The purpose of this study was to discover some of the difficulties that first-year students have when they begin university. It was important to get the students to articulate those difficulties, in their own words, so that a better understanding could be attained. As expected, most of the difficulties centred on the institution itself. Students felt alienated from the university in terms of other students, the staff members, and their instructors. They were overwhelmed with the difference between their secondary schools and the university despite knowing that there would be differences. Some of the issues they dealt with when they first entered the university were very basic such as discovering where their classrooms were, where the washrooms were, and how to find the library. They also dealt with loneliness because they did not have friends who attended the same university and they found it difficult to make friends. In addition, the website for the university was bewildering and not easy to navigate for most of the students who responded to the survey. There were suggestions offered, by the students, as to what universities can do to better support and retain first-year students as they make the transition to higher education. An appendix contains the Survey on First Year Experience.