Admission to one or more shared resources in a wireless network is based on whether such admission would unduly comprise the network's ability to meet one or more Quality-of-Sevice (QoS) constraints associated with users of the shared resources. Therefore, use of a resource, such as the shared use of a high-speed packet data channel, may be scheduled for current and newly admitted users in consideration of the QoS constraints associated with those users. By evaluating the QoS penalty that would be incurred with the admission of a prospective new user, an admission controller determines whether such admission would unduly comprise an associated resource scheduler's ability to meet the QoS constraints associated with user's of the shared resource. Thus, new users are admitted or blocked based on the penalty incurred. Users may be preferentially admitted by tolerating higher penalties for some users, such as those in a preferred user class.