Cardona Salazar, Blanca LucíaRamírez Escobar, María EncarnaciónTamayo Montoya, Martha Berenice2012-05-312012-05-3120111794-4449http://hdl.handle.net/10567/381Introduction. This article shows the results of the research work “Newcomer students in the university scenario”. Objective. To have a comprehensive approach to the situation of “being and becoming a university student” experienced by first year physiotherapy students at the CES University, in Medellín, Colombia. Materials and methods. This is a qualitative study made within a hermeneutical focus conceptually based on contributions of Arendt´s politic philosophy, Larrosa and Skliar´s philosophy of experiences, the otherness perspective with Mèlich and Levinas and Giroux´s critical pedagogy. As methodological strategies group interviews, focus groups and experience narrations by the youngsters were used. Results. The analysis was made under a focus on the institutional context and the subject being formed as a discussion base, classifying the first one into two categories: The notion of the university scenario and the university culture. In the second, the categories were the processing of tensions between change and permanence and the interaction ways with the university´s ethos, with its respective trends. Conclusions. A clear difference between the student´s retention and permanence in the university was found. This permanence can be favored by establishing a warm and hospitable induction process, improving communication strategies, promoting their development and creating conditions to establish academic and social networks.esEducación superiorCorporación Universitaria LasallistaEstudiantes universitariosUniversidad CESCultura universitariaDeserción universitariaArticle