The study was devoted to assessing the quality of applicants' admission to universities based on the results of the Unified State Exam ("USE") in Russia. The problem area of the study included the issues of students' integration in the learning environment. The power of integration has a rigid projection on the student's successes in the learning process and after graduation from the university when applying for work. The literature review established the applicants' susceptibility to following a given strategy of vertical academic mobility. The existing patterns made it possible to state that applicants' behaviour throughout the entire period of study at the university is predictable. Based on the empirical data of one of the leading universities of Russia, an analysis of the factors affecting students' motivation was carried out, which is of great importance for improving the efficiency of the educational process. The quality of admission of applicants to universities varies in degree of training, which requires the identification of factors affecting academic performance. Static methods investigated the link between students' attitudes toward risk and their academic results. The obtained results showed some steady trends. It turned out that the USE results in Mathematics, Russian and English are significant for the prediction of the final rating of a first-year student.