A study was conducted at Bronx Community College (BCC) to compare the academic performance and retention rates of regularly enrolled students with that of Hispanic students involved in the College Discovery (CD) program, which offers academic, career, and personal counseling. The performance of 41 CD students who were enrolled in English as a Second Language (ESL) 01 in fall 1979 and 1980 was compared with that of 30 men and 30 women randomly selected from students not involved in the CD program during the two terms. Data from student transcripts were used to determine if ESL 01 students could compete academically and socially with the regularly enrolled students. The study revealed that: (1) regular students did not earn higher grade point averages (GPA's) than ESL 01 students for the first two semesters of their freshman year; (2) ESL 01 students earned higher GPA's in special course work than in regular course work during the first two semesters; (3) regularly admitted students earned significantly more "satisfactory" grades than ESL 01 students; (4) regularly admitted students had a slightly higher persistence rate than ESL 01 students; (5) the persistence rate of women, both regular and ESL 01, was significantly higher than that for men; and (6) ESL 01 students tended to select secretarial and technological courses, while regularly admitted students more often opted for business courses. (HB)