Few studies have compared the written competency of French immersion students and their core French peers, and research on these learners at a postsecondary level is even scarcer. My corpus consists of writing samples from 255 students from both backgrounds beginning a university course in French language. The writing proficiency of core French and French immersion graduates was compared based on total output and several measures of grammatical and syntactical accuracy. Few statistically significant differences emerge. However, a subgroup of core French learners who had benefitted from an authentic immersion experience appears to outperform both regular core French and French immersion groups. The purpose of this quantitative study is primarily diagnostic; the results should help universities better serve the needs of first-year students.