The driving factors that determine student success in college are a popular topic in the higher education sector to address attrition issues. The purpose of this article is to focus on the impact of sociocultural factors in students' lives on college expectations, success, and completion. Thanks to a qualitative methodology; focus group, interview and ethnography, this article explores the role of the social environment on academic aspirations and the sociocultural factors that influence success. Results indicate that academic success is influenced by parental expectations and conflicting priorities; and academic success is a consequence of the supportive role of family and friends. The findings imply that although previous research focuses on individual characteristics of students' higher education aspirations and success, the social structure resources that students rely on play a critical role in understanding student engagement and attrition in college. Although it is well documented that individual attributes such as motivation and academic ability influence success in college, recent research highlights that a complex set of sociocultural factors influence student engagement and attrition ( Lobo, 2012). In a recent study by Hobson APAC (2014), on Australian university student engagement and attrition, the majority of participants cited “personal reasons” as the reason they left university. These personal reasons included the difficulty of reconciling studies with family and work commitments and finances. In another study on student attrition, students' expectations and perceptions of college were identified as a factor influencing success (Lobo, 2012). This article will explore the impact of sociocultural elements of students' lives on their studies in order to better understand the realities of student life and their path to success at university.