In an inter-institutional action research project, seven teachers from three high schools and two colleges in Canada interviewed 88 students as they looked forward to college, experienced the first semester, and looked back after the second semester. The purpose was to discover what student perceptions and what institutional policies and practices function as obstacles to student success in the first year of college. The first step of the study was to determine when the transition began by examining institutional characteristics of high schools and how high schools prepare students for college. Student responses in this area indicated that students perceive college as a difficult place where they won't be looked after and where they will have to do their work on their own. The second part of the study examined what life at college was like, in terms of students' impressions of the institutional characteristics of John Abbott College (JAC), the social aspects of the college, and the first weeks of enrollment at JAC. The third part of the study examined the responses of veteran students, who more clearly defined the transition from high school to college and first-semester experiences. The student responses emphasized the challenge of surviving the freedom from constraints long enough to mature into the freedom to choose responsibility. The final component of the study examined how each member of the research team experienced change during the study. Recommendations of the research team emphasized listening to students more, assuming teachers know less, and focusing on the process of learning. Attached appendixes include monthly research reports, a listing of research methods, summary reports from first and second data analysis workshops, and a sample interview with a second semester student. (JMC)