University success is impacted largely by the successful transition of students in their first year. This study's objective is to identify the motives, expectations and preparedness of first-year accounting students enrolled for an accounting degree at the University Of the Western Cape (UWC) for higher education. Students' motives, expectations and preparedness for higher education have been found to impact their success in their tertiary studies. A quantitative approach was used for this study. A questionnaire was administered to first-year accounting students at UWC during the first lecture of their first accounting module. Descriptive statistics was used in order to analyse the data obtained from the questionnaire. The findings include that students' time commitments were aligned to that proposed by the university, that they were motivated by a mixture of internal and external factors and that they expected to grow intellectually as a result of studying B.Com (Accounting) at UWC but did not expect to develop better social skills. Educators should acknowledge the importance of and incorporate initiatives to develop the interpersonal skills in the training of accounting graduates. The study contributes to understanding the first-year experience of students studying at a historically disadvantaged institution in South Africa.