Recently, there has been an increase in the number of students beginning a four-year institution with multiple college credits due to Advanced Placement (AP) classes or dual enrollment programs. Although literature suggests taking advantage of these opportunities benefits students academically and financially, there is insufficient research on how these students perceive their cognitive, interpersonal, and intrapersonal challenges and opportunities once they enter a four-year institution. First-year students are starting college as a sophomore or junior-level status. Unfortunately, there is limited research on how these students adjust socially and developmentally in advanced classes with older students. There is an educational need to understand how these students perceive any challenges and opportunities they encounter. Understanding how students who begin at a four-year institution with 12 or more college credits perceive their challenges and opportunities and sense of belonging can provide educators knowledge to best support this group of students. Applying Baxter Magolda's (1999; 2001) self-authorship framework and the sense of belonging framework to this group of students provides educators the background knowledge to recognize how individuals travel through the developmental process. Within this process, students typically begin college listening to external voices and progress toward listening and trusting their internal voices. Therefore, this study examined the perceptions from both first-year and fourth-year students. The self-authorship framework and the sense of belonging framework were used to analyze the data in agreement with the research questions to understand a) how students describe their cognitive, interpersonal, and intrapersonal challenges and opportunities, b) how they perceive their sense of belonging, and c) how the findings can inform best practices for advisors. The findings of this study conclude four major outcomes. First, students who began a four-year institution with 12 or more college credits did not struggle academically, but did briefly experience social intimidation in the classroom. Secondly, overall, both first and fourth-year students perceived a strong sense of belonging. Thirdly, first-year students seemed to be in the self-authorship crossroads meaning-making structure, while fourth-year students were in the internal meaning-making structure. Lastly, students embraced the support system and experiential learning opportunities provided on campus. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://bibliotheek.ehb.be:2222/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]