Running head: EXPECTATIONS VS.

EXPERIENCES

Expectations vs. Experiences:

Correlations between First-Year Experiences & Levels of Involvement
Daniel Vorwerk
Written for Dr. Schmids Research Class
University of Northern Iowa

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Abstract

It is known that students expectations of their first-year typically do not align with the
experiences they end up having. The results suggest that, in general, student expectations were
not aligned with their academic experiences in the first-year (Smith & Wertlieb, 2005).
However, the majority of research that has been done on this topic has focused on academic
performances of students in their first-year and not the social adjustments that accompany
attending an institution of higher education for the first time. For this reason, this study sought
to see if involvement in a students first-year dictated the quality of their first-year experiences
compared to their first-year expectations. Through data collection and analysis, using the
Qualtrics survey platform, data from 32 participants confirmed the idea that involvement as a
first-year student did in fact help create a better experience for students during their first-year at
the University of Northern Iowa compared to the students who did not get involved during their
first-year. This finding builds on Alexander Astins research on involvement as it pertains to
student development and shows that involvement does not only help develop students
cognitively, but also assists in the retention of students to a second year at the university.

EXPECTATIONS VS. EXPERIENCES

The transition from high school to college can be tough for some students, and when
expectations of what college will be like are different than the experiences the student ends up
having, the entire ordeal can be confusing. Students today have unprecedented access to media,
all of which is helping them form opinions on what their college experience should be like; even
before they even step foot on a college campus. Beyond that, the influence that families have on
students understanding of college is causing students to have unrealistic expectations as they
head into their first-year. The focus of this study is to evaluate the expectations that students at
the University of Northern Iowa (UNI) had before entering their first-year at the university, and
compare those expectations to the self reported experiences they had as a first-year student.
Even further, a goal of this study was to compare those results of experiences versus expectations
to the level of involvement the students had in on campus activities to determine a correlation, or
lack there of, between high levels of involvement and positive experiences in a students firstyear.
First-Year Experiences
It is generally understood that the experiences students have in their first-year at an
institution differ from the expectations they previously had on the topic. Part of this is due to the
introduction of first-year experience courses hat have increased retention numbers at universities
and colleges across the country. Beyond specific first-year experience courses created for these
students, the social experiences that students have are dictating the positive or negative
experiences they have at the institution.
Expectations
Students set high expectations for what college will be like as well as high expectations
on themselves academically. Even further, some organizations they join as a first-year student

EXPECTATIONS VS. EXPERIENCES

impose academic expectations on them in order to maintain membership in the group (Debard,
Lake, & Binder, 2006). The previous research conducted on students expectations of what
college would be like has largely been focused on their academic expectations, though; with little
research being found regarding their social expectations and where they derive this information
from.
Involvement
Alexander Astin is a leading researcher on student development theory, especially as it
pertains to levels of student involvement on campus and how their involvement informs their
development. His research has informed how student affairs practitioners execute their work and
has shaped modern day student affairs practices. It is for this reason that his research on student
involvement at institutions of higher education is a founding principle on which this study was
conducted, when considering the role involvement has on first-year students experiences.
Significance of the Study
While studies have been conducted on expectations versus experiences of first-year
students, taking into consideration the levels of involvement of these students and how they
correlate with the experiences students have is research that has not been conducted yet. In
researching this topic, as it pertains to students at UNI, the hope was to find a correlation
between students involvement and higher levels of quality experiences during their first-year at
the university.
Methodology
The only restriction for participation in this study was that the potential participant must
have been, or currently was, a student at UNI. Samples were taken by seeking participants via a
social media platform and sending an e-mail via MapWorks to 600 students currently enrolled in

EXPECTATIONS VS. EXPERIENCES

a first-year only course. No student was turned away from participating in the study and the only
limitation on the study was that there was no way to control whether a student actually attended
UNI or not.
Data Collection
For this research study, the online survey platform, Qualtrics, was used to collect and
organize data. Participants were not offered anything in return for their participation in the
survey and those instructions were laid out in the informed consent form; which was the first
question on the Qualtrics survey. In providing the informed consent form at the beginning of the
survey, it was ensured that permission was granted for data to be collected from the participants
and all data would be stored via the Qualtrics survey platform and information would be deleted
after the conclusion of this study.
Data Analysis
Data was analyzed by comparing cross-tabulated data sets with qualitative answers
provided by participants. Analyses of the data was informed by previous studies that had been
conducted in order to better understand the data that was collected and make inferences about
some of the information.
Definitions of Terms
The term first-year describes the literal 1st year a student attends an institution.
Freshmen describes a person who has yet to complete 30 credit hours to be considered a
sophomore, but a first-year describes someone who is in their first two semesters at an
institution, regardless of their academic classification. Furthermore, for the purpose of this study,
involvement is defined as involvement in student organizations and does not include
involvement with a job or any off campus extra curricular activity.

EXPECTATIONS VS. EXPERIENCES

Anticipated Results
As stated previously, it was understood that students experiences would be different
from the expectations they set forth for their time in college. It is assumed, however, that
students with higher levels of involvement would have higher levels of satisfaction with their
college experience and that students with lower to no involvement on campus would not have as
good of experiences during their first-year at the university.
Literature Review
First-Year Experiences
Over the last decade, research has been conducted that supports the idea that experiences
structured specifically for first-year students helps improve the success and retention of students
supported by these initiatives (Sidle & McReynolds, 2009). In a study reported in 2009, a
control group of 431 students was compared to an experimental group of 431 students who
enrolled in first-year only experience courses. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the
return rates of the students, and to see if a correlation existed between participation in a first-year
only course and returning for a second semester at the university. The study found that there was
indeed a correlation between these two factors (Sidle & McReynolds, 2009). Another study was
conducted five years prior that hoped to compare retention impacts of strategy-based seminars
versus socialization-focused seminars for first-year students. In this study, retention rates were
measured for two experimental groups, one with students who were enrolled in a strategy-based
seminar and another group of students who were enrolled in a socialization-focused seminar.
There was also a third control group of students not enrolled in either seminar classes. For both
more and less academically capable freshmen, one-year retention rates were higher for the
strategy-based seminar (Ryan & Glenn, 2004). In this study, there was no evidence found to

EXPECTATIONS VS. EXPERIENCES

support the idea that socialization-focused seminars improved retention rates (Ryan & Glenn,
2004).
Additional research had been conducted specifically with Latino populations in which
four themes were found to be true about the sample population. These themes include academic
and social adjustment, family support and encouragement, involvement opportunities, as well as
ethnic and cultural identity (Hernandez, 2002). While these themes were found to be true
specifically for the Latino community at one particular institution, the themes do not vary greatly
from other research conducted with other racial demographics. The language that is used to
describe the students experiences in their first-year is language that transcends demographics.
Various participants expressed additional challenges they had to surmount, including the
lack of guidance and support from the on-campus community, challenges of learning to
effectively manage their time and learning to not procrastinate, and feeling stressed out
about maintaining good grades. All of the participants discussed the role of friendships
and what it was like to make friends or meet others on campus; most discussed how
simple it was to meet new acquaintances. (Hernandez, 2002)
Expectations
Research has been conducted that zones in on the academic expectations college bound
students have and the experiences they end up having in a college classroom throughout their
first-year. The results suggest that, in general, student expectations were not aligned with their
academic experiences in the first-year (Smith & Wertlieb, 2005). This academic specific
research showed a disconnect in academic rigor from high school to college (Smith & Wertlieb,
2005). Another study reviewed the academic performances of students involved in the Greek
community at a Midwestern university. The study compared academic performances of first-

EXPECTATIONS VS. EXPERIENCES

year Greek students and first-year non-Greek students; and also compared their actual grade
point averages to their predicted grade point average (Debard, Lake, & Binder, 2006). It is
common practice for Greek organizations to hold their members to minimum academic
requirements; some standards of which are higher than national grade point average averages
(Division of Student Affairs, n.d.). In Debard, Lake, and Binders research, it was found that
fraternity men achieved lower grade point averages than their non-Greek counterparts at their
university, but their retention rate from year one to year two at the university were a staggering
12% higher than the non-Greek men (Debard et al., 2006).
Involvement
For decades now, it has been asserted that students being involved on their campuses is
crucial for their success both academically and socially (Webb, 1987). Research has also been
conducted that has shown that, Students who were involved in student organizations by
attending a meeting, joining, or leading an organization were more highly developed than those
who were not involved at all in student organizations (Foubert & Urbanski, 2006). So, what is
student involvement? In his student development theory based on student involvement,
Alexander Astin described involvement as such:
Quite simply, student involvement refers to the amount of physical and psychological
energy that the student devotes to the academic experience. Thus, a highly involved
student is one who, for example, devotes considerable energy to studying, spends much
time on campus, participates actively in student organizations, and interacts frequently
with faculty members and other students. (1999)
Student involvement looks different for all students. Some students define their involvement by
their social life while others define involvement by the number of organizations they join. Even

EXPECTATIONS VS. EXPERIENCES

further, some students include their campus job as a part of their campus involvement
(Zacherman & Foubert, 2014).
Research Question
The purpose of this study was to evaluate the relationship between college students
experiences as a first-year student at the University of Northern Iowa versus the expectations
they had as to what their first-year at UNI would be like. Additionally, this study was to gauge
campus involvement as a first-year student at UNI and determine if a correlation existed between
the students involvement and the quality of the students first-year experience.
The primary research question was as follows: Does involvement in a students first-year
dictate the quality of their first-year experiences compared to their first-year expectations?
Method
Participants
Due to the nature of this study, it was decided that the only restriction for somebody to be
a participant in this study was that they must have attended the University of Northern Iowa
(UNI) at one point in time. It did not matter if a participant attended UNI directly from high
school, transferred to the university from another institution, or started graduate school at the
university; the study was only concerned with the experiences the participant had during their
first-year at the university. In order to reach this desired population, a link to an online survey
was shared only one time on a personal Facebook account. In addition, an e-mail was sent to a
list of 600 first-year students at UNI who were enrolled in a first-year only course for their first
and second semesters at the university. This list was obtained by using a database created
through MapWorks, an online software the University of Northern Iowa utilizes for success and
retention initiatives. After generating a report of students who were enrolled in a first-year only

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course at the university, 600 students were sent an e-mail with an explanation of the survey and a
link to the survey online.
After collecting responses for a period of 3 weeks, 32 participants responded to the
survey with 29 of those participants finishing the survey to completion. The first demographic
question asked of the participants was, what best describes you at the time of this survey?

Based on the dates that students responded to the survey, it is assumed that the majority
of the 12 freshmen who responded were obtained from the e-mail sent out through MapWorks
and the remaining 16 participants were obtained by sharing the link to the survey on Facebook.
Of those 29 participants who responded to this question, all but one of them attended UNI
directly from high school.

Informed Consent
The informed consent form was provided electronically as the first option of the survey
once participants clicked the link to the survey provided via social media and the e-mail that was
sent out. The population of potential participants was instructed before even clicking the link
that they were not required to participate and that all responses would remain anonymous.

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Participants then had the opportunity to opt out of the survey by selecting the option that they
disagreed with the terms on the consent form. If that option was selected, a thank you note was
displayed to them and they were no longer eligible for the study. The informed consent form
used for this study can be found in Addendum A.
Instruments
To gather data, a Qualtrics survey was created through the University of Northern Iowas
Qualtrics Survey Platform. The survey questions can be found in Addendum B. All information
was stored on the Qualtrics website and accessed via the website to maintain the confidentiality
of participants information. All information was destroyed after the conclusion of this study.
Data Analysis
To analyze data, the 32 responses were sifted through by reading each participants
survey individually before beginning to look through all of the data by question; to begin to get a
feel for the trends that existed in the data. The purpose of this study required parts to be
evaluated based on participants individual experiences and others to be evaluated based on
generalizations and inferences made about the data collected. After reading through each
individual survey, responses were looked at by each question, and then specific questions were
cross-tabulated against other questions to see the correlation between their answers. The hope in
doing this was to cross tabulate the quality of participants experiences with their level of
involvement in student organizations.
Results
It has been the assumption that students expectations of what college would be like
would be different from what experience they ended up having during their first-year at their
institution, and this assumption remained true for students at the University of Northern Iowa.

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Of the 29 students who finished the survey, 18 of them, or 62% of the sample population,
responded with qualitative answers that reflected an attitude of mismatched expectations versus
their experiences. Of the 11 whose expectations were matched with their experiences, the
expectations they had were generally positive; with no one expecting college to be a bad
experience and then actually experiencing a bad time. On the other side, however, of the 18
whose expectations were mismatched with the experiences they had, 10 of them had experiences
worse than they expected before they entered their time as a student at UNI.
Of those with mismatched experiences from their expectations and their experiences were
worse than expected, 7 of them were not involved in a student organization, or 70% of the
respondents who had experiences worse than their expectations. When asked the question, did
your expectations of what your first-year at UNI would be like match the experience you ended
up having?, one participant stated, Not really, I hated college nothing was like I thought or if
any of it was I wasnt involved in it. While the grammar leads to some ambiguity for this
answer, context clues from this individuals other responses lend a hand to better understand
their feelings. When asked to describe their first-year at UNI, they said, [It went] very poorly, I
didn't have any new friends, my grades were close to failing out and I stayed in my room alone
or with my roommate a lot or went home frequently. To provide an understanding for this
individuals responses, one of the first questions of the survey, before your first-year at UNI, what
did you expect college to be like?, was answered by this individual by stating that they believed
there would be lots of parties, freedom, and a lot of new friends.
Another individual had a similar situation. They did not join any student organization,
nor did they report that they had attended the fall organization fair. They did however work an
on campus job in which they reported working 5 10 hours a week. This individual reported

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that their expectations were not met because, they felt they were less involved than they
anticipated to be.
Other students had different stories, though. One participant in particular expected
college to be all about the parties and fairly stressful. When they arrived on campus for their
first-year at UNI, they attended the student organization fair in the fall and talked to a reported
five student organizations; after which, the participant decided to join one, The SALT Co. When
asked, did your expectations of what your first-year at UNI would be like match the experience
you ended up having?, they stated, No not at all. I didn't get involved in the party scene, which
I didn't think I would be able to avoid. And I made really good friends. In describing how they
felt their first-year went, they responded, I had a great first-year. I met a lot of great people and
got very comfortable on campus.
A majority of participants found themselves finding a job their first-year, with 20 of 31
respondents falling into this category. The outlier in this data set, the participant whom reported
working 30 35 hours a week, was a transfer student.

When looking at the data on these 20 participants, nine of the survey participants held
employment during their first-year and chose to not participate in any student organization that
year as well. Of the nine who did not join an organization but worked, four of them reported that

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they did not attend any additional activity or event other than what was required of them.

Additional cross tabulations of data showed that no cause and effect occurred between
attending the fall organization fair and joining a student organization in the first-year, as more of
the survey participants joined an organization without attending the organization air that year.
However, of the nine survey participants who attended the organization fair the fall of their firstyear, 78% of them, joined a student organization in the same year compared to 50% of those
participants who did not attend the fair.

Discussion
There has a been a lot of previous research conducted on first-year students experiences
and some that has even been conducted on their experiences versus the expectations they had
before attending college, but little research has been conducted on the expectations and
experiences of first-year students as it relates to their social adjustment to the college lifestyle.
The majority of research that has been done was done with academics as the sole focus of the
studies, so the research that I conducted was already unique in that manner. Furthermore, the
research that I conducted was specific to students at the University of Northern Iowa and a third
variable, campus involvement, was brought into the mix of things. The data that I collected
supported the primary research question of, does involvement in a students first-year dictate the

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quality of their first-year experiences compared to their first-year expectations? There were
strong correlations in my data that confirmed that students, no matter their expectations of what
college would be like, had good experiences at the university during their first-year when they
were involved in a student organization. Even more so, students with high expectations of what
school would be like and who did not get involved in a student organization during that first-year
reported that they ended up having less than desirable experiences as a first-year student. While
a number of factors could be playing into their poor experiences, the data collected proved that
students involved in a student organization during their first-year had great experiences,
regardless of whether they expected to or not. Furthermore, the students who were not involved
in a student organization during their first-year, but had high expectations for college, had a
mismatched experience to their initial expectation.
At the beginning of my research, I questioned whether or not I should include the factor
of a job as a variable in conducting the research. I ended up including the question in my survey
and briefly considered in in analyzing the data. The findings with this showed that 11 of the 20
students who worked during their first-year still found time to be involved in a student
organization, so I did not believe it was a strong enough factor in making my determinations in
regards to the experiences participants had.
Implications for the Future
After conducting this research, I think that the findings reinforce the idea that students
should look to get involved in a student organization during their time on campus. Astin has
conducted the research and shown that involvement allows for higher levels of student
development, but I believe that the beginnings of this research show that involvement also

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provides for better experiences as a student which, in the long run, impacts student retention on
campuses.
Study Limitations
The major limitation on this study is the fact that only students at UNI were included in
the research. In addition to this, the number of participants included in the research was limited.
I would also venture to conclude that the timing of the research affected the number of responses
and the type of student that chose to participate. Since the survey was sent to students during the
month of April, many students had already checked out and were just looking to get to the end
and be done with finals. For this reason, I believe fewer students in the population responded
which led to a higher number of students responding who are involved on campus.
Additional Future Research
I would like to see additional future research conducted on this topic at multiple
institutions. I believe that the information researched is information that is typically just
assumed by many student affairs professionals, and additional research should be conducted to
prove, or disprove, the trends that I found in my study. In conducting this research across
multiple institutions, as well as gaining more participants across academic classification with
different experiences during their first-year, I believe that this research could provide better
information to improve student success and retention efforts at institutions.
Overall, students expectations on their first-year at any institution of higher education
are often times set unrealistically. Between what they are seeing on social media and what they
have seen on other forms of media, their expectations of what their college experience will look
like is shaped by the environment around them. It is not until they experience their first-year,
however, that they finally begin to see what college is actually like and form their own opinions

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on it. As student affairs practitioners, we have to understand these unrealistic expectations they
come to college with and help them understand that their experience will be what they make it
out to be, and a great place to start in having a good experience in their first-year is by getting
involved.

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References

Astin, A. W. (1999). Student Involvement: A Developmental Theory for Higher Education.

Journal of College Student Development, 40(5), 518-529.
Debard, R., Lake, T., & Binder, R. S. (2006). Greeks and grades: The first-year
experience. Journal of Student Affairs Research and Practice, 43(1), 56-68.
The Division of Student Affairs. (n.d.). Center for fraternity and sorority life. Retrieved April
16, 2016, from https://gogreek.wsu.edu/our-community/academics/
Foubert, J. D., & Urbanski, L. A. (2006). Effects of involvement in clubs and organizations on
the psychosocial development of first-year and senior college students. Journal of Student
Affairs Research and Practice, 43(1), 166-182.
Hernandez, J. C. (2002). A qualitative exploration of the first-year experience of latino college
students. Journal of Student Affairs Research and Practice, 40(1), 69-84.
Ryan, M. P., & Glenn, P. A. (2004). What do first-year students need most: Learning strategies
instruction or academic socialization? Journal of College Reading and Learning, 34(2),
4-28.
Sidle, M. W., & McReynolds, J. (2009). The freshman year experience: Student retention and
student success. Journal of Student Affairs Research and Practice, 46(3), 434-446.
Smith, J. S., & Wertlieb, E. C. (2005). Do first-year college students' expectations align with
their first-year experiences? Journal of Student Affairs Research and Practice, 42(2),
153-174.
Webb, E. M. (1987). Retention and excellence through student involvement. Journal of Student
Affairs Research and Practice, 24(4), 6-11.

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Zacherman, A., & Foubert, J. (2014). The relationship between engagement in cocurricular
activities and academic performance: Exploring gender differences. Journal of Student
Affairs Research and Practice, 51(2), 157-169.

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Addendum A

UNIVERSITY OF NORTHERN IOWA

HUMAN PARTICIPANTS REVIEW
INFORMED CONSENT
Project Title: Expectations vs. Experiences
Name of Investigator(s): Daniel Vorwerk
Invitation to Participate: You are invited to participate in a research project conducted by the
investigator to assist with completion of a class project through the University of Northern Iowa.
The University requires that you give your signed agreement to participate in this project. The
following information is provided to help you make an informed decision about whether or not
to participate.
Nature and Purpose: The purpose of this research is to determine the effects of student
involvement in the first-year on the quality of the students first-year experiences.
Explanation of Procedures: You have responded to an opportunity, either by e-mail or on a
social media platform that initiated this informed consent form. If you choose to continue, you
will complete an online survey. After the completion of this project, all data collected will be
destroyed.
Discomfort and Risks: Risks to participants are minimal, but participants should be aware that
they will be discussing their experiences as a first-year college student. Some may feel
discomfort in discussing these topics, depending on their experiences.
Benefits and Compensation: No compensation will be given for inclusion in this study.
Confidentiality: Information obtained during this study which could identify you will be kept
confidential. Your only contact with the investigator will be through the survey to follow this
form. No identifying data will be collected.
Right to Refuse or Withdraw: Your participation is completely voluntary. You are free to
withdraw from participation at any time or to choose not to participate at all.
Questions: If you have questions about the study or desire information in the future regarding
your participation or the study generally, you can contact the project investigator, Daniel
Vorwerk, at 319-671-1849 or the project investigators faculty advisor, Dr. David Schmid, at
319-273-7894. You can also contact Dr. Schmid for answers to questions about rights of
research participants and the participant review process.
Agreement: I am fully aware of the nature and extent of my participation in this project as stated
above and the possible risks arising from it. I hereby agree to participate in this project. I
acknowledge that I have received a copy of this consent statement. I am 18 years of age or older.

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Addendum B

Question 1: Informed Consent

Question 2: Before your first-year at UNI, what did you expect college to be like?
Question 3: Before your first-year at UNI, what or who gave you ideas on what college would
be like?
Question 4: Before your first-year at UNI, how did you expect to meet new friends?
Question 5: Before your first-year at UNI, did you expect to get a job your first-year?
Question 6: During your first few weeks at UNI, did you partake in any UNI Welcome Week
activities?
Question 6a: Please list which UNI Welcome Week activities you attended.
Question 7: During your first-year at UNI, did you attend the fall organization fair?
Question 7a: How many organizations did you speak with?
Question 8: Did you work a job during your first-year?
Question 8a: On average, how many hours did you work a week during your first-year at
UNI?
Question 9: During your fist year at UNI, did you join any student organizations on campus?
Question 9a: Please list the organizations you joined your first-year?
Question 10: Did your expectations of what your first-year at UNI would be like math the
experience you ended up having?
Question 11: Please describe how you felt your first-year at UNI.
Question 12: If you had to describe college to a senior in high school, what would you tell
them?
The remaining questions were demographic questions for categorization purposes only.