First-year students’ expectations when entering the university play a central role in how they experience higher education. While there has been a significant number of studies on first-year students’ experiences, much less is known about which role expectations play on a qualitative level. In this study, we will approach the question; How students’ expectations of higher education shape and are shaped by their experiences of entering the university. By drawing on a qualitative thematic analysis of nine interviews with first-year students in an electrical engineering program, we found that students’ expectations to themselves and perceived expectations from others, are key elements in experiencing the learning environment and culture at the university. Grounded in the empirical material and in light of the contemporary research literature on first-year students, learning environments and university pedagogy, we explore students’ positions and aim to better understand the social mesh that they interact within during their first year at the university.