This paper presents findings from a study concerning transition to university, which was conducted with 530 first year students at UNSW. The objectives were to establish major predictors of successful transition, and to identify factors associated with an increased probability of discontinuing. Student identity, academic application, social involvement, and the perception of independent learning were significant predictors of transition success; student identity played the major role. However, sex and English (as first language) moderated these effects. Academic performance also played a significant role, directly in association with discontinuing, and indirectly, as mediator of several significant effects. The paper outlines the importance of analyses that go beyond description, and highlights the insights yielded into the nature of the relationships with transition. The specific strategies suggested by the findings for enhancing the quality of the experience of our students during their first year at university will also be addressed