In order to establish competency based entrance requirements for freshman composition, a midwestern university sampled six freshman composition and four basic writing classes for errors in their essay writing. ACT English and social studies scores and several reading scores were also gathered. All this data was computer analyzed by the multiple regression procedure, with the final holistic rating as the criterion variable. Results indicated the holistic rating as the best indicator of success in the freshman writing course, and the ACT English score as second best. Number of errors, however, did characterize the remedial writers. While the ACT English and the preliminary holistic rating are workable for entrance testing, they are not the best combination for determining freshman composition entrance for students who have spent a semester under remediation or who are testing for a second time. Therefore the university is using a holistic essay rating plus an error count on that essay as a freshman composition entrance test for students who are testing for the second time. (HOD)