The purpose of this study was to gain insights into student perceptions of first-time online learning students experienced at their university during the school closure in spring 2020 in Vietnam due to the COVID-19 pandemic and their future expectations about this learning mode. This was considered crucial to gauge the potential for online learning in Vietnam. One-hundred one (101) undergraduate students at a large university in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, were surveyed electronically. Ten of them also participated in the follow-up interview. The results of the survey were revealed: Flexibility (Time, learning), live platform(s), such as Zoom and Google Classroom, comfort with online technologies, and lesson delivery were ranked in the top four helpful components of first-time online learning; Internet access, technical problems, harder to pay attention, and lack of community were ranked in the top four challenging components. Future expectations identified in this study were: better live platform and combination of meeting in a classroom setting and completing coursework online. Implications addressing the identified challenging components of online learning are provided.