Attrition, which averages 40 percent among college freshmen, has been associated with academic skills, career decision making, psychological characteristics, and institutional climate. To determine the self-perceived developmental characteristics of college freshmen and the relationship of those characteristics to retention and grade point average (GPA), 592 college students (50 percent of the freshmen class enrolled in orientation classes, 251 males, 346 females) completed the Student Developmental Task Inventory (SDTI). Tests were administered in the fall semester and students were tracked for three semesters for retention and GPA data. An analysis of the results showed significant sex differences on the scales of the SDTI, with women viewing themselves as less mature than men in emotional and behavioral autonomy. However, they viewed themselves as more mature than men in interpersonal relationships. Men perceived themselves as having more definite career plans than women, although women perceived themselves as having higher long range life plans than men. The data did not yield significant differences along sex-based variables insofar as association of the SDTI scales, sex of the student, retention, and GPA were concerned. For both GPA and retention, the SDTI was able to predict only group behavior. Life plans, career plans, and peer relationships contributed most to the prediction of GPA, while educational plans, career plans, tolerance, and life plans contributed most to the prediction of retention. (BL)