Because foreign language placement at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign is based solely on College Entrance Examination Board Foreign Language Placement Test scores, first semester courses are composed of students with heterogeneous foreign language backgrounds. French 101 was chosen to study the relationship between two entering variables--number of high school units in French, and number of years intervening between the last high school French course and 101 enrollment--and several French 101 in-class achievement variables. Data were gathered from 86% of one semester's French 101 enrollment. These data indicated that students with no French high school units showed higher drop rates, lower in-class test scores, and lower final grades compared to students with French high school units. Specific comparisons between students with 0 and 2 French high school units indicated that differences in test scores decreased across the semester. Examination of the intervening years variable indicated that it was not systematically related to course performance. The authors concluded that the College Board French Placement Test is not an appropriate instrument for placing college students into lower level French courses. Implications for other first semester foreign language courses are discussed, and several short- and long-term recommendations are made. (Author/GDC)