A study was conducted at Queensborough Community College (QCC) to determine whether selected academic variables associated with the way students completed their curriculum differentiated successful (graduated) from unsuccessful (probationary) open admissions students. The study investigated the effects on students' success of the early completion of a remedial reading, writing, or mathematics course; enrollment in advanced courses before the completion of 25 credits; the number of credits attempted during the first three semesters; or the interaction of these elements with each other and with curricular assignment. Data were collected on 198 students who first registered at QCC in 1978. Of these, 99 had been placed on academic probation and 99 would graduate by 1981. The study revealed: (1) the 1981 graduates had completed remedial courses on an average of at least one semester earlier than students on probation; (2) the mean difference between the two groups with respect to early enrollment in difficult courses was significant but low; (3) the mean differences between the two groups with respect to curriculum (Liberal Arts or Career) was not significant; and (4) for liberal arts students, early completion of reading remediation was correlated significantly with academic success. (HB)