This paper investigates the expectations and culture that first-year students encounter when entering higher education. Induction activities are the first encounter with the new institutional setting and cultural context of the study programme, thus the students' first opportunity to develop ideas about what studying entails and what is expected of them. The study is based on data produced through participant observations in induction activities, and interviews with the senior students organising these activities, for the following three study programmes at a Danish university: biotechnology, philosophy, and film and media studies. By applying the concepts of rituals, the implied student and students' identity work, the analysis explores a ritual within each programme. The findings show that the rituals reflect patterns and cultural elements that the students also experience later on in their first year. The rituals differ in how they relate to the content of the programme and which available identities they present to the students. However, in all three programmes, senior students play a key role in communicating norms and traditions. We argue that although transitioning is an ongoing process throughout higher education, it is still relevant to consider what happens during induction and what is communicated to the students.