We focus on transition from school or employment to university and analyze how social network characteristics and the quantity of social capital (SC) influence the assessment of help in selecting a program of study. We analyze data of undergraduate students at a German university and find that SC has an amount and a context effect. First, we assume that in networks where students find a lot of SC, they also receive helpful advice. Second, a social network close to academia offers useful help. Our multivariate analyses support the context effect, but also indicate a marginal utility of SC. Students with academically educated parents rate their parents' help as more useful, and students with studying friends rate their friends' advice as helpful. However, students who are rich in SC among family and friends rate their help lower than students who are rich in SC among only one part of their network.