Information on 1981 high school seniors in the United States or abroad who registered for the Admissions Testing Program (ATP), sponsored by the College Entrance Examination Board, is presented. Findings include the following: the number of women taking the (SAT) Scholastic Aptitude Test exceeded that of men for the seventh consecutive year; the average SAT scores of the 1981 seniors remained the same as those of the previous year for both the verbal section (424) and the mathematical section (466); for the first time since 1968, neither the verbal nor the mathematical scores declined; men had higher SAT scores but women continued to excel on the Test of Standard Written English, for which scores have declined since its inception in 1975; for the third consecutive year, business and commerce was the most popular area of intended college study; the 6-year increase in interest in engineering has continued, and most of the increase came from males; growth in interest in computer science/systems analysis has more than tripled since 1975 and has more than doubled since 1978; the number of academic courses taken in high school averaged slightly over 16, or four per year and this number increased for the fifth consecutive year; students took more courses in mathematics and physical sciences than any previous group of college-bound seniors, but their study of foreign languages remained very low; the percentage of ethnic minority students rose to an all-time high of 18.1 percent; and the median estimated parental contribution toward college expenses was $810. Information on high schools, the ATP magnetic tape layout, and institutions most frequently receiving other ATP reports is included. (SW)