Many students feel that CSUMB lacks the necessary assistance and programs to help students succeed. When asked about what kinds of supports other than financial, exist for students at CSUMB Sun Kang, a sophomore stated:

A lot of the students here who have problems don't think they have problems. But, maybe if they talked to someone that they could trust, maybe they could change that direction in their mind. And probably make them think, "Hey, maybe I do have a problem. Maybe I need a change or something bad's going to happen."

When asked what was her first day at CSUMB was like, she replied:

Very tiring. Excited, but in a way bashful. I didn't know anyone, so I was really shy and quiet. I stayed in my room for a whole week. I just went into the Dining Commons, got food, came back. 'Cause I didn't know anyone, my roommate left. Then as soon as classes started I started meeting more people. So my first day was very scary.*

Other students referred to the comfort and support students can get in a small college campus. When Maricela Cisneros, who transferred from SJSU, was asked about the advantages of going to CSUMB, she responded:

What I didn't like at San Jose State is the classes are too big, and the teachers didn't pay attention, as much as we needed. Like my Freshman year, I took psychology and there were almost four-hundred students in the class... (At CSUMB) the instructors help you more. Here all my instructors know who I am. "Oh, Hi Maricela," you know, and that's nice. If I need help I can go (to them) and they will be there.**

On the other hand, some of the disadvantages that first generation college freshmen face at CSUMB have to do with the fact that this was a start-up campus. It affected them in various ways. For example Merlyn Calderón said:

I had expectations that things were going to be hard. I'm coming into a school that is not well established, so I have to go out and do things on my own. You are kind of still guessing where you go to start things.

Sun Kang elaborated about the need for structure as well when she was asked: What do you think are the disadvantages of going here?

Not having the school structured. Like the different departments where they have set [punches fist into hand] rules they're not going to change. The school's ULR [punches fist into hand] system is not going to change every year. Where they have it where, "Ok, we're going to do this, and this is all. We're going to stick to it." Because here, in a way, the students feel like they're guinea pigs. The school's experimenting, "Ok, if I poke 'em this way, what's going to happen? If I poke 'em that way, what reaction am I going to get?" So they really do need a set structure. They need a system where they're going to abide by it.

Benjamin's experience on the other hand, points out how students who don't have family members or friends who can help them deal with the new challenges of college, rely on structures of mentoring and advising. At the University level, first generation college students need counseling that can help them with enrollment procedures. They need a Counselor who can guide them to take the required courses to graduate. When a student has no experience he/she can easily fall into the situation that Benjamín describes, in which their decisions are based on peer choices:

Actually ...I don't have no counselor. I have no advising. I have no one. ...Most people I talk to are just my friends who are in the same major and that's it. I just like 'Okay, I'll just take these classes because they fulfill my ULRs and I know that they will fulfill them. Another thing is that...for CST, I don't have an advisor yet. My Prosem class... I didn't know... I took ESSP, the science one and I didn't even know it was for science majors. I was like "Oh well, I'll just take it because it fits my schedule." That's what I was thinking, so I just took it. ***

Students like Benjamín show the importance of more focused, personalized mentoring and advising for students for whom college is a new experience. Other colleges have various programs that help historically underserved students adapt into the higher learning institutions. Some of the programs are: Summer Bridge/Puente, in which the student spends the summer prior to enrollment at the college, and they are advised and shown what to do to make it through college. Other programs are: E.O.P (Extended Opportunity Program), and Migrant Education Programs which have a set structure. They require that the students meet several times with their advisor throughout the semester. They also require that the students attend several workshops that are sponsored by above mentioned programs.

Interviews revealed that while there are efforts to provide supports at CSUMB, much remains to be done and student need is pressing. The F.O.C.U.S. program offered last summer for 18 students recruited through Educational Talent Search proved to be a critical support and mentoring network.