The purpose of the Program of Special Directed Studies (PSDS) is: (1) to identify a group of secondary school seniors and recent graduates with marked intellectual ability and potential for academic attainment whose achievement, as measured by standard tests and school records, is inadequate to secure admission to degree programs at accredited and selective colleges and universities; and (2) to prepare a selected group of such students, by a two year program of carefully planned and supervised studies, to move into a standard degree program at an appropriate level and successfully to complete it. The population from which PSDS students are to be selected is defined by two criteria: (1) that they do not have a record of academic achievement adequate enough to secure admission by traditional criteria to a degree program at a selective college or university; and (2) that the main reason for this lack of achievement be due to a cultural or social disadvantage. This report is an attempt to discuss and to define these terms, to provide a model for admissions based upon them, and to evaluate past admissions procedures with respect to this model. Since the two criteria given above define a potential student population much larger than the number of students the program can accept, an attempt is also made to set up criteria for selecting specific sub-groups of the defined population in an objective manner. (Author/JM)