The transition from high school to post-secondary education is often difficult for students. The literature examining factors that foster a successful transition generally focuses on previous academic achievement and/or individual differences that enable students to navigate the culture of university. Through interviews with first year university students (N =19), the present study conceptualizes student readiness as a match/mismatch between an individual's attributes and the requisites of the academic and social milieus of university. This phenomenological investigation situates the development of a work ethic as central to a successful transition to university and contributes to the limited research conducted concerning the pathways that optimize student readiness.