure, but that faculty counseling and course patterns that meet individual needs in the first semester of the freshman year can raise academic performance to a satisfactory level. (WM)