The article is devoted to the adaptation of first-year students to study at the University of megapolis. The process of adaptation to learning is considered in a broad sense, including not only adaptation to the academic environment of the university, but also entry into other environments (social, cultural, economic, etc.), systems of relations, as well as the adoptation of a new level of personal responsibility.. In this case, a large number of conditions and factors affecting the adaptation of first-year students are taken into account: the level of pre-university training; motivation for choosing a university and specialty; features of studying at the university; personal characteristics; development of household skills and self-service basics; financial situation and level of education of the family; previous territory of residence (local or visitor). In fact, these factors are the difficulties that first–year students have at the beginning of their studies. Depending on the path chosen by a first-year student to overcome difficulties, we can talk about the degree of success of adaptation and the possible consequences of the choice for the student in the future.