The uses and limitations of tests and college admissions policies and procedures are considered, and some testing/admissions guidelines for selective graduate and professional schools in the post-Bakke era are suggested. Among the uses of tests are the following: diagnosing academic deficiencies and weaknesses; determining the level of mastery; identifying the very able and the very weak students who apply to selective institutions; and predicting how individuals will perform in the future with respect to relevant criteria. Four things that tests cannot do are: measure innate ability, measure without substantial error, measure drive or persistence, and predict with any substantial accuracy who will or will not succeed in a given profession. The purpose or role of public policy where admission to professional schools is concerned is to serve the public interest. The purpose or role of academic policy is to insure the educational integrity of the educational programs and the institutions involved for the larger good. It is suggested that effective affirmative action admissions programs include: programs with a common set of admissions criteria and a single admissions procedure that takes into consideration race or ethnic designation, disadvantage, geographical location, or other relevant factors that serve the public or academic interests of the schools involved; programs with admissions criteria that are matched with human service needs; programs that carefully assess socioeconomic disadvantage; and programs that do not heavily emphasize test scores. The Harvard admissions program utilizes race as one criterion for selection, sets no specific quotas in an effort to achieve diversity, and recruits widely and vigorously to increase the diversity and size of the eligible pool of students. (SW)