Transition processes are part of the human experience. An important transition that demarcates the advancement of adolescence into adulthood is the movement of the secondary school to the university environment. The objective of this comprehensive literature review was to identify the evidence in the literature about the process and adaptation strategies from the experience of the transition to university in students of the first year of undergraduate. The databases to be used: Web of Sciences, Scopus, SciELO, Sage, Taylor & Francis, Wiley and EBSCO. The review showed that with respect to the concept of transition there is an almost total consensus to understand it as a process that covers the time between the last year of high school and the first year of university. And, on the adaptation to university life it is necessary to lay the foundations in the position of Baker & Siryk and his tiple look on "the adjustment": academic, social and personal-emotional.