A total of 1,255 high school students (636 female and 619 male) from urban, suburban, and rural high schools in upstate New York participated in the study. A questionnaire entitled "A Survey of School Climates" was used to assess students' perceptions of the current criteria for adolescent popularity. Males particularly viewed the most prestigious identity as that of a student athlete, who excels in both academics and athletics. After the student athlete role was removed from the analysis, approximately the same percentage of males identified the single roles of student or athlete as important. The problems associated with the elevation of the student athlete to the highest aspirations of students are based in the rarity and difficulty of cultivating and balancing skills in both areas, thus producing role confusion, lowered self-esteem, and increased susceptibility to peer-group pressures. The realization that current popularity criteria continue to be associated more with athletics than with academics adds to the likelihood of role confusion. 4 tables, 20 references.