This study has looked at the temporal and multidimensional self in high-ability African American males attending a specialized school for high-ability youth. Interviews were conducted with 9 students. Results provided details about the hoped-for and feared selves the young men envisioned as well as the strategies these youth utilized to realize and avoid these possibilities for their future. The interviews also demonstrated the impact of family, the specialized school’s culture, their neighborhoods, and racism on the possibilities the young men envisioned for themselves. Interrelationships between the attempt to attain possible selves, academic self-concept, socioeconomic status, race, and year in school were assessed via a path model with data from 253 high-ability male students attending the specialized school. The nature of the relationships amongst the variables revealed that older students better able to attain or avoid possible selves had higher academic self-concepts. Higher academic self-concepts resulted in higher grades and SAT scores. / Department of Educational Psychology